The 10 best Stephen King adaptations

Stephen King, the King of Horror, burst onto the scene in 1974 with his debut novel Carrie, and quickly became one of the most celebrated and most prolific horror writers. His success with Carrie was soon followed by a string of hits, including Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and many more.

It also didn’t take long for Hollywood to come calling. In 1976, Brian De Palma’s big screen adaptation of Carrie became a smash hit, even getting acting nominations for star Sissy Spacek and supporting actress Piper Laurie. From there, all bets were off, and King became one of the most frequently adapted writers on the planet. There have been dozens of films and TV series based on King stories, ranging from his best-known horror titles, to his more obscure, non-horror short stories and novellas.

At the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, an adaptation of one such non-horror story, The Life of Chuck, surprised awards season pundits by winning the coveted People’s Choice Award. Directed by The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan, the moving and life-affirming The Life of Chuck is expected to be released in 2025.

While you’re waiting, though, here is our list of the best Stephen King adaptations.

10 Doctor Sleep (2019)

Return to the Overlook Hotel

Mike Flanagan, who also adapted King’s Gerald’s Game and the upcoming The Life of Chuck, got extra ambitious with 2019’s Doctor Sleep, based on the long-awaited sequel to The Shining. King wrote the novel, in part, as a way to reestablish his control over The Shining, which has long been associated with Stanley Kubrick’s famous 1980 adaptation. Falanagan’s movie makes the fascinating choice to split the difference, acting as a sequel to both the novel and the film simultaneously, reckoning with their differences, and forging its own path.

9 The Dead Zone (1983)

A thriller from two of the greatest minds in horror

Stephen King is, of course, one of the greatest writers of horror. In the film world, the same can be said of director David Cronenberg, who practically invented the body horror sub-genre with films like Rabid, Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly. In 1983, he took on the assignment of bringing King’s The Dead Zone to life on the big screen. More thriller than horror, in truth, the film stars Christopher Walken as a man who wakes up from a long come only to discover he has psychic powers. Told in episodic fashion, the film is more memorable for its politically charged section centered on an authoritarian candidate for the US senate, played by Martin Sheen. It’s a plot line with plenty of current day resonance, making this more than 40-year-old movie as relevant as ever.

8 The Mist (2007)

A classic creature feature with a shocker of an ending

After helming adaptations of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, two decidedly non-horror King stories, director Frank Darabont turned his attention to the scary stuff with The Mist. Very much in the style of ’50s sci-fi horror, The Mist is about a group of townsfolk trapped in a supermarket when a mysterious mist overtakes their town. Inside the mist are gross creatures waiting to kill people who walk outside. Of course, while the monsters may be outside, tensions among the group in the store rise and things begin to unravel.

The Mist is a great, fun creature feature in the classic mode, and that would have been more than enough to make it one of the better King adaptations. What puts it into the top tier, though, is its shocking ending. No spoilers here, but suffice it to say, it’ll leave you with your jaw on the floor. Also, in keeping with the film’s ’50s style, Darabont released a black-and-white version of the movie that is actually the best way to watch it.

7 It Chapter One (2017)

One half of a classic chiller

Though it had previously been adapted into a successful miniseries, King fans had been waiting decades to see an adaptation of his massive tome, It, come to the big screen. That finally happened in 2017, with director Andy Muschietti’s two-part take on the material. Though it’s widely accepted that Chapter Two didn’t live up to the promise of the first film, It Chapter One was a big hit and won plenty of praise for its terrifying approach to the story of the evil Pennywise, the clown played by Bill Skarsgård.

6 Misery (1990)

There are bad fans, and then there are really bad fans

Kathy Bates won the Oscar for Best Actress for her incredible performance as Annie Wilkes, the incredibly obsessed fan of romance novelist Paul Sheldon, played by James Caan. The movie could have take the easy route, making Wilkes into a misogynistic caricature, but Bates’s performance brings so much life and subtlety to what is also a very extreme character. And extreme really is right, considering where the film goes in its most iconic scene. It’s a movie that’s lost none of its intense power over the years, and stands out as one of the best thrillers of the ’90s.

5 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Introducing: the internet’s favorite movie

For many years now, Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption has held its place in the top slot on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies list, beating such iconic and beloved films as The Godfather and 12 Angry Men. That distinction, as the internet’s favorite movie, is befitting a film that did only so-so business at the box office, but became a classic on home video and cable.

Based on King’s novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, who is wrongly conficted of killing his wife and her lover, and sent to prison. There, he learns how to adjust to life locked up, befriending fellow prisoner Ellis “Red” Redding, played by Morgan Freeman, and planning one of the most incredible movie prison escapes ever. It’s a film of many, many beautiful and memorable scenes, moments that will make you cry, and an ending for the ages. No wonder it’s considered such a classic.

4 Christine (1983)

You do not want to mess with this car

Some Stephen King adaptations have taken years to be properly appreciated, and Christine is one of those. In fact, it’s probably still underrated by most. Directed by the masterful John Carpenter, the film is about a boy and his car. The only problem is that the 1958 Plymouth Fury has also become sentient and is killing people in town. A silly premise, perhaps, but Carpenter brings it to life in fun, scary, glorious fashion. It also happens to be one of the very best looking King adaptations thanks to Carpenter’s wide-angle, widescreen style.

3 Carrie (1976)

The granddaddy of Stephen King movies

It all started here. Not only was Carrie the novel that made King, it was also the first screen adaptation of his work, and by the great director Brian De Palma no less. De Palma brings all the force of his inventive style to bear on the story of a teenager sheltered from the world by her ultra-religious mother, and tormented at school by a bullying cohort of girls.

The film ended up being a smash hit, in large part thanks to the iconic scene of Carrie, played by a young Sissy Spacek, being drenched in pig’s blood at the prom, and then using her telekenetic powers to massacre the gym full of classmates. Spacek was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance, and Piper Laurie, playing her mother, also earned a nod for Best Supporting Actress. Plus, the movie features an early performance by John Travolta.

2 Stand By Me (1986)

One of the greatest coming-of-age stories ever told

People are often surprised to learn that Stand by Me is a Stephen King adaptation. Even with the plot centering around kids in a small town on a journey to see a dead body, the film’s tenderness, sense of aching nostalgia, and its great sense of humor don’t exactly scream, “King.” The extraordinary film, from director Rob Reiner and based on the novella The Body, has become a family favorite over the decades, with generations of parents sharing it with their kids.

What makes Stand by Me work so well is its warm, but frank depiction of the struggles of childhood. The fun of being with friends, but also the darker side of things, including dealing with loss, the weight of parental expectations, fears about growing up, and more. It’s anchored by several wonderful child acting performances, the most notable of which is a young River Phoenix, whose own untimely passing makes the film’s ending that much more heartrending and beautiful.

1 The Shining (1980)

It’s truly the king of King adaptations, just don’t ask Stephen King

When talking about the best Stephen King adaptations, there’s really no choice for the top spot other than Stanley Kubrick’s film, The Shining. The iconic adaptation, derided by many on release and earning several Razzies, has nonetheless lodged itself into the popular consciousness thanks to its incredible, memorable, horrific imagery as well as towering performances by Jack Nicholson and the late, great Shelley Duvall.

King himself, though, was not a fan of the film, feeling that Kubrick had altered the story from the book too much, sapping it of its meaning and personal resonance. King’s book is very much an autobiographical allegory about his own experience of alcoholism. While the author has praised some of the craft in Kubrick’s The Shining, he did not like the way the film recentered its narrative around a father simply losing his mind, and he has criticized it for not being scary enough. King even went so far as to produce his own adaptation of the novel for TV. Despite that, it’s Kubrick’s film that has stood the test of time, not only as the best King adaptation, but one of the very best films of all time.