Stephen King is the undisputed king of horror ... but his fictional storylines turned into a real-life nightmare at his home in Maine, with the author as the central character.
The fabled novelist of classics like "Pet Sematary" and "The Shining" got an uninvited visitor to his Bangor, Maine home Thursday, when a deer impaled itself on his spiked fence in front of his gothic mansion.
TMZ obtained a photo of the white-tailed fawn draped over the sharp spikes in the center of the wrought iron fence. The spikes drove into the midsection of the helpless animal whose legs were half inside and half outside King's property.
A rep for the Bangor PD tells us ... the one-year-old buck apparently tried to jump over the fence, but it was too high. The deer then attempted to maneuver through the middle portion of the metal barrier, but, unfortunately, the poor thing got skewered.
Unclear if King was home at the time ... but we know he didn't call cops. A woman driving by spotted the injured deer and dialed 911.
Police responded and put the deer out of its misery, shooting it. Per state law, officers are authorized to kill any wild animal they deem to be in distress.
It appears the house is a vacation home for Stephen and his wife. It gets its share of tourists who come by to gawk at the mansion.
We reached out to King's rep for comment ... so far no word back.
One thing's for sure ... King has the beginning chapter of his next horror book.