A few years before Stephen King published his first book, "Carrie," in 1974, he was struck by an idea for a historical novel. After calling this project "Split Track" in his head, King began working on it but soon realized that preliminary research required more time and dedication than he could spare at that moment. Although he abandoned the idea in favor of ideas that were easier to actualize, King would eventually return to this historical premise and tell a time-travel story that loops back to a particular date. This was his 2011 novel "11/22/63," wherein high school English teacher Jake Epping gets the opportunity to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on November 22, 1963. As with every time travel tale with consequences, the aftereffects of messing with history are not pretty.

Even a cursory glance at "11/22/63" makes King's initial anxieties about time period-focused research apparent, as his exploration...