The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror

by George Beahm, Michael Whelan (Illustrator), Glenn Chadbourne (Illustrator), Stephen Spignesi (Introduction)

Overview

The Stephen King Companion is an authoritative look at King's personal life and professional career, from Carrie to The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.

King expert George Beahm, who has published extensively about Maine's main writer, is your seasoned guide to the imaginative world of Stephen King, covering his varied and prodigious output: juvenalia, short fiction, limited edition books, bestselling novels, and film adaptations. The book is also profusely illustrated with nearly 200 photos, color illustrations by celebrated "Dark Tower" artist Michael Whelan, and black-and-white drawings by Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne.

Supplemented with interviews with friends, colleagues, and mentors who knew King well, this book looks at his formative years in Durham, where he began writing fiction as a young teen, his college years in the turbulent sixties, his struggles with early poverty, working full-time as an English teacher while writing part-time, the long road to the publication of his first novel, Carrie, and the dozens of bestselling books and major screen adaptations that followed.

For fans old and new, The Stephen King Companion is a comprehensive look at America's best-loved bogeyman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250054128
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

GEORGE BEAHM is a New York Times bestselling author. He has written more literary companions than any other writer, and has published more than thirty books on pop culture icons, such as Michael Jordan, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Indiana Jones, Anne Rice, Patricia Cornwell, The Big Bang Theory T.V. show, Caribbean Pirates, censorship, and several books on Stephen King. A former U.S. Army officer, he served on active duty and in the National Guard and Army Reserve.

Michael 'Wheels' Whelan started life in the video game industry working as a community manager and content producer on titles such as the Total War franchise and Sorcery! 4. Wheels then made the hop over to the tabletop industry as one of the founding members of the world's largest tabletop editorial brand, Dicebreaker, where he currently works as the Head of Video. Wheels has been playing, running, and designing tabletop games since he was a teenager, though at the time only creating for close friends and colleagues. In 2020 he began releasing his games to the world, finding the greatest success with his self-published tabletop roleplaying game, The House Doesn't Always Win, a playing card-driven game of risk and revolution that was nominated for a Gayming Award in 2022. Wheels lives in Brighton & Hove and is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Glenn Chadbourne is an artist best known for his horror and fantasy work. He has created covers and illustrations for books and magazines such as Cemetery Dance Publications, Subterranean Press, and Earthling Publications. Chadbourne is best known for illustrating The Secretary of Dreams, a graphic collection of Stephen King stories. He has also written, illustrated, and self-published his own comics, such as ChillVille and Farmer Fiend's Horror Harvest.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader

Foreword: The Learn’d Astronomer by Stephen J. Spignesi

Introduction: The Golden Years by George Beahm

Part One: Maine Roots

1. Family Roots

2. Durham, Maine

3. EC Comics

4. “Three Durham Lads Publishing Bright Hometown Newspaper” by Don Hansen

5. A Special Occasion: Chris Chesley’s Friendship with Stephen King

6. Stephen King at the University of Maine: A Writer in the Making by Sanford Phippen King Graduates: A Blessed Event?

7. Rick Hautala: Maine’s Other Horror Writer Rick Hautala: An Interview

8. Burton Hatlen: An Interview

9. Crossing the Kittery Bridge into Maine’s Heart of Darkness

10. From Student to Teacher: Stephen King and Carroll Terrell

Part Two: Pre-Carrie: A Hardscrabble Life

11. A Writer’s Nightmare, a Writer’s Dream

12. A Good Angel”: Cavalier editor Nye Willden

13. The Bones of the Family Business: Writing

Part Three: Doubleday Boo ks: Magic Time—The Making of the Master of Horror

14. King’s Classic Books: An Overview

15. William G. Thompson: Another Good Ange

16. Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King: The Future Queen of Durham Ruth P. King Obituary

17. Carrie

18. “Campus Columnist Publishes Novel” by Burton Hatlen Stephen King: American Gothic

19. Salem’s Lot On ’Salem’s Lot as the Great American Novel

Stephen King and Frank Darabont on Limited Edition Books

20. The Shining

The Stanley Hotel Shines On

21. Night Shift — Keep on Trucking: Maximum Overdrive

22. The Stand: Taking a Stand Against Doubleday 000

23. Cemetery Dance’s Deluxe Special Editions of the Doubleday Books

24. The Early Bachman Books” Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982)

Part Four: “The Bestsellasaurus Rex” Stomps Over to New American Library

25. Turning the Page: King Goes to New American Library

26. The Dead Zone

27. The Kings’ Maine Haunt in Bangor Terry Steel on the King’s Fence “Bats and Spiders”

28. Firestarter

29. Dark Forces: “The Mist”

30. Frank Darabont on “The Mist”: An Interview Conducted by Hans-Åke Lilja

31. Cujo Coming Clean: King’s Addiction

32. Danse Macabre

33. Stephen King’s Creepshow

34. Drawn to Darkness: Bernie Wrightson, an Artist Inspired by Stephen King

35. Stephen King: A Chautaqua in Pasadena, California

36. Different Seasons

37. The Road to the Dark Tower: Roland’s Quest

38. Michael Whelan: Illustrating the Dark Tower

39. Christine

The King’s and Queen’s Cars

40. Rock and Roll Haven: Stephen King’s Station, WKIT 100.3 FM

41. Pet Sematary

42. Thinner

43. The Talisman

Anthologist Peter Straub

44. Douglas E. Winter’s Stephen King: The Art of Darkness

45. The Eyes of the Dragon

Illustrator Kenny Ray Linkous

46. Castle Rock: “All the News That’s Fit to Print”

47. Cycle of the Werewolf

Bernie Wrightson and Cycle of the Werewolf

48. Skeleton Crew

49. J. K. Potter: Illustrating the Limited Edition of Skeleton Crew

50. Off the Beaten Path: Stephen King’s Office

51. Marsha DeFelippo: An Interview by Hans-Åke Lilja Fan Mail

52. It

“Stephen King, the Master of Pop Dread”

Michael Collings on Stephen King as Storyteller

53. SK Tours of Maine: Stephen King’s Maine Haunts

54. Misery

“Happiness is a Warm Gun”

55. Making Whoopee: Stephen King’s “Gift of Gotta” Harry, Carrie, and Garp: Stephen Kingat the Press Conference

56. Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

57. The Tommyknockers

Stephen King on The Tommyknockers

58. Bag of Nerves: Meeting Stephen King by Kevin Quigley

59. The Dark Half

60. The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition

61. Stephen King Draws on Bernie Wrightson to Illustrate The Stand “I nearly jumped out of my skin”

62. A Dark Treasure: The Limited Edition of The Stand

63. Michael Collings on Four Past Midnight

64. Rock Bottom Remainders

65. Quotes by and About the Rock Bottom Remainders

66. Needful Things

67. Gerald’s Game

68. Philtrum Press

69. Nightmares and Dreamscapes

70. Dolores Claiborne

71. Michael Collings on Insomnia

72. Rose Madder

73. Clive Barker: Demon Fabulist: Clive Barker on Stephen King

74. Desperation and The Regulators: A Bulleted Book

75. The Green Mile

Part Five: Scribner: Building Bridges

76. The Winter of King’s Discontent

77. Michael Collings in Bag of Bones

78. Storm of the Century: An Original Screenplay on Storm of the Century

79. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

80. The Day That Changed King’s Life: The Accident—June 19, 1999: “The Bonus Round” and Gallows Humor

81. Hearts in Atlantis

Coda: “Squad D”

82. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing

83. Dreamcatcher

84. Black House, with Peter Straub

85. The Ultimate Stephen King Horror Story: Retirement?

86. From a Buick 8

87. Stephen King Receives the National Book Award

88. Take Stephen King. Seriously.

89. Everything’s Eventual

90. Faithful

“Not in my lifetime. Not in yours, either.”

91. Stewart O’Nan: An Interview by Hans-Åke Lilja

92. The Colorado Kid

93. How to Speak Like a “Mainah” : A Mainer on Actors’ Maine Accents by David Lowell

94. Cell

95. Lisey’s Story

96. Blaze

97. The Haven Foundation: A Place for Freelance

98. Duma Key

99. The Kings’ Main Home in Florida: Touring “Duma Key”

100. Just After Sunset: the Story Behind “The Cat from Hell”

101. Under the Dome

The TV Adaptation of Under The Dome

102. Blockade Billy

The Skeleton Crew at Cemetery Dance

103. Full Dark, No Stars

104. 11/22/63 “Q&A: Russell Dorr, Stephen King’s Researcher”: Interviewed by Stephanie Klose

105. The Dark Man — Glenn Chadbourne: An Interview by George Beahm

106. Joyland

107. Doctor Sleep: Oscar the Cat

108. Mr. Mercedes

109. World Fantasy and World Horror Conventions: November 2014

110. Revival

111. Stephen King’s Revival Book Tour: Stephen King on Death

112. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Stevie

113. “I Hear Time’s Winged Chariot Drawing Near”

114. Finders Keepers

115. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

Part Six: Movies: Screamplays

116. Stephen: A Box Office King

117. Ten Notable Films in Chronological Order — Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary

118. Frank Darabont: An Interview by Hans-Åke Lilja

119. The Real Thing: Drew Struzan: A Profile by George Beahm

Part Seven: The Critics’ Corner

120. Stephen Spignesi: An Interview Conducted in 2015 by George Beahm

121. Stephen King and the Critics: A Personal Perspective by Michael Collings

122. Steve’s Take: An Interview with Stephen King by Tony Magistrale

123. The King and I: Further Adventures with Stephen King by Sanford Phippen

Part Eight: Steph en King in Cyberspace

124. Top Web Sites for King Fans Glass Onion Graphics: Michael Whelan’s Dark Tower Prints

125. Lilja’s Library: An Interview with Hans-Åke Lilja by George Beahm

126. An Interview with David A. Williamson of Betts Books by George Beahm

127. Making the Grade: Assessing Book Condition

A Chronology of Stephen King’s Life:

Personal and Professional, 1947–2015 000

Acknowledgments

About the writers

About the artists

About the author

Editorial Reviews

This is for the Cujo-level rabid fan.” —Booklist

“[Beahm] has done a wonderful job with the book, its text, its illustrations, its photos...well, all of the books contents are well worth reading. This is a book every King fan will want to read no matter if you are like me and need to know everything there is about him or if you just read his books and don't care about much more. You will still enjoy this book and it will give you a better insight into King and his writing.” —Lilja's Library on The Stephen King Companion

"There’s so much to this sumptuous new book on King, and though it’s over double the size of the previous Stephen King Companion, it’s just as fun to read. King fans looking for a deeper glimpse into the books and the man who wrote them couldn’t do better than Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror, now the definitive first stop on the journey into Stephen King criticism." —Cemetery Dance

"The completeness of Beahm's analysis coupled accessible writing style make this book extremely absorbing. Owing to its tone and format, this title will appeal most to fans of King, who will find that its insights lend a new light to their favorite tales."

—Library Journal (starred review)

"Beahm's revelations are true to my heart as someone who has appreciated the scope of Stephen King more every year... [A] totally viable literary reference book that is up-to-date and inclusive." —Daily Press (Virginia)

"Beahm does a remarkable job of presenting all aspects of King's life, including his family and their values . . . A sure winner with King fans or those curious about the man behind the legend."—School Library Journal

"Just what the fans of the nation's most popular writer needed: a sprightly collection of artifacts, interviews, speeches, trivia, opinions, and pictures about their man and his books."—Booklist

"To his credit, the Companion doesn't assume that everything King touches is perfect. This gives the whole effort credibility, which books of this type often don't have."—The Washington Post

"The Stephen King Companion is the best guide to the entire trajectory of King's work . . . All in all, this is a treasure chest of information, plus photographs."—Sunday Record (Middletown, N.Y.)

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2015
This is the third edition (the first was published in 1989, the second in 1995) of Beahm's look at the life and work of seminal author Stephen King (b. 1947). Beahm (Steve Jobs' Life By Design; The Stephen King Story) is a prolific, best-selling author of literary companions, and his expertise and thoroughness are clearly displayed here. This book is not literary criticism but rather a chronological exploration of the experience and achievements of King. This approach allows the reader to get to know the subject as person, which leads to a better understanding of his fiction. For example, the section on the novel Cycle of the Werewolf is more about the events that point to its creation then about the book itself. VERDICT The completeness of Beahm's analysis coupled with his accessible writing style make this book extremely absorbing. Owing to its tone and format, this title will appeal most to fans of King, who will find that its insights lend a new light to their favorite tales.—Matthew Gallagher, Victoria, BC

Library Journal