Most everyone in the civilized world has heard of best-selling author Stephen King, the Master of the Macabre, famous for such novels as Pet Sematary, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, and, more recently, The Colorado Kid, Cell, Lisey’s Story, and Duma Key. And many people know that Carrie, released in 1974, was King’s first published novel. The story about his wife, novelist Tabitha King, rescuing the original manuscript from the trash has reached legendary status. What most people don’t know is when and where King’s first short story was published.

To uncover (so to speak) the origins of King’s first appearance in print (outside of school newspapers), we must hop aboard our WABAC Machine to the year 1965, when I Was a Teenage Grave Robber by one Steve King was serialized in Comics Review, a short-lived fanzine edited and published by Michael Garrett.

For those unfamiliar with the term, the word "fanzine" is short for fan-made magazine. Most fanzines of the 1960s were reproduced via such crude contraptions as the hectograph (a gelatin duplicator) or the Ditto machine (a spirit duplicator), the latter of which was commonly used by churches, schools, and other organizations to make copies (this was before the proliferation of the photocopier). Anyone over 40 will remember the wet, smelly, purple-printed pages associated with Ditto machines.

Comics Review, which was reproduced on a hectograph, was canceled after just three installments, but a supplement was issued to complete the story. King fans lucky enough to find any issues of Comics Review for sale should expect to pay at least $3,000 apiece.

In On Writing, Stephen King’s masterful treatise on his chosen profession, King claims that Garrett changed the name of his freshman tale to In a Half-World of Terror. However, King’s memory is faulty in this regard. It was actually a young Marvin Wolfman, who would go on to write such popular comic book series as Marvel’s The Tomb of Dracula and DC’s The New Teen Titans, who altered the name.

After reading I Was a Teenage Grave Robber in Comics Review, Jeff Gelb, a dear friend of Garrett, sent the story to Wolfman, who at that time was an amateur writer/artist and the publisher of four different fanzines: The Foob, Super Adventures, What Th-?, and Stories of Suspense, the latter containing both comics and prose horror stories. After examining King’s story, Wolfman polished it up a bit, changed the title to In a Half-World of Terror (from a line in the story), and published it in Stories of Suspense #2.

In Don Herron’s Reign of Fear: The Fiction and Films of Stephen King (Underwood-Miller, 1988), Wolfman said that the original title for King’s freshman fable "immediately turned me off." Discussing the writing itself, Wolfman said that he "enjoyed the story somewhat," despite it being "a little predictable in places," and that "it was just an okay first effort." To verify that it was Wolfman and not Garrett who changed the title, I got in touch with Garrett, who said, "It was published as I Was a Teenage Grave Robber in Comics Review. I made no changes to it at all."

Approximately 150 copies of Stories of Suspense #2 were produced, making it one of the rarer King collectibles. If you can find a copy for sale in good, readable condition, it will run you several hundred dollars. In 2008, a near mint copy sold on eBay for more than $2,000. Because of the primitive printing methods and the lack of any real binding (most older fanzines consist of pieces of ordinary paper stapled together), vintage fanzines are tough to find in nice shape.

In the fall of 1967, King graduated from the ranks of amateur to professional with his first sale, a short story called The Glass Floor, which appeared in Startling Mystery Stories #6 (a pulp fiction magazine published by Health Knowledge). Featuring cover art by modern master Virgil Finlay, the issue also included a poem called A Vision by Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard. A near mint copy of Startling Mystery Stories #6 will fetch the seller at least $400.

While King’s early short stories do indeed command a premium, most King collectors, including Tomas Krynsky, focus on his first edition and limited edition hardcover novels.

"I’ve always been big on reading," Krynsky said. "I discovered Stephen King in junior high school. The stories were thrilling, and the language was at times crude and gruesome – what more could a teen ask for? As I grew older I found that the stories continued to hold my attention and figured if I was buying the books anyway, I might as well look for first editions because they would hold their value over time and maybe even be worth more at some point."

Krynsky continued: "Later, after college, I decided to expand my collection to some of the rarer first editions that I couldn’t afford as a kid. To my surprise, I found out that there were books even rarer than the first editions – books that were individually numbered and signed by Stephen King. Those really fueled my interest, and I was on a path to become a ’serious’ collector."

Krynsky owns stephenkingcollector.com, which he claims is "the only site on the web to focus exclusively on rare Stephen King books." There you can view photos, learn how to identify first editions, and find out how much King books are worth and where to buy or sell them. There’s also a lively fan forum where you can "post questions and get answers to all your King-related questions."

When asked what he thought was the Holy Grail of King collectibles, Krynsky referenced the "lettered" version of Firestarter, which is often called the "asbestos" edition. "There were only 26 copies made," Krynsky said. "The book is bound in aluminum-covered cloth and is individually lettered and signed by Stephen King. The value of this book has slid a bit since the recession, but when you do come across a copy the asking price is typically between $12,000 and $14,000."

Krynsky’s favorite non-book King item is a set of nesting dolls that were handmade in Poland. "Each doll is a different version of King," Krynsky said. "The largest one has him wearing a tux, another holding a book, another with a guitar, etcetera. It’s not especially valuable, probably $50 or so, but it’s really neat."

Discussing his favorite King novel, Krynsky extolled the virtues of The Stand, which debuted in 1978 and was re-released in 1990 complete and uncut. "The plot is excellent," Krynsky said. "It’s a huge volume, which means that King was really able to flesh out a lot of the characters. He really finds a way to latch on to your imagination and lose you in the story."

Like Krynsky, hardcore King collector David Williams holds The Stand in particularly high regard. "I became a King fan in the mid-to-late 1980s," Williams said. "The first King book I ever read was The Stand, and I was instantly entranced and captured by his writing style and character development. It’s such a brilliantly written story with such vivid characters and a riveting storyline that it is a favorite of mine and many, many King fans."

Further explaining his devotion to King’s literary works, Williams said, "I am quite partial to King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, which is a tale written over seven volumes and a story it took King over 25 years to complete. With The Dark Tower books, which I have read at least seven times, I fall immediately into the story and feel that I am as much a character in the story as the ones that actually exist there. I like to believe that I own one of the most extensive Dark Tower collections in the world."