Stephen King is turning his Victorian mansion into writers' retreat

“Oh my Lord, my Lord the stories you hear about this town — the streets fairly clang with them,” Stephen King wrote in a 1983 essay explaining his choice to settle in Bangor, Maine.

King refers several times to the first draft of the book that would become the iconic horror, IT, his own love letter to the history of the small town.

The novelist’s plan to turn the spooky Victorian manor that, “disapproved of us at first,” into an appointment-only museum and writers’ retreat were approved by Bangor City Council.

When King and his wife Tabitha moved in, “the parlour seemed cold in a way that had little to do with temperature. The cat would not go into that room; the kids avoided it. My oldest son was convinced there were ghosts in the turret towers,” he wrote.

If that creepy description has piqued your interest, you may have to get in line. No more than five writers will be admitted to the Kings’ retreat at a time.

This is to respect neighbours in the residential area. A full-on public museum would undoubtedly draw crowds.

Horror fans already pilgrimage to the manor to pose in front of its eye-catching wrought-iron gates. The cut-out bats, spiders, and reptiles make them look like something straight out of a Halloween picture book.

The Kings received unanimous approval to rezone their home as a non-profit organisation.

Bangor city councillor Ben Sprague told Rolling Stone: “The King Family has been wonderful to the city of Bangor over time and have donated literally millions of dollars to various causes in the community. Preserving his legacy here in Bangor is important for this community.”

In the process of writing IT, King went to the Bangor Public Library and asked if they had a history of the town in stock. In his essay, he writes the librarian nodded and said they had twelve of them.

“I’d like the best,” King said.

“Isn’t one,” she replied.

Derry, Maine in the IT novel would be instantly recognisable to any Bangor local as their town, King wrote.

Although the addition of a murderous clown to the town’s fictional mirror might not be everyone’s idea of a compliment, King insisted that it was imagined with love.

“I hope that when local people read it, they will sense that those awful things have been informed with a larger love for the place and the people. The love of a resident.”

Accepted wordsmiths are unlikely to run into the Kings at the local supermarket. They spend most of their time at other residences in Maine and Florida.

The timeline for the conversion of the house into a museum is yet to be released, but aspiring authors should start dusting off manuscripts now.

We’re sure they’ll be a stack of applications.

This article originally appeared on stuff.co.nz