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Stephen King: King of Horror By Bryce Mason

English 132-02 John Kline 26 March 2012

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Outline Thesis: Stephen King is a well-known writer on horror and captures readers using a variety of techniques involving fear of the unknown and supernatural requisites. I. The Horror King A. Young readers B. Adult readers II. Unknown Fear A. Sounds 1. Booms 2. Knocks B. Naturally scary situations III. Supernatural requisites A. Aliens B. Giant creatures C. Make believe monsters IV. Writing style A. Tone B. Emphasis C. Word usage

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Stephen King was born September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. He went to a state university in Maine and after graduating, he began his very successful writing career in the genre of Horror. His first opportunity came in 1966 when he started writing short stories for American Magazine. King established himself as an excellent novel writer due to his ability to give people that sense of fear. He published his work under Richard Bachman in 1977, but in 1984, he strayed away and began establishing his work independently showing off his intriguing writing skills. To say the least Stephen King is a well-known writer on horror and captures readers using a variety of techniques involving fear of the unknown and supernatural requisites (The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia, Par. 1). Many say that King is the modern Poe and the definite king of horror. His works have sold by the millions and continue to sell. He has a crazy ability to scare people in his literary works using little things such as an everyday event. Kings works have been successful enough as novels that they were turned into motion pictures (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Par. 1). Movies such as Carrie, The Dead Zone, and The Shining, all began as successful novels and yet again flourished as movies (The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature, Par. 1). King wrote The Eyes of the Dragon, which is about the life of a dragon named Wamba. King wrote this for his daughter so that she would have the chance to read one of his works without experiencing true horror that his other books offered. This book turned out to be a huge success due to young readers being able to capture Kings writing style in a much easier fashion. This started Kings writing of childrens novels instead of writings only for adults (Ivanhoe, Par. 10).

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King writes the majority of his novels or short stories for the adult audience. These works really show off Kings true horrific state of mind and his ability to give people that sense of fear. Many adults that read his books can relate to the situations that the characters are in and even place themselves in the situation itself. King captures the readers attention and gets their minds swimming at what is going to happen next. Stephen King utilizes fear of the unknown in an absolutely sinister way. People reading his novels are constantly wondering whats around the corner or what might appear out of the darkness. The way he has mastered these tools in his horror works has enabled him to become very successful. People like to be frightened and wonder what they would do if it were them in the same situation as characters in the books. Sounds are very efficient when reading a horror story or even watching a movie. This grabs the attention of the reader and gets some adrenaline to start pumping. People like to anticipate at this point to what is going to happen next and this feeling keeps the pages turning. Reading stories that include booms or knocks are efficient in stories because maybe while the reader is reading they hear something outside. This genre, if written correctly, can definitely grab a persons attention right from the start. Naturally scary situations are also effective tools when writing a horror story. King likes to write about small towns and the darkness. Many people are afraid of the dark or are somewhat frightened by sounds of the night. Using these factors in a story make people scared

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because maybe the reader is reading the story at night or in a dim lit area. King understands what makes people scared and puts these types of elements in his stories. Supernatural requisites have been in horror stories for ages. From Dracula to Frankenstein, ghosts to ghouls. These supernatural factors have been in stories and have been told and retold for years upon years. People still enjoy the old horror stories but they also enjoy new tales as well. King bases many of his stories in New England in small towns. It is a very good place to base stories at due to its pine trees and snowy atmosphere creating a dreary dark feeling. In Kings book Needful Things, the devil comes to a small town and brings out the worst in people. The town is then turned into a slaughterhouse due to people killing one another (Film and Theater, Par. 57). Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, and Under the Dome are all alienated books. Questions have always been asked if there is other life on planets or in space. Stephen King brings aliens into some of his works and shows people a story of what would happen if aliens were to invade or take over. Aliens interest some people very much and King gives those people something to relate to as well as read. Giant creatures are a crazy topic to write about. Snakes and spiders are a widely known fear for many people in the world. Imagine how people would react if they crossed the path of a giant spider, they would have a heart attack standing up. Stephen King has a very vast imagination as well to put stories together and even make up monsters. His description of the

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make believe monsters is extremely vivid. People can actually put a picture in their minds of how the monster would look and act. King uses a tone in his stories that as the sentences are read it seems as if they are read quieter, faster, and louder in different parts of his stories. Using these techniques, he can give the reader a sense of what it is like to be in the situation and the place. Every little detail in each story is very well put together and shows that King is the true horror king. When writing a horror or mystery story tone is very important to include because without it, the story would not be as suspenseful. King has been writing stories for over forty years and has practically mastered tone in each of his novels as well as his short stories and other works. Word emphasis is another key to a horror story. Without it, the reader is not getting the feeling of excitement, creepy noise, or scary condition. The reader needs to understand what kind of noise was made or the way a person is yelling. King has mastered the uses of words in sentences in a way most writers do not. Writers need to put words in ways where the reader understands them and sentences are very clear as well as easy to read and comprehend. Most of Kings works are for the more mature, experienced readers, but the majority of people are capable of understanding the word usage in his stories. Tone, emphasis, and word usage are key techniques that King puts in his stories to become very successful in his writing career. People enjoy reading his stories and placing themselves in odd, scary situations. If other writers had the imagination and skills that Stephen

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King has, then they too could have successful careers in writing any genre of novel or short story. King wrote a story in 2000 called On Writing. This story tells about Kings life, near fatal accident. The story also elaborates on the rest of his career. King produces stories at an incredible rate and in his life, and is expected to continue to produce story upon story. People and other writers still continually criticize Kings writing style and novels. Despite the negative criticism that he received, King seems to put this behind him and continues to do his own thing using his own unique writing style (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Par. 1). In conclusion,

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Works Cited

"FILM AND THEATER." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures: New England. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Credo Reference. Web. 25 March 2012. Ivanhoe, Walter S. "SparkNotes: Complete Text of Ivanhoe: Chapter 1." SparkNotes. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. <http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/ivanhoe/section4.html>. "King, Stephen (1947)." The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 1997. Credo Reference. Web. 23 March 2012. "King, Stephen." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 23 March 2012. "King, Stephen." Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. London: Continuum, 2005. Credo Reference. Web. 23 March 2012. "King, Stephen (Edwin), (21 Sep 1947 )." The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. West Chiltington: Crystal Semantics, 2005. Credo Reference. Web. 23 March 2012.