As the title suggests, this is a paperback overview of Horror fiction author Stephen King’s career and prolific output. It begins with a section on the man’s life, his background, and how he got into writing. His decline into alcoholism, painkillers and other drug dependencies is covered, coupled with an accident which nearly killed him, but ultimately put him on the road to recovery and cleaning up his act. The bulk of the book covers each book release in chronological order; offering a synopsis, how the readership and the media reacted to it, and revealing any film or TV adaptations – and even options which fell through. Then his short stories and novellas are explored, and even his love of music and how it has featured in his life. It is compiled by Paul Simpson, ex-editor of Dreamwatch magazine, and published by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd. Of London. There are 265 pages, excluding the indexes and acknowledgements, and it has an RRP of £8.99.

As anyone who has read my reviews over the years will know, I am not a fan of Stephen King. At least, not in the literary sense. I am a big follower of inventive horror, and I love horror fiction, but I just cannot get on with King. I don’t like his writing style, and most of the books are like doorstops and feature so much padding and descriptive prose that you could quite easily tear the middle third out without missing any of the story (who really wants to know about the floral wallpaper and Regency furniture?). Whilst the books have gotten bigger, the plots have become thinner (no pun intended), and I would even go so far to say that many are pretty pretentious.

Like many artists, however, he is somewhat critical of his own work, but it hasn’t stopped him releasing manuscripts which he had previously considered unfit for publication. Obviously, he has a legion of fans who purchase everything they can; I’m certain many would buy his shopping list, were he to publish it. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t had some good ideas. I, for one, believe his material works much better (provided it is handled by a competent director) condensed for film or TV. The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and the mini-series of The Shining (I don’t like the film) are good examples.

However, this is a review of the book, and not necessarily of King himself. The most attractive feature of this guide for me, is the fact it is a fraction of the size of many of the horror author’s individual fiction releases. The irony was not lost on me that all of King’s books can be covered in a bite-sized tome. The introduction left me cold, and very nearly turned me off of the whole book. Although King is not my cup of tea, I do very much like reading about writer’s experiences with plots, characters, publishers, critics, etc. So, the story of how a young and relatively poor English teacher, with a wife and baby, suddenly hit the big time with Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining proved entertaining. The synopses are kept nice and short but, again, I enjoyed much more the background to each book, his being in a position to virtually tell the publishers what to do, and his subsequent personal views on which of his output he likes or doesn’t (not always what is commercially successful or not).

So, while I wouldn’t normally actively seek out this guide, I feel that most people who buy this book will do so to check what they have or don’t have in their collection, and to perhaps seek out some of the more obscure King material – and for that purpose it’s very good.

7

Ty Power