9 Amazing Inspirations Behind Your Favourite Stephen King Books

6. The Stand Was Inspired By The Lord Of The Rings And Chemical Warfare

This post-apocalyptic wasteland story tells of a group of people attempting to navigate the world after it's been ravaged by biologically weaponized influenza. It was inspired by a 60 Minutes segment (60 Minutes is a CBS news broadcast that investigates a particular subject within sixty minutes) on chemical-biological warfare. King cites the horrifying image of test mice suffering the effects of chemical weaponry as fuelling the story, as well as a chemical spill in Utah, which travelled through the air and killed a flock of sheep. In a more general sense, The Stand was inspired by The Lord Of The Rings. For a long time, King had wanted to write a fantasy epic akin to Tolkien's masterpiece. He even cites The Stand's depiction of Las Vegas as his own version of Mordor.