King-dom of Horror

All who know me well are aware of my love of all things horror, an addiction that I picked up from my mother. I still recall as a young child, coming across my mom's copy of Salem's Lot, which included in the middle, some photo's from the movie, and being fascinated by the demented looking vampire they used (clearly based on the one from the old German vampire movie, Nosferateu). I was probably only 6 or 7 at the time and not yet old enough to tackle large 'adult' books that weren't illustrated, but that image stuck with me.
Skip forward a few years, and I remember holiday shopping with my father - we came across a hardcover copy of Stephen King's recently released It, and bought it for her. It was actually quite some time yet until the holiday, so I hid the book from my mom under my dresser, yet I couldn't resist its taunting cover. Every free moment I could find, I would close my bedroom door, slowly pull out the book, and on bent knee, pour over what is truly one of his most demented books. I would keep one ear cocked for her approaching foot steps, and I'm sure that she must have caught me more than once with a guilty look on my face, having recently shoved the book under the dresser and jumping into my bed to read one of my other books. Of course now, looking back on it, I realize my mum must have thought I was up to a more personal activity, but in all honesty I think this was before I took up that activity.
In any case, ever since I fell in love with the works of Stephen King. From that moment on, I went back through his entire catalog and read everything he had done to date - Carrie, the Lot, Christine, Cujo, The Stand, The Dead Zone, The Gunslinger - the list goes on and on. Like a lot of people, I've read nearly everything he has done, for better or worse. Unfortunately, in his later years, some of the works haven't been up to par with what he has done, but I'm happy to say, having just finished his most recent book, Under the Dome, that the King of horror can still bring it, when he makes teh effort. Here's hoping he continues to bring it in the future...