Do you consider yourself a Stephen King expert? Do you think that you know absolutely everything there is to know about the author? If you answer "yes" to either or both of those questions, first off: congratulations on being awesome! Secondly, if you've ever been curious about how you'd do with King-related trivia on Jeopardy!, you're definitely in the right place for a challenge.
Using the website J! Archive (a fan-created site that serves as an archive for the history of Jeopardy!), I’ve collected the nine hardest Stephen King-related questions (or, more accurately, answers) that have been featured on the show. Check them out below, and see which ones you can get and which ones stump you!
"In 'Comics Review' in 1965, 'I Was A Teenage Grave Robber" was his first published work; he's still going strong."
Do you know the name of Stephen King’s first published work? If you do, you would have done quite well with the Final Jeopardy answer that was posed to contestants on the January 8, 2010 episode of the show. The category, “Authors,” provided no real help, making it impressive that contestant Susan Poliniak got it correct (and it led her to a come-from-behind victory).
"In March 2000, the only way to get 'Riding The Bullet,' Stephen King's tale of Alan Parker, was by doing this."
This one comes from the July 21, 2000 episode, which is important to note because the main challenge here is how dated it is more than two decades later. The $400 Answer in the “Lots Of Character” Double Jeopardy! category is a reference to the fact that “Riding The Bullet” was initially released exclusively as an eBook, which makes the correct question, “What is logging onto the internet?” Contestant Mort Kamins got it correct before going on to win the day, but I doubt anyone would get it if it were to be asked today.
"Stephen King wrote in this novel, 'It was whole, then it was in 2 pieces... as if an invisible guillotine blade had dropped.'"
To be honest, this is a case where the Jeopardy category helps out a lot. On the October 18, 2016 show, this was an answer in the Double Jeopardy! category “Dome, Dome On The Range” – which had all dome related answers. Without that pretext, however, you’d stump most Stephen King fans simply trying to get them to recognize this line from one of the earliest paragraphs in Under The Dome.
"Stephen King borrowed the name of his fictional town Castle Rock from this 1950s novel that greatly influenced him."
As the setting of a number of novels, novellas and short stories, Castle Rock, Maine is well known among Stephen King fans, but unless you know your William Golding, you may not know that Castle Rock is a key location in the book Lord Of The Flies. Jeopardy! unleashed this answer as part of the Final Jeopardy round on May 20, 2014 in the category of “British Novels,” and none of the contestants got it right.
"Two films with this title got Oscar nominations, one based on a Dreiser novel, the other on a Stephen King book."
This Daily Double answer from April 10, 2007’s “From Page To Screen” Jeopardy! round category is complicated because there’s a bit of a trick to it. The correct question is “What is Carrie?” and one might understandably get tripped up by the fact that the name of the Theodore Dreiser book is Sister Carrie (the film directed by William Wyler in 1952 got rid of the “Sister,” and it earned Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Black-and-White and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White)
"These spirits of dead miners who try to warn the living of cave-ins may have inspired King's 1987 novel of the same name."
It’s the “may” in this one that makes it tough. It’s true that “Tommyknockers” can be a reference to the supernatural entities mentioned, but they are not featured in the book – which makes mention of the novel kind of a red herring. On March 3, 2014, this was the $1,000 Answer in the Jeopardy! Round category “Stephen King,” and unsurprisingly it was a triple stumper.
"This 1974 bestseller was originally subtitled 'A Novel of a Girl with a Frightening Power.'"
The reason I like this Final Jeopardy answer from the October 13, 1997 show for this feature is because even thinking about it in a Stephen King context might trip you up. The year is a big hint at the correct question – “What is Carrie?” (which two contestants got correct) – but what’s tricky about this one is that a King fan not paying attention might think that the answer is “Firestarter.” But, of course, Firestarter wasn’t published until 1980.
"In 1999, Stephen King published 'The Girl Who Loved' this Red Sox relief pitcher."
This was the $1,000 Answer in the “Baseball Lit” category of Double Jeopardy! on June 21, 2000, and it’s another example of time making the question more challenging (the show aired just 13 months after The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon hit store shelves). Being a baseball fan who is actually aware of the very real existence of Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon helps to remember the title of the Stephen King novel, but anyone who isn’t might struggle to get the name on to the tip of their tongue.
"A limited edition of this 1980 Stephen King novel featured an aluminum-coated asbestos-cloth cover."
This one, the Final Jeopardy answer from January 19, 1998, is fun because it’s similar to the “A Novel of a Girl with a Frightening Power” answer from a few months prior. The Special First Edition of Firestarter is a sought-after collectable that most people probably don’t know about, and if one doesn’t pay attention to the mention of the year, it would be reasonable for a fan to think the correct question could be either “What is Carrie?” (which ends with a fiery prom) or “What is The Shining?” (which ends with the Overlook Hotel burning down). Contestant Margaret Garnett guessed the latter, but Jack Gray, the winner of the episode, got it right.
For more Stephen King-related reading, check out our rankings of the Best Stephen King Movies and the Best Stephen King TV Projects, and stay up to date with all of the projects that are in the works with our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide.
