Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of addiction, mental illness, and death.

Born in 1947 in Portland, Maine, Stephen King began writing at an early age. After years of struggling with odd jobs and rejection slips, he achieved breakthrough success in 1974 with Carrie. King soon became a household name, publishing a string of bestsellers, including The Shining (1977), The Stand (1978), and It (1986). Though he became known for horror, King often defies strict categorization, writing novellas, dramas, and even nonfiction. His work explores themes of childhood, trauma, addiction, redemption, and the power of storytelling. King was often dismissed by critics in his early career, who viewed him as a genre writer without literary merit. However, King always saw his work as part of a grander literary tradition, drawing inspiration from the likes of J. R. R. Tolkien, William Faulkner, and Robert Browning. With The Dark Tower, King set out to craft a series that would tie together his thematic concerns, literary influences, and narrative interests into one