If you stacked up all of Stephen King's books, they'd be taller than the man himself.
And that says a lot, since this author stands 6'4". In some 45 years of writing, Stephen King has published 31,271 pages across 59 novels, plus five works of non-fiction and more than 200 short stories. His most well-known works include The Shining (1977), It (1986), Carrie (1974), Misery (1987), Pet Sematary (1983), and The Green Mile (1996). Plus, his memoir, On Writing (2000), is considered a must-read for every aspiring writer.
Stephen King holds the record for the most film adaptations by a single author.
Even if you haven't read any of King's books, you've likely seen the film adaptation of one of his works. The Guinness Superlatives has certified that with 34 movies based on his stories, King has the most film adaptations of any author. Andy Muschietti's 2017 adaptation of It was the highest grossing film based off a King work (and the highest-grossing horror film of all time!), earning $327,481,748 at the box office.
Stephen King hates the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of The Shining.
Speaking of film adaptations, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining is widely considered to be a classic. However, King famously hates it. He told Deadline: "The character of Jack Torrance has no arc in that movie. Absolutely no arc at all. When we first see Jack Nicholson, he's in the office of Mr. Ullman, the manager of the hotel, and you know, then, he's crazy as an outhouse house rat. All he does is get crazier. In the book, he's a guy who's struggling with his sanity and finally loses it. To me, that's a tragedy. In the movie, there's no tragedy because there's no real change."
Stephen King wrote The Shining while staying at the Stanley Hotel.
In 1974, King and his wife were staying in The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. That night, King had a dream. He writes on his website, "I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in the chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind." The Stanley Hotel now includes a 30,000 square foot horror film museum.