For decades, the stories of Stephen King have terrified readers with haunted houses, cursed towns, and eerie coincidences. But according to TikToker Kayla Andrews (@kayla_a16), the author’s real-life childhood seems almost as unsettling as the books themselves.
She grew up in Maine next to Stephen King’s old house. It was his childhood home, not his current mansion in Bangor, Maine. When she was younger, the person who moved in after Stephen King asked her to cat-sit.
She still has the key to the house. It was super creepy inside, and at one point during renovations, the construction workers found notes hidden in the walls.
Kayla’s grandparents also lived next to them. Her grandfather recalls driving down the road back then and seeing Stephen King lying in the middle of the street, asking to be run over. For fans of Stephen King, perhaps that detail seems fitting.
Another strange incident involved a huge cornfield across from the author’s original house. It was what inspired his short story, Children of the Corn.
Five or six years ago, someone named Malachi died next to the cornfield. It was a weird coincidence because that was the name of a prominent character in Children of the Corn.
In the story, a boy named Malachi was the leader of a terrifying cult of children based in a small rural town.
A few weeks ago, Kayla went into Stephen King’s old house to feed the cat for the old lady who currently lives there. Kayla’s mom was in the chicken coop feeding the chickens when the door suddenly slammed shut, trapping her inside.
Somehow, the door had locked. She couldn’t get out until someone heard her hollering for help. To make matters worse, there was also no cell service in the chicken coop, so she couldn’t even call anyone.
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In the comments section, several TikTok users shared their own connections to the famous writer. A surprising number of people have had run-ins with him before.
“Fun fact, my husband used to be friends with Stephen King when they were kids in Bangor,” shared one user.
“I saw him at L.L. Bean at 3 a.m. years and years ago,” declared a second.
“My grandmother actually went to high school with him and used to talk about it all the time,” commented another.
“He went to the same high school as my mom, not at the same time, but it’s still crazy to me,” chimed in a fourth.
“My history teacher in high school was in Stephen’s friend group when he lived there as kids and told all kinds of stories about him, like the lying in the road and waiting to see if he’d get run over,” added someone else.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
