Stephen King is often called the "King of Horrors" because his works are mostly written in the horror genre. He is the author of 56 novels, 200 short stories and five books on popular science topics. His books sell millions of copies and enjoy steady success with readers of different generations.

Writers who became legends in their lifetime can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One of them was Stephen King, whose life was no less amazing than the plots of his works. World fame came to him very early. The most interesting thing is that his name was heard even by those who rarely, if ever, never pick up a book. He writes books, using a variety of genres, their plots fascinate by the extraordinary imagination and exuberant fantasy. Pictures based on his works, kept in suspense until the last frame, they bring tears, laughter, panic and empathy for the main characters. Stephen King had a hard road to world fame, and his biography testifies to it.

Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Man, USA. It was a true miracle because his parents no longer dreamed of having a child of their own. His mother was told by doctors that she was infertile. It was for this reason that Nellie Ruth Pillbury's first marriage broke up. Her second husband was a merchant ship captain, Donald Edward King. In 1945, they took a child from an orphanage and gave him the name David Victor. And in 1947, contrary to the diagnosis of doctors, Nellie became pregnant, and in September she gave birth to a son, Stephen Edwin.

But even such a joyful event did not help keep the family together. The boys' father was a passionate cheater, he absolutely did not like the family routine, he wanted freedom. When his son was a two-year-old boy, he simply vanished from his life.

Many years later, when American filmmakers were making a documentary project about King's life in the 1990s, they managed to "get on the trail" of the absconding parent. It turned out that he had been around the whole time - living with his new wife and four kids in Pennsylvania.

At the age of four, Steve received his first serious stress and shock. He witnessed the death of a boy his age who was literally mauled by a freight train. Because of his age he soon forgot about this tragedy, and remembered it only a few years later, when the topic came up in conversation. This incident had a powerful effect on his work, and he wrote several works under the impression.

Steven had not been in good health since childhood, and the constant moves only made the situation worse. He got the measles and barely made it out. Then he came down with an acute pharyngitis, resulting in an ear infection that could not be treated even with antibiotics. Doctors had to puncture his eardrum three times, causing Steve unbearable suffering. He was so sick for so long that he was dropped for a second year in first grade.

Most likely, this suffering and hardship influenced the formation of the young Stephen's outlook and tastes. He was somehow gloomy, enjoying watching horror movies, of which he watched countless. Stephen had a kind of vulnerable psyche. Even the animated film "Bambi," which showed a forest fire, caused constant nightmares.

He read books in the same genre as movies. Most of all he enjoyed Spider-Man, The Hulk, Superman, the author of which was Ray Bradbury.

In order not to dwell on his illness, Stephen, at the instigation of his mother, took up the pen himself. He wrote his first story when he was seven. He had read a comic book about Captain Casey and just wanted to retell it. His mother was very complimentary of the young writer, but she didn't fail to tell him that he was so clever and could come up with the plot of the story himself.

It was as if Stephen had a breakthrough, he began to write without stopping. The boy wrote his first "bestseller" based on the plot of the movie "The Pit and the Pendulum”. Then he printed it out on a hectograph and sold forty copies to his family and neighbors.

As a high school student, King was at a loss as to what he would do in the future. He wanted to become a university student, then he was going to join the number of volunteers in Vietnam to witness interesting facts for his future works. The fact that he would devote himself to writing, the boy decided a long time ago. His mother managed to persuade Steven to abandon the idea of Vietnam, because in addition to poor health, he also had poor eyesight.

As a high school student, King was at a loss as to what he would do in the future. He wanted to become a university student, then he was going to join the number of volunteers in Vietnam to witness interesting facts for his future works. The fact that he would devote himself to writing, the boy decided a long time ago. His mother managed to persuade Steven to abandon the idea of Vietnam, because in addition to poor health, he also had poor eyesight.

Stephen married as a student. His wife was Tabitha Spruce, who studied with him at the same university. Soon they became the parents of a son Joseph and a daughter Naomi, after a while his wife gave King another son - Owen. Tabitha also tried her hand at literature, becoming the author of nine novels, but they were not in demand.

After receiving a bachelor's degree, he decided to write, and this earns his daily bread. However, the income from this occupation, he did not see. By that time, Stephen had gotten a job at a laundromat and was bringing home a meager salary, his wife received a student loan, and sometimes his stories were published in magazines, for which royalties were due. That was all the income of the young family.

In 1971 King found a job as an English teacher in a school in Hampden, Man. He was still writing, but with each passing day he was losing more and more faith in his literary abilities. One day his wife found a draft of a manuscript in the trash. The woman pulled it out and read it. She liked it and pestered Stephen to finish the novel.

In 1974, a publication published a novel called “arrie”, the very one his wife pulled out of the trash. The writer received his first serious fee - $2,500. Stephen didn't even think his work would resonate with readers, but it did. Soon the first publisher ceded the copyright to another one, called NAL, charging the latter $400,000. Half of the money was going to King.

After that, Stephen was free to leave school and get down to what he loved. Together with his family he moved to Boulder, Colorado, and sat down to write his second masterpiece, the novel The Shining.

In the 1970s King used the pseudonym Richard Bachman, which he used to sign his works. The “Road Works”, “The Long Walk”, “Thinning”, and “The Running Man” were all published under that name. He settled on that name only because he was a fan of the band Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

King gave up his pseudonym when he was exposed in one of the book boutiques in Washington.

King's best works were written in the 1980s and 1990s. These include the novel “shooter Rifleman”, which later became part of the “Dark Tower” series. Record time for writing was a novel of three hundred pages called "The Running Man”. It took the writer only ten days to create it.

In 1996 Stephen wrote “The Green Mile”, which became his favorite work. In 1997, the writer signed a contract with the publishing house Simon & Schuster, from which he received an $8 million advance for the novel, “called Bag of Bones”. In addition, the publisher paid him half of all proceeds from its sale.

A lot of the writer's works have been adapted into films. In 1998, King wrote the screenplay for the most popular movie of that time - the TV series "The X-Files".

In 2002, Stephen made a statement about the cessation of his writing career. The reason was in poor health, he could not sit for long periods, because the pain in his hip did not let him work. But soon the writer's fans had reason to rejoice - he broke his promise and took up his work again.

In 2004 Stephen released the final part of “The Dark Tower”. In 2006 he became the author of an equally interesting work - the novel Lisey's Story.

In 2008-2016 he published several more collections of short stories and novels. In the summer of 2016, he presented the 3rd part of the novel titled "Mr. Mercedes".

At the same time, a creative evening was televised with two celebrities, Stephen King and George Martin, held in the city of Albuquerque.

                               Polnikov Alexey
                               librarian of the Department of the International Book