Editing Stephen King (section)

==Career==
===Beginnings===
[[File:Hampden Academy.jpg|thumb|In 1971, King worked as a teacher at [[Hampden Academy]].]]
King sold his first professional short story, "[[The Glass Floor]]", to ''Startling Mystery Stories'' in 1967.<ref name=OfficialBio/> After graduating from the University of Maine, King earned a certificate to teach high school but was unable to find a teaching post immediately. He sold short stories to magazines like ''[[Cavalier (magazine)|Cavalier]]''. Many of these early stories were republished in ''[[Night Shift (short story collection)|Night Shift]]'' (1978). In 1971, King was hired as an English teacher at [[Hampden Academy]] in [[Hampden, Maine]].<ref name=OfficialBio/> He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels, including the [[anti-war novel]] ''[[Sword in the Darkness]]'', still unpublished.<ref>{{cite book |last=Blue |first=Tyson |title=The Unseen King |publisher=Borgo Press |year=1989 |isbn=1-55742-073-4}}</ref>

=== 1970s: ''Carrie'' to ''The Dead Zone'' ===
[[File:Portrait photograph of Stephen King by Alex Gotfryd, c. 1974.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait from the first edition of ''[[Carrie (novel)|Carrie]]'' (1974)]]
[[File:Portrait photograph of Stephen King by Alex Gotfryd, c. 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait from the first edition of ''[[The Shining (novel)|The Shining]]'' (1977)]]
King recalls the origin of his [[debut novel| debut]], ''[[Carrie (novel)|Carrie]]'': "Two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis, came together." It began as a short story intended for ''Cavalier''; King tossed the first three pages in the trash but his wife, [[Tabitha King|Tabitha]], recovered them, saying she wanted to know what happened next. She told him: "You've got something here. I really think you do."<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |title=[[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]] |year=2000 |pages=75–77}}</ref> He followed her advice and expanded it into a novel.<ref>King, Tabitha, Introduction to ''Carrie'' (Collector's Edition) Plume 1991</ref> Per ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''Carrie'' "is the story of Carrie White, a high-school student with latent—and then, as the novel progresses, developing—telekinetic powers. It's brutal in places, affecting in others (Carrie's relationship with her almost hysterically religious mother being a particularly damaged one), and gory in even more."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/24/rereading-stephen-king-carrie|title=Rereading Stephen King: week one – Carrie|first=James|last=Smythe|date=May 24, 2012|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215627/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/24/rereading-stephen-king-carrie|archive-date=February 15, 2019|url-status=live|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "King does more than tell a story. He is a schoolteacher himself, and he gets into Carrie's mind as well as into the minds of her classmates. He also knows a thing or two about symbolism — blood symbolism especially."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Callendar |first=Newgate |date=May 24, 1974 |title=Criminals at Large |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/lifetimes/kin-r-carrie.html/ |access-date=November 2, 2023 |archive-date=November 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102165000/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/lifetimes/kin-r-carrie.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

King was teaching ''[[Dracula]]'' to high school students and wondered what would happen if Old World [[vampires]] came to a small New England town. This was the germ of ''[['Salem's Lot]]'', which King called "''[[Peyton Place (novel)|Peyton Place]]'' meets ''Dracula''".<ref name=":Deaver" /> King's mother died from uterine cancer around the time '''Salem's Lot'' was published.<ref name="OfficialBio" /> After his mother's death, King and his family moved to [[Boulder, Colorado]]. He paid a visit to the [[The Stanley Hotel|Stanley Hotel]] in [[Estes Park, Colorado|Estes Park]] which provided the basis for ''[[The Shining (novel)|The Shining]]'', about an alcoholic writer and his family taking care of a hotel for the winter.<ref name=":ParisReview"/> 

King's family returned to [[Auburn, Maine]] in 1975, where he completed ''[[The Stand]]'', an apocalyptic novel about a pandemic and its aftermath. King recalls that it was the novel that took him the longest to write, and that it was "also the one my longtime readers still seem to like the best".<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |title=[[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]] |pages=201}}</ref> In 1977, the Kings, with the addition of [[Owen King|Owen Philip]], their third and youngest child, traveled briefly to England. They returned to Maine that fall, and King began teaching creative writing at the [[University of Maine]].<ref name="OfficialBio" /> The courses he taught on horror provided the basis for his first nonfiction book, ''[[Danse Macabre (King book)|Danse Macabre]]''. In 1979, he published ''[[The Dead Zone (novel)|The Dead Zone]]'', about an ordinary man gifted with [[second sight]]. It was the first of his novels to take place in [[Castle Rock (Stephen King)|Castle Rock, Maine]]. King later reflected that with ''The Dead Zone'', "I really hit my stride."<ref>{{cite book| last=King| first=Stephen| title=Four Past Midnight| date=1990|page=609}}</ref>

=== 1980s: ''Different Seasons'' to ''The Dark Half'' ===
In 1982, King published ''[[Different Seasons]]'', a collection of four novellas with a more serious dramatic bent than the horror fiction for which he had become famous.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lehmann-Haupt |first=Christopher |date=August 11, 1982 |title=Books of the Times |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/11/books/books-of-the-times-074639.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621171309/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/11/books/books-of-the-times-074639.html |archive-date=June 21, 2018}}</ref> Alan Cheuse wrote "Each of the first three novellas has its hypnotic moments, and the last one is a horrifying little gem."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cheuse |first=Alan |date=August 29, 1982 |title=Horror Writer Takes a Holiday |work=[[The New York Times Book Review]] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/lifetimes/king-seasons.html?scp=84&sq=red%2520redemption&st=cse}}</ref> Three of the four novellas were adapted as films: ''[[The Body (King novella)|The Body]]'' as [[Stand by Me (film)|''Stand by Me'']] (1986);<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etonline.com/all-the-stephen-king-easter-eggs-in-hulus-castle-rock-from-shawshank-to-sissy-spacek-106674 |title=All the Stephen King Easter Eggs in Hulu's 'Castle Rock' – From Shawshank to Sissy Spacek |website=[[Entertainment Tonight]] |date=July 25, 2018 |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215160028/https://www.etonline.com/all-the-stephen-king-easter-eggs-in-hulus-castle-rock-from-shawshank-to-sissy-spacek-106674 |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption]]'' as ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' (1994);<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/shawshank-redemption-anniversary-story |title=The Little-Known Story of How The Shawshank Redemption Became One of the Most Beloved Films of All Time |first=Margaret |last=Heidenry |website=HWD |date=September 22, 2014 |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226150020/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/shawshank-redemption-anniversary-story |archive-date=February 26, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Apt Pupil]]'' as the [[Apt Pupil (film)|film of the same name]] (1998).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/102398apt-film-review.html|title='Apt Pupil': In a Suburb, Echoes of the Third Reich |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215160030/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/102398apt-film-review.html |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The fourth, ''[[The Breathing Method]]'', won the [[British Fantasy Award]] for Best Short Fiction.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |date=1983 |title=British Fantasy Awards 1983 |url=https://www.sfadb.com/British_Fantasy_Awards_1983 |website=www.sfadb.com}}</ref> King recalls "I got the best reviews in my life. And that was the first time that people thought, woah, this isn't really a horror thing."<ref name=":Gaiman">{{Cite web |author=[[Neil Gaiman]] |date=April 28, 2012 |title=Neil Gaiman's Journal: Popular Writers: A Stephen King Interview |url=https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html}}</ref>

King struggled with addiction throughout the decade and often wrote under the influence of cocaine and alcohol; he says he "barely remembers writing" ''[[Cujo]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |title=[[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]] |year=2000 |pages=99}}</ref> In 1983, he published ''[[Christine (1983 novel)|Christine]]'', "A love triangle involving 17-year-old misfit Arnie Cunningham, his new girlfriend and a haunted 1958 [[Plymouth Fury]]."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stephen King {{!}} Christine |url=https://stephenking.com/works/novel/christine.html |access-date=May 6, 2023 |website=stephenking.com |language=en}}</ref> Later that year, he published ''[[Pet Sematary]]'', which he had written in the late 1970s, when his family was living near a highway that "used up a lot of animals" as a neighbor put it. His daughter's cat was killed, and they buried it in a pet cemetery built by the local children. King imagined a burial ground beyond it that could raise the dead, albeit imperfectly. He initially found it too disturbing to publish, but resurrected it to fulfill his contract with [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Winter |first=Douglas |date=November 13, 1983 |title=Pet Sematary by Stephen King |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1983/11/13/pet-sematary-by-stephen-king-doubleday-373-pp-1595/c2a4bc17-1e88-429d-afd9-ea679ac95f4d/}}</ref> 

In 1985, King published ''[[Skeleton Crew (short story collection)|Skeleton Crew]]'', a book of short fiction including "[[The Reach]]" and ''[[The Mist (novella)|The Mist]]''. He recalls: "I would be asked, 'What happened in your childhood that makes you want to write those terrible things?' I couldn't think of any real answer to that. And I thought to myself, 'Why don't you write a final exam on horror, and put in all the monsters that everyone was afraid of as a kid? Put in Frankenstein, the werewolf, the vampire, the mummy, the giant creatures that ate up New York in the old B movies. Put 'em all in there."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cruz |first=Gilbert |date=November 3, 2009 |title=Stephen King on His 10 Longest Novels |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2009/11/09/stephen-king-on-his-10-longest-novels/slide/all/}}</ref> These influences coalesced into ''[[It (novel)|It]]'', about a shapeshifting monster that takes the form of its victims' fears and haunts the town of [[Derry (Stephen King)|Derry, Maine.]] He said he thought he was done writing about monsters, and wanted to "bring on all the monsters one last time…and call it It."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smythe |first=James |date=May 28, 2013 |title=Rereading Stephen King, chapter 21: It |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/may/28/rereading-stephen-king-it}}</ref> ''It'' won the [[August Derleth Award]] in 1987.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 1987 |url=https://www.sfadb.com/British_Fantasy_Awards_1987 |access-date=May 25, 2023 |website=www.sfadb.com}}</ref>

1987 was an unusually productive year for King. He published ''[[The Eyes of the Dragon]]'', a [[high fantasy]] novel which he originally wrote for his daughter.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smythe |first=James |date=January 20, 2013 |title=Rereading Stephen King, chapter 22: The Eyes of the Dragon |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/jun/20/rereading-stephen-king-eyes-of-the-dragon}}</ref> He published ''[[Misery (novel)|Misery]]'', about a popular writer who is injured in a car wreck and held captive by Annie Wilkes, his self-described "number-one fan". ''Misery'' shared the inaugural [[Bram Stoker Award]] with ''[[Swan Song (McCammon novel)|Swan Song]]'' by [[Robert R. McCammon]].<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=1987 Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners – The Bram Stoker Awards |url=https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/uncategorized/1987-bram-stoker-award-nominees-winner/ |access-date=May 6, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> King says the novel was influenced by his experiences with addiction: "Annie was my drug problem, and she was my number-one fan. God, she never wanted to leave."<ref name=":ParisReview"/> He published ''[[The Tommyknockers]]'', a science fiction novel filled, he says, with metaphors for addiction. After the book was published, King's wife staged an intervention, and he agreed to seek treatment for addiction.<ref name=":OnWriting">{{Cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |title=[[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]] |year=2000 |pages=96–97}}</ref> Two years later, he published ''[[The Dark Half]]'', about an author whose literary alter-ego takes on a life of his own.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smythe |first=James |date=October 21, 2013 |title=Rereading Stephen King, chapter 26: The Dark Half |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/21/rereading-stephen-king-the-dark-half}}</ref> In the author's note, King writes that "I am indebted to the late [[Richard Bachman]]."<ref>King, Stephen. 1989. ''The Dark Half''. Author's Note.</ref>

===1990s: ''Four Past Midnight'' to ''Hearts in Atlantis''===
In 1990, King published ''[[Four Past Midnight]]'', a collection of four novellas with the common theme of time. In 1991, he published ''[[Needful Things]]'', his first novel since achieving sobriety, billed as "The Last Castle Rock Story".<ref name=":ParisReview"/> In 1992, he published ''[[Gerald's Game]]'' and ''[[Dolores Claiborne]]'', two novels about women loosely linked by a solar eclipse.<ref>King, Stephen. ''Dolores Claiborne''. 1992. p. xviii</ref> The latter novel is narrated by the title character in an unbroken monolog; [[Mark Singer (journalist)|Mark Singer]] described it as "a morally riveting confession from the earthy mouth of a sixty-six-year-old Maine coastal-island native with a granite-hard life but not a grain of self-pity". King said he based the character of Claiborne on his mother.<ref name=":Singer" /> 

In 1994, King's story "[[The Man in the Black Suit]]" was published in the [[Halloween]] issue of ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine| author=Stephen King| title=The Man in the Black Suit| date=October 31, 1994| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/10/31/the-man-in-the-black-suit}}</ref> The story went on to win the 1996 [[O. Henry Award]]. In 1996, King published ''[[The Green Mile (novel)|The Green Mile]],'' the story of a death row inmate, as a [[Serial (literature)|serial]] novel in six parts. It had the distinction of holding the first, fourth, tenth, twelfth, fourteenth, and fifteenth positions on the ''New York Times'' paperback-best-seller list at the same time.<ref name=":Singer" /> In 1998, he published ''[[Bag of Bones]]'', his first book with [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]], about a recently widowed novelist. Several reviewers said that it showed King's maturation as a writer; [[Charles de Lint]] wrote "He hasn't forsaken the spookiness and scares that have made him a brand name, but he uses them more judiciously now... The present-day King has far more insight into the human condition than did his younger self, and better yet, all the skills required to share it with us."<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Lint |first=Charles |date=February 1999 |title=Books to Look For |url=http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/1999/cdl9902.htm}}</ref> ''Bag of Bones'' won the [[Bram Stoker Award|Bram Stoker]] and [[August Derleth Award|August Derleth]] Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 1999 |url=https://www.sfadb.com/British_Fantasy_Awards_1999 |access-date=May 25, 2023 |website=www.sfadb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1998 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees – The Bram Stoker Awards |url=https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/uncategorized/1998-bram-stoker-award-winners-nominees/ |access-date=May 22, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> 

In 1999, he published ''[[The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon]]'', about a girl who gets lost in the woods and finds solace in listening to broadcasts of [[Boston Red Sox]] games, and ''[[Hearts in Atlantis]]'', a book of linked novellas and short stories about coming of age in the 1960s. Later that year, King was hospitalized after being hit by a van. Reflecting on the incident, he said "it occurs to me that I have nearly been killed by a character out of one of my own novels. It's almost funny." He said his nurses were "told in no uncertain terms, don't make any ''Misery'' jokes".<ref name=":Craft">{{Cite news |author=[[Terry Gross]] |date=July 2, 2010 |title=Stephen King: The 'Craft' of Writing Horror Stories |work=[[National Public Radio]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2010/07/02/128239303/stephen-king-the-craft-of-writing-horror-stories}}</ref>

=== 2000s: ''On Writing'' to ''Under the Dome'' ===
[[File:StephenKingGFDL.PNG|thumb|King at the [[Harvard Book Store]], June 6, 2005]]
[[File:Stephen King, Comicon.jpg|thumb|King in 2007]]
In 2000, King published ''[[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|On Writing]]'', a mix of memoir and style manual which ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' called "a one-of-a-kind classic".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nolan |first=Tom |date=September 29, 2000 |title=Portrait of an Author |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB970186662275614802}}</ref> Later that year he published ''[[Riding the Bullet]]'', "the world's first mass e-book, with more than 500,000 downloads". Inspired by its success, he began publishing an [[Epistolary novel|epistolary]] horror novel, ''[[The Plant (novel)|The Plant]]'', in online installments using the [[pay what you want]] method provided by [[Amazon.com]]'s Honor System.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://press.aboutamazon.com/2000/7/amazon-com-chosen-by-stephen-king-to-facilitate-payment-for-exclusive-serialized-online-novel-the-plant|title=Amazon.com Chosen by Stephen King to Facilitate Payment for Exclusive Serialized Online Novel, The Plant|date=July 24, 2000|website=US Press Center}}</ref> He suggested readers pay $1 per installment, and said he'd only continue publishing if 75% of readers paid.<ref name=":Dubner">{{Cite news |author=[[Stephen J. Dubner]] |date=August 13, 2000 |title=What Is Stephen King Trying To Prove? |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000813mag-king.html}}</ref> When ''The Plant'' folded, the public assumed that King had abandoned the project because sales were unsuccessful, but King later said he had simply run out of stories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slashdot.org/features/00/11/30/1238204.shtml |title=Stephen King's Net Horror Story |publisher=Slashdot |date=December 4, 2000 |access-date=September 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502064223/http://slashdot.org/features/00/11/30/1238204.shtml |archive-date=May 2, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The unfinished novel is still available from King's official site, now free. 

In 2002, King published ''[[From a Buick 8]]'', a return to the territory of ''Christine''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=From a Buick 8 |work=Publishers Weekly |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780743211376}}</ref> In 2005, he published the mystery ''[[The Colorado Kid]]'' for the [[Hard Case Crime]] imprint.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keith |first=Phipps |date=October 12, 2005 |title=Stephen King: The Colorado Kid |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=https://www.avclub.com/stephen-king-the-colorado-kid-1798201135}}</ref> In 2006, he published ''[[Cell (novel)|Cell]],'' in which a mysterious signal broadcast over cell phones turns users into mindless killers. That same year, he published ''[[Lisey's Story]]'', about the widow of a novelist. He calls it his favorite of his novels, because "I've always felt that marriage creates its own secret world, and only in a long marriage can two people at least approach real knowledge about each other. I wanted to write about that, and felt that I actually got close to what I really wanted to say."<ref name=":ByTheBook" /> In 2007, King served as guest editor for the annual anthology ''[[The Best American Short Stories]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[Best American Short Stories 2007]]|year=2007 |editor-last=King |editor-first=Stephen}}</ref>

In 2008, King published ''[[Duma Key]]'', his first novel set in Florida,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslin|first=Janet |date=January 21, 2008 |title=Darkness in the Land of Steady Sunshine |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/books/21maslin.html}}</ref> and the collection ''[[Just After Sunset]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harrison |first=M. John |date=November 14, 2008 |title=My poisoned bon-bons |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/nov/15/just-after-sunset-stephen-king}}</ref> In 2009, it was announced he would serve as a writer for ''[[Fangoria]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephen King writes for FANGORIA! |url=http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/1-latest-news/3978-stephen-king-writes-for-fangoria.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925002142/http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/1-latest-news/3978-stephen-king-writes-for-fangoria.html |archive-date=September 25, 2009}}</ref> King's novel ''[[Under the Dome (novel)|Under the Dome]]'' was published later that year, and debuted at No. 1 on [[The New York Times Bestseller List|''The New York Times'' Bestseller List]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2009-11-29/hardcover-fiction/list.html|title=Best Sellers – The New York Times|date=November 29, 2009|access-date=March 20, 2011|first=Jennifer|last=Schuessler|newspaper=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511170235/http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2009-11-29/hardcover-fiction/list.html|archive-date=May 11, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Janet Maslin]] said of it, "Hard as this thing is to hoist, it's even harder to put down."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=November 11, 2009 |title=Stephen King's Latest Cast Feels Real |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/books/12book.html}}</ref>

=== 2010s: ''Full Dark, No Stars'' to ''The Institute'' ===
In 2010, King published ''[[Full Dark, No Stars]]'', a collection of four novellas with the common theme of retribution. In 2011, he published ''[[11/22/63]]'', about a time portal leading to 1958, and an English teacher who travels through it to try to prevent the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy assassination]]. [[Errol Morris]] called it "one of the best time travel stories since [[H. G. Wells]]".<ref>{{Cite news |author=[[Errol Morris]] |date=November 10, 2010 |title=11/22/63 -- By Stephen King -- Book Review |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/books/review/11-22-63-by-stephen-king-book-review.html}}</ref> In 2013, he published ''[[Joyland (King novel)|Joyland]]'', his second book for Hard Case Crime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Joyland |url=http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=Joyland |access-date=May 11, 2023 |website=www.hardcasecrime.com}}</ref> Later that year, he published ''[[Doctor Sleep (novel)|Doctor Sleep]]'', a sequel to ''The Shining.''

During his Chancellor's Speaker Series talk at [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]] on December 7, 2012, King said that he was writing a crime novel about a retired policeman being taunted by a murderer, with the working title ''[[Mr. Mercedes]]''.<ref>[http://www.uml.edu/Chancellor/Speaker-Series/Stephen-King-Videos.aspx "A Conversation with Stephen King"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215114727/http://www.uml.edu/Chancellor/Speaker-Series/Stephen-King-Videos.aspx |date=December 15, 2012}}. Chancellor's Speaker Series. [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]]. Retrieved December 14, 2012.</ref> In an interview with ''[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]'', he confirmed that the novel was "more or less" completed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tucker |first=Ken |date=May 25, 2013 |title=A Rare Interview with Master Storyteller Stephen King |work=Parade |url=http://www.parade.com/15671/kentucker/summers-best-books-starring-stephen-king/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607090353/http://www.parade.com/15671/kentucker/summers-best-books-starring-stephen-king/ |archive-date=June 7, 2013}}</ref> It was published in 2014 and won the [[Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The 2015 Edgar Winners & Nominees |work=Mystery Writers of America |url=http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html |access-date=October 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108155610/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> He returned to horror with ''[[Revival (novel)|Revival]]'', which he called "a nasty, dark piece of work".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=November 3, 2014 |title=Revival by Stephen King review - Stephen King returns to the horror genre |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/07/revival-by-stephen-king-review-horrific-glimpse-abyss}}</ref> King announced in June 2014 that ''Mr. Mercedes'' was part of a trilogy; the sequel, ''[[Finders Keepers (King novel)|Finders Keepers]]'', was published in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=June 16, 2015 |title=Finders Keepers - Stephen King's gripping sequel to Mr Mercedes |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/16/finders-keepers-review-stephen-king}}</ref> The third book of the trilogy, ''[[End of Watch (novel)|End of Watch]]'', was released in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=June 8, 2016 |title=End of Watch by Stephen King - a gory climax to the Mercedes trilogy |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/08/end-of-watch-by-stephen-king-review}}</ref> In 2018, he released ''[[The Outsider (King novel)|The Outsider]]'', which features the character [[Holly Gibney]], and the novella ''[[Elevation (novella)|Elevation]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smythe |first=James |title=The Outsider by Stephen King review - an impossible alibi |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/18/the-outsider-by-sephen-king}}</ref> In 2019, he released ''[[The Institute (King novel)|The Institute]]''. 

=== 2020s: ''If It Bleeds'' to present ===
In 2020, King released ''[[If It Bleeds]]'', a collection of four novellas. In 2021, he published ''[[Later (novel)|Later]]'', his third book for Hard Case Crime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Later |url=http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk164 |access-date=October 22, 2023 |website=www.hardcasecrime.com}}</ref> In 2022, King released the novel ''[[Fairy Tale (novel)|Fairy Tale]]''. ''[[Holly (novel)|Holly]]'', about Holly Gibney was released in September 2023.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Holly/Stephen-King/9781668016138|title=Holly|date=September 5, 2023 |isbn=9781668016138 |via=www.simonandschuster.com |last1=King |first1=Stephen |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref> In November 2023, the short story collection ''[[You Like It Darker]]'', featuring twelve stories (seven previously published and five unreleased) was published by  [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] in May 2024.<ref name=philippa>{{Cite web |url=https://stephenkingbooks.co.uk/2023/11/07/you-like-it-darker-a-new-collection-of-stories-is-coming-in-may-2024/ |title=YOU LIKE IT DARKER, A NEW COLLECTION OF STORIES, IS COMING IN MAY 2024 |last=Pride |first=Philippa |website=Stephen King Books UK |date=2024 |access-date=January 21, 2024}}</ref> The book debuted at No. 1 on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list]] for the week ending May 25, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2024/06/09/combined-print-and-e-book-fiction/|title=Combined Print & E-Book Fiction|work=The New York Times|date=June 9, 2024|access-date=May 31, 2024}}</ref> King announced an upcoming novel named ''[[Never Flinch]]'' on November 18, 2024. The novel is set to release on May 27, 2025.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Never-Flinch/Stephen-King/9781668089330 |title=Never Flinch |date=May 27, 2025 |isbn=978-1-6680-8933-0 |language=en |last1=King |first1=Stephen |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

===Pseudonyms===
{{Main|Richard Bachman}}

King published five short novels—''[[Rage (King novel)|Rage]]'' (1977), [[The Long Walk (novel)|''The Long Walk'']] (1979), ''[[Roadwork (novel)|Roadwork]]'' (1981), ''[[The Running Man (King novel)|The Running Man]]'' (1982) and ''[[Thinner (novel)|Thinner]]'' (1984)—under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. He explains: "I did that because back in the early days of my career there was a feeling in the publishing business that one book a year was all the public would accept...eventually the public got wise to this because you can change your name but you can't really disguise your style."<ref name="kingbachman">{{cite web |author=King, Stephen |title=Stephen King FAQ: "Why did you write books as Richard Bachman?" |url=http://www.stephenking.com/pages/FAQ/Stephen_King/whybachman.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115014750/http://www.stephenking.com/pages/FAQ/Stephen_King/whybachman.php |archive-date=November 15, 2006 |access-date=December 13, 2006 |publisher=StephenKing.com}}</ref> Bachman's surname is derived from the band [[Bachman–Turner Overdrive]] and his first name is a nod to Richard Stark, the pseudonym [[Donald E. Westlake]] used to publish his darker work.<ref>{{cite web |last=Newton |first=Steve |date=January 13, 2009 |title=Bachman-Turner Overdrive founder searched for Stephen King |url=https://www.straight.com/article-193999/bto-founder-searched-stephen-king |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118154751/http://www.straight.com/article-193999/bto-founder-searched-stephen-king |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |access-date=September 20, 2011 |website=Straight.com}}</ref> The Bachman books are grittier than King's usual fare; King called his alter-ego "Dark-toned, despairing...not a very nice guy." A [[Literary Guild]] member praised ''Thinner'' as "what Stephen King would write like if Stephen King could really write."<ref name=":Singer" /> 

Bachman was exposed as King's pseudonym in 1985 by Steve Brown, a Washington, D.C. bookstore clerk who noticed stylistic similarities between King and Bachman and located publisher's records at the [[Library of Congress]] that named King as the author of ''Rage''.<ref name=":Brown">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Stephen P. |date=April 9, 1985 |title=Steven King Shining Through |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/04/09/steven-king-shining-through/eaf662da-e9eb-4aba-9eb9-217826684ab6/}}</ref> King announced Bachman's death from "cancer of the pseudonym". King reflected that "Richard Bachman began his career not as a delusion but as a sheltered place where I could publish a few early books which I felt readers might like. Then he began to grow and come alive, as the creatures of a writer's imagination so frequently do... He took on his own reality, that's all, and when his cover was blown, he died."<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Stephen |date=April 16, 1996 |title=The Importance of Being Bachman |url=https://harveystanbrough.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Importance-of-Being-Bachman.pdf}}</ref> Originally, King planned ''Misery'' to be released under the pseudonym before his identity was discovered.<ref>{{cite book|title=Styles of Creation: Aesthetic Thechnique and the Creation of Fictional Worlds|first=Sharon|last=Delmendo|editor1-first=George Edgar|editor1-last=Slusser|editor2-first=Eric S.|editor2-last=Rabkin|page=[https://archive.org/details/stylesofcreation0000unse/page/177 177]|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=1992|isbn=9780820314914|url=https://archive.org/details/stylesofcreation0000unse/page/177}}</ref>

When ''[[Desperation (novel)|Desperation]]'' (1996) was released, the companion novel ''[[The Regulators (novel)|The Regulators]]'' was published as a "discovered manuscript" by Bachman. In 2006, King announced that he had discovered another Bachman novel, ''[[Blaze (novel)|Blaze]]'', which was published the following year. The original manuscript had been held at the [[University of Maine]] for many years and had been covered by numerous King experts. King rewrote the original 1973 manuscript for its publication.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beahm |first=George |title=The Stephen King companion: forty years of fear from the master of horror |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin |year=2015 |isbn=9781466856684 |location=New York |pages=118–119}}</ref>

King has used other pseudonyms. In 1972, the short story "[[The Fifth Quarter (short story)|The Fifth Quarter]]" was published under the name John Swithen (a ''Carrie'' character) in ''Cavalier''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beahm |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah/page/75 |title=Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=978-0836269147 |page=[https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah/page/75 75]}}</ref> ''[[Charlie the Choo-Choo|Charlie the Choo-Choo: From the World of The Dark Tower]]'' was published in 2016 under the pseudonym Beryl Evans and illustrated by [[Ned Dameron]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 22, 2016 |title='Charlie the Choo-Choo': 'The Dark Tower' fans seek Stephen King storybook that isn't real |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2016/07/22/charlie-choo-choo-stephen-king-dark-tower-comic-con |url-status=live |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810013924/http://ew.com/article/2016/07/22/charlie-choo-choo-stephen-king-dark-tower-comic-con/ |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |access-date=August 11, 2017}}</ref> It is adapted from a fictional book central to the plot of King's ''[[The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lilja's |url=http://liljas-library.com/cell/article.php?id=5157 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810012440/http://liljas-library.com/cell/article.php?id=5157 |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |access-date=August 11, 2017 |website=liljas-library.com}}</ref>

=== ''The Dark Tower'' ===
{{Main|The Dark Tower (series)}}
In the late 1970s, King began a series about a lone gunslinger, [[Roland Deschain|Roland]], who pursues the "[[Randall Flagg|Man in Black]]" in an alternate universe that is a cross between [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]] and the American [[Wild West]] as depicted by [[Clint Eastwood]] and [[Sergio Leone]] in their [[spaghetti Western]]s. The first story, ''[[The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger]]'', was initially published in five installments in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'' under the editorship of [[Edward L. Ferman]], from 1977 to 1981. It grew into an eight-volume epic, ''[[The Dark Tower (series)|The Dark Tower]]'', published between 1978 and 2012.