No book since Spignesi's 'The Shape Under the Sheet' (last updated in 1990) has ever attempted to summarise every story, every character, every place, and the entire timeline of King's work. The simple fact is that this information has not been available in any one place - until now.
Readers may have access to other resources to look up the details of very major characters (Jack Torrance, for instance) or to get a high-level summary on a major town (Castle Rock or Derry) or yet other resources for a short summary of various books or stories. But this is …
The first resource to have all this information in one Publication!
The Revised Guide now contains nearly 6000 pages and is made up of three Books – Book One – The World of Stephen King; Book Two – The Works of Fiction; and Book Three – Indexes and Bibliographies
A number of broad chapters are included in Book One of the Guide:
Introduction - Why a Complete Guide
The Joy of Stephen King
Stephen King - A Timeline
Linking Stephen King's Realities
Tongue in Cheek - King's Bloopers
The Unpublished or Lost Works
Non Fiction
Upcoming Works
The Rules
In Book Two of the guide
All 279 stories (or versions of them) by King are summarised in full
according to a template format. Click here to see the full
list of stories summarised.
Easy to use Icons are used to assist you to quickly find information. The template
format is as follows: (click here to see the Sample Chapter, 'The
Dead Zone'):
|
Title | Title and any variations. Year of Publication |
|
Where to Find It | We tell you where to find it, a particularly helpful section if the Work is not in a Mass Market Publication |
|
Reality | Places the story in the relevant King 'Reality' |
|
Summary | Short Summary of the Story |
|
Notes | Interesting notes about the Story, its publications, versions, etc |
|
Main Characters | Names of Main Characters |
|
Main Places | The main places, such as towns, houses etc in the story |
|
Main Timelines | The timelines encompassed by the story |
|
Other Major Things | Things that cannot be classified as Characters, Places or Timelines |
|
Links | Covers ALL Links to other Books and Stories |
|
Errors | Tongue-in-cheek look at the 'Bloopers' in each story |
|
Adaptations | TV, Movie, Audio, Stage and other adaptations |
|
Characters | Full Character Listing for the Story |
|
Places | Full Places Listing for the Story |
|
Businesses | Full Businesses Listing for the Story |
|
Things | Full Things Listing for the Story |
|
Timeline | Full Timeline Listing for the Story |
VERSIONS
It is well known to serious King fans that he has a penchant for updating his works as he republishes them. Sometimes these Versions are relatively minor (mostly editing) and from time to time they result in major rewrites with even character names changing (eg, 'It Grows on You' or the Uncut version of 'The Stand'; or the Revised ‘Gunslinger’) and some are in between. The Guide includes a summary of each of these Versions, including details of the changes from each to the other.
BOOK THREE - INDICES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
Importantly, the Guide includes Indices and Other Listings which allow the user to easily find the work, character or other information they seek. These indices are:
Lists every character ever included in a King story with short details about each. Major characters have longer entries. Any characters which are Dead, an Animal, Musicians or Writers are specifically noted. Entries are listed alphabetically. The total number of characters exceeds 26,000!
Lists every place (particularly towns and cities) ever included in a King story with short details about each. The total number of entries exceeds 5000.
Lists every business ever included in a King story with short details about each. The total number of businesses exceeds 5000.
Lists interesting Things that cannot be summarised as Characters, Places or Businesses.
Lists each important Book about King with a short summary of each. As a bonus lists of books about King in French, German, Italian and Hungarian are also provided.
Lists every Film, Television, Audio, Stage and other Adaptation of a King story with short details about each.
Lists the major sources for King material on the Web including: Information Sites, Fan Sites, Bookshops specialising in King, Sellers of Rare King Material, Official Sites (eg King's own site, publishers and booksellers).