Stephen King: The Glass Floor By Startling Mystery Stories

The notorious Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. As a young child, King enjoyed reading scary comic books and even enjoyed scary movies such as the 1954 classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. By the time that King reached high school, he was writing all types of short stories. He even sent some of his stories to publishers of science-fiction magazines, but none were published.King liked to base many of his stories in small towns possibly due to the fact that he lived in small towns himself. When King reached college, he made a living doing many odd jobs: such as washing dishes, pumping gas, and even working in a laundromat. At the young age of 20, King had his first story published, “The Glass Floor,” by Startling Mystery Stories magazine. King was only paid $35 for his first publishing.

However, he continued to write during his free time. King wasn’t making very much money with his writings, so he decided to send a manuscript of a full-length book to a publisher called Carrie. Although King personally didn’t like the book, it was published in 1974 and was a total success. In 1976, a movie adaptation of Carrie was made and was an even bigger success than the book. Due to the great amount of success of Carrie, King was allowed to quit his job as a teacher and begin writing full time. Since King could now write full time, he was cranking out books at a rapid pace. By 1991 there were over 89 million copies of his books. Although he is so successful, he still remains a humble man. King stated that his books are “the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fry from McDonald’s.” King started small and wrote simple stories for his personal entertainment. Now his name is know world