It’s not unusual for writers to gravitate towards certain ideas. While others might consider the reusing of such ideas to be lazy, a great writer can take similar concepts and make them different each time. Provided a writer is willing to flesh out his characters, and be inventive in his plots, there is no reason why the reuse of particular archetypes should be bad—instead, such ideas, as used by the writer, only reveal what the writer is drawn to. When you encounter these plot devices or tropes, you know you’re reading somebody familiar.
Stephen King is no exception. His stories feature certain ideas which continue to crop up. These are the tropes which speak to him, and it could be argued that they are apart of his branding. If these concepts didn’t appear in his work, it wouldn’t be his work. Authors have unique passions, things they’re drawn to, and ideas they love to explore.
It might not be immediately obvious, but if you read one author enough you will discover a wealth of personalized tropes within their collective body of work. I will admit to having my own set of ideas which I continually return to in my stories, and there’s no exception when it comes to the king (no pun intended) of horror himself.
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1) Psychological Horror
Stephen King is renowned for his creepy villains, particularly when it comes to beings like It, but the monsters, the vampires and the ghosts, only provide half the horror. The author also creates a sense of unease in the reader by exploring psychological horror. Many of the characters experience terrifying situations which are so scary because they aren’t supernatural—instead, these are situations, or people, we could, and do, encounter in real life.
It’s not uncommon for King’s heroes to contend with childhood bullying, abuse from a partner or parent, manipulation, or even psychopaths, dangers that are unnervingly true to life. Even within his more fantasy fuelled stories, King explores the creepy underbelly of psychological horror.
Within the book It, there are characters like Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter to remind the reader that human beings can be every bit as evil as killer clowns. In fact, Patrick Hockstetter might be the scariest element of the entire novel. Henry Bowers is the primary human antagonist, but Patrick reaches new levels of creepy. King chills the reader by offering descriptions of Patrick’s life—the dogs he’s killed, and how he killed them, and his own part in the murder of his brother. Patrick is a budding psychopath, and his life story is more horrifying than the history of Pennywise.
Books like Carrie and It combine supernatural terror with psychological horror, as the former explores the effects of being abused by one’s mother and bulled in school. However, many of King’s books do away with the ghosts and goblins altogether. Books like Dolores Claiborne or Misery don’t need creatures to terrify readers. Anyone who has read these books, or watched their film adaptations, comes away knowing that humans remain the true monsters.
2) Recovering Addicts
Another common idea in King’s books are recovering addicts. Given his own struggle with addiction, it makes sense that King would want to transfer something of his own experience into the stories he tells. John Torrance, of Shining fame, is King’s most famous addict, but Callahan, from Salem’s Lot, and Uncle Red, from Silver Bullet, are also struggling alcoholics. John’s son, Danny, is unfortunate enough to inherit his drinking problem, though he is able to recover—if slowly and painfully—where his father was not. Callahan and Red, too, eventually redeem themselves, though their journeys are never easy. Eddie Dean, one of the heroes of The Dark Tower series, is yet another addict (though in his case, he’s a drug addict).
These characters are believable, because their journeys are so difficult. King isn’t afraid to explore his characters at their lowest points. He shows the ugly side of being an addict, including the damage done to family members, the fight to hold a job, the toll on their physical and mental health, and the petty crimes these formerly decent people can be driven to commit to pay for that next drink.
Despite the darkness of these characters, King still offers hope for most of them. Whether it’s because they wanted to fix themselves, or because they’ve been thrust into a supernatural battle which forces them to be on their toes, these characters do manage to heal. It’s never easy, but in recovering they find unexpected friendships, love, and a quality of character within themselves they did not know they possessed.
3) Heroes with Disabilities
Stephen King seems to be a fan of the underdog. Recovering addicts certainly fall under this category, but those with disabilities are also common in Stephen King’s works. He populates his stories with heroes who are deaf, have mental handicaps, or who can’t walk.
In It, several of the boys have varying disabilities. Richie likely has a form of ADHD, while Eddie Kasprak suffers from asthma. Even Bill, the leader of the group, has a stuttering problem. In The Stand, Nick Andros is a character who is deaf and mute; in the same book, Tom Cullen is a mentally handicapped character who nevertheless manages to spy for the “good guys.”
People in wheelchairs are also common in King’s works. Susanna, Eddie Dean’s love interest, manages to contribute to Roland’s band in The Dark Tower despite her inability to walk. On top of being in a wheelchair, Susanna might suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder as a result of the trauma she suffered in the accident that cost her her legs (and if that wasn’t enough, her other personality seems to have kleptomania).
Another hero in King’s works is Marty Coslaw, a child in a wheelchair who manages to discover who is killing the residents of Tarkers Mills. Though originally from the novella, Cycle of the Werewolf, his role is expanded in the film adaptation, Silver Bullet. Marty eventually deduces that the murderer stalking the town is a werewolf, and he manages to persuade his sister and uncle to help him against the supernatural threat.
King’s depictions aren’t always perfect but, whether he erred or not, it does seem the author’s intention was to show that anyone, regardless of race, age, or even disability, could be a hero. The disabled heroes in his books go on to save the day, or aid the cause of good against evil, despite their disadvantages.
To see an author exploring the idea of disabled characters as the good guys is rare; even now, the majority of authors neglect to explore disability as a form of diversity. This may be because it is difficult to portray with accuracy or sensitivity, but that is a discussion for another article.
4) The Child Hero
Another character type King seems drawn to is the child hero. These kids are often between ten and twelve, though they can be younger, and are asked to contend with terrifying forces, both supernatural and human, that would make grown adults run. Children, inherently, are, like those recovering from alcoholism or facing disability, more vulnerable. Yet despite their seeming weakness, their status as underdogs doesn’t prevent the children of King’s world from saving the day.
Jake is as much a member of Roland’s band in The Dark Tower as Susanna and Eddie are. Despite his complicated relationship with Roland himself, Jake contributes and does what the others can’t. This article has already mentioned Marty, who isn’t even a teenager when he solves a murder and shoots a werewolf point blank. Trisha, from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, is yet another child protagonist who survives against the odds. Yet the biggest example of the child hero in King’s works has to be the so called Loser’s Club, the awkward and loyal group of children who stand against Pennywise in It.
Other children thrust into danger within King’s works include Charlie, Carrie, and Danny; these children are a King trope in their own right, possessing paranormal gifts which cause more problems than they solve. Whether it be massacring bullies at the prom, starting fires which incite shady government officials to chase you, or attracting the attention of murderous ghosts in an isolated hotel, these children have it especially rough. Characters like Carrie and Charlie would even go on to inspire the likes of Eleven in Netflix’s darling show, Stranger Things—a series which is clearly inspired by Stephen King.
5) The Writer Protagonist
There’s the adage that you should write what you know, and King does: several of his protagonists are writers. John Torrance, before becoming an abusive alcoholic and attempting to murder his family as a result of being possessed by angry spirits, is a struggling playwright. He suffers from crippling doubt in his work, faces rejection, and contends with writer’s block.
The leader of the Loser’s Club, Bill Denbrough, also goes on to become a writer, and King explores the series of rejections Bill had to sit through before finding success. Bill was told that his work was cheap, no better than pulp, a struggle familiar to King.
In Salem’s Lot, too, Ben Mears is a successful novelist who nevertheless suffers through life’s ups and downs. While grief for his late wife drives Ben to visit Jerusalem’s Lot, a bad case of writer’s block also prompts the trip.
Whether it be rejection, or writer’s block, King’s writer protagonists are relatable for those of us in the trade. Some might accuse King of creating self inserts in his work, but each of the writers in these books feels different, taking different pieces from the author’s own struggle. At any rate, being able to discuss how frustrating the trade can be was likely cathartic on some level for King.
In Conclusion
All authors have particular ideas or character types they continue to be drawn to, and Stephen King is no exception. I couldn’t even list all of the characters within each of these categories, simply because there are so many. Suffice it to say that King, like some of his more sinister characters, has an MO. The personalized tropes on this list are, for better or for worse, apart of the DNA of his stories. If a story didn’t have one, or several of these tropes, it wouldn’t be a Stephen King book.
All authors have MO’s in their work, and it’s worthwhile to make note of them (particularly if you are also a writer). It may explain why you, as either a writer or a reader, are drawn to a specific writer—the ideas they touch upon, repeatedly, may be ideas you are passionate about too.
What other authors have you noticed have MO’s? Are there any I missed for King himself? Comment below!