Stephen King is often described through a mix of vivid and cinematic storytelling. His work blends detailed landscapes, characters, and a mix of sanity and madness to create popular attention-grabbing stories all over the globe. His extraordinary body of work covers 65 published novels and over 200 written short stories. In 2025, there are more than 50 films and more than 30 television series and mini-series. He has sold over 400 million copies worldwide, and most will know him for The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, It, Carrie, and The Shining. Beyond the haunted hotels, vampires, and killer clowns, C-SC English Professor Dr. Alissa Burger defines King’s work as an appreciation to gothic literature and raw human emotions, she states “There’s so much more about emotions and what it means to be human than he gets credit for; it’s not just vampires and scary clowns, there’s a lot of heart there that sometimes people miss.” says Burger.
Burger has produced immense work on the topic of King, establishing herself as one of the foremost experts on his stories and their significance within today’s culture. Through her publications of books, articles, a blog, and classroom teaching, Burger has explored the realm of complexity to Stephen King. She has published three major books, IT Chapters 1 and 2 (Devils Advocates Series, Edinburgh University Press, 2023), which provide an in-depth analysis of the films. The Quest for the Dark Tower: Genre and Interconnection in the Stephen King Series (McFarland, 2021), where she examines the intricate building and correlations to settings and themes within Kings work; and Teaching Stephen King: Horror, the Supernatural, and New Approaches to Literature (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), which offers educational strategies for engaging students with King’s work within academic settings.
Burger’s first experience with King’s work began when she was in junior high, she recalls, “I remember watching the first IT miniseries on TV. I was 10 years old.” In terms of his writing, Burger states, “I’m drawn towards the ways King draws on classic Gothic literature; what he writes about feels incredibly real. He’s a very popular author, and I think people overlook, he’s saying very important stuff.” When asked where new readers should begin, Burger recommends The Shining and Salem’s Lot. Her personal favorites accumulated of all his work are IT and Carrie.
Burger’s work and dedication to studying King continue to grow, and this upcoming May, she will be travelling to the Stephen King Archives in Bangor, Maine, to conduct further research and deepen her understanding of his creative work. Burger shares that she feels “very excited” with the archives, an experience that will no doubt enrich her ongoing exploration of a monumentally significant author who continues to shape literature and culture.
Explore Dr. Burger’s blog www.exploringkingsmaine.com.
