Happy Belated Birthday Stephen King!

Happy Belated Birthday Stephen King!

Mr. King has been a very important figure in my life. First off my mother was a die hard fan of his. I clearly remember every time he published a new book she was always the first one to read and finish it and I often would ask her whenever she picked me up from school or when we were waiting to get my sister from an after school activity what his latest story was about. Then of course there were his mini series. IT and The Stand I would say were two staples in my childhood. Over and over again me and my sister would re watch them and be terrified. I think I speak for many people that Tim Curry fucking ruined clowns for me forever. I can remember even not wanting to use the bathroom because of that stupid movie, and how each time his face came up from the sewer to talk to Georgie I would close my eyes and block my ears and start humming.. The Stand was my mother's favorite work of his and I think my and sister and I would agree. It was his masterpiece and nothing honestly can compare. This was truly what a sweeping epic was like. To this day that mini series warms my heart and I can pretty much speak it from line to line. Perfection at it's greatest, even though both mini series are very dated in many ways. I'll be sure to review both of them later in the future to really point out why their so special. 

From vampires, to the end of the world, blood drenched prom dates, killer children in the corn, rabid dogs, possessed cars, second sight, killer trucks, monsters from the grave, crazy fans, clowns, ghouls, ghosts, and haunted houses...

My mother also showed us all of his movies based off his works. I remember her reading Cycle Of The Werewolf to us when we were little, and how I was dying to finally read a book of his since I was becoming such a fan of his movies. I think Pet Sematary was the first VHS tape I ever owned. As years passed and I watched other works of his such as The Langoliers, Storm Of The Century, and Rose Red, and began reading his books, slowly easing it them. I think the first novel I read of his was in fact Pet Sematary, then moved onto Carrie, Salem's Lot, and finally The Stand. Before I knew it I was collecting all of his books and rereading them over and over again. For nearly ten years I have pretty much read every work of his besides some of his later stuff including The Dark Tower series. I have to disagree when an English teacher of mine once said that his work was like the fast food of literature. This kinda made me angry. This is exactly the sort of outlook that many people have towards horror and thrillers. I think most of King's work is brilliant and he's one of our greatest writers out there. I mean one man has thought of all these worlds, characters, monsters, and stories? Amazing. Simply...amazing.

Not only have I grown up loving his movies, I have also loved his books.

In fact as weird as this sounds I made it a tradition to reread Pet Sematary and Cujo at least once a year. Those two books are my favorite and in my eyes my two favorite novels of all time.

My favorite books of his have to be...

Pet Semetary

Cujo

Christine

IT

The Stand

Salem's Lot

Needful Things

As shocking as this sounds I wasn't a huge fan of The Shinning in novel form, or Firestarter even though I love both movie versions. I adore his movies (mostly Christine and Pet Semetary) In fact I went so far to show my love for his work by getting a Church tattoo this year.

I adore his films and mini series and really enjoyed two of his later works (Bag Of Bones, and Cell) even though I do enjoy his earlier work than some of the later stuff he's published, I need to express how much I love this man.

Thank you Stephen King. You were a huge part of my childhood and as odd as this sounds, after loosing my mother reading some of your books and getting lost in those worlds really helped me. Happy birthday you brilliant bastard and thanks for scaring us all these years!