stephen king tour

10 Spots Every Stephen King Fan Must Go in Bangor, Maine

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If you’re a big Stephen King fan, you may already know that Maine serves as a source of much inspiration and setting for the king of horror himself. In fact, Stephen King actually spends much of his time at his home in Maine and was born and grew up in Maine. King describes in this beautiful and harrowing essay why Bangor, of all places, was chosen as home. This makes Maine the perfect spot for a self-guided Stephen King tour of all the places that gave him inspiration for his nightmare-inducing novels and the movies that branched off from them, the places where several films were shot, and possibly even where you can see and meet Stephen King himself if you’re lucky.

If you’re read several of Stephen King’s novels , you may realize that he utilizes the fictional town of Derry quite often in his books. The fictional town of Derry is based on King’s very own home of Bangor, Maine and, for this reason, many King fans visit Bangor every year to see pages come to life. There are plenty of places for King fans to see what exactly makes Stephen King tick.

Stephen King Tour

If you find yourself in Maine, Bangor is well worth the trip (even not as a King fan) and I’ve put together a self-guided Stephen King tour to Bangor.

Stephen King Tour Map

Stephen King’s Home

Address: 47 west broadway,  bangor.

You may be surprised to learn this, but you can walk right up to Stephen King’s home in Bangor, Maine. The address is public knowledge and it is pretty common knowledge that King himself is known to come out and talk to fans frequently. I take that as a sign that he doesn’t seem to mind us commoners.

His house is exactly what I would picture Stephen King’s home looking like. It’s a blood-red Victorian home surrounded by a black iron fence adorned with gargoyles and bats.

Pet Sematary Filming Locations

Mount hope cemetery, address: 1048 state st.

Ever watched Pet Sematary? Then you’ve set your eyes on Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine. If you’ll remember, Stephen King himself appeared in the original Pet Sematary. He plays the minister at the cemetery presiding over the funeral of Gage.

Even if one weren’t a King fan, Mount Hope Cemetery is definitely worth a visit. It’s one of the nation’s oldest garden cemeteries and is almost 200 years old.

Carrie Inspiration

Inside of Mount Hope Cemetery, you’ll also find a gravestone with the name Carrie on it. It is rumored that this was the inspiration behind the character, and of course, novel Carrie . I don’t know if this has ever been proven true by King himself, but cool nonetheless.

IT Filming Locations & Inspiration

Thomas hill standpipe, address: 41 thomas hill rd.

The Thomas Hill Standpipe is walking distance from Stephen King’s own home. It served as the inspiration in King’s novel It as the haunted and dangerous water tower. There’s a small park located where the Thomas Hill Standpipe is located and it is rumored that King wrote a lot of the book while seated on the park bench here.

The Standpipe dates back to 1897 and is honestly one of the coolest looking water towers I’ve ever seen.

Paul Bunyan Statue

Address: 519 main st.

Remember when this giant Paul Bunyan statue came to life in It and attacked Richie? This also happened in the new It: Chapter Two (2019) movie. The statue is also mentioned in King’s novel Insomnia .

Sewer Drain at Union and Jackson Street

Did you ever find yourself avoid walking around sewers and any other openings in the ground in fear of Pennywise grabbing you? Just me then? I’ve finally gotten over that weird habit for the most part. So much so that I even visited the sewer drain in which Pennywise lured Georgie in the movie It .

Want to visit it too? Just head to the corner of Union and Jackson Street in Bangor. This very specific sewer drain is said to have inspired King’s imagination even though it really doesn’t look any different than any other.

Interested in a more specialized tour of Bangor dedicated to Stephen King fans? Check out SK tours !

Stephen King Bookstore – Gerald Winters & Son

Address: 48 main street, geraldwinters.com.

In 2008, Gerald Winters opened up a bookstore dedicated to Stephen King novels and King memorabilia. It was the best place to find limited editions, one-of-a-kind items such as manuscripts and screenplays, t-shirts, and other memorabilia.

It was the little surprises along that way while exploring Bangor – the odes to Stephen King – that made me realize how loved by the locals he must be.

Union and Second Street

Head to the corner of Union and Second Street to find a mural of what I assume are important figures to Bangor and you’ll find none other than Stephen King amongst them.

Stephen King and Molly (aka the thing of evil) Bench

Strolling in downtown Bangor, I noticed lots of little bits of public art, but this bench definitely caught my eye. And, yes, that’s King’s dog – Molly, aka The Thing of Evil.

Stephen King Tour Overview

Any Stephen King fan will surely find Bangor magical and a perfect spot to visit as a lover of his books and movies. I hope this self-guided Stephen King tour leads you on a haunting and nostalgic journey through Bangor.

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Find accommodation , read accommodation reviews , and check flight prices. Book attractions, tickets, or guides in advance. Research using these guides or read my other Stephen King posts. See my packing list .

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Ashley Hubbard

Ashley Hubbard is a writer, photographer, and blogger based in Nashville, Tennessee. When she's not searching out the strange and unusual things in life, she's searching out vegan food and is passionate about sustainability, animal rights, and social justice.

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I have read some Stephen King but I’m definitely not an expert. I actually had no idea he was from Maine, or that he drew so much inspiration from his local surroundings. However that might be a subconscious thing for all authors! I have to say though that his house (gate in particular) is SO extra and I would have expected nothing less 😛

I’m a huge Stephen King fan and definitely want to take this tour!! I am so enamored of him as a writer and all the other members of his family. I’d like to just stand outside his house and breathe the same air they breathe, hoping some of their creativity would run off on me. Well, actually, I’d like to go inside the house and watch him write, but I’ll settle for the tour. Less creepy. 😉

I’ve read a lot of Stephen King novels in the last decade, including “Pet Sematary,” so I would love to do this tour. I had forgotten that so many spots are in Maine! Pretty cool that you can walk right up to his house, though. Did he come out when you were there?

I can already imagine myself there. Such a cool place.

I actually love the good side of this article, this was a very motivational post.

Diane Weyant

Hi, We will be visitng on Saturday Nov. 14th and Sunday Nov 15th.

Is there a guided Stephen King tour on Saturday November 14th? It seems SK tours does not offer a tour on Saturday or Sunday.

Thank you. Diane Weyant

SK doesnt live in that house any longer. The new owners dont mind visitors as long as you stay on the sidewalk!

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10 Spots In Bangor, Maine Every Stephen King Fan Must Visit

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• Destinations
• History and Culture
• Literary Sites
• United States

Beautiful Bangor, Maine , home to Stephen King, his family, and his fictional town of Derry. As an unsuspecting tourist, you can drive around Bangor and, perhaps, never even notice that you are passing by sites that every Stephen King fan is dying to visit.

As a Stephen King novice, I joined along on a tour of the most infamous King film and literary venues around Bangor. I have only read two Stephen King books, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Carrie . After the tour, I began to think I should read another one. The question was which one? Pet Sematary , It , The Green Mile , or maybe Night Shift would be good options. Any way you turn the page, I know for certain, I will be hiding it in the freezer when the plot becomes too scary. 

Aside from King’s literary and cinematic locations, be sure to check out these fantastic things to do in Bangor, Maine . 

Some of the information in this piece was obtained during a sponsored press trip, but all recommendations are my own.

1. Stephen King Tour

I was fortunate to be a guest of Jamie Tinker, owner of SK Tours , for a Bangor Stephen King Tour. I was blown away by the eager enthusiasm of the others on the ride. It was completely contagious and I found myself giddy with expectation. I had no idea what I was getting into. The tour takes you to places where the lines between real life and the fictional town of Derry blur.

I have highlighted a few must-visit notables below. On the 3-hour tour, you will see between 20 and 30 different Stephen King literary and movie locations. Additionally, Tinker highlights the King family history, their attachment to Bangor, and the many generous philanthropic endeavors the Kings undertake.

2. The Corner Of Jackson And Union Streets

The van stops at the corner of Jackson and Union Streets which looks like many other intersections across the U.S. Tinker shouts, “Everybody out!” I, of course, had no idea why. The clown head and severed arm are artfully placed on the drain at the intersection and the tour group goes crazy snapping photos, staging tableaus, etc.

As it turns out, this is where, in the novel It, Pennywise, the evil clown, lures Georgie Denbrough with promises of candy, balloons, and a floating paper boat. Spoiler alert: Georgie doesn’t fare well in this young-boy-meets-crazy-clown scene.

3. The Bangor Waterworks

It is amazing how an ordinary brick building can induce spine-tingling chills and hair-raising goosebumps. The Bangor Waterworks was featured in King’s Graveyard Shift where it is home to a thriving army of giant mutant rats. This dark piece can be found in his short stories collection, Night Shift, which includes other short stories that are the beginnings of classic King novels.

While on the tour, Tinker was reading Night Shift and connecting the dots from short stories to novels for his eager guests. Many characters and their future stories were born in the shorts you find in this collection. It is a highly recommended read for every King fan.

4. Mount Hope Cemetery

Established in 1834, Mount Hope Cemetery is a beautiful garden cemetery that encompasses over 250 acres of land.

The famous burial scene in Pet Sematary was filmed at Mount Hope Cemetery. This outdoor stage is where King can be seen in his cameo role in the 1989 movie. King plays the minister presiding over one of the Creed family member’s burial services. In a warped way, the scene plays out full circle since King’s pen architected this untimely death and funeral.

Tinker recommends taking the Bangor Historical Society walking tour through the cemetery. While the tour isn’t King-focused, it is a beautiful historic tour through the second oldest garden cemetery in the U.S.

The Creed House in Pet Sematary is a private home in nearby Hancock, Maine. You can drive by, but be respectful of the homeowners.

5. Thomas Hill Standpipe

The Derry Standpipe featured in It is actually the Bangor Water’s Thomas Hill Standpipe , a National Historic Landmark. Tinker recalled, “I grew up next to the water tower and used to play baseball in Summit Park at the base of the tower. Living next to a landmark like that made the book It even more exciting. Stephen King made me afraid of the dark in my own corner.”

It is widely reported that King sat on the park bench at the foot of the water tower and penned much of the book. The water tower is open four times a year for visitors to climb the stairs to the promenade deck for a panoramic view of Bangor (or Derry if you choose).

6. Paul Bunyan Statue

Lumberjack Paul Bunyan , a legendary woodsman, stands 31 feet tall in downtown Bangor. He represents the history of the logging industry in Maine and is beloved by visitors and residents.

However, Stephen King had an entirely different version of Bunyan when he penned It. King’s Bunyan was possessed, stepped off his podium, and attacked Richie Tozier with his mighty ax. The gigantic Bunyan smashes the bench where Tozier had just been sitting.

When you stand at the base and look up at Bunyan, it is terrifying to think of this massive character coming to life and swinging his enormous ax your way.

7. Dysart’s Truck Stop

The short story Trucks, which was the precursor for the movie Maximum Overdrive , is believed to be inspired by Dysart’s Restaurant & Truck Stop in Hermon, Maine. Dysart’s also has a truck stop location in Bangor. When you are visiting, you should stop in for a meal. They take a classic truck stop and amp it up to the max, offering great food, a fun pub atmosphere, and gas pumps to fill up your car before you leave.

8. Bangor International Airport

If you are flying into Bangor International Airport, you will recognize its runway and terminal from the TV miniseries, The Langoliers . In the series, passengers on a flight out of Los Angeles heading to Boston discover Bangor International is their only hope.

9. Gerald Winters And Son

Gerald Winters And Son Bookstore on Main Street in Bangor is the place to find all things Stephen King. Shop for King books, including first edition and autographed copies, along with memorabilia and collectibles. 

10. Stephen King’s House

Perched on a hill high above downtown Bangor is the family home of Stephen and Tabitha King. Wrought iron bats, spiders, and other creepy guests guard the stately Victorian mansion. The foreboding gate and dark red — some would say blood red — painted house coupled with the quirky Victorian architecture present a perfect house fit for a King.

Be sure to study the chainsaw wood carving on the side lawn. The carving features cute woodland creatures and phantasmagorical beasts coming together to create a fascinating art piece.

The King’s purchased and renovated the old mansard house next to their own home. It is slated to house five authors for a writers in residence program somewhere in the future. Interested writers should stay tuned for details. 

While the King family allows respectful visitors on the sidewalk at the gate of their home, however, they do not tolerate trespassers. Please note that the King family home does not host any tours nor does the house intended for the writers in residence program.

A Chat With Jamie Tinker

Tinker is a fountain of information about Stephen King, his fictional works, and his philanthropic legacy. Tinker passed on some thoughts about King’s legacy and what is coming in the future.

When it comes to favorite books, Tinker said, “My favorite book is It; the first book that took place in the town of Derry (Bangor). That book showed me my town through the eyes of Stephen King. I know most of the locations personally, and that book scared the wits out of me.”

Tinker is instrumental in working with film crews who visit Bangor. He has the inside track on what’s happening and what’s being planned. “I know of about 30 film adaptions in the works right now. The most recent one to come out is Lisey’s Story on Apple TV. That is a great book and a great adaptation.” Tinker also noted, “An adaptation of the short story from the Night Shift collection, Jerusalem’s Lot , will come out on the Epix channel in August. That one is starring Adrien Brody and looks to be great fun. Also in the works is a very exciting documentary called King on Screen.”

“A Stephen King Dollar Baby production titled I Know What You Need, will be filming at the University of Maine,” reports Tinker. The King Dollar Baby program is a way for aspiring filmmakers to adapt one of King’s short stories to film. Young producers and filmmakers can be authorized by the King foundation to use one of the short stories for $1.

Pro Tips: While these locations are important pieces of King’s fictional legacy, they are also private homes and businesses. Please be respectful of individual privacy. You will need to book a tour with Tinker at SK Tours at least a month in advance. They book up quickly because they offer the best tour. And keep a sharp eye out for the red balloon!

If you’re heading south after you visit Bangor, go check out this epic road trip from Bangor to Boston .

Sandi loves writing about culture, cuisine, adult beverages, cruising, golf, skiing, road trips, hiking, New England, and photography. Traveling solo, with hubby Chris, or the entire Barrett clan there is always a story waiting to be told.

SK Tours Of Maine, LLC

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SK Tours Of Maine, LLC - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Stephen King Rules in Bangor, Maine: A Tour Through the Town That Inspires a Horror Legend

This Stephen King nerd's dreams come true in the town that inspired Derry, Maine.

Stephen King 's presence is writ large in the town of Bangor, Maine, even if he'd perhaps prefer it not to be. Born in Portland, Maine, the legendary, wildly prolific horror author has kept a home in or around Bangor for decades now. From the small trailer he shared with his wife Tabby back in the 70s, when the pair could scarcely find two nickels to rub together, to the gorgeous mid-19th century home they share now that their fortunes have considerably changed, Bangor has long served as an inspiration for the author (most famously as the basis for IT 's Derry, Maine) and stepping through the streets of the New England town is like stepping into the pages of one of his novels, strangely familiar even if you've never been there before.

And if Bangor's presence is felt in his books, King has also made his presence felt throughout the town. His house, for one, has become something of a pilgrimage for fans -- the grass beyond the cast iron gates trampled beyond repair by the boots of eager King-o-philes taking snapshots of appropriately gothic looking home. But, he has also made a genuine impact on the town, famously generous and charitable, setting up scholarship funds for local students, building ball parks and community pools, and refusing to put his name on any of it -- except, of course, his local rock 'n roll radio station, WKIT, which he outfitted with a bigger, better broadcast tower and proudly labelled as his own. But that's the only one of his additions to the town you'll find bearing his name, according to the fantastically knowledgeable tour guide Stu Tinker , who runs the local SK Tours.

With The Dark Tow er in theaters this weekend, I had an opportunity earlier this week to visit Bangor, where Tinker took me and a small group of journalists around the town to learn about the sights and experiences that inspired King's works. We were also joined by Robin Furth , King's longtime personal assistant, who started with the author with On Writing and wrote The Dark Tower Concordance . It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I haven't even got to the part where we interviewed King himself ahead of our screening. ( You can read that full interview here ).

But let's start at the beginning. After flying to Manhattan with an air of mystery hanging over the trip, we were driven to Teterboro Airport and shepherded onto a private jet, where we found long-stem red roses waiting for us in our seats. Boy, let me tell you, flying on a private jet really is all it's cracked up to be. Have you ever wished a flight would be longer? Yeah, me neither... until we got on that jet. A short hop and a skip across state lines and we landed in Bangor and headed to our first stop, Dysart's truck stop, which served as the inspiration for King's short story Trucks and later his first and only directorial attempt, the ill-fated Maximum Overdrive .

A short hop and a skip across state lines and we landed in Bangor and headed to our first stop, Dysart's truck stop, which served as the inspiration for King's short story Trucks and later his first and only directorial attempt, the ill-fated Maximum Overdrive. After enjoying some quintessential New England seafood at the diner, we jumped into the van with Tinker and Furth, who led us on a 2+ hour excursion through King Country. A short drive took us to the trailer park where the Kings lived in the 70s, a humble double-wide overgrown with tall grass, where Tabby plucked the manuscript for Carrie out the trash, told her husband to get back to work, and saved the story that would launch his career.

From there, we headed down the freeway where King set his dystopian nightmare The Long Walk and slid into the parking lot of a local store by the name of Flagg's. Yep, it inspired the name for King's great evil incarnate, Randall Flagg, though Tinker says King has never actually gone inside the store itself. We're told King found many of his other character names on the gravestones in Mt. Hope Cemetary ("You can't get sued by dead people"), the next stop on our trip and the location where King filmed his Pet Sematary cameo.

From there, we're off for a quick stop at King's radio station (the wifi network was "Shawshank"), and then it's the big one -- a stop at the King estate. Tinker says that King will often come down and say hello to folks on the tour. Naturally, we're all hoping we'll have such luck, but when we arrive we're told the car is gone. I was still holding out hope to see King's adorable dog Molly, aka The Thing of Evil, bound across the yard, but the cards were not in our favor that day. In keeping with King's reputation for humility, he leaves his driveway gate wide open, and in keeping with Bangor's reputation for friendliness, nobody bothers him.

From there, we kicked off an IT heavy portion of the tour. Just a few streets over we find the storm drain that is said to have inspired Georgie's horrific meeting with Pennywise the clown -- not the gutter we've come to associate it with thanks to the miniseries, rather, a small circular grid in the street. Easy to overlook and hard to imagine that it conjured such grisly images in King's mind -- but that's what makes him one of the greats. Next, we hit up the Standpipe -- a giant construct. A few feet down a grassy hill sits a bench, where we're told King would sit and hand write page of IT . There is no sign commemorating this, no hint that a horror classic was created in this spot. That feels very #OnBrand for King.

We drive through the barrens, which look just like you always pictured the ones in the Bangor-inspired town of Derry, we pass a canal, again conjuring the image of Derry, and we end up in Old Town at the storefront of Gerald Winters and Sons -- a Stephen King centric bookstore, filled wall to wall with rare books, signed books and specialty trinkets. Finally, we're off to the Oriental Jade; a favorite local restaurant of King's and the inspiration for IT 's The Jade of the Orient. We didn't find any eyeballs in our fortune cookies, but we did get some tasty Lo-Mein and then we were off to screen The Dark Tower . Of course, Sony had one last surprise up their sleeves -- that 20 minute sit-down with King himself. Truly a career highlight, and a moment that proves sometimes you really should meet your heroes after all.

Now, there's no substitution for the real thing and if you're ever in Bangor, you absolutely should look up SK Tours because they are fantastic, and if you ever run into Stephen King, you should get over being star struck and chat the dude up because he's also a gem. But for now, you can check out the sights of Bangor in the images below.

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A Stephen King Tour: Visit the Real Life Derry

Bangor, Maine is the third largest city in the state of Maine, but if it weren’t for Stephen King, the city would be relatively unknown. Made famous as the real life version of Derry featured in King’s novel IT , Bangor has plenty to offer King fans! Take a guided tour with SK Tours of Maine or take a self-guided Stephen King tour.

I would highly recommend taking the guided tour and then following up with a self guided tour to give you more time to explore the locations. The tour company is a family fun business that has received permission from Stephen King himself to run the tours. The owners are very well qualified, friendly with the Kings and have exclusive information that could only be learned through many years of conversations with the Kings. You will get many insider tips and information while on this tour!

I’m not a fan of horror films and was attending this tour while traveling with my sister (who is in fact a huge fan), but even I found the tour to be extremely interesting and of course I have seen IT , so it was cool to see the locations that inspired that story.

It was also very fascinating hearing about King’s contribution to the Bangor area and his decision to lead a fairly normal life in his hometown. The King foundation donates millions of dollars every year to the area for improvements and in the past has contributed to improvements of the public library (featured below), the public pool, playgrounds, and a baseball stadium.

Now, on to all the cool stops on the Stephen King tour in Bangor that will transport you right into the films:

Page Contents

The first stop on the tour was the R.M. Flagg shop. R.M. Flagg is an ordinary wholesale and retail kitchen shop. The store is located along Route 2, which King frequently drove by while he was attending the University of Maine.

This shop is believed to be the inspiration for the name of the character Randall Flagg, originally appearing in the poem “The Dark Man” and later in The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, and the Dark Tower books.

The Mount Hope Cemetery

The Mount Hope Cemetery is where King got the names for many of the characters featured in King’s novels, including Georgie in IT , Carrie, and many more! The cemetery was also the site of filming for the graveyard scenes in Pet Sematary.

Mount Hope is a garden cemetery and locals are encouraged to use it more of a park. People are frequently seen picnicking or taking a stroll through the cemetery. King spent a great deal of time walking and writing in the cemetery.

Side Note: The Dorothia Dix Psychiatric Center is worth mentioning, but the guided tour no longer includes this stop at the request of the center. This center was the inspiration for Juniper Hill, which plays a role in IT , as the place where Henry Bowers was locked up, and is also in many other Stephen King novels. You can drive around the parking lot and get a view of the psychiatric center, but photography is prohibited.

Bangor Waterworks

The Bangor Waterworks once served as the water filtration center for the city of Bangor. The building is now used as apartments. It was mentioned in It briefly, but played a big role in Dreamcatcher . Parts of the movie Dreamcatcher were filmed in the building along with scenes from Graveyard Shift .

Stephen King’s Radio Stations

While these stations aren’t technically related to any of King’s novels, they are interesting to see and hear about. The Kings own 3 radio stations. WZON is named after The Dead Zone and plays 60’s and 70’s music. WKIT is named after IT and plays rock music. The last station is WZLO and plays a mixture of music, including country, heavy metal, blues, and jazz. The WKIT station is mentioned in one of King’s novels, 11/22/63 .

The Barrens

The Barrens are a must visit on any Stephen King tour. The Barrens are an overgrown grassy area along the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor. They play a big role in the novel IT . The Barrens is a meet up area for the Losers Club. A walk along the trail next to the stream also makes for a relaxing afternoon. Our tour did not take us to this area, but pointed out where it was. I would recommend exploring this area on your own, there is a small parking area with an overlook on Valley Avenue.

The Bangor Public Library

The Bangor Public Library is one of the largest libraries in Maine and is featured in IT . In the novel, Mike Hanlon is a librarian, Ben spent a lot of time in the library, and Henry Bowers broke into the library and stabbed Mike. The library was also the source of inspiration for another one of King’s writings, “The Library Policeman.”

Another interesting fact-the library is still standing today because of donations made by the King Foundation along with funds raised by the city and library.

The Canals in Bangor, other than their beauty, are known for the first encounter that Ben Hanscomb had with Pennywise. Ben spots Pennywise while standing on one of the canal bridges when he sends a red balloon Ben’s way.

The Canals are located near the city’s main shopping area and you will also find some great restaurant options.

The State Street Bridge

The State Street Bridge was the site of a real life tragedy that would become the inspiration for one of the characters in King’s IT. In 1984, Charlie Howard was murdered by three teenagers who threw him over the State Street Bridge even though he pled and told them he can’t swim. He had an asthma attack and drowned in the canal.

In the book, Adrian Mellon is a young homosexual male who lives in the small town of Derry with his partner Don. Adrian is attacked by a group of teens who throw him over a bridge and into a canal. He is then attacked and killed by Pennywise.

Beverly Marsh House

The Beverly Marsh house is just an average house located on First Street in Bangor, but is referred to multiple times in King’s novel IT and was the inspiration for Beverly Marsh’s house.

The Paul Bunyan Statue

Bangor, Maine’s lumber history is well known and is represented by the giant statue of Paul Bunyan standing in the city. The Paul Bunyan statue also plays a role in King’s IT . In the story, the statue comes to life and chases Richie towards downtown Derry (Bangor).

Thomas Hill Standpipe & Memorial Park

The Thomas Hill Standpipe is holds 1,750,000 gallons of water. It also served is one of the most memorable scenes in of IT . Directly across from the Thomas Hill Standpipe you will find Memorial Park. This park is referenced in 3 of King’s novels: IT, Dreamcatcher, and 11/22/63 .

In IT, Memorial Park is where Stanley sits every morning to watch the birds playing in the birdbath. One morning he looks over and notices the door to the standpipe is open. He hears circus music and starts to head up the stairs when two dead children start coming down the stairs. Stanley takes off running.

The Drain on Jackson and Union

The drain on the corner of Jackson and Union, known at Witcham Street in the novel, was the site where King first got his inspiration for IT. It is just an average drain that you could expect to find anywhere, but it was the beginning of one of the greatest horror stories.

The King Home

The last stop on the Stephen King tour was none other than the King’s home. The location of the home is what first gave me the impression that King was seeking a normal life. The home is located on a “normal” street, nothing that would give you the idea that someone as famous as Stephen King would live there.

Fitting for him, the home has a spider web front gate with bat and dragon figures. William Arnold built the house in 1855 and the Kings purchased it in 1980. The guest house is located next door and has housed famous authors such as JK Rowling.

King lives a relatively normal life at the home. At times he comes out to greet fans who have stopped to take photos. He has also been spotted walking his dog “Molly” down the street.

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Hello! My name is Melissa (or Missy). I'm a nurse by day, but my true passion is travel. I'm a part time traveler, travel blogger, and photographer. Travel blogging allows me to share my experiences and knowledge with you as well as allows me to share in your experiences and learn from you. View all posts by Melissa

I’m Melissa, but you can call me Missy. I continuously crave a new adventure and love sharing those adventures with you! My sidekick is my 5 year old daughter. Together we are conquering the world, one city at a time! Find family travel tips and guides that will help you plan your next adventure!

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26 Comments »

I’m not a horror fan either. But this is great knowing the real places described in the books. I love the King’s house too, they obviously have a great sense of humour.

The house was one of my favorite things, it definitely fits him! They are known for interacting with the kids in the neighborhood, especially around Halloween time., definitely a sense of humor!

Wow, that is absolutely amazing. I had no idea that everything is located in such a small area. I hope you were able to sleep at night afterwards?

It was all very close together, within a couple minutes of each other. Yes, I was haha. I have only see IT and it was a very long time ago, so the scenes didn’t really resonate with it. The only place I got a little bit of an eerie feeling at was the Barrens. I’m sure it would have been different if I actually saw many of the films!

Ah wow, this sounds like such a cool thing to do and I had no idea it was even a thing! There is something so fun about seeing something that was in a film and doing it all on a tour makes it so much easier.

I agree, it always fascinates me, even if I’m not a huge fan. Still very interesting to see!

This looks like a great tour, i’m not a huge horror fan but I think most people I am familiar with some of Stephen Kings work. It’s so cool to see the places that inspired or featured in the books and movies and sounds like you have great informed tour guides.

Same with me, not much of a horror fan at all, but it was very interesting to see some of the sites from the stories. The guides were wonderful!

I LOVE this!!! I’m a huge reader, although not so much Stephen King, but this tour looks absolutely awesome, and I feel like I have to go on it now

It was great! I’m not a huge Stephen King fan either, but still found it very interesting.

GREAT blog post! We love SK movies and you really captured a blending of history and SK. Now we want a road trip to Maine.

I would recommend it! The tour was a lot of fun and it is only about an hour from Acadia National Park and close by to many of the Maine lighthouses! It makes for a pretty spectacular road trip!

Oh what a neat idea! I have read some Stephen King novels in the past and seen many of the film adaptations. Wouldn’t call myself a fan, but this tour sounds like so much fun! Thanks so much for the great tip 🙂

I think it is just interesting to see the places in real life that you see on TV! I’m not really a fan either, but it was a lot of fun!

This is GREAT. I didn’t even know this was a thing. King was the first author that started my reading habit.

Me either! I never would have known if it weren’t for my sister being a big fan! It was really very interesting though!

As a Stephen King fan, I am fascinated by Bangor. The Stephen King tour is definitely an experience I would love.

It was very fascinating how much King’s stories were based on Bangor. A great small city with a lot of history.

It’s really cool to hear that Steven King decided to stay living in his hometown, and giving back to it (with exposure aaand with cash to help improve it) That makes me appreciate his books even more (although not the horror ones so much…)

Although is that home normal? It looks massive!!

The Barrens and the canals look like gorgeous areas to explore, even if King didn’t live in the area. 🙂

I had no idea of any of before reading your article. I’m also not a horror movie fan, because I find them ridiculously unscary! But it is quite interesting the effect that a novelist has had on the area.

Had no idea that a tour like this existed because I thought that most of these places are fictional. Thanks for all the information.

What an interesting tour! It is good to know that going on it supports a local family-owned business. I too am not a huge fan of horror films but I did see ‘It’ and the town was definitely a major part of what makes the story so unique and memorable. The public library especially is so striking!

Hello – do you know if the tour still does not drive up close to Dorothea dix or allow pics?

Hello, sorry for the delayed response. The tour does not drive up to Dorothea Dix, it drives by on the main road , but the facility doesn’t allow the tour buses to go up on the property unfortunately.

Doing this tour today thank you for this! I’m a huge King fan and super excited 🙂

Awesome! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

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Book Tour: At home with Stephen King

Fear not, the king of chills serves as a friendly guide to his personal library.

Book Tour is a new series in which notable people show us their personal libraries.

BANGOR, Maine — It was not possible to arrive alone in this city after dark on a quiet night in summer, knowing that I was there to meet Stephen King, and not feel a little creeped out. Or a lot.

But the fear-dispelling sunshine the next day was followed by a very genial King greeting me in the downstairs library of his former home, which is now the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation. (The nonprofit foundation awards grants for projects that address the causes and consequences of “social and environmental problems” in Maine communities. I met with King before the Oct. 25 mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, which spurred King to speak out in multiple public forums against our culture of gun violence.)

“The house has been here since 1845; we’ve been here since 1976,” he said. “But we don’t really live here anymore, and it’s kind of a time capsule. The important thing to know about this whole room is that this used to be where the kids hung out when they were teenagers, and all their friends. They would play video games down here.”

The long room is lined on each side with books very neatly arranged: fiction along one wall, alphabetical by author, and nonfiction on the other, grouped by subject. Several people stood nearby as King, 76, browsed the library with me — members of his publishing team, local friends, foundation administrators. His relationships with everyone there were long-term, and those gathered felt far less like a retinue than a warm family reunited.

Weird fiction

Several shelves are taken up with themed series of books, many of them gifts to King from his wife of more than 50 years, Tabitha, whose own collection lives here, too. More than once while we talked, King paused to say, “I wish Tabby was here.” One such gift was a collection issued by Arkham House, a Wisconsin-based publisher of “weird fiction” founded in 1939, whose books meant a lot to King as a young reader. “I grew up with these people,” he said. “They were all published in the pulps back in the day. A lot of them published at a penny a word or something like that, so they ground them out, and there’s a wide range. The originals were a [run of a] thousand copies or something, it wasn’t much. So these are reprints.”

“‘A Thousand Years a Minute,’ by Carl H. Claudy,” King said, intoning the book’s title with purposeful kidlike wonder. “1933. It’s about going back into the past and fighting dinosaurs and that kind of thing. The ‘Jurassic Park’ of its day.”

“Pleasant Dreams,” a collection of short stories by the horror and fantasy writer Robert Bloch (1917-1994), reminded King of a long conversation he once had with the writer at a convention. “It was probably about 1982, so I’d done ‘Carrie’ and ‘Salem’s Lot’ and some of the other ones, but not a lot,” he said. Bloch told him: “You’ve got a big future ahead of you; don’t let the publishers eat you up.”

Richard Matheson, author of “I Am Legend” and much else, gave King an even more specific piece of advice, after King sent him a copy of “Salem’s Lot.” “He used to type on these little notepapers, and he sent me a letter back on one of those,” King said. “He thanked me for the book, and then at the bottom he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you the most important thing that I know about writing.’ And I thought, Oh my God, I’m really gonna get something here. And I turned it over and it said: ‘Get a music stand.’ Then you don’t have to turn your head back and forth to the page, because it was in the days when you typed things.” Did he take the advice and get one? “No, I never did. And I never had neck problems either.”

Burroughs, hold the Tarzan

Inhabiting another several feet on one shelf, also a gift from Tabitha, were books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

“‘Pirates of Venus’ and the ones about Pellucidar — ‘At the Earth’s Core’ and stuff like that. I loved that,” King said. “I never really cared that much for the Tarzan books, all that jungle [stuff]. I never believed that swinging from vines and talking to the apes and things.”

The ‘Crypt’ and Cormac

King pulled a set of “Tales From the Crypt” off the shelf, solemnly recited its title and let out a cartoonishly evil cackle. “These twisted me as a kid,” he said. “I was 10 or 11. My aunt was concerned; my mother was not. They were about a nickel apiece. They didn’t have the covers on. In those days, they would tear off the covers and send the covers back and get credit for them. They were supposed to pulp them, but they kind of double-dipped.”

He noted that, like many of the books in his library, the “Crypt” copies were reprints. “I’m not a collector,” he said. “I have a few signed books, and they’re not shelved in a special place. They’re not prized possessions or anything like that. I have a ‘Look Homeward, Angel,’ signed by Thomas Wolfe, and ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,’ by Horace McCoy. And I love that stuff, and it’s nice to have a signed book, but …”

Later, we came across a signed first edition of Cormac McCarthy’s second novel, “Outer Dark,” published in 1968. “I love Cormac McCarthy,” he said. Asked if he knew him, King said: “No. I mean, you didn’t know Cormac McCarthy, but I read everything. I read ‘The Passenger,’ and I thought, this guy is like 87, 88 years old, and he’s as good as he ever was. Just blew me away. I mean, I didn’t understand all of it. It made such an impression that I wrote this story called ‘The Dreamers’ that’s going to be in a new book. And it’s dedicated to him because I stole his style for that story; it made the story possible.”

After the Hardy Boys

“I started reading Ed McBain when I was probably 11 or 12,” King said, looking at his row of several novels by the prolific author of crime procedurals. “The bookmobile would come by. We lived out in the country. The first thing I remember is, I’m reading one of these books, and [detectives] Carella and Kling go to interview a woman about some crime. And she’s sitting there in her slip and she’s drunk, and she grabs her breast and squeezes and says, ‘In your eye, copper.’ And I thought to myself: This is not the Hardy Boys . Okay? It made an impression. It felt more real.”

The family tree

Two full sets of vertical shelves are filled with King’s own books and those of his family — Tabitha and the couple’s two sons, Owen and Joe (who writes as Joe Hill), have each published several novels. King’s daughter, Naomi, is a minister. When asked to survey those King-centric shelves, the author immediately began pointing out the work of his family members. “Joe’s books are here, Tab’s books up there,” he noted. “Where’s Owen’s stuff? Here’s his book ‘The Curator.’ ‘Save Yourself,’ that’s Kelly’s book. Kelly [Braffet] is Owen’s wife; she’s terrific.”

Despite the great number of his own books on the shelves, King wasn’t talking about them.

He said the books by the family had been curated and shelved by someone who works for him, someone who’s “sort of interested in my, what would you call it, my …?” “Legacy?” I offered. “Legacy, maybe that,” he said.

A few minutes later, I asked whether he considered his legacy himself. “I don’t think about legacy very much,” he said. “I don’t understand why there would possibly be one. When you’re a popular novelist — I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do the best job that I can, and I always try to find something to say. If you’re not saying something that you cared about, why bother?

“There are very few popular novelists who have a life after death. Agatha Christie, for one. I can’t think of anybody else who’s a popular novelist, really. People like John D. MacDonald, he was a terrifically popular novelist in his day, but when he died, his books disappeared off the racks. They were ultimately disposable. I think that a couple of the horror novels might last. They might be read 50 or a hundred years from now, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Salem’s Lot’ and ‘It.’ If you ask people, ‘What vampire do you know?,’ they’d say, ‘Dracula.’ ‘Well, who invented Dracula?’ ‘I don’t [expletive] know.’ So, 50 or a hundred years from now, people will say: ‘Oh, Pennywise, the clown. Yeah, sure.’ ‘Who is Stephen King?’ They won’t know.”

Epics and hardcovers

Pointing at the shelves of fiction, King said: “That’s everything that I’ve read or that Tabby’s read. These are all read books and loved books. We can’t throw a book away, none of us can.”

Though he described himself as not a very fast reader, he stopped to recommend some quite time-consuming books, including John Galsworthy’s epic “The Forsyte Saga” (“I listened to it and read it on my iPad because the print’s too small for me now”) and Anthony Powell’s 12-volume “A Dance to the Music of Time.”

I remarked on the fact that all of the books on the fiction shelves — or very nearly all — were hardcovers. King said that was to make up for not having them growing up. “When I was a kid and I was poor,” King said, “the idea that you could buy a hardcover for the astronomical price of $6, when you could get a paperback for 35 cents? No.” The first hardcover he ever bought, when he was in college, was William Manchester’s “Death of a President,” about the Kennedy assassination, which he gave to his mother for her birthday.

Toward the end of my visit, King enthusiastically pulled a last exhibit from the shelves: “ This is an interesting book: Dan Simmons, ‘Carrion Comfort.’ It’s long; very long. This is one of the few books everybody in my family has read. He dedicated it to me, after I got hit by a van . It’s a book about people who get into stupid accidents.” On this note, King turned to the room and loudly asked: “Are we having fun yet?”

Soon everyone present was gathered around a copy of “Knowing Darkness: Artists Inspired by Stephen King.” It would be hard to overstate the dimensions of this oversize, limited-edition book, which sat on a table on one end of the room and seemed more like an additional piece of furniture. “I’m not even gonna try to lift it,” King said. Its pages included at least one playful touch: an illustration of King’s face on a classically cheesy romance cover for the novel “Misery’s Return,” an imagined work that plays a role in King’s “Misery.”

But “Knowing Darkness” was otherwise stuffed with darker images that have adorned his work. After looking at it for a while, King said with mock innocence: “I must have kind of a twisted mind.” There was laughter all around.

About this story

Editing by Jill Pellettieri. Photography by Tristan Spinski for The Washington Post. Design and development by Beth Broadwater. Photo editing by Annaliese Nurnberg. Copy editing by Jennifer Morehead.

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Ultimate Stephen King Tour of ‘Derry’ Maine Now Open

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What's the first thing anyone asks when you're out of state and they find out you're from Maine? "Oh, Maine! Stephen King lives there, right?"

We all know that, but do you truly know Stephen King's Maine?

SK-Tours based in Bangor offer a unique experience for King enthusiasts with their Stephen King Tour. The people behind the tour, Penney, Jamie, and Stu, are the perfect trio for the job as they owned and operated a bookstore for two decades that specialized in King's books and memorabilia.

They transform the city of Bangor and the surrounding area to the infamous "Derry" for tour-goers. Derry, of course, being the fictional Maine town from IT .

The tour is 3 hours long and participants will get to see 20 to 30 different Stephen King sites. The sites vary from places that inspired his stories, film locations such as the real Pet Sematary, and places King himself has worked and lived.

The cost is $50 for adults and kids under 10 are free. They run March to November. The experience received a 2019 Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. Book your unforgettable experience here .

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Stephen King Tour: October Fun in Bangor, Maine

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you book or purchase through these links. You can read my full disclosure policy  here .

This tour can, of course, be done any time of year. However, I highly recommend it in October because what else makes for better Halloween fun than touring filming locations and learning about the personal life of perhaps the greatest horror author in history? Nothing. Yep, that’s what I thought too. So let’s get to it. Allow me to show you how to get your Stephen King tour on!

Bangor, Maine-Discovering Stephen King

I have visited Bangor, Maine a couple of times as my cousin lives in the area. Even though I’ve been reading Stephen King books since I was a teenager and I’ve seen most of the movies, I had not previously heard of Bangor and knew almost nothing about the personal side of the author behind the highly-engaging books-turned-films.

So when I visited my cousin in the month of October and learned that it was the home of Stephen King where I could take an entire Stephen King tour that included visiting filming locations and even seeing his home, I was 100% in! My cousin’s husband is also a big SK (as he is commonly known) fan too so he joined me on the tour and we made it an SK day!

SK Tours of Maine

Stu Tinker made a Stephen King tour of “Derry” possible with his SK Tours of Maine . The Bangor native and his wife, Penney (name coincidental), owned and operated Betts Bookstore for twenty years where they specialized in all things Stephen King. For the last nine years of their ownership, their entire stock was Stephen King only. The Tinkers received support from the Kings and became known as the premier place to go for Stephen King memorabilia.

After selling the bookstore, Stu and Penney concentrated on giving Stephen King tours in Bangor . The decision proved to be a smart one as the tours became quite popular and have been taken by visitors from all over the world.

Stephen King Tour-Bangor, Maine

The following are some of the places you will see on the tour.

Mount Hope Cemetery

Mount Hope Cemetery is where the original Pet Sematary was filmed. I am aware that a remake was released earlier this year for the movie’s 30th anniversary, but it was filmed in Canada.

If you recall (or don’t recall but are interested in knowing), Mr. King makes a cameo appearance in Pet Sematary as a minister conducting Gage’s funeral. The location is at the top of this hill’s stone staircase (on the State Street side of the cemetery).

This is the location in the film where they buried Gage the first time.

Fun Facts: Mr. King got a lot of his character names (such as Carrie) from the graves in this cemetery. It is the second oldest cemetery in America and the only one in the state built into a hill. The oldest grave dates back to 1777.

Mount Hope Cemetery SK Work: Pet Sematary (1989) 1048 State Street, Bangor, Maine

Does the name Randall Flagg sound familiar to anyone? To Stephen King fans, it should. It’s the name of Stephen King’s “bad guy” and has appeared in as many as nine of his books.

On the tour, we learned that the villain’s name came from the R.M. Flagg on this kitchen store’s red building. Mr. King has apparently never done business with the store. However, he drove back and forth on Route 2 from Bangor to University of Maine, Orono campus and wrote about a lot of the things he saw along the way for the entire four years!

R.M. Flagg SK Work: Multiple 1212 State St, Veazie, ME 04401

Bangor Water Works Apartments

The Bangor Water Works Apartments served as the rat-infested textile mill in the film Graveyard Shift . 500 rats were used in the scene and when they moved film production, two individuals had to round up all of the rats for Jackson Labs. Because the rats were biting, the task took the guys three extra days to complete!

Fun Fact: Formerly the Bangor Waterworks building constructed in 1875, the property was empty for 40 years before becoming home to 35 residential efficiency apartments for homeless teens as it is today.

Bangor Water Works Apartments SK Work: Graveyard Shift (1990) 1 Waterworks Rd, Bangor, ME 04401

East Maine Medical Center

To my knowledge (if anyone knows differently, let me know), the East Maine Medical Center in Bangor isn’t a film location. However, it probably is my favorite story pertaining to the personal side of Mr. King.

Stephen read bedtime stories to the kids in the pediatric wing. No one knew for 3 of the 4 years he read to the children except his family and the staff who would sneak him in.

He also started a fundraiser for many improvements such as painting rooms and installing TVs. This raised 1.8 million dollars and Mr. King personally matched the amount. He and his wife, Tabitha, were also behind the establishment of a Ronald McDonald House allowing parents who couldn’t afford to stay in Bangor the ability to stay with their kids while they were hospitalized.

Fun Facts: The only rules were no clowns and no balloons! CRY ALERT: Bunny rabbits and teddy bears were placed in the neonatal wing but when Tabitha realized the babies were always looking straight up at the ceiling she had all the ceilings painted with bunny rabbits and teddy bears! 😍😢🐰🐻

East Maine Medical Center 489 State St, Bangor, ME 04401

WKIT Radio Station

Stephen King owns his own radio station WKIT (well, of course!) 100.3 FM or Stephen King’s Rock Station. The “K” is for King and the IT…well, come on now. 🤡🎈

Fun Facts: It is the only radio station in Bangor that still has the presence of an in-house DJ (part-time) and is the only sign that bears Mr. King’s name.

WKIT Radion Station 861 Broadway, Bangor, Mane 04401

KidsPeace National Center

What is now the KidsPeace National Center was Stephen King’s business office for years. The address, 49 Florida Avenue, would come up as his residential address and people would flock to it only to realize that he did not, in fact, reside there.

KidsPeace National Center 49 Florida Avenue, Bangor, Maine 04401

Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium

“…this is a field that a King built” is one of many things upon which Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium prides itself.

Way before Mr. King built a 1.2 million dollar stadium on the property which he donated to the city of Bangor, it was just a grassy field. This grassy field served as the inspiration for the park in Mr. King’s book, Thinner .

Left : Stephen King was a coach of the 1989 Maine State Little League Champion team  Right: Stephen and Tabitha King’s name appears on the home plate since they donated the money to fund the park.

Fun Facts: Mr. King’s house backs up to the scoreboard and in the winter you can see the house after the leaves fall.

Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium SK Work: Thinner (1996) 115 13th St, Bangor, ME 04401

Stephen King’s House

Cruising by Stephen King’s house is a treat for anyone, fan or not. It’s quite the unusual, quirky house and definitely fits Mr. King’s personality. In addition to the house number of 47, the black wrought iron gates also feature spiders as well as a “K” with a three-headed dragon looking over it!

Fun Facts: The famous author has been seen waving and even coming out to greet fans occasionally. And, for the release of It in 2017, he even put a red balloon in one of his windows!

Pay attention to the detail on the wrought iron gates!

Stephen King’s House 47 West Broadway, Bangor, Maine 04401

You might also like: MAINE IN THE FALL: BEST FOLIAGE VIEWS + WHAT TO SEE AND DO

IT   Locations-Stephen King Tour

The infamous drain.

Say hello to the drain that gave Mr. King the inspiration for It . The infamous drain at the corner of Union and Jackson Streets looks like any other ordinary drain in the city but not like the one featured in the 1990 film.

Did Pennywise show up to say hi??? 😱🤡🎈

Infamous Drain SK Work: It  (1990) Corner of Union and Jackson Streets, Bangor, Maine

Thomas Hill Standpipe

The Thomas Hill Standpipe was the inspiration for the haunted water tower in It . Constructed in 1897, the wrought iron tank has a wooden frame and holds 1.75 million gallons of water. The tank stands 50 feet high and has a diameter of 75 feet.

The park bench in “Memorial Park” where Mr. King is said to have written most of the book, It , which was published in 1986.

Fun Fact: The tower opens four times a year to allow visitors to enjoy the beautiful views from its promenade deck.

Thomas Hill Standpipe SK Work: It  (1990) 41 Thomas Hill Rd, Bangor, ME 04401

Meet Me at the Sewers

This cement structure built into a small hill is the location where the kids meet in the movie, It, before they head into the sewers.

Sewer Meeting Spot SK Work: It  (1990) Unknown

Paul Bunyan Statue

That giant Paul Bunyan statue that came to life in It and attacked Richie? Yep, this is it…no pun intended although it would have sounded cooler with intent, right?

Paul Bunyan Statue SK Work: It  (1990) 519 Main St, Bangor, ME 04401

Bangor Public Library

The Bangor Public Library appeared as the Town Hall building of “Derry” in It . Derry is, of course, fictional but Mr. King has stated that Bangor, Maine served as his inspiration for the famous fictional town.

Fun Fact: Another good work here, Mr. and Mrs. King donated 2.5 million dollars back in the 90s towards renovations that funded the library’s new wing.

Bangor Public Library SK Work: It  (1990) 145 Harlow St, Bangor, ME 04401

Fantastic Fun Facts:

• Stephen and Tabitha King are known affectionately as “Steve and Tabby” to family and friends. As I am relaying stories told to us by our tour guide, Stu, a friend of the Kings, I will refer to them as “Steve and Tabby”.
• Since Steve didn’t have a phone, Kirby sent him a telegram saying congrats on the $400,000. The Kings thought it was a misprint and they would be getting $2,000 (half of what they thought was the original $4,000). Steve sent back a telegram asking when they could expect the $2,000 check. Kirby responded with “It’s $200,000, not $2,000, dummy!” and didn’t even sign his name. He knew Steve was an English major and not a math major! 😂
• Tabby read the telegram and called Steve at work. Since she never did this, Steve thought one of his kids had died. Tabby had to read the telegram to him four times before it sunk in and he didn’t remember much after that. But, he went to buy her a handheld blow dryer as a gift to give her that very night to thank her for sticking by him. It was $8.99 plus tax which was all he had at the time. They no longer wondered how they were going to pay their $65 rent. However, they did budget out $10,000 per year to make the money last for 20 years.
• Tabby was hungry and wanted to eat before they made the one-hour return drive to Boulder. So, they ate at a restaurant where they were the only patrons. Only three tables were set. All the others had the chairs upside down, covered with sheets. Classical music began playing as soon as their food arrived and Steve came up with the entire outline of the book at that moment. They wound up staying in the area while he finished writing out the details.
• Steve and Tabby’s older son, Joe, was the youngest person to fly on the Concord. The Kings had tried living in the United Kingdom but became so homesick that they returned home six weeks later, losing all the money on their rental house. Steve spent $14,000 on Concord tickets and they were back in the USA within four hours. Though at the time they were unaware, Tabby returned home from the UK pregnant with their younger son, Owen.
• Stephen Edwin King just turned 72 on Sept 21. He was born on 9.21.47 but it is thought to just be a coincidence that his address (displayed so prominently on his gate) is 47.

Okay SK fans, pretty interesting stuff, right? I loved what all I learned about Mr. King. I was already in love with his writing but I totally have a newfound appreciation for him after learning more about his personal life. If you are an SK fan, a movie buff, or just looking for cool Halloween fun, I definitely recommend this Stephen King tour!

Hungry after getting your SK on? My guide to Maine-ly eating will give you ten options to solve that problem!

Have you been to Bangor? Are you a Stephen King fan? What is your favorite movie? What location on this tour would you be most excited about? 

‘Til next time…

Trimm Travels,

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22 Comments

How interesting! I love Stephen King as an author and this looks like such an interesting tour about him. I loved the fun facts also.

Hi Sam-It’s a really fun and unique tour. He’s a great guy and has done so many things for his community I never knew about. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Stephan King is one of my very favorite authors. I am pretty sure I have read almost everything he has wrote. This sounds like a super fun tour. I had no idea it existed. I love that Stu Tinker’s wife s named Penney, that is a great coincidence. This is a tour I would love to take.

Hi Wendy-I know, I loved that name coincidence too! Isn’t he a fabulous author? You would love this tour and I hope you get to take it one day! Thanks for reading! 🙂

We had no idea there was a Stephen King tour let alone in Maine. I absolutely love old cemeteries though so I would have eaten that visit up!

Hi Wildish Wander-Yes, there is and you would love it if you like old cemeteries! Thanks for reading! 🙂

I can imagine this tour would be so popular with SK fans. I love the house and in particular the gate with the spiders and bats.I didn’t realise he was that old, or that he used to read bedtime stories to kids in hospital. I just hope they weren’t scary stories though. Such a great idea doing this fun tour for Halloween.

Hi Tania-No they weren’t scary bedtime stories that he read to the kids. Scary didn’t come into play at the hospital. No clowns or balloons allowed either. He has such a softie side. And yes, it’s a great Halloween tour! Thanks for reading! 🙂

I love the books of King. I just read everything as a teenager, which I could get my hands on. I have never seen the films. I did not want to destroy the illusions of the thoughts I had reading.

Hi Susanne-I understand that. Some of the films though are really good! Thanks for reading! 🙂

As I was reading this through I wondered what Mr. King would think of the tours…but given that he occasionally waves to the tourists or comes out to greet them, he must be OK with it! I remember reading Pet Semetary and seeing the movie – it scared the CRAP out of me! I recognized Mount Hope Cemetery from your photos even before I read the description. 🙂

Hi Jim-Haha, great minds think alike. I wondered that same thing. What does Mr. King think about all of us taking photos at his house daily? But when our guide (who knows him) told us he comes out and waves/greets occasionally and even put a red balloon in his window for the release of It then I guess he doesn’t mind! He seems to very much be a people person. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Before few days, I returned from Midwest and could figure out how beautiful it might be in this Fall season. Stephen king tour in Bangor too looks interesting as the Stephen King’s house really looks quirky and especially that drain where the hand is coming out. I also loved that here Fall is significantly visible as many trees have yellow leaves. Also Memorial park looks very beautiful.

Hi Yukti-Yes, Maine is one of the prettiest states to visit in the fall for sure! Mr. King’s house is definitely quirky and fits him well. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Oh how cool! We both used to read Stephen King’s books when we were teenagers! While some of the movies are great, we must admit that we’re not into IT. Nevertheless, we like exploring old cemeteries and visiting film locations, so we’d definitely go to Bangour when we visit Maine someday!

Hi Mei and Kerstin-I hear you…I love all the books. Some of the movies are better than others for sure. I am NOT a clown fan. At all. Not the least bit. BUT…for some reason I like It and have seen them all. Funny how that works. If you’ve both read all the books, definitely check out this tour when you’re back in the US. Thanks for reading! 🙂

That’s a perfect match between house and author, isn’t it? I knew that SK was a philanthropist, but I’d not heard about Tabitha and the bear and rabbit ceilings; that’s such a great idea. It must be strange to have connections with R. Flagg and read how the name influenced so many powerful villains; that was a new story for me. I sometimes think I’d love to visit all the SK sites, and this would be a fantastic start.

Hi Bernadette-Is it not THE perfect match of a house for SK?? I love it! I had no idea he was such a philanthropist before this tour. I love how he and his wife are a solid team and weathered through so much together. The bears and bunnies is such a cute idea. I agree it must be interesting for R. Flagg to know about its connections throughout the books! I hope you get to do the tour when you’re in the US sometime and thanks for reading! 🙂

To be honest, I’m not a fan, but my husband is. And as he doesn’t do that much reading nowadays, anything that can motivate him is worth a try :)) Anyway, the US is still far away in our travel plans, but this is worth keeping in mind. And I’m happy to see that even for me, an outsider to Stephen King’s books, the tour looks interesting and amusing, so excellent suggestion. 🙂

Hi Mirela-Oh I get it, this genre isn’t for everyone but it’s nice to know that you find the tour interesting even if not a fan. His philanthropy side is worth it all by itself! Glad to hear your husband is a fan. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Hi. I am a huge SK fan. We will be taking the tour in August, when we visit there. I am super excited! I have waited for this trip since I was a teenager.

Hi Brenda-If you are a huge SK fan you will LOVE this tour! I’m excited for you because it’s such a cool and unique adventure. I would love to hear your thoughts after you take it! Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Take a Spine-Tingling Trip Around Stephen King’s Maine

F or the best part of the past half a century, Stephen King has given some of the finest fantasy, horror, sci-fi and suspense novels to the literary world. Fans of the acclaimed author are probably already aware that Maine is the place that he calls home. Many of his tales, and their subsequent cinema and television adaptations, are set to a backdrop of the state’s small towns and their idiosyncrasies. These once unassuming towns are peppered with curious landmarks that inspired King and provide fanatics with the nightmare-including fixes they crave.

This literary journey begins in the city of Bangor, where the Losers Club battled with perhaps the most fearsome clown ever known. It then moves on to explore the Pet Sematary in the serene towns of Orrington, Hancock and Ellsworth. The locations lay scattered around south-central Maine and are comfortable to discover on a self-guided road trip. Or there’s an option to take guided tours with a family of diehard King enthusiasts.

Visit Bangor for Pennywise Pranks and the Losers Club

Most Mainers will probably agree that if it weren’t for Stephen King then Bangor wouldn’t have received such international fame. But this riverside city and the nation’s former lumber capital, located a two-hour drive north of Portland, is where the novelist settled in 1979. You can walk right up to the gates of the house where he and his wife Tabitha live on 47 West Broadway, in the Whitney Park Historic District. Decorated with gargoyles and with bats perched upon the gates, the redbrick Victorian mansion looks prime for a murder mystery.

Photo: Nagel Photography /Shutterstock

Bangor is also the real life version of Derry, one of three fictional towns that King invented and based his books around. This is where the shapeshifting dancing clown Pennywise tortured and tormented the misfit members of the Losers Club in It . Make the Thomas Hill Standpipe your first stop on the It trail. Seemingly harmless to look at, it served as the haunted water tower.

Photo: Bangor Water

Rumor has it that King wrote the book while gazing at the tower from a bench in the adjacent park. From here it’s a short stroll to a sewer drain at the corner of Union and Jackson streets, which was the inspiration for the opening scene in the book. We can’t confirm if Pennywise lives down there or not, so it’s up to you if you reach your hand inside like the unsuspecting Georgie did.

About a mile and a half away from the normal-looking but creepy drain stands the Paul Bunyan Statue. He’s a jovial celebration of a folkloric giant lumberjack revered for his superhuman labors. But don’t be fooled by his smile, because an evil spirit brought him to life in It and coaxed him into attacking poor Richie Tozier. The statue had a brief mention in the horror-fantasy novel Insomnia , too.

Photo: Jane Rix /Shutterstock

Back in downtown Bangor, it’s worth going for a stroll along the Kenduskeag Stream . Renamed the Barrens by King, it’s where the Losers Club came to plan the downfall of Pennywise. Feel free to scream “Who doesn’t love splashing around in shitty water?”, as was proclaimed in the original movie adaptation.

While in Derry (or Bangor) there’s a couple of other noteworthy ports of call. A mural on Union and 2nd streets depicts King alongside Maine icons such as mental-health activist Dorothea Dix and musician Patty Griffin. The Gerald Winters and Son bookshop on Main Street is the city’s go-to for first editions and memorabilia.

Wander the Sites of the Pet Sematary

Drive for about 10 minutes north along the banks of the Penobscot River from downtown Bangor and you’ll reach Mount Hope Cemetery . Not only is this the second-oldest garden cemetery in the United States, it’s also shrouded in history and legends.

Photo: Mount Hope Cemetery /Facebook

The writer was known to come here during his free time when studying in nearby Orono. Keep an eye out for the gravestone of Carrie M. Hesseltine, which was the supposed inspiration for the name of King’s breakout book Carrie. The cemetery is perhaps more famous for its appearance in the Pet Sematary movie — King even made a cameo as a minister conducting a funeral.

It’s a 20-minute drive south to our next stop, Orrington, where King and his family lived at 664 River Road in early 1979. In the woods behind the house, he stumbled upon an informal burial ground for pets that had been christened the Pet Sematary . This became the title of his self-proclaimed scariest novel. The house used for the original movie bears a striking resemblance to King’s and is located 40 miles to the east at 303 Point Road, Hancock.

If Bangor is your base then cruise back slowly via US Route 1 and highway 15, which pass through leafy villages and along the banks of rippling rivers. Consider a short detour to Dysart’s Restaurant and Truck Stop , in Hermon.

Photo: Dysarts /Facebook

It was here that a group of semi-trailers came to life and terrorized every human in sight in the short story, Trucks . Only six survived and they found refuge inside the diner, which happens to do a tasty range of baked goods, breakfasts, burgers and salads.

Take a tour with the experts

Of course, you could easily do all of the above by yourself; however, we appreciate that sometimes it’s nice to be shown around by a specialist on the subject. Based out of Bangor, SK Tours is the brainchild of Penney and Stu Tinker and their son Jamie.

Photo: SK Tours /Facebook

All are lifelong King fans and offer three-hour tours of notable places in and around the city. The tours pause at the Oriental Jade Asian restaurant, which inspired the Jade of the Orient in It . We doubt you’ll find any crickets or eyeballs in your fortune cookies, but you will get some authentic dumplings, miso soup and ramen noodles.

According to co-founder Jamie Tinker, King is “one of the most popular living authors, yet it’s common to see him on his daily walk, having dinner at the local restaurants, and at the local cinemas and bookstores.” Tinker states that the “King family’s quiet generosity and charitable giving towards our schools, parks, libraries, theaters, hospitals, shelters, and recovery centers throughout the area have enriched the lives of more people in the region than we’ll ever know.” One of Jamie’s favorite spots on the tour is the Thomas Hill Standpipe, which he grew up next to and got spooked by when reading It for the first time.

The Gateway to King’s Horrors

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• Stephen King’s House on Casey Key Tour Guide

Stephen King, the world-renowned horror fiction writer, is known for his intriguing stories and unique writing style. His achievements and influence have made him an icon in the literary world, and his residence on Casey Key, Florida, has become a cultural landmark. If you’re a fan of Stephen King, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to explore his famous house on Casey Key. Our in-depth tour guide will provide you with an exclusive tour of the house and its surroundings, revealing hidden secrets and interesting facts.

The tour will take you through each part of the property, giving you a glimpse into the life of the writer and the inspiration behind his work. With our expert tour guide, you’ll get to experience the ambiance of the house and uncover the mystique surrounding it. Join us for an unforgettable journey into the world of Stephen King!

Casey Key: The Enchanting Location

Located on the tranquil Gulf of Mexico within Sarasota County, Florida, Casey Key is a narrow barrier island famous for its pristine beaches and luxury homes. The idyllic location has attracted the attention of numerous prominent individuals, including the celebrated author Stephen King, who owns a mansion on the island.

With its breathtaking sunsets, crystal-clear waters, and lush tropical landscape, Casey Key offers the perfect mix of relaxation and recreation. Visitors can enjoy various water sports, fishing, and boating while taking in the natural beauty of the area. Furthermore, there are several nature reserves and state parks nearby, making it an ideal vacation destination for nature enthusiasts.

Overall, Casey Key is a magical location that offers an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Its natural beauty, exclusive residential properties, and laid-back vibe make it a truly enchanting destination.

Stephen King: A Literary Icon

Stephen King is widely regarded as a literary icon, having made significant contributions to the horror and suspense genres throughout his illustrious career that spans several decades. King’s work is characterized by its ability to captivate readers with chilling narratives and intricate plotlines that remain etched in their minds for years to come.

King’s prodigious output has earned him numerous accolades and cemented his position as one of the most celebrated authors of our time. He has written over 60 novels, 200 short stories, and countless essays and non-fiction pieces. His books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide, making him one of the most commercially successful authors in history. He has also been honored with several prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts and the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Writing Process

King’s writing process has been the subject of much curiosity among his fans and aspiring writers. Known for his prolific output, King works methodically, often spending several hours a day at his writing desk. He emphasizes the importance of discipline and consistency in the craft, with his motto being “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” King’s creative process often involves his own experiences, personal fears, and vivid imagination that he weaves into his stories to create a truly immersive experience for readers.

Inspiration Behind the Stories

King’s narratives are often rooted in the mundane aspects of life, which he expertly blends with the supernatural elements to create eerie and unsettling stories. His characters are often ordinary people grappling with extraordinary situations, including supernatural events, demonic possessions, and otherworldly phenomena that challenge their beliefs and understanding of the world. King’s work is known for its intricate plots, well-crafted characters, and palpable tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

The Mystique of Stephen King’s House

Stephen King’s house on Casey Key is not just any ordinary residence. It exudes an air of mystique that has captivated fans and curious onlookers for years. Its history, unique architectural features, and the author’s association with the property have only added to its allure and intrigue.

The design of the house is distinctive, showcasing a blend of contemporary and traditional elements. Its primary color palette of white and gray, combined with the use of glass, adds to the modern feel of the property. The house features a large, curving wall that flows through the property, serving as a unifying element. The large windows provide breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape, which creates a sense of immersion in nature.

There are many rumors and myths surrounding the house, adding to its mystique. It’s been said that Stephen King used the property solely for writing and that the house includes secret passageways and a hidden spiral staircase. These legends have only increased public interest in the property, inspiring many to embark on a journey to see it in person.

One thing is for sure, Stephen King’s house on Casey Key is an extraordinary property that exudes an air of mystery and fascination. Its unique design, fascinating history, and the rumors that surround it have made it an object of public admiration and interest.

A Guided Tour of Stephen King’s House

Embark on an unforgettable journey as we take you on a guided tour of Stephen King’s house on Casey Key. Here, you’ll have the rare opportunity to step into the world of this iconic author and explore his private residence.

Our expert tour guide will lead you through the different areas of the property, providing in-depth and fascinating insights into Stephen King’s life and work.

You’ll get to see and experience the ambiance of the house, as you immerse yourself in the captivating and eerie atmosphere that has served as the inspiration for many of King’s novels.

The tour will cover the architectural design and unique features of the property, giving you a glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest horror writers of all time.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or someone who’s simply curious about Stephen King’s world, this guided tour of his house on Casey Key is not to be missed.

Book your tour today and get ready for an unforgettable adventure!

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Explore the World of The Dark Tower

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..

The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum. It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it. Inspired in equal parts by Robert Browning’s poem, “ Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came ,” J.R.R. Tolkien ’s Lord of the Rings, and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western classics, The Dark Tower series is an epic of Arthurian proportions. It is Stephen King’s magnum opus, and is the center of his amazing creative universe.

Read "On Being Nineteen (and a Few Other Things)"

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (Revised)

The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. So begins Book I of Stephen King’s iconic fantasy series, The Dark Tower. Part sci-fi novel, part futuristic dystopia, part spaghetti Western, and part high fantasy vision, The Gunslinger tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is tracking an enigmatic magician known only as the man in black. Following his quarry across the demon-infested Mohaine Desert, Roland confronts a mad preacher woman and her murderous flock, holds palaver with a speaking demon, and finally befriends a young boy from our world named Jake Chambers. Jake joins Roland on his quest, but while Roland travels with his young companion Jake, the man in black travels with Roland’s soul in his pocket.

The 2003 revised edition of The Gunslinger contains the essay "On Being Nineteen (And a few other things)" by Stephen.

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The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

After his final confrontation with the Man in Black in a remote mountain Golgotha, an exhausted Roland awakes on the beach of the Western Sea and is immediately attacked by a shoreline monster known as a lobstrosity. Roland kills the clawed creature, but not before it bites off two of his fingers and half of one big toe. Fighting off the delirium brought on by the lobstrosity’s poison, Roland forces himself along the beach where he discovers three freestanding doorways that lead into our world. The first opens onto New York, 1987, and the mind of a heroin addict called Eddie Dean. The second leads to 1964 and the divided personality of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker, an African American woman who has lost the bottom half of her legs but gained a second, psychotic self. The third door leads to 1977 and the mind of a psychopath called The Pusher, the very criminal responsible for Odetta’s injuries. Roland’s task is to make Eddie and Odetta into gunslingers before raging Detta destroys them all, and before the Pusher can continue his bloody killing spree.

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

Several months have passed, and Roland’s two new tet-mates have become proficient gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But while battling The Pusher in 1977 New York, Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s where and when—has already died. Now Roland and Jake exist in different worlds, but they are joined by the same madness: the paradox of double memories. Roland, Susannah, and Eddie must draw Jake into Mid-World then follow the Path of the Beam all the way to the Dark Tower. But nothing is easy in Mid-World. Along the way our tet stumbles into the ruined city of Lud, and are caught between the warring gangs of the Pubes and the Grays. The only way out of Lud is to wake Blaine the Mono, an insane train that has a passion for riddling, and for suicidal journeys.

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Jake’s pet bumbler survive Blaine the Mono’s final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, one that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, they hear the atonal squalling of a thinny, a place where the fabric of existence has almost entirely worn away. While camping near the edge of the thinny, Roland tells his ka-tet a story about another thinny, one that he encountered when he was little more than a boy. Over the course of one long magical night, Roland transports us to the Mid-World of long-ago and a seaside town called Hambry, where Roland fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado, and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of John Farson, the harrier who—with a little help from a seeing sphere called Maerlyn’s Grapefruit—ignited Mid-World’s final war.

The Dark Tower IV S: The Wind Through the Keyhole

Although it is officially the eighth book of the Dark Tower saga, Stephen King likes to call The Wind Through the Keyhole book 4.5 of the series, since it takes place after our tet escapes the Green Palace at the end of Wizard and Glass, and before they reach Calla Bryn Sturgis, setting for Wolves of the Calla. The Wind Through the Keyhole is a story within a story within a story. At the outset, Roland and his American tet are traveling toward the River Whye in Mid-World. A great storm, called a Starkblast, is about to blow. While our tet is sheltering from the storm, Roland tells a story about his younger days, when he and his tet-mate Jamie DeCurry were sent to Debaria to investigate reports of a skin-man, a kind of dangerous shape-changer. While trying to comfort a young boy named Bill Streeter—the only survivor of a particularly brutal attack by the skin-man, and Roland’s only witness to the crime—Roland recounts yet another story. This time it is a sinister fairytale drawn from the book Magic Tales of Eld. The three stories are woven together by the freezing, howling winds of the Starkblast.

The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla

Roland and his tet have just returned to the path of the Beam when they discover that they are being followed by a group of inexperienced trackers. The trackers are from the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis, and they desperately need the help of gunslingers. Once every generation, a band of masked riders known as the Wolves gallop out of the dark land of Thunderclap to steal one half of all the twins born in the Callas. When the children are returned, they are   roont , or mentally and physically ruined. In less than a month, the Wolves will raid again. In exchange for Roland’s aid, Father Callahan—a priest originally from our world—offers to give Roland a powerful but evil seeing sphere, a sinister globe called Black Thirteen which he has hidden below the floorboards of his church. Not only must Roland and his tet discover a way to defeat the invincible Wolves, but they must also return to New York so that they can save our world’s incarnation of the Dark Tower from the machinations of the evil Sombra Corporation.

The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

The Wolves have been defeated, but our tet faces yet another catastrophe. Susannah Dean’s body has been usurped by a demon named Mia who wants to use Susannah’s mortal form to bear a demon child. Stealing Black Thirteen, Mia has traveled through the Unfound Door to 1999 New York where she plans to give birth to her chap, a child born of two mothers and two fathers who will grow up to be Roland’s nemesis. With the help of the time-traveling Manni, Roland and Eddie plan to follow Susannah while Father Callahan and Jake will find Calvin Tower, owner of the vacant lot where a magical rose grows: a rose that must be saved at all costs. But despite our ka-tet’s intentions, ka has its own plans. Jake, Callahan, and Jake’s bumbler companion are transported to New York to follow Susannah, while Eddie and Roland are tumbled into East Stoneham, Maine, where they are greeted by Eddie’s old enemy, the gangster Balazar. But it isn’t just bullets that Roland and Eddie must brave. Soon they will meet their maker, in the form of a young author named Stephen King.

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

At the outset of the final installment of our saga, Roland’s ka-tet is scattered across several different   wheres and whens . Susannah Dean (still in the clutches of the demon Mia) is in End-World’s Fedic Dogan: a chamber of horrors where magic and technology can be merged and where a monstrous half-human child can be brought forth into the world. Eddie Dean and Roland Deschain are in Maine, 1977, searching for the site of otherworldly walk-in activity, and a possible doorway back to Mid-World. Jake Chambers, Father Callahan, and the bumbler Oy are battling vampires and low men in New York’s Dixie Pig Restaurant, circa 1999, a place where long pig is definitely on the menu. As soon as our tet reunites, they must journey to the headquarters of Thunderclap’s Wolves in order to discover exactly why the Crimson King’s minions have been culling the brains of young children for twin-telepathy enzymes. The answer is more horrible than they realized, and bears directly upon Roland’s quest to reach the Dark Tower.

Charlie the Choo-Choo

Engineer Bob has a secret: His train engine, Charlie the Choo-Choo, is alive…and also his best friend. From celebrated author Beryl Evans and illustrator Ned Dameron comes a story about friendship, loyalty, and hard work.

The Dark Tower Boxed Set

For the first time ever in a single boxed set, all of Stephen King’s eight Dark Tower novels—one of the most acclaimed and popular series of all time. This collection includes: The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger ; The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three ; The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands ; The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass ; The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole ; The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla ; The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah ; and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower .

The Dark Tower Concordance

The Complete Concordance  is an entertaining and incredibly useful guide to Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower series by Robin Furth and features a foreword by Stephen King himself. The Dark Tower series is the backbone of Stephen King's legendary career. Eight books and more than three thousand pages make up this bestselling fantasy epic.  The Complete Concordance  covers books I-VII and  The Wind Through the Keyhole and  is the definitive encyclopedic reference book that provides readers with everything they need to navigate their way through the series. With hundreds of characters, Mid-World geography, High Speech lexicon, and extensive cross-references, this comprehensive handbook is essential for any Dark Tower fan.

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Christian duo For King & Country bringing 'Unsung Hero Tour' to OKC: What you need to know

Following the release of their biopic movie "Unsung Hero," Christian pop hitmakers For King & Country have announced their new U.S. tour of the same name.

The “For King & Country Live: The Unsung Hero 2024 Tour” is coming Oklahoma City for a Nov. 9 concert at Paycom Center.

The four-time Grammy Award-winning duo will embark on the 31-city tour Sept. 19 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

For King & Country to perform new music on autumn tour

The duo of brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone recently dropped “Unsung Hero (The Inspired By Soundtrack)” simultaneously with the theatrical release of the film “Unsung Hero” on April 26.

The soundtrack includes “Place In This World," featuring Michael W. Smith; “Checking In” with Lee Brice; “To Hell With The Devil (RISE)” featuring Lecrae and Stryper; “Lead Me On” featuring Amy Grant; and much more.

It also features the title track of the film, “Unsung Hero,” from their current Grammy-nominated and American Music Awards, Billboard and Dove award-winning album “What Are We Waiting For?”

For King & Country will be performing new music from “The Inspired By Soundtrack” from the film "Unsung Hero," along with many fan favorite songs from their previous albums. The duo is promising to give audiences an innovative new production unlike any previous For King & Country tour to date.

When and how can people get OKC For King & Country tickets?

Tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10.

For more information, https://www.paycomcenter.com .

King & Country ‘Unsung Hero' tour 2024: Presale, dates, venues, & all you need to know

T he For King & Country duo of Joel and Luke Smallbone are going on a national outing this fall for the Unsung Hero Tour 2024. The Grammy-winning duo shared the news on X (formerly Twitter) this Wednesday as they announced the North American tour, set to begin on September 19.

Joel and Luke Smallbone's fall tour comes on the head of their biopic film, Unsung Hero , released last month on April 26. Though the duo has yet to give a confirmation, fans hope that the Unsung Hero Tour 2024 also supports the new film.

Tickets for the Unsung Hero Tour 2024 are going on an artist presale starting next week on May 7. The presale begins at 10:00 am EDT and can be taken benefit of by visiting the For King & Country website - forkingandcountry.com. Additional presales will also begin at venues and Ticketmaster starting on May 7, followed by a member-exclusive Spotify presale.

Fans can get VIP packages for the For King & Country tour on May 6, followed by the presale of the Platinum tickets on the next day.

The general public will get access to the tickets next week after they go on open sale starting at 10:00 am EDT on May 10. The official platinum and VIP packages for the tour will also be on open sale for over a month starting on May 10.

Everything to know about For King & Country ‘Unsung Hero' tour 2024

The For King and Country duo is headlining an outing this year as they take up stages across North America for the Unsung Hero Tour 2024. The upcoming tour will begin on September 19 with the Christian music icons performing at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

The Grammy-winning group will then tour through North America while performing at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum, Grand Rapids' Enterprise Center, Rapid City's Summit Arena, and Duluth's DECC Arena, among others. The duo will also take over the national stages in cities including - Sioux Falls, Des Moines, Kansas City, Hollywood, Tampa, Louisville, and Pittsburgh.

The Smallbones will travel to Ohio on October 18 and perform at Toledo's Huntington Center, followed by consecutive shows at Charlotte's Spectrum Center, Roanoke's Berglund Center, and the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax. The duo's outing in November will include shows at Greenville's Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Duluth's Gas South Arena, Little Rocks' Simmons Bank Arena, and the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

The Unsung Hero Tour 2024 will be officially wrapped up on November 10 when Joel and Luke Smallbone take the stage at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. A full setlist for the Unsung Hero Tour 2024 is yet to be revealed, but the For King & Country duo announced that they will be performing on all fan favorites .

The North American dates and venues where For King & Country will perform during the Unsung Hero tour are:

• September 19 - Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
• September 20 - Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• September 21 - Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
• September 22 - Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• September 27 - CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska
• September 28 - Summit Arena, Rapid City, South Dakota
• September 29 - Sunset Amphitheater, Colorado Springs
• October 3 - DECC Arena, Duluth, Minnesota
• October 4 - Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• October 5 - Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
• October 6 - T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri
• October 10 - Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida
• October 11 - Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
• October 12 - The BJCC's Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama
• October 13 - KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
• October 17 - PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• October 18 - Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
• October 19 - Truist Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky
• October 20 - Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
• October 24 - Berglund Center, Roanoke, Virginia
• October 25 - GIANT Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
• October 26 - Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusettes
• October 27 - EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia
• November 2 - Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
• November 3 - Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
• November 7 - Simmons Bank Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
• November 8 - H-E-B Center, Cedar Park, Texas
• November 9 - Paycom Center, Oklahoma City
• November 10 - American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

For King & Country's biopic, the Unsung Hero joined theatres last month, on April 26. The movie is based around the Smallbone family and follows them on their journey towards finding a brighter future through music. As of the writing, the biopic is going strong with an IMDB rating of 7.9 and a 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Our Vehicles

Stu (Redman)

Stu is one of our private tour vehicles. He fits 5 people comfortably, and is our pet-friendly vehicle with plenty of space for your animals to lay comfortably on the floor.  He is also perfect for families and easily accommodates child seats.

Carrie (White)

Carrie is our mid-sized bus, which we use for our larger private tours for up to 12 passengers.

Barry (The Chunk)

Barry is our largest vehicle and is used for our regular tours. He comfortably sits 14 passengers, giving as much space as possible for our guests.

Randall Flagg (The Man in Black)

Randall is our smallest private tour vehicle for up to 4 passengers.

• April 1st to October 30th
• Hour Glass 2.5+ hours

The Derry, Maine Tour

Join us while we explore Stephen King’s Derry, Maine.  We will visit locations of inspiration, books, movies, & discuss the generous philanthropic donations the Kings have made to the “Queen City,” Bangor, Me.

The King home is private property and is not open to the public.

• March to December
• Users Up to 10 People

Private Derry, Maine Tour

Available for individual tours, great for couples or large parties, our popular private tours can now be booked online for groups up to 10 people*.

*In March, November, and December, private tours start at a discounted rate of $200. Maximum party size is 4 passengers. We do not offer tours in January or February.

For a private tour of greater than 10 passengers during peak season, please give us call.

• Halloween only

Halloween Costume Tour

It’s the last day of the peak season, so we’re going out with a bang!

Costumes are encouraged but certainly not required!

Local events and info

A running list of local events in Bangor and the surrounding area of interest to our customers.

This calendar is for informational use only can does not contain events that cannot be booked through SK Tours.

• How to buy tickets

How much are Chris Stapleton tickets?

Need travel arrangements.

• Who is opening for Chris Stapleton's tour?

Will there be international tour dates?

How to buy chris stapleton tickets: dates and prices compared for 2024 concert tour.

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Chris Stapleton's hit tour runs through the rest of 2024 and early 2025, but tickets are selling out fast. If you're hoping to catch the country music star live, he has plenty of concert dates to attend this year, and there are many ways to buy Chris Stapleton tickets.

The All-American Road Show has been ongoing since 2017 and serves as Chris Stapleton's first solo headlining tour. However, after more than seven years on the road and nearly 200 shows, the "Tennessee Whiskey" singer will close the concert series in 2025. With the end of the horizon in sight for his long-running tour, the opportunity to catch Stapleton's All-American Road Show is growing slim with each passing show.

We've got you covered if you're looking for how to get tickets to Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show concert tour in 2024. Here's our breakdown of the tour schedule, purchasing details, and prices for original and resale tickets. You can also browse ticket specifics on StubHub and Vivid Seats at your leisure.

• See also: Zach Bryan tickets | Bruce Springsteen tickets | Billy Joel tickets  | Adele tickets

Chris Stapleton 2024 tour schedule

There are still over 40 shows remaining on the All-American Road Show Tour this year, with tickets for a few shows in 2025 already available. While his final 2024 show will land on December 7 in Las Vegas, Chris Stapleton's tour will conclude on March 8, 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand.

All concert times are listed in local time zones.

How to buy tickets for Chris Stapleton's 2024 concert tour

You can buy original tickets for Chris Stapleton's 2024 concert tour on Ticketmaster or Live Nation. However, the number of remaining original tickets is limited, as many concerts have been on sale for several months.

Plenty of resale tickets are also available through verified vendors such as StubHub and Vivid Seats . You'll find better luck getting seats through these resale sites for Chris Stapleton's shows that have already sold out of original tickets.

Ticket prices to see Chris Stapleton this year vary by date, location, and demand for each show. The cheapest standard original ticket prices start from $55 for Houston on August 24 to $465 for December 7 in Las Vegas. Resale ticket prices are generally comparable to original tickets or come in cheaper.

On StubHub, tickets range from $16 for Ridgedale, Missouri, on June 13 to $352 for Las Vegas. Similarly, Vivid Seats' cheapest available Chris Stapleton tickets range from $15 to $356 for the same dates. Overall, the two resale sites have comparable ticket prices, with Vivid Seats' options typically coming in at slightly lower prices.

VIP packages are also available at many Chris Stapleton shows for premium prices. Stapleton's All-American Road Show Tour offers two VIP experiences: the Single Barrel Experience and the Small Batch Experience. According to Chris Stapleton's website , Single Barrel VIP tickets start at $379, and Small Batch VIP tickets begin at $169. You can also use this site to check out which tour dates offer these VIP experiences.

• Accommodation:  Save 15%+ at Booking.com  |  Expedia  |  Airbnb
• Flights & hotel:  Booking.com  |  Expedia
• Flights:  Booking.com  |  Expedia
• Parking:  Spot Hero  |  The Parking Spot

Who is opening for Chris Stapleton's tour?

Chris Stapleton is touring alongside George Strait and Little Big Town for many of his All-American Road Show tour performances. On other 2024 occasions, the country star is joined by special guests Grace Potter, Nikki Lane, Marcus King, The War and Treaty, Allen Stone, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Marty Stuart, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson & Family, and Sheryl Crow.

Here's a breakdown of when and where each artist will perform with Chris Stapleton:

George Strait & Little Big Town

• May 4 - Indianapolis, IN
• May 11 - Jacksonville, FL
• May 25 - Ames, IA
• June 1 - Charlotte, NC
• June 8 - East Rutherford, NJ
• June 29 - Salt Lake City, UT
• July 13 - Detroit, MI
• July 20 - Chicago, IL
• December 7 - Las Vegas, NV

Grace Potter

• May 9 - West Palm Beach, FL
• May 10 - West Palm Beach, FL
• June 26 & 27 - Los Angeles, CA
• August 1–3 - Gilford, NH
• August 21 - Birmingham, AL
• August 22 - North Little Rock, AR
• August 24 - Houston, TX
• June 6 - Camden, NJ
• June 7 - Bristow, VA
• July 11 - Darien, NY
• July 12 - Burgettstown, PA
• July 18 - Toledo, OH
• July 19 - Columbus, OH
• July 25 - Nampa, ID
• July 26 - Ridgefield, WA
• August 9 & 10 - Nashville, TN

Marcus King

• May 22 - Rapid City, SD
• May 24 - Sioux Falls, SD
• May 31 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH
• June 12 - Kansas City, MO
• June 13 - Ridgedale, MO
• June 15 - Arlington, TX

The War and Treaty

Allen Stone

Tedeschi Trucks Band

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives

• October 16 - Manchester, England
• October 17 - Glasgow, Scotland
• October 20 - Dublin, Ireland
• October 22 - Birmingham, England
• October 23 - London, England

Miranda Lambert

Willie Nelson & Family

• July 27 - Seattle, WA

Sheryl Crow

Chris Stapleton already has several international tour dates lined up for his ongoing concert series. The country star has five shows confirmed in England, Scotland, and Ireland in October, as well as six shows in Australia and two performances in New Zealand throughout February and March of next year.

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