There's something about Stephen King

This article harks back to my days working in fairy tale publishing, when I discovered numerous links between Stephen King's books and works by some of the most famous fairy tale authors; including, The Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault.

Stephen King, whose family did not possess a television for almost the first decade of his life, was exposed to the joys of reading fairy tales, myths and legends throughout his childhood. These have therefore been naturally ingrained into his writing and his literary development.

Blue Beard and The Shining

One of his most prominent stories which was influenced by folklore, is The Shining. If you haven't yet read this haunting tale, then think back to Stanley Kubrick's 1980 motion picture starring Jack Nicholson. Let's think back to the curious young Danny as he is told never to enter room 217. This is where we see our first link with Charles Perrault's Bluebeard (1697). The symbolic 'RED RUM', adds to the allusion that a murder has taken place within the enigmatic room 217, and we are given a direct link to Bluebeard when we are informed that Jack Torrance read the story to his son 'once when he was drunk'. Torrance, having previously been an English Literature teacher would have had a base knowledge of all of these tales.

‘It seemed vaguely to Danny that the story had had a happy ending, but that paled to insignificance beside the two dominant images: the taunting, maddening locked door with some great secret behind it, and the grisly secret itself […]. The locked door, and behind it the heads, the severed heads.’

When Danny's curiosity eventually takes over and he enters the room, the naked dead woman who comes towards him has just come out of the bath, which is reminiscent of the chest in which Bluebeard dumps the women he hacks to pieces. It has simply been adapted to adhere to the hotel setting. In an attempt to find deeper meaning within the number 217, I did some research… It turns out however, that this was simply the number of the room King was staying in (in the Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado) when he came up with the idea for The Shining.

The idea of demonic possession seen through Torrances' eventual madness may also be based loosely on folklore; the protagonist doing a psychological 360 and becoming the antagonist (very Jekyll and Hyde). This idea of dual personalities or hidden evil is again comparable to Bluebeard; both include antagonists who on the surface appear charming, yet on the other hand they’re both raving lunatics. In many respects the novel is simply a modern adaptation of Bluebeard.

It and Tibetan Folklore

One perhaps not so obvious King novel which draws ideas from mythology is his legendary It (1986), one of his most appraised and quite possibly most terrifying works. I had to dig a bit deeper to find the following connection, however in true King fashion it is there. In ancient Tibetan folklore there was a concept known as a Tulpa. A Tulpa is an entity which has the ability to morph into whatever a person is thinking about. Tulpa’s had the tendency to become aggressive, fear mongering entities. This is where King’s idea for It manifested from. He wanted to find a believable way of bringing back all of the legendary villains and amalgamating them into one novel. Interestingly, this Tulpa idea has also been used in other modern stories including, Harry Potter. In The Prisoner of Azkaban we are introduced to Bogarts. A Bogart is an entity that hides in dark places, such as cupboards, subsequently revealing itself according to one’s worst fears.

Carrie, Cinderella and Rapunzel

Looking at King's Carrie, the parallels with traditional fairy tales are again apparent, none more so than with The Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella and Rapunzel. In both Carrie and Rapunzel we see the classic dominating female figure, who keeps the damsel in 'captivity', for fear of her exposure to men and the unleashing of her feminine powers. Both antagonist and protagonist simultaneously crave normalcy and notoriety, however they are constantly presented with obstacles in obtaining such goals.

The parallels between Cinderella and Carrie are strong, however they are put into place in a subtler and modernised manner. Again, we have the horrible mother figure, confining the beauty to the home, whilst the evil sisters are replaced by nasty school peers, the prince character becomes the high school heart throb Tommy Ross and the fairy godmother becomes Sue Snell. In contrast to her fairy tale 'counter-parts' however, Carrie does not come out of her difficult situation with grace an ease, becoming the princess/ woman the world needs, but instead becomes a monstrous force for destruction. This is a coming of age story, but with a gruesome twist.

Finally, looking at the more general influences of traditional storytelling which are clearly manifested in King's writing, it is interesting to note the emphasis which is placed on the concepts of good and evil. These two concepts cannot be seen in black and white. As is common in fairy tale tradition (with the exception of the modern Disney-fied fairy tale), good and evil often become one in the same thing and there is rarely a clear-cut distinction between the two antitheses. It is this subtle combining of established literary techniques which have delighted Stephen King fans for generations. King's ability to adhere to traditional formulae whilst creating original works of fiction is what makes his novels timeless.

There's nothing new under the sun!