Stephen King is one of my favorite authors of all time. But there are some things that you probably didn't know about him. Here are the top facts that I found most surprising about Stephen King.
1. Stephen King has triskaidekaphobia a.k.a. the fear of the number 13
2. He based his character Jack from The Shining on himself.
When Stephen King wrote this book, he was drinking a lot so when he wrote the character of Jack he said that he was originally "a heroic character battling his demons the way strong American men are supposed to do.”
3. Stephen King doesn't remember writing a lot of his novels from the 80's
The Onion actually made up this fact at first and when Stephen King heard about it, he admitted that it was actually true. Due to his drinking at the time, he doesn't remember writing some of his best stories including Cujo.
4. Stephen King used a pen name and no one knew it was him.
Stephen King once used the pen name Richard Bachman. At first, no one knew about it but once everyone found out he retired the name. He went so far as to say that the person had died. The cause of death? Cancer of the pseudonym.
5. Stephen King has one regret, and not the one that you'd think
Stephen King once told his friend Neil Gaiman that his one regret was appearing in an American Express advertisement.
6. Stephen King holds a world record!
The Guinness Superlatives names Stephen King to have more books adapted into films than any other living author.
7. Stephen King has cameos in a lot of movies based on his books.
He never had any big roles so watch carefully sometimes he's there for less than a minute. In Rose Red, he's actually the pizza delivery guy.
8. Stephen King got scared during a screening of Pan's Labyrinth and the director loved it.
Supposedly, King was seated next to director Guillermo Del Toro and during the famous pale man chase scene King started squirming scared for what would happen next. Guillermo Del Toro described that as the best experience ever for him.
9. Pennywise the clown from IT was based on Ronald McDonald.
Stephen King says that Ronald McDonald was one of many inspirations for Pennywise. I think I might go to Burger King for awhile till I get this image out of my head.
10. Stephen King owns two neighboring houses in Bangor, Maine.
He also wants to build a tunnel underground connecting the two houses with a trolley. Why? Because he's Stephen King and he can.
11. Stephen King loves to get revenge. Even if it's just on inanimate objects.
In 1999, King was hit by a van while out walking near his home. After suffering from a collapsed lung, a broken hip, a gash in his head and his leg broken in nine places, he told his lawyer to tell the driver that he wouldn't press charges if he let King buy the van from him. The driver agreed and was paid $1,500. Once King recovered from his injuries he took a baseball bat and beat on the van as hard as he could before sending it to the dump.
