This unique and timely collection examines childhood and the child character throughout Stephen King’s works, from his early novels and short stories, through film adaptations, to his most recent publications. King’s use of child characters within the framework of horror (or of horrific childhood) raises questions about adult expectations of children, childhood, the American family, child agency, and the nature of fear and terror for (or by) children. The ways in which King presents, complicates, challenges, or terrorizes children and notions of childhood provide a unique lens through which to examine American culture, including both adult and social anxieties about children and childhood across the decades of King’s works.

Contributions by: Shastri Akella, Ingrid E. Castro, Lauren Christie, James M. Curtis, Joshua Garrison, Roxanne Harde, Kristen Miller Hill, Kara Lukancic, Jennifer Manthei, Katherine McCain, Andrew McCormack, Debaditya Mukhopadhyay, Debbie Olson, Tatiana Prorokova-Konrad, Karen Renner, Brennan Thomas