Many readers know Stephen King for his early works of horror, from his fiction debut Carrie to his blockbuster novels The Shining, The Stand, and Misery, among others. While he continues to be a best-selling author, King's more recent fiction has not received the kind of critical attention that his books from the 1970s and 1980s enjoyed. Recent novels like Duma Key and 1/22/63 have been marginalized and, arguably, cast aside as anomalies within the author's extensive canon. In Stephen King's Contemporary Classics: Reflections on the Modern Master of Horror, Philip L. Simpson and Patrick McAleer present a collection of essays that analyze, assess, and critique King's post-1995 compositions. Purposefully side-stepping studies of earlier work, these essays are arranged into three main parts: the first section examines five King novels published between 2009 and 2013, offering genuinely fresh scholarship on King; the second part looks at the development of King's distinct brand of horror; the third section departs from probing the content of King's writing and instead focuses on King's process. By concentrating on King's most recent writings, this collection offers provocative insights into the author's work, featuring essays on Dr. Sleep, Duma Key, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Joyland, Under the Dome, and others. As such, Stephen King's Contemporary Classics will appeal to general fans of the author's work as well as scholars of Stephen King and modern literature.

Stephen King is no stranger to the realm of literary criticism, but his most fantastic, far-reaching work has aroused little academic scrutiny. This study of King's epic ""Dark Tower"" series encompasses the career of one of the world's best-selling authors and frames him as more than a 'horror writer'. Four categories of analysis - genre, art, evil, and intertextuality - provide a focused look at the center of King's fictional universe. This book reaches beyond popular culture treatments of the series and examines it against King's horror work, audience expectations, and the larger literary landscape.

This work examines Stephen King's position in popular literary circles and then considers the contributions of his family to the landscape of contemporary fiction. Though they have to a degree been eclipsed by Stephen King's popularity, the work of his wife, Tabitha King, and sons, Owen King and Joe Hill, have found varying levels of success in their own right. The three have traveled their own writing paths, from supernatural fiction to contemporary literary fiction. This is the first extended exploration of the works of three authors who have too long been overshadowed by their proximity to ""the King of Horror.

As Stephen King has continued to publish numerous works beyond one high point of his career, in the 1980s, scholarship has not always kept up with his output. This volume presents 13 essays on many of King's recent writings that have not received the critical attention of his earlier, more popular work. This collection is grouped into three thematic categories--""King in the World Around Us,"" ""Spotlight on The Dark Tower"" and ""Writing into the Millennium,"" each of which examines a particular aspect of King's contemporary canon that has yet to be analyzed.

The Modern Stephen King Canon: Beyond Horror is a collection of essays focused on the more recent writings of Stephen King, including Revival, 11/22/63, and a selection of short stories by the "Master of the Macabre." The authors write about King works that have received little critical attention and aim to open up doorways of analysis and insight that will help readers gain a stronger appreciation for the depth and detail within King's fiction. Indeed, while King is often relegated to the role of a genre writer (horror), the essays in this collection consider the merits of King's writing beyond the basics of horror for which he is primarily known. Recommended for scholars of literature, horror, and popular culture.