Stephen King Credited George R.R. Martin’s Book Series for…

Summary

Stephen King credits George R.R. Martin for "saving his life" with Game of Thrones series during painful times.
King enjoys watching movies and TV shows, with Night of the Living Dead as his top scary film pick.
Netflix set to adapt King's Cujo into a film, adding to the long list of his book-to-movie adaptations.

Stephen King is one of the biggest and most well-known horror writers in the world. With critically acclaimed novels like Carrie, Misery and IT, King's words have left a profound and everlasting effect on his readers for over 50 years, so much so that directors flock to his books in a bid to adapt his masterpieces to the big and small screen. However, even a massive literary genius like King goes through pretty awful experiences, and through one terrible time, King credited another brilliant writer, George R.R. Martin, for "saving his life" with his books, helping him to deal with pain.

Not only does Stephen King enjoy writing great story arcs that go on to be retold in movies and TV shows, but the Portland native also likes to spend his time watching as many as possible, too. King recently revealed that his number one scary movie of all time that left him in "helpless terror" was Night of the Living Dead. Anyone who follows King on social media will know that he loves to give brief reviews of the shows and films he watches, even the ones he isn't particularly fond of, as well. But other than sitting down for a well-deserved rest in front of the TV after a long day, King also loves to read popular books, specifically one by the Game of Thrones author.

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Stephen King is no stranger to scary stories, and he was impressed by this chilling 2000s horror movie.

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By Aya Tsintziras

Stephen King Credited George R.R. Martin’s Book Series for Helping To ‘Save His Life'

As reported by SlashFilm, Stephen King and George R.R. Martin sat down together to a packed house at the Kiva Auditorium in 2016. Before the pair got into a deep conversation about what they currently had on their plates, King wanted to tell Martin that, even though he initially didn't have a lot of interest in his books, he finally read Game of Thrones in a bid to distract himself from a terrible bout of pain in his legs caused by sciatica, which made it hard to rest or sleep, and was very pleasantly surprised by what we read. "The last thing I had expected from those books is what page-turners they are. And I just got lost," revealed the horror writer.

"So I couldn't really sleep. I had a book that I was supposed to record. We were in the Sarasota area, and I had to go to Bradenton, and it hurt to drive. Everything hurt, and I couldn't sleep. So one night, while I'm awake, I'm saying to myself, I'll try one of these f***ing George Martin books and see if this thing is any good. And it just carried me away [...], which is what books are supposed to do."

King went on to tell a rather humble-looking Martin that his Game of Thrones book series ended up making his life more bearable as he would listen to the audiobook versions while driving to work, making him forget in those moments about how painful his medical condition was. "Then when I had to go and record this thing, I had the audio versions, and I'd plug in the CDs in the car," expressed King. "They saved my life, man. So, thank you [to George R.R. Martin]."

Stephen King and George R.R Martin shaking hands

King's very sweet response was obviously a lovely thing to hear for Martin, and in return, the fantasy writer asked King for advice on how he writes so many books when he seemingly can't go nearly as fast due to writer's block. King answered Martin by giving him some words of wisdom: “Here’s the thing, There are books, and there are books. The way that I work, I try to get out there, and I try to get six pages a day.” King then went on to say that he works every day for three to four hours to get six pages done, so this process might come in handy for Martin, too. Lately, poor Martin has come under the microscope due to his lack of producing books and is seemingly more interested in any other project rather than putting pen to paper, especially due to his collaboration with Colossal Biosciences on bringing back dire wolves.

To add to King's long list of book-to-movie adaptations, another one is seemingly on the way. Netflix has made a deal to adapt King’s 1981 book Cujo, which tells the story of a dog who turns into a killer canine after being bitten by a bat, into a feature film, with producer Roy Lee in line to helm the project.