
Such fear takes the form of a slow-building dread in The Outsider, the new 10-part HBO series based on King's 2018 novel of the same title. Fear of madness and menstrual blood, fear of killer clowns and demonic pets, fear of addiction and entrapment. Still going strong, King is best known for tapping into and exploring that most primal of emotions - fear.

Since publishing his first novel, Carrie, in 1974, the 72-year-old writer has been a literary juggernaut whose books have spawned more than 20 TV shows and more than 40 movies. If I had to make a list of the most important figures in pop culture over the last half-century, I would put Stephen King near the top. An HBO adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Outsider follows police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) and private eye Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) as they investigate the murder of an 11-year-old boy.
