The Coral Island by modern scholars and generally considered to be dated in many aspects, in 2006 it was voted one of the top twenty Scottish novels at the 15th International World Wide Web Conference. Robert Louis Stevenson's 1882 novel "Treasure Island" was in part inspired by "The Coral Island", which he admired for its "better qualities", as was J. M. Barrie's character Peter Pan; both Stevenson and Barrie had been "fervent boy readers" of the novel. Novelist G. A. Henty was also influenced by Ballantyne's audience-friendly method of didactism. William Golding's 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies" was written as a counterpoint
Lord of the Flies and Jack Caine as "Simon". Many writers have borrowed plot elements from "Lord of the Flies". By the early 1960s, it was required reading in many schools and colleges. Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock, inspired by the fictional mountain fort of the same name in "Lord of the Flies", in turn inspired the name of Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced the film "Lord of the Flies" (1990). Stephen King got the name Castle Rock from the fictional mountain fort of the same name in "Lord of the Flies" and used the name to refer