After having one of the most successful years of his career, Stephen King has had a bit of a rough start to 2018 when some of the author's original manuscripts for stories like Dolan's Cadillac, Maximum Overdrive, and The Eyes of the Dragon destroyed due to flooding. King fan and collector Gerald Winter spent decades traveling all over the world to collect rare books, often first editions and even some of the official manuscripts, which was the case for his Stephen King collection. Winters' bookstore in Bangor, Maine flooded and he lost nearly 2,000 rare and one-of-a-kind documents.

Stephen King revealed that he was "horrified" to learn about the flooding and Gerald Winter's loss of property. The author said that he was going to reach out to Winter to see if he needed any assistance, according to Bangor Daily News. Winters moved the store to Bangor to be in the same town as Stephen King in 2016. King had this to say about Winter's loss.

"I'm horrified. As a book lover, my heart goes out to him. I will eventually reach out and see if I can help in any way."

Gerald Winters' bookstore, which specializes in rare and limited-edition copies of books, including Stephen King's books, was among a handful of businesses damaged by flooding from the broken pipe in front of the storefronts. Winters estimates he lost about 2,000 books, and as many as seven of King's original typed manuscripts, including, Dolan's Cadillac, Maximum Overdrive, and The Eyes of the Dragon. Dozens of first- and limited-edition King books, galleys, signed copies, and prints in different languages are among the items believed to be damaged.

Gerald Winter has spent decades collecting rare Stephen King artifacts and as previously noted, he moved the store to Bangor to be in King's hometown. In addition to the manuscripts, European and Japanese editions were destroyed along with hand-written letters from the author and his old fan letter, which dates back to the 1980s. Gerald Winter also deals with other franchises including J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. Winter said that he normally keeps his stuff on the upper level, but he moved much of it down to the basement while he was in the middle of reorganization.

After Stephen King's epic year of some of his most beloved stories hitting the big and small screen, the author is in a pretty good place to help out Gerald Winter. In addition, IT Chapter 2 and a Pet Sematary remake are both scheduled for a 2019 release on the big screen, which will undoubtedly bring in another successful year for the iconic author. It is unclear at this time if King has reached out at this time, but he more than likely reach out when the time is right. You can read more about the story courtesy of Bangor Daily News.