Comparing Stephen King And Edgar Allan Poe
Hill 1
To analyze and compare and contrast the writing styles of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe you must look at each one of their backgrounds and forms of writing. Stephen Edwin King is one of the most popular and best selling writers of today. Stephen King 's horror can be appealing, as it strikes everyone from Edgar Allan Poe to Chuck Berry (Stine Vol. 26 238)
King is a prolific and popular author of horror fiction. In his works, King blends elements of the traditional gothic tale with those of the modern psychological thriller, detective, and science fiction genres. His fiction features colloquial language, clinical attention to physical detail and emotional states, and realistic contemporary settings that help make supernatural elements …show more content…
convincing. King 's wide popularity attests to his talent for creating stories in which he emphasizes the inability to rationalize certain facets of evil in seemingly commonplace situations (Marowski Vol. 37 1).
Stephen King also incorporates the feelings of optimism and his own personal events into his writings. In addition to these ideas, King uses plain imagery and puts it into
Hill 2
practical everyday places. He also uses symbols and unique characterization (Hegarty 5-6).
Since King 's writing style, characterization, and structure isn 't extraordinarily good he must find something else that will keep the reader interested. He does this by writing about things that are important to us such as life, family, death, friends, failure, and success. He writes about fears that are in everyone, such as death, animals, and the unknown, so that he can get into the readers head.
"To find the secret of his success, you have to compare King to Poe" (Stine Vol. 26 241).
Two famous writers have ruled the world of death and horror with incredible triumph, both blessed with the talent of bring each reader into his or her own subconscious fears. Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are the masters of their expertise, set apart with thoughts that set higher principles in the profession of writing. Both authors had a significant impact on the world of literature (Gmoser 1).
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He married Tabitha Spruce in January of 1971 (Stephen King: The Man 1). Stephen and Tabitha had three
Hill 3
children. The King 's lived in Bangor until the moved to Maine at the end of the summer of 1973 due to Stephen 's
mother 's sickness. During the time that Stephen was writing "Salem 's Lot" his mother died of cancer. He then published "Carrie" in the spring of 1974 before moving to Boulder, Colorado, where Stephen wrote "The Shining". The King family then returned to Maine where King finished writing "The Stand" and wrote "The Dead Zone" (Stephen King: The Man 2). "Many of King 's works have been adapted for the screen" (Stephen King: The Man 3).
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 and died October 7,1849 in Baltimore. "He was best known for his poems and short fiction. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller." (Gmoser 1) His psychological thrillers have influenced many writers. Poe moved to Richmond in 1835 where he married his cousin, Virginia, who was thirteen years old (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site 1). Poe was raised in a drinking society and a fondness for alcohol appeared to run in his family. In addition to his drinking habits, opium has also been and issue of suspicion.
King was also an alcoholic and a cocaine addict. Between these two drugs King 's life began to go downhill,
Hill 4
and his writings showed it.
During this time King wrote "Misery" and "Tommyknockers", both were about psychotic
people and the taking over of ones mind, which was what the alcohol and drugs were doing to Stephen. However, King 's wife and friends supported him and helped him to come clean. With the help of his friends and family, King was able to give up the drugs and alcohol. Poe didn 't have anyone to help him get through his problems.
King and Poe both share an interest in horror, death, murder, and terror. Some of King 's story 's deal with death but Poe takes death to the next step by going into the processes of death. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the one best known for death. Poe used so much description that he forced the reader to comprehend what he was trying to reveal. "He uses paintings and writings to describe his inner thoughts" (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site).
In several of King 's earlier stories the characters seldom overcame their fight with evil. However, in his later writings he often used the theme of struggling to survive, which Poe didn 't use. "The Masque of the Red Death" by Poe is very comparable to "The Stand" by King. Both stories deal with an entire population being …show more content…
destroyed
Hill 5
by a sickness and "portrays the timeless struggle between good and evil" (Marowski Vol. 37 200). In King 's story, the people hold their selves together and rebuild a bigger and better world and destroying the evil that is trying to kill them. However, the people in Poe 's story just from the evil trying to kill them and they wind up dying painful deaths.
Poe and King also differ in their style of writing. King believes that dressing up the vocabulary by using more superior and complex words is a bad thing where as Poe uses as many different forms of the language that he possible can (Stine Vol. 26 241). In Poe 's "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe writes,
"You must not-you shall not behold this!" said I, shuddering, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from the window to a seat. "These appearances, which bewilder you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon-or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn. Let us close this casement...and so we will pass away this terrible night together." (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site).
Hill 6
This shows how Poe liked to dress up his writing using as much of the language as he could. King is more of a short and to the point type of writer.
Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe both grew up in two different worlds, yet somehow both of their imaginations lead to horror and death.
One came from a wealthy but unsupportive home, while the other came from a family struggling just to try and put dinner on the table. Both fought their addiction of drugs and alcohol, although only one of them was successful in becoming sober before it controlled his life. They both dominated the profession of writing with commendable success. Even though Poe 's method of writing and usage of words may be hard to comprehend, his topic is just as apt as Kings. They have both valued their society and their era, although their subjects don 't hold to society 's ethics. However, that is what makes them stand out.
Works Cited
"American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site." (April 2000): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/PoeFall.htm#third
Beacham, Walton. Beacham 's Popular Fiction. Vol. 2. "Stephen King." Washington D. C.: Beacham Publishing, 1986. 747-757.
Gmoser, Stefan. "Poe, Edgar Allan." (10-February-2001): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/Bio.html
Hegarty, Emily "The Fear that Fame Will Fail: Stephen King 's Canonical Anxiety." (1996): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://members.aol.com/Eahegarty/king.htm
Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill 's Survey of American Literature. Vol. 3. "Stephen King." New York: Marshall
Cavendish Co., 1991. 1067-1071.
---. Masterplots II. Vol. 5. "Carrie." Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1994. 2060-2064.
To analyze and compare and contrast the writing styles of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe you must look at each one of their backgrounds and forms of writing. Stephen Edwin King is one of the most popular and best selling writers of today. Stephen King 's horror can be appealing, as it strikes everyone from Edgar Allan Poe to Chuck Berry (Stine Vol. 26 238)
King is a prolific and popular author of horror fiction. In his works, King blends elements of the traditional gothic tale with those of the modern psychological thriller, detective, and science fiction genres. His fiction features colloquial language, clinical attention to physical detail and emotional states, and realistic contemporary settings that help make supernatural elements …show more content…
convincing. King 's wide popularity attests to his talent for creating stories in which he emphasizes the inability to rationalize certain facets of evil in seemingly commonplace situations (Marowski Vol. 37 1).
Stephen King also incorporates the feelings of optimism and his own personal events into his writings. In addition to these ideas, King uses plain imagery and puts it into
Hill 2
practical everyday places. He also uses symbols and unique characterization (Hegarty 5-6).
Since King 's writing style, characterization, and structure isn 't extraordinarily good he must find something else that will keep the reader interested. He does this by writing about things that are important to us such as life, family, death, friends, failure, and success. He writes about fears that are in everyone, such as death, animals, and the unknown, so that he can get into the readers head.
"To find the secret of his success, you have to compare King to Poe" (Stine Vol. 26 241).
Two famous writers have ruled the world of death and horror with incredible triumph, both blessed with the talent of bring each reader into his or her own subconscious fears. Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are the masters of their expertise, set apart with thoughts that set higher principles in the profession of writing. Both authors had a significant impact on the world of literature (Gmoser 1).
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He married Tabitha Spruce in January of 1971 (Stephen King: The Man 1). Stephen and Tabitha had three
Hill 3
children. The King 's lived in Bangor until the moved to Maine at the end of the summer of 1973 due to Stephen 's
mother 's sickness. During the time that Stephen was writing "Salem 's Lot" his mother died of cancer. He then published "Carrie" in the spring of 1974 before moving to Boulder, Colorado, where Stephen wrote "The Shining". The King family then returned to Maine where King finished writing "The Stand" and wrote "The Dead Zone" (Stephen King: The Man 2). "Many of King 's works have been adapted for the screen" (Stephen King: The Man 3).
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 and died October 7,1849 in Baltimore. "He was best known for his poems and short fiction. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller." (Gmoser 1) His psychological thrillers have influenced many writers. Poe moved to Richmond in 1835 where he married his cousin, Virginia, who was thirteen years old (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site 1). Poe was raised in a drinking society and a fondness for alcohol appeared to run in his family. In addition to his drinking habits, opium has also been and issue of suspicion.
King was also an alcoholic and a cocaine addict. Between these two drugs King 's life began to go downhill,
Hill 4
and his writings showed it.
During this time King wrote "Misery" and "Tommyknockers", both were about psychotic
people and the taking over of ones mind, which was what the alcohol and drugs were doing to Stephen. However, King 's wife and friends supported him and helped him to come clean. With the help of his friends and family, King was able to give up the drugs and alcohol. Poe didn 't have anyone to help him get through his problems.
King and Poe both share an interest in horror, death, murder, and terror. Some of King 's story 's deal with death but Poe takes death to the next step by going into the processes of death. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the one best known for death. Poe used so much description that he forced the reader to comprehend what he was trying to reveal. "He uses paintings and writings to describe his inner thoughts" (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site).
In several of King 's earlier stories the characters seldom overcame their fight with evil. However, in his later writings he often used the theme of struggling to survive, which Poe didn 't use. "The Masque of the Red Death" by Poe is very comparable to "The Stand" by King. Both stories deal with an entire population being …show more content…
destroyed
Hill 5
by a sickness and "portrays the timeless struggle between good and evil" (Marowski Vol. 37 200). In King 's story, the people hold their selves together and rebuild a bigger and better world and destroying the evil that is trying to kill them. However, the people in Poe 's story just from the evil trying to kill them and they wind up dying painful deaths.
Poe and King also differ in their style of writing. King believes that dressing up the vocabulary by using more superior and complex words is a bad thing where as Poe uses as many different forms of the language that he possible can (Stine Vol. 26 241). In Poe 's "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe writes,
"You must not-you shall not behold this!" said I, shuddering, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from the window to a seat. "These appearances, which bewilder you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon-or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn. Let us close this casement...and so we will pass away this terrible night together." (American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site).
Hill 6
This shows how Poe liked to dress up his writing using as much of the language as he could. King is more of a short and to the point type of writer.
Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe both grew up in two different worlds, yet somehow both of their imaginations lead to horror and death.
One came from a wealthy but unsupportive home, while the other came from a family struggling just to try and put dinner on the table. Both fought their addiction of drugs and alcohol, although only one of them was successful in becoming sober before it controlled his life. They both dominated the profession of writing with commendable success. Even though Poe 's method of writing and usage of words may be hard to comprehend, his topic is just as apt as Kings. They have both valued their society and their era, although their subjects don 't hold to society 's ethics. However, that is what makes them stand out.
Works Cited
"American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site." (April 2000): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/PoeFall.htm#third
Beacham, Walton. Beacham 's Popular Fiction. Vol. 2. "Stephen King." Washington D. C.: Beacham Publishing, 1986. 747-757.
Gmoser, Stefan. "Poe, Edgar Allan." (10-February-2001): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/Bio.html
Hegarty, Emily "The Fear that Fame Will Fail: Stephen King 's Canonical Anxiety." (1996): n.pag. Online. Internet. 3 April 2002. Available http://members.aol.com/Eahegarty/king.htm
Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill 's Survey of American Literature. Vol. 3. "Stephen King." New York: Marshall
Cavendish Co., 1991. 1067-1071.
---. Masterplots II. Vol. 5. "Carrie." Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1994. 2060-2064.