When Stephen King's children were young, they used to say their dad got dressed up to go out and “be Stephen King” to promote his books.
But there are other Stephen Kings, the best-selling author told a sellout crowd at Sewickley Academy on Wednesday evening.
There is one who dreams up all manner of gruesome stories, and then there is the regular guy at home who takes out the garbage.
He might well have added another persona: Stephen King, stand-up comedian.
With impeccable timing, Mr. King had his audience laughing more than gasping, although there was a bit of that, too.
Dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt and black tennis shoes, he called his time-release brand of scary fiction the “Contac of fear.”
Later, he joked that no one should really worry about the creeps and beasties in his stories.... or should they?
“The last thing I want you thinking about is a face, rising up in your rear view mirror...” as audience members drove home, he said casually.
Mr. King is hitting 12 cities in as many days to promote his latest book and support independent bookstores. The Pittsburgh event was a hosted by Sewickley's Penguin Bookshop. You can check out part of his Sewickley talk here on Periscope.
Each of the 620 attendees received a copy (400 were autographed) of the Mr. King’s novel, “End of Watch,” which was released Tuesday. It completes the thriller trilogy starring retired police detective Bill Hodges and Bradly Hartsfield, a deranged adversary with a mommy complex and mass suicide fixation. “Mr. Mercedes” (2014) — an Edgar award-winner — and “Finders Keepers” (2015) were Books 1 and 2.
“He really is one of the most important writers of our time living today,” said Susan Hans O’Connor, owner of the Penguin Bookshop. ”Not only is he an absolutely brilliant thriller writer, but he’s proven himself to be a very literary writer, a writer of real importance.”
Mr. King, 68, has long been an advocate of independent bookstores and libraries, and his many works feature writers as protagonists. He’s also clearly a fan of Pittsburgh, going back at least to the filming of his screenplay for 1982’s “Creepshow,” a cheerfully over-the-top horror film directed by George Romero.
He described a funny incident involving a men's room attendant at a Mount Washington restaurant, back in the day. Approached for an autograph while, well, indisposed, “that was my first encounter with fame. It sort of gave me a perspective from the bottom up.”
Many in the crowd had waited overnight in April to purchase tickets, including Kim Salivonchik and her daughter, Sydnie Miller, both of Belle Vernon.
“We got there around 11:50-ish,” Ms. Miller said.
“And we were still 56th in line,” her mother added.
A question-and -answer session was preceded by an author reading of a nasty little tale called “The Music Room.” It's about a married couple and their strange definition of hospitality.
The man who joked “BS is what I'm all about” in truth had some touching thoughts about the written word. He recalled how, as a young boy, his nose was always stuck in a book.
Some grownups thought this odd, and said so. Mr. King said if he could go back in time, he finally has a proper response: “You're going to live one life,” he said. “I'm going to live 10,000.”
Maria Sciullo: msciullo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1478 or @MariaSciulloPG.
First Published: June 9, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
