That isn't to say that his series don't reference each other-you could easily lose a night's sleep chasing all the Stephen King multiverse threads on the internet. But for the most part, King has kept to writing standalone novels and short stories. The Shining got a sequel, Doctor Sleep, more than 35 years after its original 1977 release. There's the Dark Tower series, which he has been continuing for decades, and more recently, the Bill Hodges trilogy.

Yet despite the overwhelming popularity and huge sales afforded to everything King releases, he has only revisited a few of his novels to continue the story.

After all, fans are always looking to learn more about their favorite characters, and some writers prefer to build out their universes over sequels or lengthy series. You would think that with so many entries under his belt, King's books must include a ton of sequels and series. Stephen King villains seem to really leave an impression on us: there's the scary evil clown, a rabid dog, a murderous car, ominous twin girls, and, of course, an author's number one fan. ( The Stand alone contains hundreds of Stephen King characters.) And the fact that people can name so many of them is a testament to his imagination and writing. With a bibliography that long, it goes without saying that King has created thousands of characters in his almost 50-year-long career. There have been more than 80 adaptations of his fiction to date, with many more in the works, including remakes of Firestarter and Christine. The legendary horror master has sold more than 350 million copies of his books, and almost all of his novels and many of his stories have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, audiobooks, and comic books. Since the April 1974 publication of his first novel, Carrie, King has released more than 60 novels and 200 stories. The list goes on and on, but it’s safe to say there are very few other creators who have left such an indelible mark on pop culture. Jemisin, an entire display of Stephen King books is accidentally knocked to the floor. On the drama Lost, Juliet Burke chooses Carrie for the Others book club. On the animated comedy Rick and Morty, Summer gets a job working at a store called Needful Things. For instance, on the hit sitcom Friends, Joey Tribbiani kept his copy of The Shining in the freezer, because it was too scary to have around the house. If you watch today’s television shows or movies, listen to contemporary audiobooks, or skim through articles on the internet, you know that it's nearly impossible to go a week without seeing a reference to Stephen King or one of his novels.

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