The feud is over! Master of horror Stephen King has extended an olive branch to the residents of one Upstate New York town that he poked fun at on Twitter last week. Of course, since this is Stephen King we’re talking about, his apology isn’t all nice – but it is hilarious.

It all started on Friday during the chaos around US Speaker of the House elections. Never shy about his political views, King took to social media to express his unique amusement at the situation.

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Spending most of his life just a few hours away from Upstate NY in Maine, King actually does have a few interesting ties to Utica. His daughter Naomi lived in the city in the early 2000s.

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The main character in King’s book The Tommyknockers was from Utica. In a 2016 book talk with fellow best-selling author John Grisham, King said his go-to response to the ever-obnoxious ‘where do you get your ideas?’ question is, “The used ideas store in Utica.”

After his Friday tweet, Stephen King was the talk of Upstate and had his comments full of plenty of angry (and a few agreeing) Uticans. Maybe it was the talk of Chicken Riggies, the City of Utica Twitter account calling the joke “mid,” or he just got sick of all the notifications, but on Tuesday night he tweeted his response.


Definitely Cleveland.

Oops. Here we go again.


Stephen King Disses Upstate New York On Twitter; Is He Right?

Stephen King isn’t just a master of horror; he’s a master of Twitter. He’s never shied away from tweeting his unfiltered beliefs on any subject from books and pop culture to politics. Now after feuding with everyone from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, US Senator Ted Cruz, to even Twitter owner Elon Musk, King has a new target: Upstate New York.

Stephen has spent most of his life only a few hours away from Upstate. He was born in Portland, Maine, attended the University of Maine, and fittingly lived in a very spooky mansion in Bangor, Maine with his wife until 2019. That’s why so many of his stories take place in the Pine Tree State.

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King’s targeting of Upstate NY came in the form of a snarky joke about the chaotic US Speaker of the House election. While Rep. Kevin McCarthy battled to get enough votes for the seat, King wondered why anyone would want the job in a particularly snarky way.

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The joke’s admittedly a little hacky, but hey, it’s Twitter. Except the residents of Utica definitely didn’t let the tweet slide. The comments turned into a full-blown “why us?” debate.

The city's official Twitter fired back with a very Gen Z response.


Some Upstate politicians tried to extend an olive branch.  

Others did not.


Some defended Utica’s culinary charms.

Some were eager to get rid of King altogether.

And some just took it in stride.

In his typical fashion, King didn't offer a defense or retraction of his comment. Just another shining example of how Upstate New York doesn't get any respect.

Actress from 'The Shining' in New Horror Flick Shot in Upstate NY!

Shelley Duvall, the female lead in the classic 1980 horror film The Shining, is back in another scary flick; a psychological horror movie called 'The Forest Hills'. Shot in the Catskills, it's getting great reviews and looks pretty legit. Here's a little more information about the the movie and Duvall's first role in over 20 years.

Ranking The Top 15 Movies Filmed in Upstate New York

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