Stephen King's Infatuation With Horror

Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. He graduated from the University of Maine and later worked as a teacher while establishing himself as a writer, eventually becoming one of the greatest horror writers of all time (Biography.com ). Over time, King became commercially successful, making critically acclaimed horror novels. His books sold million copies worldwide and were adapted into numerous films, all evidence of King's massive influence on the modern day horror genre. When King was a child, his parents divorced, and he and his brother went back and forth between Indiana and Connecticut for several years. King eventually moved back to Maine with his mother and brother. In college, King wrote for the school's

He found horror ‘terrifying, yet exhilarating” . King found scaring people enjoyable , yet “ socially acceptable because there were a lot of horror movies out there”(Green). No matter what caused King's infatuation with horror, King would go on to be one of the biggest influences on the horror genre as a whole. Instead of making horror an elusive topic, he put it right in front audience's faces with descriptive vocabulary and having his novels made into major motion pictures, a new concept for the time

King states his books aren't “true literature(Birke)” King believes that “true literature” is a “construction that is governed by a particular social group's interests”, suggesting that there is” an elitist network of institutions that makes up and defends the rules of what counts as good quality.” (Birke) King's books have been criticized for being low quality, and he has also been critiqued for writing too much, both just to service popular / consumer culture . However, King is highly self-conscious about his use of consumer culture, and he is careful to show the extent to which it shapes his characters. King makes a point that he never wrote “true literature” or books only to be enjoyed by one social group. He writes for all to enjoy. Because of his profound success, King can be seen as representing the end of the typical Western literary tradition. King proved popular culture isn't only characterized as opposite to a “serious” culture which has the power to improve its readers. King proved one doesn't have to mean less than the other