The Body

The No. 1 bestselling author Stephen King’s timeless coming-of-age novella, The Body – set in Castle Rock and originally published in his 1982 short story collection Different Seasons, and adapted into the film classic Stand by Me – now released as a standalone publication.

We’d all listened to the Ray Brower story . . . he was a kid our age

The small town of Castle Rock is tuning in to the news of a young boy who has gone missing from a nearby town.

Gordie Lachance and his three friends set off along the railway tracks on a quest, determined to become famous by officially finding the boy’s body.

But their journey becomes a rite of passage, and as they cross the railway trestle and the tracks begin to hum, the boys encounter an intimation of their own mortality.

Adapted into the 1986 classic film Stand By Me, The Body is an iconic exploration of friendship, loneliness and adventure, an unforgettable coming-of-age story by master chronicler of small-town adolescence and universal experience, Stephen King.

Author Biography

STEPHEN KING is the author of more than seventy books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His crime thrillers featuring Holly Gibney include Mr Mercedes, winner of the Edgar Award for best novel, and The Outsider, both of which were adapted into successful TV series, as well as Finders Keepers, End of Watch and the title story from If It Bleeds.

Many of his titles are the basis for major motion pictures including IT, Stand By Me (adapted from The Body) and The Shawshank Redemption, which is IMDb’s top-rated movie of all time.

King is the recipient of The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence 2022, the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.