An Ode to The King of Horror

Why You Should Read: Stephen King

Growing up as the quintessential rebellious kid who railed against anything and everything, from school, to my parents, to the government, of course found nothing but fault in the recommended reading material I was assigned by institutions of higher learning. Every book I was given by my teachers was tainted with the unmistakable scent of self-satisfied institutionalized smugness. These classics, these important pieces of literature, were nothing more than overblown relics of bygone eras, just like my teachers. I wanted to read things that were gritty, cool, unconcerned with appeasing the literary establishment. I found them. Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Keurauc, Palahniuk and Buckowski and others I thought my teachers would not approve of. I devoured these books, carried them around proudly, and, when asked about them, I would discuss the most heinous and controversial parts. I was insufferable, basically. 

But through all of this, one author in particular survived the jump from the literary counterculture of my youth to more mainstream maturity of my 20’s as I eventually settled into something resembling a human being. That was the one and only, Stephen King. I first discovered the King of Horror in middle school, far too early for his subject material. But, at the time, reading his books felt like a taboo, like I was getting away with something. So of course I was hooked. I read classics like It, Tommyknockers and Carrie as a preteen, sneaking them out of my dad’s collection and the library like I was smuggling the most illicit of banned materials. As I got older, I took on some of his more ambitious projects like The Dark Tower and The Stand. I found that no matter how old I got or what stage of life I was in, I never ran out of options to return to the well for a taste of that unique blend of storytelling that only King can produce.

People will recommend King for a whole host of reasons. He is, afterall, a massively popular, bestselling author who needs no introduction from the likes of me. His advocates will bring up his groundbreaking ideas, his masterful use of suspense and his genre defining contributions to horror, praise his immersive worlds and the ambitious scope of his interconnected universe. But over the years, what I’ve come to really love about King is his perpetual place as a cultural touchstone. The massive and pervasive body of work he continues to create has developed a sort of timelessness that few other authors have ever enjoyed during their lifetimes. Hell, the man has lived to see adaptation after adaptation of the majority of his books, to the point that classics like It and Pet Semetary have already been remade during his own lifetime. He has reached a level of cultural omnipresence only approached by the likes of comic book heroes and the Simpsons. 

After I moved on from the wayward literary ways of my youth, I found King crossed all sorts of social boundaries like few authors could. People from every walk of life adore his monstrous creations, they are the darlings of literary connoisseurs, artists and blue collar workers alike. Whether they read the books or watch the movies, almost everyone has found themselves drawn to something that has spawned from the depths of King’s imagination. I’ve made connections that would never have been possible without being a King fan, discussed books with people who hate reading, connected with people half my age and double it, found ways to bridge cultural divides that seemed like gaping chasms, just by being a fan. Turns out that Jack Torrance and Pennywise terrify millennials and baby boomers alike. No matter where you come from, we all cry for John Coffey and we all cheer for Andy Dufresne. I’m not here to tell you everyone will fall in love with King’s writing style. He’s not for everyone and he definitely has his detractors. There will always be those who shun King for their preconceived perceptions, seeing him as only an author of mass-market shlock and airport bookstore bestsellers. His books are weird and shocking, often challenging and frequently off putting. His style is meandering at times and he has a penchant for frustrating endings. But if you’ve never tried before, you might want to try giving the old wordslinger a shot. Read the books, watch the movies, binge the 6 hour 1994 miniseries of The Stand with national treasure Gary Sinise, whatever suits your taste. Maybe you’ll find a lifelong source of entertainment. Maybe you’ll become a fan like me. Maybe you won’t. But as an icon of American Literature, King refuses to be ignored.