The Stephen King Ultimate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

Nearly half a century after the publication of Carrie, hundreds of millions of copies of King’s books have been printed in fifty-plus languages.

A young Stephen King at his typewriter, late 1960's.

King completed his longest piece to date in 1963, a 50,000-word novel called The Aftermath, which bears some of the hallmarks of his later work. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a militaristic organization (reminiscent of The Shop, which would first be featured in Firestarter) is trying to establish a new world order with the assistance of a sophisticated supercomputer called DRAC—that’s an acronym, but one can’t help but think of Bram Stoker’s vampire. The Aftermath is a juvenile work that will almost certainly never see the light of day, but it demonstrates King’s determination and ability to complete a novel.

Author photo for Carrie

Dave King once heard his brother say that if Carrie had come six months earlier or six months later, he might have missed out on the perfect timing presented by the popularity of The Exorcist, and he would still be teaching English.34 King’s proceeds from the paperback version of Carrie finally afforded him the ability to quit his day job and write full time. However, if he turned out to be a one-hit wonder, that money—although it was far more than he had ever seen in his life—wouldn’t last forever.

King clowns around with a german edition of It (translated Es), published by Heyne

For nearly two years after completing It, King wasn’t able to finish anything except for a few short stories. “That’s why, when Peter [Straub] and I made our way through The Talisman, and I began work on The Tommyknockers and The Napkins [i.e., The Eyes of the Dragon], I was so knocked over to learn that there was indeed life after It.”