Stephen King is among the most popular and successful horror writers of all time, but not all of his books were picked up by publishers in the early days of his career. King finally got his name in the spotlight with 1974’s CurryThe supernatural thriller that follows a young girl as she uses her telekinetic powers to fight against her school bullies and her pious religious mother. From there, King released his best works such as The Shining, itAnd be Dark Tower series – but for several reasons, the author did Some manuscripts he did not intend to publish.
Whether it’s because of publishers’ hesitations, or King’s own personal criticism of his work, some of the author’s books were torn down before they saw the light of day. However, thanks to King’s presence on social media and his willingness to share information like this with the press, there are several drops of information that have become available over time about the properties. While Most of them will never be seenAnd there won’t be film adaptations of the Stephen King stories, that doesn’t mean the ideas are dead either.
17
“Charlie”
Unpublished short story, 1959
Charlie is one of King’s earliest works, sits at around 3,900 words and has remained untouched since the day he left the project. It is said that it ends with the paragraph and it is completely missing an end. The story goes a Miner of asteroids who discovers a strange cube Which begins to show dangerous powers and slowly attacks the protagonist.
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The manuscript for Charlie Currently held at Raymond H. Fogler Library in Orono, Maine and requires written permission from King to be accessed. However, it is unlikely that anyone has read this story recently King did not mention that it was updated.
16
“People, Places and Things”
Unpublished short story collection, 1960
Long before King found business success with CurryKing worked alongside his friend Chris Chesley to create his first batch of horror short stories, which eventually became the People, places and things Collection that was Distributed by the King’s Brother Printing House. After selling the stories to his friends and family for a few cents, the collection was eventually forgotten and the only copy remains with the author. The list of stories is available and includes the following:
- I’m falling
- The Dimension Warp
- The hotel at the end of the road
- I have to get off!
- The thing at the bottom of the well
- The stranger
- The cursed expedition
- The other side of the fog
- Never look behind you!
Although it wasn’t for another decade that King would become internationally famous, many of the elements of his signature style can be seen in the descriptions of the stories. Stories like The hotel at the end of the road And The stranger Both have criminals taken in by unsuspecting characters And finally facing the consequences of their actions in dark and supernatural ways, perpetuating the concept of ‘good vs evil’ that is always present in King’s work.
Other stories, viz The cursed expedition And the other side of the fog, Show the very dangerous powers of nature and the unknown universe as separate characters become Victims of environmental phenomena that they cannot understand. This is very reminiscent of King’s 1980 novella The garbagewhich shares the same basic message. Although the movie adaptation of The garbage was controversial, the original story is some of King’s most interesting work.
15
“The Result”
Unpublished novella, 1963
After selling chapters of People, places and things To his friends, King decided to step into more long-form writing and began His first novel, The aftermath. The story takes place in the fallout of a nuclear war several years in the future, implying that Armageddon was brought about by the Cuban Missile Crisis. He began the story at the same time as another called Get it onWhich would eventually become Storm.
The story has never been published, although the length of approximately 50,000 words suggests that It is probably finished and edited. The only surviving manuscript is held along with the rest of King’s unpublished works at the University of Maine.
14
“The Star Invaders”
Unsurvived Short Story, 1964
Another work from long before King’s name is known, almost nothing is known about The Star Invaders. King described the project as a short story he wrote in 1964, but it’s unclear whether or not it’s another conventional horror — or if it is Something else he tried and abandoned.
Judging by the title, it probably is The Star Invaders either takes place in outer space or follows a group of astronauts, a setting King has explored before in some of his most claustrophobic works – including The cursed expedition From his earlier collection. This can be connected, or it Could have been a new idea that didn’t quite work.
13
“Sword in the Darkness”
Unpublished novel, 1970
Judging by the time it took King to complete the story, and the eventual length of 150,000 words he achieved, it is an alternate universe where Sword in the Darkness was Stephen King’s first breakout novel. But unfortunately, the story was not taken by any publishers, and King decided to give up the project. Soon after, he finished the job Curry.
The history of Sword in the Darkness Follows two joint protagonists: a character dealing with the recent death of his pregnant sister and terminally ill mother, and a character who incites a riot after speaking at a local high school. After the huge rejection that King faced, he has since admitted that He considers the project “Unpublishable“ And will never bring it back.
12
“The House on Value Street”
Unfinished and unpublished novel, 1974
Although The house on Worth Street is never finished, the writing process actually helped birth the story that inspired one of the best Stephen King movies, The stone. The original story was intended to be a fictionalized novel about The kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Over the years, King has spoken publicly about his countless attempts to make the story work, but no matter which way he approached it, it never felt right.
However, during the writing process for The house on Worth StreetKing was struck with the idea for The stone. Although Most of the characters and plot points are completely differentThe core cynicism and dystopian horror are exactly the same – King often draws from real-life issues to inspire the horror of his fiction, and this is what happened with both of these stories.
11
“Welcome to Clearwater” and “The Corner”
Unpublished and Unfinished Novels, 1976
Like many of King’s abandoned projects, almost nothing is known about Welcome to Clearwater And The corner. The author was working on both of these projects when he first shot to international fame after the success of CurryWhat could have affected his ability to carry it out completely.
This would likely be his anticipated comeback after both Curry And Salem’s placeSo it is likely that he felt some pressure to achieve the same success.
However, King has confirmed that Both projects are intended to be full-length novels. This would likely be his anticipated comeback after both Curry And Salem’s placeSo it is likely that he felt some pressure to achieve the same success. It was after giving up on the projects that King decided to publish The Shining Instead.
10
“whimsy”
Unpublished and unfinished novel, 1977
The mid-1970s were an extremely busy time for Stephen King, as each new story became more and more popular than the last, but this ultimately meant that he could not finish every project he started. One of these was Whimsy, A short funny horror story That King decided to write during his time living in England.
Just a brief excerpt from Whimsy has ever been written, and it follows a man on his way to a party at an English estate in the middle of nowhere, when he has a fatal accident on an unstable bridge. That was all King wrote, and he quickly abandoned the idea when He struggled to find a continuation of the event.
9
“The Leprechaun”
Unpublished and unfinished short story, 1983
Although most of King’s works are purely fictional with their supernatural villains and horror landscapes, The Leprechaun is written for (and includes) the author’s son Owen. In the first part of the story, Owen is playing in the garden when he sees his cat playing with what turns out to be a very small person. Unfortunately, the rest of the short story is lost and King does not plan to rewrite it.
Stephen King is known for his great villains and terrifying monsters, which is perhaps why The Leprechaun was abandoned after it was lost – it doesn’t seem to have the inherent tension that similar stories like it And Pet Cemetery Do. Instead, it appears to be something the writer wrote for his son.
8
“The Cannibals”
Unpublished and unfinished novel, 1983
Although The cannibals was technically unfinished and King never decided to finish the novel, the story lived on and eventually became Under the dome. However, there are countless differences between The cannibals And the story that it developed into, so King prefers to keep the two titles separate.
It is likely that [King] Set up with something specific in mind, and eventually stumbled across the story for Under the dome In this process.
Details about the first draft of The cannibals are sparse, but judging by King’s well-known writing methods, it is likely that he began with something specific in mind, and eventually stumbled across the story for Under the dome In this process. From there, the story evolved and changed so drastically that The cannibals It had to be abolished.
7
“keys”
Unpublished and unfinished novel, 1984
Keyholes It may be unfinished, but that doesn’t mean it’s a secret. The story is well-known among King’s fans, and has been a bit of a fan favorite since it was written in 1984. The story dictates a conversation between a distressed father and his psychologist as they discuss potential treatment for the client’s son. .
There is no action in KeyholesAnd The plot doesn’t really go anywhere, But the short excerpt that is available only proves how talented and reliable dialogue skills are. The way he writes the conversation and explores the inner monologue of his protagonist is excellent, and even if the story didn’t have much potential, it’s a great insight into his writing skills.
6
“Phil and Sundance”
Unpublished and unfinished novel, 1987
The story behind Phil and Sundance is one of the most moving examples of King’s appreciation for his audience. When a young boy with muscular dystrophy was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, he asked to meet Stephen King—and The author went above and beyond what was expected. He wrote the 80-page story for the child, and although details of the plot have not been discussed publicly, the excerpt is owned by Cemetery Dance.
There are many Stephen King short stories that beg to be adapted, but most fans would agree that Phil and Sundance Is happy where it belongs. This story will likely never see the light of dayBut his creation was a sweet gesture from King that reminded audiences how important and memorable their interactions with the author can be.
5
“Hatchet Head”, “Cam Dumb”, “The Doors” and “George DX McCardle”
Unpublished and unfinished stories, dates unknown
These stories have been mentioned by Stephen King over the course of his career, but nothing is known about any of them. The majority was probably written in the late 80s and 90s, but there are no extant copies to prove this.
The plots of these stories were not discussed by King, but it is likely that they follow similar horror-driven formats to the rest of his short stories. These are possible stories that were written for certain anthologies or collections but never reached their potential, and The king did not see a future for them.
4
“On the Island”
Unpublished and unfinished story, date unknown
Not all authors can be proud of their work all the time. on the island Is possibly the project that Stephen King thinks the most disgustingAnd he has revealed several times that he spent the better part of a year working on it. He never discussed the content of the story, but he was very vocal in his belief that it was not worth publishing.
However, Stephen King was never afraid to go back to his unpublished works, rewrite them and publish them under a different name with several editors. This is exactly what happened with Storm And Under the domeSo it is possible that Some version of on the island May be released in the future – Or perhaps it has already influenced another of his works.
3
“But only darkness loves me”
Unpublished and unfinished story, date unknown
But only darkness loves me was a collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joseph, although only two pages of the original manuscript remain. The extract centers around a boy who talks to a pretty girl in a bar, but when she invites him to her room, he turns and walks away.
The two pages of But only darkness loves me are publicly available to the public at the University of Maine. It is one of the few unfinished works that King has not kept private, which is essentially confirmation that it will never be finished.
2
“pinfall”
Unpublished and possibly unfinished story, date unknown
Pinfall is another story that King has mentioned over the years, however No details about the story were given. It is one that he has shown no intention of returning to at any point.
Pinfall was probably written for one of King’s many short story anthologies but may have lost its place to another story he considered more valuable. This often happens when authors have too much material to fit into one collection.
1
“i hate monday”
Unpublished story, date unknown
Author Rocky Wood is responsible for the discovery of I hate MondayOne of 10 stories he found during the research period for his own book Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished. The stories are all Discovered during an extended trip with KingWhere he provided wood with many old materials that he used in the early days of his career.
The story is only five pages long, and it was written with the help of King’s son Owen. It remains in the University of Maine library, although it can only be accessed with Stephen King Written permission.