King, Stephen (Edwin) (1947- )

US writer of best-selling horror novels with small-town or rural settings. Many of his works have been filmed, including Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977), Christine (1983), Misery (1987), and an adaptation of his short-story collection Hearts of Atlantis (2001). He received the National Book Foundation's 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Other novels include Salem's Lot (1975), The Dead Zone (1979), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), It (1986), The Tommyknockers (1987), The Dark Half (1989), Dolores Claiborne (1992), and Bag of Bones (1998). He has also published several volumes of short stories, several screenplays, including The Green Mile (2000), and a number of novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.