In 1990 I got my first book about Stephen King. I had read his books for about seven years but living in Sweden there wasn't many books ABOUT him available. Remember that this was long before the Internet. The book I found was The Stephen King Companion by George Beahm. I recognized him from Phantasmagoria which I subscribed to and decided to buy the book...something I have never regretted. The book opened my eyes to King and his books in a deeper way that I had known them before. I learned stuff I didn't know and even found out about books by King I didn't even know existed.

Since then I have gotten to know George and we have spoken a lot about King over the years and I was very happy when he told me earlier this year that he was doing a new and updated edition of The Stephen King Companion. So, 25 years after I read my first book about King I have finished the 2015 edition of the book and much like back in 1990 I have learned stuff I didn't know and I am as happy about that now as I was then. I'm also very happy and honored that George wanted to use stuff that I had written for the book. It feels a bit like we have come full circle.

In the book George writes about King's childhood, King's life up to the publication of Carrie, a complete run through of all of the books from Carrie to this years Bazaar of Bad Dreams. He writes about the first fanzine about King, Castle Rock and today's tours of King's Maine. He writes about the houses in Bangor and Florida and the accident in 1999. He writes about how King switched publishers from NAL to Scribner and he writes about the movies based on King's work. And that is just to list a few of the topics he covers in the 600+ pages.

But it's not only George who talks to us in the book. George has invited other people to share their thoughts on King, both in text and in interviews and all this gives the book a depth that I really like. George has done a wonderful job with the book, its text, its illustrations, its photos…well, all of the books contents are well worth reading. This is a book every King fan will want to read no matter if you are like me and need to know everything there is about him or if you just read his books and don't care about much more. You will still enjoy this book and it will give you a better insight into King and his writing. Oh, and do yourself a favor. Don’t pass on this one just because you have the older editions. They are good but this one is GOOD!

I have a really hard time trying to express what it means to me to be able to contribute to this book. The 1989 edition meant so much to me 25 years ago. I even got two copies of it back then. One to read and one to keep in mint condition. I still have both copies today. One in mint condition and one in very poor condition from all the reading. And for that I thank George Beahm!