A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.

Film

The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source. For example, 2001's ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a remake of the 1960 film, while 1989's ''Batman'' is a re-interpretation of the comic book source material which also inspired 1966's ''Batman''.

With some exceptions, remakes make significant character, plot, and theme changes. For example, the 1968 film ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' is centered on a bank robbery, while its 1999 remake involves the theft of a valuable piece of artwork. Similarly, when the 1969 film ''The Italian Job'' was remade in 2003, few aspects were carried over. Another notable example is the 1932 film ''Scarface'' which was remade in 1983 starring Al Pacino; whereas the setting of 1932 version is the illegal alcohol trade, the characters in the 1983 version are involved in cocaine smuggling. Sometimes a remake is made by the same director. For example, Yasujirō Ozu's black and white ''A Story of Floating Weeds'' was remade into the color ''Floating Weeds''. Alfred Hitchcock remade his 1934 black and white ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' in color in 1956; as did Cecil B. DeMille with his 1956 remake of his silent 1923 film ''The Ten Commandments''. Most recently, in 2008, Michael Haneke made ''Funny Games U.S.'', his English-language remake of his original ''Funny Games'' (this is also an example of a shot-for-shot remake).

Not all remakes use the same title as the previously released version; the 1966 film ''Walk, Don't Run'', for example, is a remake of the World War II comedy ''The More the Merrier''. This is particularly true for films that are remade from films produced in another language, such as: ''Point of No Return'' (from the French ''Nikita''), ''Vanilla Sky'' (from the Spanish ''Abre los ojos''), ''The Magnificent Seven'' (from the Japanese ''Seven Samurai''), ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (from the Japanese ''Yojimbo''), and ''The Departed'' (from Hong Kong's ''Infernal Affairs'').

Although it does not meet the definition of a remake, a similar (and increasingly common) development is the use of a successful (usually older) television series as the source material for a feature film. Like film remakes, these often fare badly at the box-office and/or are considered a poor reflection on the source material (e.g. ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', ''Bewitched'', ''My Favorite Martian'', ''Dudley Do-Right''); however, some have gone on to become successful film franchises (e.g. ''The Addams Family'', ''Mission: Impossible'').

Video games

There are video game remakes as well. Some are more complete remakes where much of the game was changed such as ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' being a remake of the original ''Metroid'' or ''Silent Hill: Shattered Memories'' being a whole re-interpretation of the original ''Silent Hill''. Some of them are simply the original game with some added content, such as the Xbox 360 and Wii versions of ''Bully''. Others are essentially the same game, perhaps with some added content, simply ported to newer video game consoles or operating systems. There are even some that are a mixture of the two, where there is a good mix of old and new content, such as the ''Final Fantasy'' remakes for the Nintendo DS and ''Super Mario 64 DS''. ''OpenTTD'' is a fan-made remake of '' Transport Tycoon Deluxe''.

Television

Remakes occur less often on television than in film, but have happened from time to time. Examples include ''Battlestar Galactica'' (1978, 2003), ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (1983, 2002), ''Hunter'', ''Knight Rider'' (1982, 2008), ''La Femme Nikita'' (1997, 2010), ''Melrose Place'', ''Beverly Hills 90210'', ''V'' (1983, 2009), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968, 2010), and ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976, 2011).

One area where television remakes are particularly common is trans-Atlantic ports, where US shows are remade for the UK (see List of U.S. television series remade for the British market) or more frequently, UK shows are remade for a US market (see List of British television series remade for the U.S. market). An interesting example is ''Three's Company'', a US remake of the British ''Man About the House'': not only was the original show re-created (with very few character or situation changes made, at least initially), but both series had spin-offs based on the Ropers (in the UK, ''George And Mildred'', in the US, ''The Ropers''), and both series were eventually re-tooled into series based on the male lead (in the UK, ''Robin's Nest'', in the US, ''Three's a Crowd'').

While not, strictly speaking, remakes, television adaptations of theatrical films have occurred (e.g. ''La Femme Nikita'', ''The Odd Couple'', ''M*A*S*H'', ''F/X: The Series''). There also have been TV series that are (more or less) direct spin-offs of successful films (e.g. ''Highlander: The Series'', ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Stargate SG-1'', ''Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'').

Other re-imagined pilots include ''Dallas'' (2011), ''Wonder Woman'' (2011), Annie (musical) (2011) .

Reimagine or renovate

In recent years, the terms ''reimagine'' (or ''re-imagine'') and, to a lesser extent, ''renovate'' have become popular in reference to remakes which do not closely follow the original. The terms are used by creators in the marketing of films and television shows to inform audiences that the new product is not the same as the old one. Reimaginings and renovations often contain tongue in cheek references to the original, with characters of the same name and similar concepts, while remaining significantly different from the original. In ''Tin Man'', a reimagining of ''The Wizard of Oz'', for example, the main character is named DG, a reference to Dorothy Gale from ''The Wizard of Oz'', and the land she enters is called the Outer Zone (O.Z.).

The imagining of a franchise often leads to controversy within established fan communities as to which is more legitimate or more popular. There are various examples of remakes which are most associated with the ''reimagine'' or ''renovate'' terms, and these include Tim Burton's ''Planet of the Apes'', Nora Ephron's ''Bewitched'', Marcus Nispel's ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' and ''Friday the 13th'', Rob Zombie's ''Halloween'', Ronald D. Moore's ''Battlestar Galactica'', David Eick's ''Bionic Woman'', Nelson McCormick's ''Prom Night'', Zack Snyder's ''Dawn of the Dead'', and Kenneth Johnson ''V''. Tim Burton has denied that his 2010 film ''Alice in Wonderland'' is a renovation of Lewis Carroll's classic novel; however, the plot line of the film bears very little resemblance to the original or derivatives of it, such as the classic 1951 animated film from Walt Disney.

The reimaginging or renovation practice has also occurred within other media, such as video games and comic books. One example in gaming is ''Bomberman Act: Zero'', a more hardcore version of ''Bomberman'', which was not well received. Another is ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'', which changes some elements of the game and story to fit into a sequel, while paying homage to the original. In comics, the new ''Sgt. Rock'', with the Rock character as a member of the U.S. 442nd Infantry regiment, and the unknown "Easy Company", as well as ''Unknown Soldier'', which takes place in Uganda in 2002, both change the character's background or setting in order for the story to be more realistic and interesting for modern readers. The term ''reimagine'' has also been applied to music releases, such as ''Brian Wilson Reimagines Gerswhin'' (Disney, 2010) and Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis: The Album" (Sony Legacy, 2010).

See also

Reboot (fiction)

Shot-for-shot

List of film remakes

List of British television series remade for the U.S. market

List of English-language films based on foreign-language films

Cover versions of a song

Video game remake

Remastering

References

Category:Film and video terminology

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Stephen King
pseudonym	Richard Bachman, John Swithen
birth date	September 21, 1947
birth name	Stephen Edwin King
birth place	Portland, Maine, U.S.
occupation	Novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, columnist, actor, television producer, film director
genre	Horror, fantasy, science fiction, drama, gothic, genre fiction, dark fantasy
net worth	?
notableworks	''Carrie'', ''The Shining'', ''The Stand'', ''It'', and ''Misery''
influences	Burton HatlenBram StokerShirley JacksonH. P. LovecraftRichard MathesonRay BradburyEdgar Allan PoeJohn D. MacDonaldDon Robertson
influenced	Peter David,J. J. Abrams,Damon Lindelof, Jeaniene Frost
website	http://www.stephenking.com
spouse	Tabitha King
children	Naomi KingJoe KingOwen King
Signature	Stephen King Signature.svg }}

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, which have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books. As of 2011, King has written and published 49 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, five non-fiction books, and nine collections of short stories. Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine.

King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Society Awards, his novella ''The Way Station'' was a Nebula Award novelette nominee, and in 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Early life

King's father, Donald Edwin King, who was born ca. 1913 in Peru, Indiana, was a merchant seaman. King's mother, Nellie Ruth (née Pillsbury; March 13, 1913 – December 28, 1973) was born in Scarborough, Maine. They were married July 23, 1939, in Cumberland County, Maine.

Stephen King was born September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. When King was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of "going to buy a pack of cigarettes," leaving his mother to raise King and his adopted older brother, David, by herself, sometimes under great financial strain. The family moved to De Pere, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Stratford, Connecticut. When King was eleven years old, the family returned to Durham, Maine, where Ruth King cared for her parents until their deaths. She then became a caregiver in a local residential facility for the mentally challenged.

As a child, King apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train, though he has no memory of the event. His family told him that after leaving home to play with the boy, King returned, speechless and seemingly in shock. Only later did the family learn of the friend's death. Some commentators have suggested that this event may have psychologically inspired some of King's darker works, but King himself has dismissed the idea.

King's primary inspiration for writing horror fiction was related in detail in his 1981 non-fiction ''Danse Macabre'', in a chapter titled "An Annoying Autobiographical Pause". King makes a comparison of his uncle successfully dowsing for water using the bough of an apple branch with the sudden realization of what he wanted to do for a living. While browsing through an attic with his elder brother, King uncovered a paperback version of an H.P. Lovecraft collection of short stories that had belonged to his father. The cover art—an illustration of a yellow-green Demon hiding within the recesses of a Hellish cavern beneath a tombstone—was, he writes, the moment in his life which "that interior dowsing rod responded to.”

Education and early career

King attended Durham Elementary School and graduated from Lisbon Falls High School, in Lisbon Falls, Maine. He displayed an early interest in horror as an avid reader of EC's horror comics, including ''Tales from the Crypt'' (he later paid tribute to the comics in his screenplay for ''Creepshow''). He began writing for fun while still in school, contributing articles to ''Dave's Rag'', the newspaper that his brother published with a mimeograph machine and later began selling stories to his friends which were based on movies he had seen (though when discovered by his teachers, he was forced to return the profits). The first of his stories to be independently published was "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber", serialized over three published and one unpublished issue of a fanzine, ''Comics Review'', in 1965. That story was published the following year in a revised form as "In a Half-World of Terror" in another fanzine, ''Stories of Suspense'', edited by Marv Wolfman.

From 1966, King studied English at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. That same year his first daughter, Naomi Rachel, was born. He wrote a column for the student newspaper, ''The Maine Campus'', titled "Steve King's Garbage Truck", took part in a writing workshop organized by Burton Hatlen, and took odd jobs to pay for his studies, including one at an industrial laundry. He sold his first professional short story, "The Glass Floor", to ''Startling Mystery Stories'' in 1967. The Fogler Library at UMaine now holds many of King's papers.

After leaving the university, King earned a certificate to teach high school but, being unable to find a teaching post immediately, initially supplemented his laboring wage by selling short stories to men's magazines such as ''Cavalier''. Many of these early stories have been published in the collection ''Night Shift''. In 1971, King married Tabitha Spruce, a fellow student at the University of Maine whom he had met at the University's Fogler Library after one of Professor Hatlen's workshops. That fall, King was hired as a teacher at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels. It was during this time that King developed a drinking problem, which stayed with him for more than a decade.

King and his wife, Tabitha, have three children, Naomi, Joe and Owen. Tabitha, Joe and Owen are also published writers.

1970s–80s work

In 1973, King's novel ''Carrie'' was accepted by publishing house Doubleday. King actually threw an early draft of the novel in the trash after becoming discouraged with his progress writing about a teenage girl with psychic powers. His wife retrieved the manuscript and encouraged him to finish it. His advance for ''Carrie'' was $2,500, with paperback rights earning $400,000 at a later date. King and his family relocated to southern Maine because of his mother's failing health. At this time, he began writing a book titled ''Second Coming'', later titled ''Jerusalem's Lot'', before finally changing the title to '''Salem's Lot'' (published 1975). In a 1987 issue of ''The Highway Patrolman'' magazine, he stated, "The story seems sort of down home to me. I have a special cold spot in my heart for it!" Soon after the release of ''Carrie'' in 1974, his mother died of uterine cancer. His Aunt Emrine read the novel to her before she died. King has written of his severe drinking problem at this time, stating that he was drunk delivering the eulogy at his mother's funeral.

After his mother's death, King and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado, where King wrote ''The Shining'' (published 1977). The family returned to western Maine in 1975, where King completed his fourth novel, ''The Stand'' (published 1978). In 1977, the family, with the addition of Owen Phillip (his third and last child), traveled briefly to England, returning to Maine that fall where King began teaching creative writing at the University of Maine. He has kept his primary residence in Maine ever since.

In 1985 King wrote his first work for the comic book medium, writing a few pages of the benefit X-Men comic book ''Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men''. The book, whose profits were donated to assist with famine relief in Africa, was written by a number of different authors in the comic book field, such as Chris Claremont, Stan Lee, and Alan Moore, as well as authors not primarily associated with that industry, such as Harlan Ellison. The following year, King wrote the introduction to ''Batman'' #400, an anniversary issue in which he expressed his preference for that character over Superman.

''The Dark Tower'' books

In the late 1970s, King began what became a series of interconnected stories about a lone gunslinger, Roland, who pursues the "Man in Black" in an alternate-reality universe that is a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and the American wild west as depicted by Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone in their spaghetti westerns. The first of these stories, ''The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'', was first published in five installments by ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' under the editorship of Edward L. Ferman, beginning in 1977 and the last in 1981. The Gunslinger was continued as a large 7-book epic called The Dark Tower, which were written and published infrequently over four decades.

In 1982, the fantasy small-press Donald M. Grant (known for publishing the entire canon of Robert E. Howard) printed these stories for the first time together in hardcover form with color and black-and-white illustrations by fantasy artist Michael Whelan, as ''The Gunslinger''. Each chapter was named for the story previously published in magazine form. King dedicated the hardcover edition to his editor at ''F&SF;'', Ed Ferman, who "took a chance on these stories". The original print-run was only 10,000 copies, which was, by this time, a comparatively low run for a first printing of a King novel in hardcover. His 1980 novel, ''Firestarter'', had an initial print-run in trade hardcover at 100,000 copies, and his 1983 novel, ''Christine'', had a trade hardcover print-run of 250,000 copies, both by the much larger publisher Viking. ''The Gunslinger'''s initial release was not highly publicized, and only specialty science-fiction and related bookstores carried it on their shelves. The book was generally not available in the larger chain stores, except by special order. Rumors spread among avid fans that there was a King book out that few readers knew about, let alone had actually read. When the initial 10,000 copies sold out, Grant printed another 10,000 copies in 1984, but these runs were still far short of the growing demand among fans for this book. ''The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'' was the beginning of his magnum opus fantasy epic. Both the first and second printings of ''The Gunslinger'' garner premium prices on the collectible book market, notably among avid readers and collectors of Stephen King, horror literature, fantasy literature, American western literature, and fans of the artwork of Michael Whelan.

In 1987, King released the second installment, ''The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three'', in which Roland draws three people from 20th-century United States into his world through magical doors. Grant published ''The Drawing of the Three'' with illustrations by Phil Hale in a slightly larger run of 30,000 copies, which was still well below King's typical initial hardcover print-run of a new book. (''It'', published in 1986, had an initial print-run of 1,000,000 copies, King's largest to date.) King had believed that the Dark Tower books would only be of interest to a select group of his fans, and he had resisted releasing it on a larger scale. Finally, in the late 1980s, bowing to pressure from his publishers and fans who were searching for the books (at this point fewer than 50,000 of his millions of readers would have been able to own any of the Dark Tower books), King agreed to release ''The Gunslinger'' and all subsequent Dark Tower books in trade paperback and mass market formats. The series reached seven books, with the final installment called ''The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower'', in 2004.

In the early 2000s King revised the original book, ''The Gunslinger'', because he felt the voice and imagery of the original stories of the late 1970s did not seem to fit the voice of the final installment of 2004. King felt the style of the work had markedly changed during the intervening 27 years. The revised version was published in 2003 by his former hardcover publisher Viking. Grant published its hardcover limited edition of the revised version of ''The Gunslinger'' along with a prequel story set in the Dark Tower world called "The Little Sisters of Eluria" (from King's short story collection ''Everything's Eventual'') in 2009.

Adaptations

In October 2005, King signed a deal with Marvel Comics to publish a seven-issue, miniseries spin-off of the series called ''The Gunslinger Born''. The series, which focuses on a young Roland Deschain, is plotted by Robin Furth, with dialogue by Peter David, and illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Jae Lee. The first issue was published on February 7, 2007, and King, David, Lee and Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada appeared at a midnight signing at a Times Square, New York comic book store to promote it. The work had sold over 200,000 copies by March 2007. The success of ''The Gunslinger Born'' led to an ongoing series of miniseries published by Marvel, with Furth and David continuing to collaborate, featuring both adapted material from the ''Dark Tower'' books and new material approved by King; it also led to a second series of King adaptations in the same format, serializing the events of ''The Stand''.

Although ''The Hollywood Reporter'' announced in February 2007 that plans were underway for ''Lost'' co-creator J. J. Abrams to do an adaptation of King's epic ''Dark Tower'' series, Abrams stated in a November 2009 interview with MTV that he would not be adapting the series.

Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will produce a feature film trilogy and a television series for Universal Pictures and NBC, based on ''The Dark Tower'' series, with Howard slated to direct the first movie, which is scheduled for a May 17, 2013 release. That film will be followed by a TV series that will tie into the second movie.

Richard Bachman

In the late 1970s-early 1980s, King published a handful of short novels—''Rage'' (1977), ''The Long Walk'' (1979), ''Roadwork'' (1981), ''The Running Man'' (1982) and ''Thinner'' (1984)—under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The idea behind this was largely an experiment to measure for himself whether or not he could replicate his own success again, and allay at least part of the notion within his mind that popularity might all be just an accident of fate. An alternate (or additional) explanation was that publishing standards at the time allowed only a single book a year.

Richard Bachman was exposed as being King's pseudonym after a persistent Washington D.C. bookstore clerk, Steve Brown, noticed similarities between the two's works and later located publisher's records at the Library of Congress naming King as the author of one of Bachman's novels. This led to a press release heralding Bachman's "death"—supposedly from "cancer of the pseudonym." King dedicated his 1989 book ''The Dark Half'', about a pseudonym turning on a writer, to "the deceased Richard Bachman", and in 1996, when the Stephen King novel ''Desperation'' was released, the companion novel ''The Regulators'' carried the "Bachman" byline.

In 2006, during a press conference in London, King declared that he had discovered another Bachman novel, titled ''Blaze''. It was published on June 12, 2007. In fact, the manuscript had been held at King's alma mater, the University of Maine in Orono, for many years and had been covered by numerous King experts. King completely rewrote the 1973 manuscript for its publication.

Car accident and thoughts of retirement

On June 19, 1999 at about 4:30 p.m., King was reading a book and walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine. Driver Bryan Smith, distracted by an unrestrained dog moving in the back of his minivan, struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5. According to Oxford County Sheriff deputy Matt Baker, King was struck from behind and some witnesses said the driver was not speeding or reckless.

King was conscious enough to give the deputy phone numbers to contact his family but was in considerable pain. The author was first transported to Northern Cumberland Hospital in Bridgton and then flown by helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston. His injuries—a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip—kept him at CMMC until July 9. His leg bones were so shattered doctors initially considered amputating it, but stabilized the bones in the leg with an external fixator. After five operations in ten days and physical therapy, King resumed work on ''On Writing'' in July, though his hip was still shattered and he could only sit for about forty minutes before the pain became worse. Soon it became nearly unbearable.

King's lawyer and two others purchased Smith's van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. The van was later crushed at a junkyard, much to King's disappointment, as he dreamed of beating it with a baseball bat once his leg was healed. King later mentioned during an interview with ''Fresh Air's'' Terry Gross that he wanted to completely destroy the vehicle himself with a pickaxe.

Two years later, King suffered severe pneumonia as a direct result of his lung being punctured in the accident. During this time, Tabitha King was inspired to redesign his studio. King visited the space while his books and belongings were packed away. What he saw was an image of what his studio would look like if he died, providing a seed for his novel ''Lisey's Story''.

2000s work

In 2002, King announced he would stop writing, apparently motivated in part by frustration with his injuries, which had made sitting uncomfortable and reduced his stamina. He has since resumed writing, but states on his website that:

"I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be."

In 2000, King published a serialized novel, ''The Plant'', online, bypassing print publication. At first it was presumed by the public that King had abandoned the project because sales were unsuccessful, but he later stated that he had simply run out of stories. The unfinished epistolary novel is still available from King's official site, now free. Also in 2000, he wrote a digital novella, ''Riding the Bullet'', and has said he sees e-books becoming 50% of the market "probably by 2013 and maybe by 2012." But he also warns: "Here's the thing—people tire of the new toys quickly."

In August 2003 King began writing a column on pop culture appearing in ''Entertainment Weekly'', usually every third week. The column is called "The Pop of King", a play on the nickname "The King of Pop" commonly given to Michael Jackson.

In 2006, King published an apocalyptic novel, ''Cell''.

In 2007, Marvel Comics began publishing comic books based on King's ''Dark Tower'' series, followed by adaptations of ''The Stand'' in 2008 and ''The Talisman'' in 2009.

In 2008, King published both a novel, ''Duma Key'', and a collection, ''Just After Sunset''. The latter featured 13 short stories, including a novella, ''N.'', which was later released as a serialized animated series that could be seen for free, or, for a small fee, could be downloaded in a higher quality; it then was adopted into a limited comic book series.

In 2009, King published ''Ur'', a novella written exclusively for the launch of the second-generation Amazon Kindle and available only on Amazon.com, and ''Throttle'', a novella co-written with his son Joe Hill, which later was released as an audiobook ''Road Rage'', which included Richard Matheson's short story "Duel". On November 10 that year, King's novel, ''Under the Dome'', was published. It is a reworking of an unfinished novel he tried writing twice in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and at 1,074 pages, it is the largest novel he has written since 1986's ''It''. It debuted at #1 in The New York Times Bestseller List, and #3 in UK Book Charts.

On February 16, 2010, King announced on his website that his next book will be a collection of four previously unpublished novellas. The book is called ''Full Dark, No Stars''. In April of that year, King published ''Blockade Billy'', an original novella issued first by independent small press Cemetery Dance Publications and later released in mass market paperback by Simon & Schuster. This baseball-related suspense novella is not set to be reprinted in ''Full Dark, No Stars''. The following month, DC Comics premiered ''American Vampire'', a monthly comic book series written by King with short story writer Scott Snyder, and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, which represents King's first original comics work.

In March 2011, Stephen King announced two new books: his next novel, ''11/22/63'', will be published November 8, 2011, and the eighth Dark Tower volume, ''The Wind Through the Keyhole'' will be published in 2012.

Collaborations

King has written two novels with acclaimed horror novelist Peter Straub: ''The Talisman'' and a sequel, ''Black House''. King has indicated that he and Straub will likely write the third and concluding book in this series, the tale of Jack Sawyer, but has set no time line for its completion.

King also wrote the nonfiction book, ''Faithful'', with novelist and fellow Red Sox fanatic Stewart O'Nan.

In 1996 King collaborated with Michael Jackson to create ''Ghosts'', a 40-minute musical video in which the singer portrays a recluse living in a mansion confronting an unwelcoming group of townsfolk initially calling for his exodus from their community.

"Throttle", a novella written in collaboration with his son Joe Hill, appears in the anthology ''He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson'', (Gauntlet Press, 2009).

''The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red'', was a paperback tie-in for the King-penned miniseries ''Rose Red''. The book was published under anonymous authorship, and written by Ridley Pearson. This spin-off is a rare occasion of another author being granted permission to write commercial work using characters and story elements invented by King.

King has written a musical play with John Mellencamp titled ''Ghost Brothers of Darkland County''.

King played guitar for the rock band Rock-Bottom Remainders, several of whose members are authors. Other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Matt Groening, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry, and Greg Iles. None of them claim to have any musical talent. King is a fan of the rock band AC/DC, who did the soundtrack for his 1986 film, ''Maximum Overdrive''. He is also a fan of The Ramones, who wrote the title song for ''Pet Sematary'' and appeared in the music video. King referred to the band several times in various novels and stories and The Ramones referenced King on the song "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)", which is on 1981's ''Pleasant Dreams''. In addition he wrote the liner notes for their tribute album ''We're a Happy Family.'' In 1988, the band Blue Öyster Cult recorded an updated version of their 1974 song "Astronomy". The single released for radio play featured a narrative intro spoken by King.

On Sunday, October 25, 2009 the DC Comics Vertigo blog news feed released that King will team up with short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque in a new monthly comic book series from Vertigo in March 2010 called ''American Vampire''. King is to write the background history of the very first American vampire, Skinner Sweet, in the five issues of the first arc. Scott Snyder will write the story of Pearl. Both stories are to weave together to form the first story arc.

In 2010, King collaborated with musician Shooter Jennings and his band Hierophant, providing the narration for their most recent album, ''Black Ribbons''.

Works

Analysis

Writing style

King's formula for learning to write well is: "Read and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can't expect to become a good writer." He sets out each day with a quota of 2000 words and will not stop writing until it is met. He also has a simple definition for talent in writing: "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented."

Shortly after his accident, King wrote the first draft of the book ''Dreamcatcher'' with a notebook and a Waterman fountain pen, which he called "the world's finest word processor."

When asked why he writes, King responds: "The answer to that is fairly simple—there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I really can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do." He is also often asked why he writes such terrifying stories and he answers with another question "Why do you assume I have a choice?"

King often uses authors as characters, or includes mention of fictional books in his stories, novellas and novels, such as Paul Sheldon who is the main character in ''Misery'' and Jack Torrance in ''The Shining''. See also List of fictional books in the works of Stephen King for a complete list. In September 2009 it was announced he would serve as a writer for ''Fangoria''.

Influences

King has called Richard Matheson "the author who influenced me most as a writer." Both authors casually integrate characters' thoughts into the third person narration, just one of several parallels between their writing styles. In a current edition of Matheson's ''The Shrinking Man'', King is quoted: "A horror story if there ever was one...a great adventure story—it is certainly one of that select handful that I have given to people, envying them the experience of the first reading."

King refers to H. P. Lovecraft several times in ''Danse Macabre''. "Gramma", a short story made into a film in the 1980s anthology horror show ''The New Twilight Zone'', mentions Lovecraft's notorious fictional creation ''Necronomicon'', also borrowing the names of a number of the fictional monsters mentioned therein. "I Know What You Need" from the 1976 collection ''Night Shift'', and '''Salem's Lot'' also mention the tome. In ''On Writing'', King is critical of Lovecraft's dialogue-writing skills, using passages from ''The Colour Out of Space'' as particularly poor examples. There are also several examples of King referring to Lovecraftian characters in his work, such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth.

King acknowledges the influence of Bram Stoker, particularly on his novel '''Salem's Lot'', which he envisioned as a retelling of ''Dracula''. Its related short story "Jerusalem's Lot", is reminiscent of Stoker's ''The Lair of the White Worm''.

King has also referenced author Shirley Jackson. '''Salem's Lot'' opens with a quotation from Jackson's ''The Haunting of Hill House'', and a character in ''Wolves of the Calla'' references the Jackson book ''We Have Always Lived in the Castle''.

King is a fan of John D. MacDonald, and dedicated the novella "Sun Dog" to MacDonald, saying "I miss you, old friend." For his part, MacDonald wrote an admiring preface to ''Night Shift'', and even had his famous character, Travis McGee, reading ''Cujo'' in one of the last McGee novels and ''Pet Sematary'' in the last McGee novel, ''The Lonely Silver Rain.''

In 1987 King's Philtrum Press published Don Robertson's novel, ''The Ideal, Genuine Man''. In his forenote to the novel, King wrote, "Don Robertson was and is one of the three writers who influenced me as a young man who was trying to 'become' a novelist (the other two being Richard Matheson and John D. MacDonald)."

Robert A. Heinlein's book ''The Door into Summer'' is repeatedly mentioned in King's ''Wolves of the Calla''.

In an interview with King, Published in the ''USA Weekend'' in March 2009, the author stated, "People look on writers that they like as an irreplaceable resource. I do. Elmore Leonard, every day I wake up and – not to be morbid or anything, although morbid is my life to a degree – don't see his obituary in the paper, I think to myself, "Great! He's probably working somewhere. He's gonna produce another book, and I'll have another book to read." Because when he's gone, there's nobody else."

King partly dedicated his book ''Cell'' to film director George Romero, and wrote an essay for the Elite DVD version of ''Night of the Living Dead''.

Critical response

Although critical reaction to King's work has been mostly positive, he has occasionally come under fire from academic writers.

Science fiction editors John Clute and Peter Nichols offer a largely favorable appraisal of King, noting his "pungent prose, sharp ear for dialogue, disarmingly laid-back, frank style, along with his passionately fierce denunciation of human stupidity and cruelty (especially to children) [all of which rank] him among the more distinguished 'popular' writers."

In his analysis of post-World War II horror fiction, ''The Modern Weird Tale'' (2001), critic S. T. Joshi devotes a chapter to King's work. Joshi argues that King's best-known works (his supernatural novels), are his worst, describing them as mostly bloated, illogical, maudlin and prone to ''deus ex machina'' endings. Despite these criticisms, Joshi argues that since ''Gerald's Game'' (1993), King has been tempering the worst of his writing faults, producing books that are leaner, more believable and generally better written. Joshi suggests that King's strengths as a writer include the accessible "everyman" quality of his prose, and his unfailingly insightful observations about the pains and joys of adolescence. Joshi cites two early non-supernatural novels—''Rage'' (1977) and ''The Running Man'' (1982)—as King's best, suggesting both are riveting and well-constructed suspense thrillers, with believable characters.

In 1996, King won an O. Henry Award for his short story "The Man in the Black Suit".

In 2003, King was honored by the National Book Awards with a lifetime achievement award, the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, with his work being described thus:

Stephen King’s writing is securely rooted in the great American tradition that glorifies spirit-of-place and the abiding power of narrative. He crafts stylish, mind-bending page-turners that contain profound moral truths–some beautiful, some harrowing–about our inner lives. This Award commemorates Mr. King’s well-earned place of distinction in the wide world of readers and book lovers of all ages.

Some in the literary community expressed disapproval of the award: Richard Snyder, the former CEO of Simon & Schuster, described King's work as "non-literature", and critic Harold Bloom denounced the choice:

The decision to give the National Book Foundation's annual award for "distinguished contribution" to Stephen King is extraordinary, another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life. I've described King in the past as a writer of penny dreadfuls, but perhaps even that is too kind. He shares nothing with Edgar Allan Poe. What he is is an immensely inadequate writer on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, book-by-book basis.

However, others came to King's defense, such as writer Orson Scott Card, who responded:

Let me assure you that King's work most definitely is literature, because it was written to be published and is read with admiration. What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite."

In Roger Ebert's review of the 2004 movie ''Secret Window'', he stated, "A lot of people were outraged that [King] was honored at the National Book Awards, as if a popular writer could not be taken seriously. But after finding that his book ''On Writing'' had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's ''The Elements of Style'', I have gotten over my own snobbery."

In 2008, King's book ''On Writing'' was ranked 21st on ''Entertainment Weekly'' list of "The New Classics: The 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008".

Appearances and adaptations in other media

Stephen and his wife Tabitha own The Zone Corporation, a central Maine radio station group consisting of WZON, WZON-FM, and WKIT. The last of the three stations features a Frankenstein-esque character named "Doug E. Graves" as part of the logo and the tagline "Stephen King's Rock 'n' Roll Station."

King has stated that his favorite book-to-film adaptations are ''Stand by Me'', ''The Shawshank Redemption'', and ''The Mist''.

King's first film appearance was in George Romero's ''Knightriders'' as a buffoonish audience member. His first featured role was in ''Creepshow'', playing Jordy Verrill, a backwoods redneck who, after touching a fallen meteorite in hopes of selling it, grows moss all over his body. He has since made cameos in several adaptations of his works. He appeared in ''Pet Sematary'' as a minister at a funeral, in ''Rose Red'' as a pizza deliveryman, as a news reporter in ''The Storm of the Century'', in ''The Stand'' as "Teddy Wieszack," in the ''Shining'' miniseries as a band member, in ''The Langoliers'' as Tom Holby and in ''Sleepwalkers'' as the cemetery caretaker. He has also appeared in ''The Golden Years'', in ''Chappelle's Show'' and, along with fellow author Amy Tan, on ''The Simpsons'' as himself. In addition to acting, King tried his hand at directing with ''Maximum Overdrive'', in which he also made a cameo appearance as a man using an ATM that is on the fritz.

King produced and acted in a miniseries, ''Kingdom Hospital'', which is based on the Danish miniseries ''Riget'' by Lars von Trier. He also co-wrote ''The X-Files'' season 5 episode "Chinga" with the creator of the series Chris Carter.

King made an appearance as a contestant on ''Celebrity Jeopardy!'' in 1995, playing to benefit the Bangor Public Library.

King provided the voice of Abraham Lincoln in the audiobook version of ''Assassination Vacation''.

In 2010, King appeared in a cameo role as a cleaner named Bachman on the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy''.

The Syfy TV series ''Haven'' is based on King's novella, ''The Colorado Kid''.

Political activism

In April 2008, King spoke out against HB 1423, a bill pending in the Massachusetts state legislature that would restrict or ban the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. Although King stated that he had no personal interest in video games as a hobby, he criticized the proposed law, which he sees as an attempt by politicians to scapegoat pop culture, and to act as surrogate parents to others' children, which he asserted is usually "disastrous" and "undemocratic". He also saw the law as inconsistent, as it would forbid a 17-year-old, legally able to see ''Hostel: Part II'', from buying or renting ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', which is violent but less graphic. While conceding that he saw no artistic merit in some violent video games, King also opined that such games reflect the violence that already exists in society, which would not be lessened by such a law, and would be redundant in light of the ratings system that already exists for video games. King argued that such laws allow legislators to ignore the economic divide between the rich and poor, and the easy availability of guns, which he felt were the more legitimate causes of violence.

A controversy emerged on May 5, 2008, when a conservative blogger posted a clip of King at a Library of Congress reading event. King, talking to high-school students, had said: "If you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that." The comment was described by the blog as "another in a long line of liberal media members bashing the military," and likened to John Kerry's similar remark from 2006. King responded later that day, saying, "That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt...I live in a national guard town, and I support our troops, but I don’t support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career—military or otherwise." King again defended his comment in an interview with the ''Bangor Daily News'' on May 8, saying, "I’m not going to apologize for promoting that kids get better education in high school, so they have more options. Those that don’t agree with what I’m saying, I’m not going to change their minds."

King's website states that he is a supporter of the Democratic Party. During the 2008 presidential election, King voiced his support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama. King was quoted as calling conservative commentator Glenn Beck "Satan's mentally challenged younger brother."

On March 8, 2011, King spoke at a political rally in Sarasota aimed against Governor Rick Scott (R-FL), voicing his opposition to the Tea Party movement.

Personal life

King and his wife own and occupy three different houses, one in Bangor, one in Lovell, Maine, and they regularly winter in their waterfront mansion located off the Gulf of Mexico, in Sarasota, Florida. He and Tabitha have three children and three grandchildren.

Shortly after publication of ''The Tommyknockers'', King's family and friends staged an intervention, dumping evidence of his addictions taken from the trash including beer cans, cigarette butts, grams of cocaine, Xanax, Valium, NyQuil, dextromethorphan (cough medicine) and marijuana, on the rug in front of him. As King related in his memoir, he then sought help and quit all forms of drugs and alcohol in the late 1980s, and has remained sober since.

Tabitha King has published nine of her own novels. Both King's sons are published authors: Owen King published his first collection of stories, ''We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories'', in 2005. Joseph Hillstrom published a collection of short stories, ''20th Century Ghosts'', in 2005. and his first novel, ''Heart-Shaped Box'' will be adapted into a feature film by director Neil Jordan.

King's daughter Naomi spent two years as a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church, in Utica, New York. Naomi now ministers for the Unitarian Universalist Church of River of Grass, in Plantation, Florida with her same-sex partner, Rev. Dr. Thandeka.

King was raised Methodist, while his wife, Tabitha, was raised Catholic.

King is a fan of baseball, and of the Boston Red Sox in particular; he frequently attends the team's home and away games, and occasionally mentions the team in his novels and stories. He helped coach his son Owen's Bangor West team to the Maine Little League Championship in 1989. He recounts this experience in the ''New Yorker'' essay "Head Down", which also appears in the collection ''Nightmares & Dreamscapes''. In 1999, King wrote ''The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,'' which featured former Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon as the protagonist's imaginary companion. In 2004, King co-wrote a book titled ''Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season'' with Stewart O'Nan, recounting the authors' roller coaster reaction to the Red Sox's 2004 season, a season culminating in the Sox winning the 2004 American League Championship Series and World Series. In the 2005 film ''Fever Pitch,'' about an obsessive Boston Red Sox fan, King tosses out the first pitch of the Sox's opening day game. He has also devoted one of his columns for ''Entertainment Weekly'' on the subject of commercialism in Major League Baseball. He also starred in an ESPN ''SportsCenter'' advertisement referencing both his allegiance to the Red Sox and his preferred writing genre (horror fiction).

Awards

Alex Awards 2009: ''Just After Sunset''

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults

* 1978: '''Salem's Lot''

* 1981: ''Firestarter''

Balrog Awards 1980: ''Night Shift''

Black Quill Awards 2009: ''Duma Key''

Bram Stoker Award

1987: ''Misery''

1990: ''Four Past Midnight''

1995: "Lunch at the Gotham Café"

1996: ''The Green Mile''

1998: ''Bag of Bones''

2002: Lifetime Achievement Award

2006: ''Lisey's Story''

British Fantasy Society Award

1981: Special Award

1982: ''Cujo''

1983: "The Breathing Method"

1987: ''It''

1999: ''Bag of Bones''

2005: ''The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower''

Deutscher Phantastik Preis

* 2000: ''Hearts in Atlantis''

* 2001: ''The Green Mile''

* 2003: ''Black House''

* 2004: International Author of the Year

* 2005: ''The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower''

Horror Guild

* 1997: ''Desperation''

* 2001: ''Riding the Bullet''

* 2001: ''On Writing''

* 2002: ''Black House''

* 2003: ''From a Buick 8''

* 2003: ''Everything's Eventual''

Hugo Award 1982: ''Danse Macabre''

International Horror Guild Award 1999: ''Storm of the Century''

Locus Awards

1982: ''Danse Macabre''

1986: ''Skeleton Crew''

1997: ''Desperation''

1999: ''Bag of Bones''

2001: ''On Writing''

Mystery Writers of America 2007: Grand Master Award National Book Award 2003: Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age 1982: ''Firestarter''

O. Henry Award 1996: "The Man in the Black Suit"

Quill Award 2005: ''Faithful''

Shirley Jackson Award 2009: ''Morality''

Spokane Public Library Golden Pen Award 1986: Golden Pen Award

University of Maine 1980: Alumni Career Award

Us Magazine 1982: Best Fiction Writer of the Year

World Fantasy Award

* 1980: Convention Award

* 1982: "The Reach"

* 1995: "The Man in the Black Suit"

* 2004: Lifetime Achievement

World Horror Convention 1992: World Horror Grandmaster

See also

;Bibliography

Stephen King bibliography

Short fiction by Stephen King

Unpublished and uncollected works by Stephen King

;Family

Joseph Hillstrom King

Naomi King

Owen King

Tabitha King

;King's fictional topography

Castle Rock, Maine

Derry, Maine

Jerusalem's Lot, Maine

;Projects

Dollar Baby

Rock Bottom Remainders

;Publishers

Cemetery Dance Publications

Scribner

Doubleday

Grant

Philtrum Press

Viking Press

;Derivative works

Media based on Stephen King works

References

Additional reading

''The Many Facets of Stephen King'', Michael R. Collings, Starmont House, 1985, ISBN 0-930261-14-3

''The Shorter Works of Stephen King'', Michael R. Collings with David A. Engebretson, Starmont House, 1985, ISBN 0-930261-02-X

''Stephen King as Richard Bachman'', Michael R. Collings, Starmont House, 1985, ISBN 0-930261-00-3

''The Annotated Guide to Stephen King: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography of the Works of America’s Premier Horror Writer'', Michael R. Collings, Starmont House, 1986, ISBN 0-930261-80-1

''The Films of Stephen King'', Michael R. Collings, Starmont House, 1986, ISBN 0-930261-10-0

''The Stephen King Phenomenon'', Michael R. Collings, Starmont House, 1987, ISBN 0-930261-12-7

''Horror Plum'd: An International Stephen King Bibliography and Guide 1960-2000'', Michael R. Collings, Overlook Connection Press, 2003, ISBN 1-892950-45-6

''The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia'', Stephen Spignesi, Contemporary Books, 1991, ISBN 978-0-8092-3818-7

''The Lost Work of Stephen King'', Stephen Spignesi, Birch Lane Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-55972-469-2

''The Essential Stephen King'', Stephen Spignesi, Career Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-56414-710-3

''The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King'', Rocky Wood, David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn, Kanrock Partners, ISBN 0-9750593-3-5

''Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished'', Rocky Wood, Cemetery Dance, 2006, ISBN 1-58767-130-1

''The Stephen King Collector's Guide'', Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks, Kanrock Partners, ISBN 978-0-9750593-5-7

''Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World's Most Popular Author'', Justin Brooks, Cemetery Dance, 2008, ISBN 1-58767-153-0

''Stephen King: The Non-Fiction'', Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks, Cemetery Dance, 2008, ISBN 1-58767-160-3

''Stephen King Is Richard Bachman'', Michael R. Collings, Overlook Connection Press, March 2008, ISBN 1-892950-74-X

''Stephen King'', Gary Hoppenstand (Editor), Salem Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-58765-685-9

''See also Books about Stephen King''

External links

Stephen King's Official Web Site

Official Website for Carrie The Musical

Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation

La Torre Nera – Stephen King Italian/English Website

Video of a March 2008 interview with King in Sarasota, Fla.

Category:1947 births Category:20th-century novelists Category:21st-century novelists Category:American horror writers Category:American novelists Category:American schoolteachers Category:American short story writers Category:Authors of books about writing fiction Category:Cthulhu Mythos writers Category:Horror writers Category:Living people Category:Maine Democrats Category:O. Henry Award winners Category:People from Bangor, Maine Category:People from Portland, Maine Category:People from Sarasota, Florida Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Rock Bottom Remainders members Category:University of Maine alumni Category:Writers from Maine Category:Postmodern writers

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