WI: Stephen King killed in 1999

So let's say that car that hit the King of Horror in '99 kills him. How does this effect his literary legacy? How is he remembered differently without his new novels?
 
I don't think that King's death on 1999 effect very much for horror literature. He has written most notable novels and short stories much earlier.
 
The Crimson King wins, and all of existence in all possible universes comes to an end.;)

I guess we don't get the rest of the Dark Tower books then. His Mystery of Edwin Drood, I suppose.
 
The only real difference to his reputation will be regarding the lack of resolution to The Dark Tower. Otherwise, King's reputation is already set in stone by his earlier works and his most recent novels haven't really changed it.
 
The Crimson King wins, and all of existence in all possible universes comes to an end.;)

I guess we don't get the rest of the Dark Tower books then. His Mystery of Edwin Drood, I suppose.
Wiki says he wrote #4 in 1997. So we'd get most of it, but not all of it.

I suspect The Stand would be considered his greatest finished work.
 
Stephen King novels would henceforth be produced by a ghost writer.

I wonder who would do the ghost writting?
Graham Masterson? maybe Robert McCammon
Could see Charles Grant or T.M.Wright.

Dean Koontz would be too busy with his own career as well as F Paul Wilson.

Long Shot T.E.D. Klein. I love to see his start writting again.
 
I suspect that we still see a version of Dreamcatcher and maybe From a Buick 8. I don't know how long it take King plan his books.
Cell unlikley, but we see a very different version of Under the Dome.
 
I suspect that we still see a version of Dreamcatcher and maybe From a Buick 8. I don't know how long it take King plan his books.
Cell unlikley, but we see a very different version of Under the Dome.
Umm, ITTL King died before he began any of those. Dreamcatcher was his way of recovering from his accident IOTL.
 

Thande

Donor
I guess we don't get the rest of the Dark Tower books then. His Mystery of Edwin Drood, I suppose.

We would probably be talking about how awesome the last few Dark Tower books would have been if King had lived...same as how we would probably be talking about how awesome the Star Wars prequels would have been if George Lucas hadn't died in 1998 or whatever. (OK, the last Dark Tower books aren't that bad, but you get my point).

ColeMercury is also correct that King's popular image is defined by his earlier works so it wouldn't have that much effect on how he is viewed, except perhaps giving his works an even more appropriately ghoulish tinge from popular knowledge of his tragic death.
 

Esopo

Banned
Id really like to read a Dark Tower completed by Peter Straub. IMHO the accident sorta fucked up the serie, while it has its interesting sides.
 

Thande

Donor
Id really like to read a Dark Tower completed by Peter Straub. IMHO the accident sorta fucked up the serie, while it has its interesting sides.

Yeah, it sort of took over it, both because it brought his own mortality to mind and meant he rushed it a bit, and also because he felt he had to make the end of the story about his accident and relationship with the characters. As you say, this did lead to some interesting moments, but it meant the overall resolution didn't really fit with what the earlier books had set up.
 
Even though i like some of king's current work (his recent 11/23/63 is excellent), for his death to make any impact it would have to happen in the early 80s (no It, Tommyknockers, and, depending on how early said death happens, no Pet Semetary either). I can still see his books and short stories being made into movies though (especially if Different Seasons and the Bachman Books are released posthumously).
 
Last edited:

Esopo

Banned
Even though i like some of king's current work (his recent 11/23/63 is excellent), for his death to make any impact it would have to happen either in the early 80s (no It, Tommyknockers, and, depending on how early said death happens, no Pet Semetary either). I can still see his books and short stories being made into movies though (especially if Different Seasons and the Bachman Books are released posthumously).

But i thought that his most critically acclaimed novels (the only ones maybe) are his last ones.
 

Thande

Donor
But i thought that his most critically acclaimed novels (the only ones maybe) are his last ones.

I don't think that has anything to do with their quality. Critics normally at first hate successful mainstream authors like King or Terry Pratchett and only start sycophantically praising their books once they're such titanic forces in the publishing industry that the critics feel they have to cosy up to them--it doesn't necessarily relate to the quality of the books in question.
 
Top