The Long Walkis just the latest example ofStephen King’slasting legacy as a writer, highlighting the brutal humanity that has always made his stories (and subsequent adaptations of them) rank among the best horror creations of all time. Debuting in 1975 withCarrie(which was quickly adapted into a film), King has maintained a steady stream of horror hits ever since, inspiring dark landscapes and iconic monsters for generations of filmmakers to experiment with.
Some of the most engaging have been in the realm of television, with miniseries adaptations ofItandThe Standor underrated classics likeCastle Rockbring King’s terrifying tenor to the small screen. The best examples of Stephen King’s works outside their original literary forms are in the movies. To celebrate Stephen King’s August 19 birthday, here are19 Stephen King adaptationsthat best highlight the horror and humanity brought to his works, and how decades of filmmakers have translated those creepy vibes for the big screen.
19Carrie (1976)
Directed by Brian De Palma and with a memorably heartbreaking lead performance by Sissy Spacek,Carriewas a statement of intent by one of horror’s most influential voices. King’s original novel served as the inspiration for a film that accurately reflected the emotional core of the story, while leaving room for creative flourishes like an updated ending.
What makes the entire concept ofCarrieso scary is the way it’s painfully grounded. There’s no overt curse or supernatural evil at play, it’s merely a young woman whose mother and bullies turn a potentially miraculous power into a deadly curse.Humanity is the root cause of the problems inCarrie, signifying a key theme of Stephen King’s entire canon.
18The Shining (1980)
While Stephen King was famously frustrated by Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation ofThe Shining, the film remains an undeniable piece of the pop culture horror lexicon. A fascinating and deeply unsettling film, long before the ghosts and gore start to fill the halls,The Shiningembraces a different pathwhen it comes to the fate and morality of Jack Torrence.
That flawed humanity that festers into something gruesome (as seen especially in works likeThe Long Walk) is at the core ofThe Shining,which remains so effective because of just how ambiguous it feels throughout. While King purists might still be mad about the lack of walking topiary,The Shiningwas early proof that tweaking King’s stories didn’t remove their horrifying core.
17Creepshow (1982)
Stephen King is nothing if not a fan of pop culture himself, making his reimagining of classic horror anthologies inCreepshowespecially commendable. Directed by George A. Romero with a script by King (his first swing at being a screenwriter),Creepshowfeatures several darkly comedic vignettes of extreme horror and gorethat have great fun with broad caricatures of human flaws.
In many ways a cinematic version of his short story collections,Creepshowis a great showcase for the twisted tenor that King can bring to his stories. While stories likeCarrieandThe Shiningare grim in their portrayal of humanity’s flaws,Creepshowembraces the darkness for a big of grim gallows humor.
16Children of the Corn (1984)
Children of the Cornshouldn’t work as well as it does, but the mix of Stephen King’s demented creations and Fritz Kiersch’s horror touches keeps the film about murderous children in the ruins of a small town horrifyingly real. While the original draft was written by King himself,behind-the-scenes drama couldn’t blunt the effectiveness of King’s idea.
Based on one of King’s short stories,Children of the Corn’s opening act is one of the most unsettling beginnings to any horror movie, a slow-burning build from innocent Americana into a stealthy poisoning and brutal murders. While the rest of the film can’t quite match that opening sequence, it speaks to the core creepy ideas that make King stories and adaptations so compelling.
15Stand By Me (1986)
Directed by Rob Reiner during his historic run of cinematic hits,Stand By Medoesn’t feature any of the overt supernatural threats that pervade many of Stephen King’s stories. Instead, the realhorror ofStand By Mecan be found in the morbid curiosity of childrenor the vicious impulses of teenagers. It’s humanity at its most realistic.
LikeThe Long WalkorThe Shawshank Redemption, pure humanity is a big part of what makesthe understated horror inStand By Meso effective. The little realistic touches and grounded characters make those frightening brushes with death all the more real. Even in a life-affirming story about nostalgia and friendship, the horrors of humanity are just waiting out of sight.
14Pet Sematary (1989)
Written and directed by Stephen King,Pet Sematary’s deeply personal origins as a story imagining King’s potential reaction to his own son’s hypothetical death gives the film a truly creepy edge. There are the natural scares that come with the twisted actions of a resurrected child,which King films with a gory sense of almost campy (and effective) glee.
What makesPet Sematarya compelling story isthe emotional arc of the grieving parents, especially Louis Creed. Driven to desperation in his depression following the death of his son,Pet Semataryis scariest when it’s rooted in the weaknesses of human compassion (an element the pretty good 2019 adaptation ofPet Semataryleaned heavily into).
13Misery (1990)
Proof that Stephen King’s brand of horror thrillers can earn Oscar gold when given the right outlet,Rob Reiner’sMiseryis a masterclass in understated horror. Bolstered by a one-of-a-kind performance by Kathy Bates as an obsessive fan who has “saved” her favorite author,Misteryis one of King’s harshest stories brought to brutal reality.
Like the best of Stephen King’s stories, the flawed humanity is the truest monster at play.Miseryhighlights how King’s mastery of character could be translated by great filmmakers, actors, and creatives behind the scenes, translatinga fully fleshed-out monster in a way that never makes her feel inhuman.
12The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
One of the most emotional stories Stephen King has ever written,The Shawshank Redemptionhighlights King’s talent at writing a very different type of horror. As far removed from shapeshifting clowns as possible, the painfully grounded world of Frank Darabont’sThe Shawshank Redemptionexplores the existential horror of losing hope.
The Shawshank Redemption’s most potent storybeat centers on elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen. The film’s eventual focus on Brooks being released from prison and discovering a world that has moved past himis haunting in a way few stories can match, a painful snapshot of a broken humanity that lingers far longer than a slasher kill.
111408 (2007)
An expansion of Stephen King’s short story of the same name,1408feels like a unique refinement of many of King’s recurring focal points as a writer. While the main draw of the film is watching John Cusack’s ghost skeptic attempt to figure his way out of a cursed room, the real draw is the unraveling grief and pain that spills out of him in the process.
Still struggling with the death of his young daughter, Mike Enslin spends1408denying the existence of the supernatural and his own grief in equal measures. He only stands a chance of escaping it by confronting it head-on, an admirably human response leading to a memorably chaotic conclusion to one of the more self-contained supernatural stories based on King’s works.
10The Mist (2007)
Another collaboration between Frank Darabont and Stephen King’s works,The Miststands out as one of the movies that best adapts King’s workwhile still changing it to fit a bleaker tone. The grim movie may have plenty of scary monsters slithering around just off-screen, but the religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody stands out as one of King’s most instantly detestable creations.
Marcia Gay Harden is delivering a pitch-perfect performance as a human you love to hate, grounding the film even as it becomes more supernatural. It all builds toThe Mist’s tweaked endingthat takes the story to an even darker place.The Mistproves how well the cinematic mediumcan refine and expand King’s horrifying creations.
