Stephen King Turns 70: Facts, Quotes From 'King Of Horror'

The recently released horror film "IT" has been breaking box office records across North America as it is being considered to be one of the highest grossing horror movies in its opening week itself. The Hollywood movie, the latest adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 novel was released on Sept. 8 and within the first weekend is said to have grossed over $123 million and earned $371 million worldwide in its first week, according to Forbes.

That would indeed be an appropriate birthday gift for the "King of Horror" as Thursday marks his 70th birthday.

Stephen King had commented on the film before its release and praised it saying: "I had hopes, but I was not prepared for how good it really was. It's something that's different, and at the same time, it's something that audiences are gonna relate to. They're gonna like the characters. To me, it's all about character. If you like the characters... if you care... the scares generally work. I'm sure my fans will enjoy the movie," Cinemablend.com reported.

King is a New York Times bestselling novelist, who is famous for his works in the horror and fantasy genres with books like "Carrie," "The Shining" and "IT." Apart from the recent adaptation of his novel "IT," much of his other work has also been adapted for films and television shows.

Born on Sept. 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine, King completed his graduation from the University of Maine and later worked as a teacher there while he was still trying to establish himself as a writer. He published his first horror novel in 1973, "Carrie" under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and it was a huge success. King has been critically acclaimed and also experienced commercial success for his work throughout the years — his books have sold over 350 million copies worldwide and have been successfully adapted into several films.

Numerous among King's works were made into film or Television adaptations including "Cujo" and "Firestarter" which were released for the big screen in 1983 and 1984 respectively. His work "IT" debuted as a miniseries on television in 1990, but has now been adapted for the big screen and was released this year. The adaptation of King's "The Shining" was released in 1980 on the big screen and starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. "The Shining" made its name as a popular horror thriller and was a box office success, according to Biography.com.

King's wife Tabitha King is also a novelist. They have three children — Naomi Rachel, who is a reverend; Joseph Hillstrom, who is also a writer under the pen name Joe Hill and is an acclaimed horror-fiction writer himself; and Owen Phillip, whose first-ever collection of stories was published in 2005.

Known as one of the best horror writers of his time, King has managed to scare readers with his writings throughout the years. King has his own formulas for learning to write well, some of his famous quotes and sayings portray his love for reading and writing.

Here are some inspiring quotes from the horror writer collected from Brainy Quote and Good Reads, to celebrate him and his work on his 70th birthday.

• "Books are a uniquely portable magic."
• "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
• "Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life."
• "Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones."
• "And as a writer, one of the things that I've always been interested in doing is actually invading your comfort space. Because that's what we're supposed to do. Get under your skin, and make you react."