The Dark Tower series. Rarely do authors become as iconic and famous as King has managed to. The Stephen King name is a brand unto itself, and no matter what the individual plot happens to be, many of King's diehard fans will read absolutely anything he puts out. For some, this also extends to movie and TV adaptations of his work, as simply being a "Stephen King movie/show" is enough to lure them in.
Most of King's greatest works have been translated to the screen, some successfully and some unsuccessfully. While he'll forever be known as the master of horror, many fans would argue King's magnum opus is The Dark Tower saga, a series originally comprised of seven books, with an eighth later being written. The Dark Tower just can't seem to be adapted right, with 2017's first shot at it turning out terrible, and a long-gestating Amazon TV series recently getting the axe before it could even materialize.
If a real, long-form adaptation of The Dark Tower books ever happens, one wonders how they'll handle King's own involvement within the story, and whether they'll need to hire an actor to portray King at that point. Becoming a character himself was an unorthodox move, but somehow it feels fitting.
Stephen King Exists Within His Own Universe (As Himself)
Salem's Lot, after having previously met Father Callahan, a character from that book. In the sixth book, Song of Susannah, Roland meets King in person, albeit at a time when King hasn't written any Dark Tower books post-The Gunslinger. It's revealed under hypnosis that King isn't actually the creator of Roland or the other Dark Tower characters, but simply a channel for Gan that allows the author to record and chronicle Roland's quest.
The Crimson King wants Stephen King out of the picture, and had attempted to kill him as a child. When Roland hypnotizes King, it's also revealed that a deep fear of reprisal from The Crimson King has made the author afraid to continue writing The Dark Tower. Roland convinces him to do so, but The Crimson King eventually makes another attempt on King's life, in a fictionalized version of the auto accident that almost really did kill King in 1999. This assassination attempt is averted by the sacrifice of Jake Chambers dying in King's place. King's survival comes in handy in the seventh book, The Dark Tower, as a note left by King for Susannah helps her stop the Pennywise-esque Dandelo from continuing to feed off Roland and company's emotions.
