How Stephen King Got Under Their Skin

Tom Hanks

Actor, “The Green Mile”

In the late ’70s the image of Carrie covered in blood at the high school dance was already part of the national narrative — in a fun way. Struggling to afford the rent and the diapers while navigating those first years of a creative journey in the big city, I had not seen the movie nor read the book. Then a copy of “The Stand” was being gobbled up by our gang — read in a fever pitch on every subway ride and first thing in the morning. Once done, the copy was passed along to the next pair of eyes and promptly devoured.

When I finally had the paperback in my hand, I read the opening words — from Springsteen’s “Jungleland” — and disappeared into the Stephen King realm. From there, I read four of his titles in a row — and read him still.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Author, “Silver Nitrate” and “The Seventh Veil of Salome” (forthcoming)

My mother was an avid horror and fantasy reader, and she owned the Spanish-language translation of his short-story collection “Night Shift.” It had an eerie cover of a hand with eyes growing out of it. I was 11 or 12 and was drawn to that cover like a mouse to cheese. At some point in high school I forced my friends to act in a couple of adaptations of the stories. I don’t think we ever finished filming them because of time constraints, though they did reaffirm my shady reputation at school: Some kids said I was a Satanist because I wore a black leather trench coat and read horror books.

George R.R. Martin

Author, “A Song of Ice and Fire” series

I am pretty sure I have read every one of Stephen King’s novels … and most of his short stories and novellas as well. “Pretty sure,” I said, rather than “completely sure.” King has written a lot of novels, and he writes them so fast that I might have missed one or two along the way. If so, it was only because of a lapse of attention, not a lack of interest. Once I am aware that King has a new book out, I tend to snap it up at once, take it home and … well, if I put it on my bookshelf it may linger for a while, but if I should crack it open and read the first page, my doom is sealed. There are a handful of writers whose novels, once begun, cannot be put aside. They grab hold of you, and there’s nothing to be done but read, and read, and read, all night and all day, until the tale is done.

Kelly Link

Author, “The Book of Love”

I was 16 when I read “Skeleton Crew,” greedy for stories about other lives, other worlds, and the horrors lurking in those other places. The glorious, spendthrift volley of stories in the collection blew my mind. It opens with a banger — “The Mist” — but “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut,” “The Jaunt” and “The Raft” have stayed with me all my life. I still look at floating docks askance, and I wouldn’t go to space for anything, though, like Mrs. Todd, I now live in a rural area and delight in questionable backcountry shortcuts.