Stephen King, often referred to as the master of horror has had numerous thrilling novels and short stories

published since 1967, when he was 20 years old. He was born in Portland, Maine in 1947 and was raised by his mother alongside his older brother from early childhood. King attended University of Maine for college and graduated in 1970. He graduated with a bachelors degree in English and was qualified to teach on the high school level. Not long after he graduated, King got married to Tabitha. The first few years of their marriage the couple struggled to find work, and King earned money by submitting short stories to magazines. In need of money, he became a high school teacher at a public school in Maine. On weekends and whenever he had leisure time, King continued to work on writing various short stories and novels. Stephen Kings first major novel was published in 1973 and was titled Carrie. This novel had a first print-run of about 30,000 copies. It was this book that began Stephen Kings career as an author. After the novel was published, King had enough money to be able to leave his job as a teacher and write full time. The next novel of his that was published was Salems lot, which was also a very successful and well-liked novel. Some of his more famous books later published were misery, it, skeleton crew, and the shining. He later published a series titled the dark tower. Stephen Kings style of writing is very dark and often contains horror. There are many questions as to why King wrote so many books like this, and some think it was because of past incidents. At a young age King witnessed a friend get killed by a train and was put in such shock that he had no recollection of the incident until later in his life. Stephen also struggled with serious drug and alcohol abuse throughout the majority of his life. This may be what inspired many of his horror stories. From this style comes many common themes found throughout Kings novels. A major theme found in several of Kings novels is one relating to ordinary people coming together to face evil or odds against them by using profound courage. Another main theme discovered in several of Stephen Kings works is that people must always stand for the good in the world. Although his novels contain terror and darkness, the main characters try to fight against the horror in order to stand for the good of themselves or others. After writing over 30 acclaimed novels, in 1999 King was struck by a car while walking and was severely injured. His leg was injured so badly that it was almost amputated. After the incident, King considered retiring, as he couldnt work at the quicker pace that he had once worked at. However, the master of horror has resumed writing stories that continue to captivate readers around the world.

Works Cited: http://www.famousauthors.org/stephen-king http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128239303 http://readmorebooks.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/common-themes-in-the-works-of-stephen-king/ http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/stephen-king.html

Works Cited: Shannon. "Common Themes in the Works of Stephen King." Wordpress, 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://readmorebooks.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/common-themes-in-the-works-of-stephen-king/>. "Stephen King Biography." AETN UK, 2005-2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. <http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/stephen-king.html>. "Stephen King." FamousAuthors, 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://www.famousauthors.org/stephenking>. "Stephen King: The 'Craft' Of Writing Horror Stories." NPR, 02 July 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128239303>.