Match the Stephen King Horror with the Book Quiz

Answer: Firestarter

Pyrokinesis is the ability to start or control fire simply by the power of the mind, and this is the paranormal force that drove the plot of King's "Firestarter". The premise was that a little girl, Charlie, with pyrokinetic powers, and her father, who had other psychic abilities, were on the run from a secretive, nefarious government agency that wanted to track them down and keep them. King indicated in an interview that he based the character of Charlie on his daughter, Naomi, who was 10 years old when he was writing the book.

Answer: The Dead Zone

When English teacher John Smith woke from a multi-year coma after a crushing car accident, he found himself with newly-discovered extrasensory perception, including clairvoyance. The title referred to a part of his brain that was damaged in the car accident, and one of his doctors hypothesized that was why Johnny gained these skills. The reader knows, however, that Johnny had a tiny bit of clairvoyance in a childhood ice skating collision.

Published in 1979, "The Dead Zone" was King's eighth published novel under his own name. It spawned a 1983 movie that starred Christopher Walken and a TV series starring Anthony Michael Hall that premiered in 2002. To a subjective viewer, Walken played a creepier version of Johnny than was portrayed in the novel, and Hall a less creepy version.

Answer: The Shining

"The Shining", published in 1977, will keep you away from spooky, isolated vintage hotels forever. The book opened when the new caretaker and his family, including a young son, Danny, moved into a empty hotel for the winter. All good, right? Not if the little boy has several psychic abilities, including the power to see dead people. The hotel was full of haunted spirits, who wanted Danny for themselves.

In a 2014 poll, magazine "Rolling Stone" listed "The Shining" as the readers' third favorite Stephen King book.

Answer: Misery

In 1987's "Misery", author Paul Sheldon was driving through a snowstorm when he drove off a cliff, resulting in major injuries. He was rescued by Annie Wilkes, an apparent Good Samaritan who called herself his number one fan. Paul realized he was Annie's captive when she brought him to her house and wouldn't let him leave until he promised not to kill off her favorite character.

"Misery" spawned a 1990 film starring Kathy Bates, who was the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in a film in the horror genre. The story has also been told on the stage in several different versions.

Answer: 'Salem's Lot

The premise of this 1975 novel, which was King's second published book, was the invasion of a small town by vampires. It began when a mysterious European man arrived in town. The main characters include a writer, Ben, who has returned home to 'Salem's Lot, the local English teacher, Ben's new girlfriend, a young boy named Matt, the town doctor, and the town priest. Together, they try to fight off terrible vampires.

King has said in interviews that when he was an English teacher himself, he taught Bram Stoker's "Dracula", which inspired him to write about what would happen if the undead came to modern-day America.

Answer: Christine

Christine was a red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury with a lust for death -- other people's. Her ability to fix herself, drive herself, and kill people was never fully explained, but she seemed to be acting out the wishes of her dead owner, the horrible Roland D. Debay. Soon after the book opened, Christine had been purchased by high school underdog, Artie, who before long was under her spell. It was up to Artie's loyal best friend, Dennis, to save Artie from Christine's evil clutches.

"Christine" was published in 1983. It features a rich background of music from the 1950s to the early 1980s, from Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry to Bruce Springsteen and The Clash.

Answer: Cujo

The coincidences that take place in "Cujo" will make your mind spin, but King deftly wove this story of a good dog gone bad with remarkable finesse. Cujo was a big, loyal, loving St. Bernard who never hurt anyone, until he was bitten by a rabid bat and turned into a monster.

The novel surrounded the story of a mother, Donna, and four-year-old son, Tad, when they drove their crappy Pinto to a local mechanic's rural shop and it died in the yard. There were no cell phones in 1981, when the book was published. When Donna and Tad try to get out of the car, Cujo attacks them, and they barely make it back in safely. The owner would come out to greet them, but Cujo had already killed him. A neighbor might have heard their cries for help, but Cujo had already killed him, too. Donna's husband might have started to worry, but he was on a business trip. The postman might have been able to help, but the mechanic's wife had recently won the lottery and taken her son on a trip, thoughtfully turning off the mail delivery for the duration of her absence. One coincidence after another is layered to create a compelling, hair-raising story.

Answer: It

The horror that took place in Derry, Maine in the novel "It" involved more than an evil clown; that was just one of the personifications of evil in this small, haunted town. In this story, seven residents of the town, now adults, return to face off the evil they thought they conquered as children. The destructive force took the form of Pennywise the clown, who lived in the sewers in between feeding on Derry's youngsters.

Published in 1986, "It" lives firmly in the Stephen King universe; the story includes connections to "The Shining" and "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". King's son, author Joe Hill, connected his literary world to his father's when he described the "Pennywise Circus" in his novel, "NOS4A2."

Answer: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Andy Dufresne had very bad luck in the story of "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". All the evidence of a double-murder lead to him, but in this case, he was innocent. Nonetheless, he was sentenced to two life sentences in a Maine prison, the Shawshank State Penitentiary. He managed to endure in prison, barely, by his wits and his friendship with Red, another long-timer, but was determined to do more than just survive.

This 1982 novella is a bit of an aberration for King, as there are no supernatural or psychic forces at work, and the movie adaption was a critical success, rare for a King adaptation. Critics have praised the storytelling craft in this book, as well as the detailed character development. The "New York Times" called it "an admirable departure" from King's usual genre of horror.

Answer: The Stand

"The Stand" is often cited as King's greatest work; readers rated it their favorite of all King books ("Rolling Stone" reader's poll; 2014). It told the sweeping story of a deadly flu that wipes almost all of the human population, save a few souls who are unaffected and must recreate society. The only problem is that some of them want to create an evil society, ruled by tyranny and sin, and the others want to build a more altruistic world. The two eventually clash.

Originally published in 1978, "The Stand" covered the post-apocalyptic lives of dozens of characters, from the California soldier who inadvertently spreads the superflu onto the populace, to the young Maine woman determined to live, not just for herself but for her yet-to-be born baby.