Stephen King

Also known as Richard Bachman, John Swithen, Richard Richard

Stephen Edwin King is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror fiction and has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.

OverviewAI-generated

Stephen King is an American television producer, science fiction writer, actor, and columnist. Born in Portland on September 21, 1947, he is a member of the Democratic Party. He was educated at the University of Maine and has resided in Portland, Bangor, Fort Wayne, and Stratford. King is married to Tabitha King, and they have two children, Joe Hill and Owen King.

His notable works include Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, and The Stand. He has written in the genres of horror literature, fantasy, science fiction, and drama, and has been influenced by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, and H. P. Lovecraft. King has received the National Book Award, Edgar Awards, and Bram Stoker Awards. He has also been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Nebula Award, a Golden Raspberry Award, and a Hugo Award.

Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Stephen King appears in Vinony's National Book Award collection — one of 301 entries.

Vinony's link graph records 3,669 inbound references to Stephen King, and connects out to The Dark Tower, thriller and National Book Award.

It is catalogued under topics including 1947 births, 20th-century American essayists and 20th-century American male writers.

Vinony links it to 113 Wikipedia language editions.

Person · Open Library

Born: 21 September 1947
Works: 606

Top works

Revelations
Young blood
Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos
The Best American Short Stories 2007
Dark Love

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Portland, Maine, USA

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. He is widely known for his horror novels and has been crowned the "King of Horror". He has also explored other genres: suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Though known primarily for his novels, he has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections. His debut, Carrie…

Known for

Chain Reactions — Self2025
My Father, the BTK Killer — Self - Author, 'The Good Marriage' / Guest, CBS This Morning (archive footage)2025
King on Screen — Self (archive footage)2023
The Timekeepers of Eternity — Tom Holby (archive footage)2021
Stephen King: A Necessary Evil — Self - Writer (archive footage)2020
Duncanville — (voice)2020
It Chapter Two — Shopkeeper2019
Die Stephen King Story — Himself2019
The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends — Self2019
The King: Stephen King's America — Himself2019

via TMDB

Wikipedia views (30d)

193,239 total

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Edwin
Family name: King
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Portland
Spouse: Tabitha King
Occupation: film director
Political party: Democratic Party (United States)
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: English language
Notable work: The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
Genre: detective fiction
Official website: stephenking.com
Image: Stephen King at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival 2 (cropped).jpg
Residence: Stratford
Significant event: car collision

Show 19 more facts

Commons category: Stephen King
date of birth: 1947-09-21
topic's main category: Category:Stephen King
Commons gallery: Stephen King
start of work period: 1959-00-00
pseudonym: Richard Bachman
name in native language: Stephen King
list of works: Stephen King short fiction bibliography
birth name: Stephen Edwin King
has works in the collection: National Gallery of Art
writing language: English language
related category: Category:Films with screenplays by Stephen King
topic has template: Template:Stephen King
medical condition: cocaine dependence
different from: Stephen Hawking
floruit: 1971-01-01
social media followers: 196381
member of: Writers Guild of America, East
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror fiction and has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.

His debut, Carrie (1974), established him in horror and Different Seasons (1982), a collection of four novellas, was his first major departure from the genre. Among the films adapted from King's fiction are Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), The Dead Zone (1983), Stand by Me (1986), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Green Mile (1999), It (2017), The Life of Chuck (2024) and The Long Walk (2025). He has published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and has co-written works with other authors, notably his friend Peter Straub and sons Joe Hill and Owen King. He has also written nonfiction, notably Danse Macabre (1981) and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Stephen King” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.