Stephen King is one of the most popular horror authors and is often in the headlines in one form or another. One story doing the rounds is about a bear that entered the Stanley Hotel, a Colorado hotel that inspired King’s book “The Shining,” and also featured in the Stanley Kubrick Film.

Meanwhile, King – a very vocal critic of US President Donald Trump – has written the shortest-ever horror story for just one person – Trump himself. Also below are some interesting facts about the author that you might not already know.

Bear enters the Stanley Hotel

As reported by ITV News, there were 300 guests staying there at the time the bear decided to explore the Stanley Hotel. Stephen King stayed at the hotel in Estes Park with his wife, Tabitha in 1974 and the property inspired him to write “The Shining.”

Also when Stanley Kubrick made a 1980 film adaptation of the story, he shot it at the Stanley Hotel. King himself was not impressed with Kubrick’s handling of the story, but the film did very well. The hotel originally opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places – but not due to King’s famous story, of course.

According to Vice President Reed Rowley, the bear worked out how to open the door to the hotel and then roamed around, climbing over furniture and generally having a good time.

How they got the bear to leave the hotel is unknown, but brief footage of the incident is included below.

Stephen King writes a very short story

King is a very vocal critic of Donald Trump and often posts tweets about him, which appear top of the list on many Twitter feeds. One of his recent tweets included what the Washington Post described as a “very brief story” for just one person.

That story, in just one word, is included below.

King's tweet soon went viral, but whether Trump read it remains unknown.

King-related tidbits that you might not know

Most King fans know of the many and various film and TV adaptations coming out recently, including the excellent adaptation of “Mr.

Mercedes.” The second season of the AT&T Audience Network series premiered on 22 August, telling the story of retired detective Bill Hodges (played by Brendan Gleeson) and the young psychopath he is trying to catch, Brady Hartfield (Harry Treadaway).

There is also an excellent series set in King’s multiverse, but not directly adapted from an individual book. US fans have been watching “Castle Rock” on Hulu and it is hoped that series will soon hit the UK TV airwaves.

On the subject of adaptations, Sissy Spacek, who now stars in “Castle Rock,” played the titular role in the film “Carrie,” which was adapted from King’s first published novel.

The interesting part of that story is that King didn’t like the manuscript he had originally written and threw it into the rubbish bin. Luckily, Tabitha, his fellow author wife pulled the manuscript out of the bin and made Stephen finish the story. What happened next is the plethora of King novels and short stories that we know and love today.

While King is now 70, it doesn’t appear to be slowing him down, as he continues to write new novels for his Constant Readers. More TV and film adaptations are also on the way, including “Doctor Sleep” and the second part of the clown horror, “It.” What you might not know is that King has made at least 14 cameos in the various TV and film adaptations over the years.

Watch out for him whenever you see a film or TV adaptation.

King has also collaborated on various other films, including the musical film “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,” where he worked with John Mellencamp. He also collaborated on Michael Jackson’s short film “Ghosts.”

Stephen King, fears and radio stations

While King writes the scariest horror stories, he is also afraid of a couple of things himself. One thing he particularly hates is flying and wherever possible, he drives to wherever he needs to go. The horror author is also afraid of the number 13, a phobia with the wonderful name triskaidekaphobia.

Another interesting item reported by Parade is that Stephen and Tabitha own three Maine radio stations: WZLO-FM, WKIT-FM, and WZON-AM.
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