Stephen King

Bernice Murphy (Trinity College Dublin)
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Stephen King is one of the most popular novelists of recent times: a man whose immense commercial success has had a profound impact not only upon the horror genre but also upon popular culture during the latter half of the twentieth century. The cultural pre-eminence which King so rapidly achieved – he is, in his own words, “America’s favourite bogeyman” – has tended to overshadow his works themselves: such immense commercial popularity can sour critical perceptions. The key to King’s success lies in his ability to reconfigure some of the horror genre’s most hoary old clichés – such as the trope of the disturbed outsider (

Carrie

), the traditional vampire story (

Salem’s Lot

), or the Faustian pact (

Needful Things

) – into gripping, readable narratives which have…

2820 words

Citation: Murphy, Bernice. "Stephen King". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 May 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2509, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2509 Stephen King 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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