A brief foray into Stephen King

Stephen King's book about the craft of writing had been sitting on my shelf for years.  I can't remember who gave it to me or where I first picked it up, but I decided to finally read it.  I've read a little King here and there, and always been impressed with what I've read - I think he gets so little credit for being a true literary genius, and this book provided incredible insight into all he has done to develop and hone his craft.  Part-memoir, and part-how-to, I wouldn't say this book inspired me to do any writing of my own (King works WAY too hard, I don't think I'd have it in me - not to mention that whole talent part), but it did get me very interested in reading more of his fiction.  And so I did. 

I started with Carrie - and I should preface all of this by saying even though I know the basic story lines of many of King's novels, I have not seen any of the movies they have been turned into (except for Pet Sematary, which I loved and scared the daylights out of me).  Carrie is a teenage girl raised by a hyper-religious single mother who isolates and abuses her daughter, and has left her wholly unprepared to deal with the realities of the world she lives in.  As a result, she is ostracized and teased mercilessly by her high school classmates.  But, of course, Carrie is no ordinary teenager - and between her special powers, and her deep-seated desire for revenge, it's about to be a (pig's) bloodbath. 

From Carrie, I moved on to Salem's Lot.  I had no idea what to expect, but this one was so creepy, I had to keep all my lights on at night after reading it!  The main character, Ben, is a writer who returns to his hometown after 25 years to write a book about an allegedly haunted house in town.  His arrival coincides with the disappearance of a young boy - and the discovery that the boy's brother has turned into a vampire!  The town's residents are quickly being transformed while Ben reunites with old friends to combat the infestation.  The plot is so hokey that you'd think it'd just be campy and fun, but King's writing and storytelling is so intense, that I found myself legitimately frightened!  I knew nothing about the plot of this book before I picked it up, and find it so amazing that he wrote this in 1975, clearly inspired by Dracula, but well before the relatively recent craze of vampire novels - and yet, I have never heard King credited with being any influence on or godfather of the current literature, which I think is just another example of King not receiving the credit he deserves for being such a profound influence on our culture.

Finally, for this time with King, I turned to The Shining, another one that I kind of knew the basic story about from popular culture, but had never actually read or seen the movie.  Writer Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel.  Located in the snowy mountains, the hotel is closed to visitors during the winter months, which Jack assumes means he will have lots of time to devote to the writing of his new book.  He brings along his wife and young son to stay with him.  While the hotel at first seems like a quiet but idyllic location, Jack's son Danny seems to sense an ominous presence.  As the weeks pass by, the family becomes more and more isolated, until madness (or perhaps something more supernatural) takes over.  This book is so creepy, that after reading it, I decided that I've had enough of Stephen King for awhile.  He is a brilliant writer - and a master storyteller.  But, my tolerance for horror and psychological thrillers is not very high.  I want to keep reading, but I know it's better for my own mental health to stick to happier endings.