Lexington Books Children and Childhood in the Works of Stephen King (Children and Youth in Popular Culture)

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. Review Stephen King is known for many things from horror to the gross-out, but to finally see an entire volume devoted to the innocence, fragility, and power of the children who populate King's fictions is refreshing. Indeed, King scholars have been trying to keep up with his output, taking baby steps here and there; this volume is a giant leap forward that closes the gap of scholarship with a wide selection of essays that are not only focused on the theme of children, but also the endurance of this theme throughout King's entire career. This book brings forward many new voices in the field of King studies, and each voice, each essay, creates an exceptional volume with insightful and incisive examinations of those who are often subjected to the worst of humanity but who also, in enduring such, show us just how beautiful humanity can be...in some cases. --Patrick McAleer, Inver Hills Community College, author of Inside the Dark Tower Series and co-editor of Stephen King's Modern Macabre (with Michael Perry) and The Modern Stephen King Canon (with Phil Simpson) About the Author Debbie Olson is assistant professor of English at Missouri Valley College.