My Favorite Author: Stephen King Essay -- Horror Stories Literature Au

My Favorite Author: Stephen King â€Å"It hit you like the flu or a summer cold, only it kept on getting worse, presumably until you choked to death on your own snot or until the fever burned you down. It was highly contagious.† (The Stand, 65) This quote shows what Stephen King as a writer means to me. His writing is infectious. Once I have read one of his novels, I want more. The desire to read his words gets worse the longer I wait. No, reading novels by Stephen King won’t kill a person, but â€Å"it [is] highly contagious.†As one can tell from the above excerpt, King has a way of creating an image in the reader’s mind. The image isn’t always pretty, but it is usually vivid. Although, King has never been ranked as high as Chaucer, or Shakespeare, or even C.S. Lewis, he has a way with words that makes the reader want to continue to read. King has a way to make the reader wonder, understand, and see the worlds he creates in his stories. King was the second child to bless his parents home in â€Å"Maine in 1947.†The fascination with his own childhood memories bursts through the lives of his characters as so many of his stories are set in Maine. This is not to say that he had a horrible childhood, I only mean that we all cherish our memories of our childhood and where we grew up. Perhaps this is King’s homage to his childhood home. King attended â€Å"the University of Maine at Orono† where â€Å"he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, The Maine Campus.†A writing career was begun. After graduating â€Å"with a Bachelor Degree of Science in English and [being] qualified to teach [at] the high school level,† he was unable to procure a teaching position and subsisted on his wife’s â€Å"student loan and savings, with an occasional... ...osition has not been easy even with the prompts provided for a theme. I am always anxious to see another King book on the shelf, but it wasn’t until now that I could appreciate the time and thought he put into each of his books. King doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being such a brilliant writer, but yet his books are always top sellers. There has to be something said in that. Write on, Stephen, write on. Bibliography King, Stephen. The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels by Stephen King. New York: NAL Books, 1977. King, Stephen. Dreamcatcher. New York: Scribner, 2001. King, Stephen. Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales. New York: Scribner, 2002. King, Stephen. The Stand: Complete and Uncut. New York, Doubleday, 1978/1990. The Man: The Official Stephen King Web Presence: Horror Books, Horror Films, Maine. http://www.stephenking.com/man.html