Different Seasons

In the Afterword, King talks about his early career and his agent’s concern that King would find himself typecast as a horror writer when his range was really much broader. King himself decided very early that there were worse things than being stereotyped as a writer in a genre that he loved. However, although King leans heavily towards horror, he has a broader range. He often blends horror with other genres, including fantasy (Fairy Tale (2022), The Eyes of the Dragon (1984), The Talisman (1984), and The Dark Tower series (1982-2012)), science-fiction (The Tommyknockers (1987) and Under The Dome (2009)) and literary fiction (Different Seasons and Dolores Claiborne (1992)). He has also written several hard-boiled detective stories (Joyland (2013), Later (2012), and the Mr. Mercedes series (2014-16)) with and without horror/supernatural elements.

The four stories in Different Seasons are a difficult length to market—too short for paperback, too long for magazines. Also, they were written early in King’s career but late enough that his agent at the time was hesitant about an established horror writer putting out a mainstream collection and potentially alienating fans. He talked King into adding the final story, “The Breathing Method,” to placate the existing fan base.