Mike Flanagan’s latest project with Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher, is now available to binge-watch for the fall season. The limited series is an adaptation of various short stories and poems from the father of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. As fans of the writer-director know, this has been a common thread in his work. Flanagan loves to rework classic horror stories for modern times.
Perhaps Flanagan's most famous adaptation is of Doctor Sleep, Stephen King's long-awaited sequel to The Shining. Flanagan’s most successful miniseries The Haunting of Hill House was based on the novel by Shirley Jackson of the same name. Since then, he has taken another incredibly haunting novella from the 19th century, The Turn of the Screw, and turned it into The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Flanagan had a lot of success with his recent Poe adaptation, and one of his next projects will hopefully be the modern classic series The Dark Tower by Stephen King. With the immense success it has already brought to Flanagan's career, here are ten authors he should consider adapting next.
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley changed literature at the young age of nineteen when, in a writing competition with some friends on a rainy day, she started to write Frankenstein. Shelley was a pioneer of the horror and science fiction genre, blending them spectacularly to create a unique and magnificent story that is still immensely popular today.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Mary Shelley
Guillermo Del Toro is already working on his version of the tale, so it’s not likely we would get another one by Flanagan any time soon. Nevertheless, it would be fascinating to see the writer-director dive into the science fiction genre as well as use his vast knowledge of horror in this extremely emotional tale.
Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole is the oldest author on this list, as a famous novelist in the 18th century. Walpole is considered the author who created Flanagan’s most adapted horror subgenre: gothic. The Castle of Otranto tells the story of a king who is worried about an ancient prophecy which states that his castle will not be inherited by his descendants.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Horace Walpole
The Castle of Otranto has a lot of themes in common with The Fall of the House of Usher. It would also be an excellent homage to the gothic literature the director embodies so well.
Ann Radcliffe
Ann Radcliffe was one of the pioneers of the horror genre with her haunting gothic romance novel The Mysteries of Udolpho. Dark castles are the background of the story, which is about a journey the main character Emily St. Aubert takes trying to escape abuse.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Ann Radcliffe
Radcliffe weaves a thrilling story with a surprisingly happy ending, playing on the themes of mystery and romance, which is something Flanagan has also done well before. He could adapt the timeless themes with the classic background he is known for and good at by now, making an excellent retelling of a story that isn't as popular as it should be.
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen became a well known author for his supernatural, mystical, and horror stories. He wrote a novella called The Great God Pan, which writer Stephen King stated is possibly the best horror story in the English language. The horror master H.P. Lovecraft also praised Machen, saying that his collection of work "stands alone in its class, and marks a distinct epoch in the history of this literary form."
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Arthur Machen
Machen mixed great descriptions of nature and the countryside with undeniable horror, which is vastly different from Flanagan's creations. But also an opportunity for Flanagan to be creative, and he's likely to want to expand his style and challenge himself in the future of his career.
H.P. Lovecraft
H.P. Lovecraft is almost synonymous with supernatural tales of horror. He has created some of the most terrifying monsters in horror literature, including the well-known cosmic entity Cthulhu, which in many ways surpasses Lovecraft in terms of fame and cultural effect. Lovecraft also has many unknown works that could be adapted to the screen.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt H.P. Lovecraft
The themes of going insane and the slow burn of terror would work perfectly with Flanagan’s style. It also could be quite different from his other works, as he only worked with a monster on one of his shows: Midnight Mass. What would be his interpretation of the Old Ones? How would his creativity translate Lovecraft's singular style? Visually, it could be stunning as well as possibly maddening.
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury was a titan of science fiction. He has a vast collection of famous novels, many of which have been adapted into movies. Even though Bradbury is best known for his sci-fi stories, often with a humanizing or emotional thread in them, he does have some works that could be adapted into horror.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Ray Bradbury
There is one story which had an adaptation in the eighties which would be perfect for Flanagan: Something Wicked This Way Comes. The dark fantasy novel is set on Halloween night, when two brothers go to visit a traveling carnival. Flanagan has done various types of scenarios in his stories, with a preference for the big, old, haunted houses, but he has yet to create a circus of his own.
Clive Barker
Clive Barker has terrified readers for years with his mind-bending creations, like the infamous character Pinhead. He has a substantial amount of published works that have cemented his name on the genre.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Clive Barker
His novels and short stories could be collected and used together in an adaptation similar to The Fall of the House of Usher. While Flanagan is not known for doing body horror, Barker's specialty, there have been elements of it in some of his works, including in his adaptation of King's Doctor Sleep.
H.G. Wells
H.G. Wells is one of the most celebrated fiction authors from the 19th century and his stories still engage modern audiences. One of the legends around Wells is when, in 1938, a radio broadcasted a “news report” and read from the book The War of the Worlds. There was mass hysteria as many people thought there was an actual alien invasion taking place.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt H.G. Wells
The director has yet to take the leap to aliens — but the sense of dread in H.G. Wells’ stories is right up Flanagan’s alley, and the author has many books to take inspiration from. Even if some of Wells' stories are not necessarily horror, they could be adapted that way, or used as inspiration for other films or shows. He could certainly provide a twist on the most horror-adjacent works, though: The Invisible Man and The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was the author of the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, about of a woman who believes, after being treated for hysteria, that there is a woman inside in her wallpaper. Based on something that actually happened to the author, the short story is haunting and has a deeper exposition of what many women had to go through.
Why Mike Flanagan Should Adapt Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Flanagan would have a blast expanding this world, especially the character's emotional struggles as well as the supernatural elements — and the setting of the old house is obviously a perfect fit for the director.
Ira Levin
Iran Levin’s iconic Rosemary’s Baby was a landmark in the horror genre, especially in the seventies. Levin has other horror thriller novels that could also be adapted. The author focused on the psychological behavior and downfall of his characters, especially women. So much so that after his novel The Stepford Wives, which was adapted a few times,the term entered common use when talking about the stereotypical role of the submissive housewife.
Why Flanagan Should Adapt The Stepford Wives
Flanagan also focuses on the aspect of an inevitable downfall of characters, and he is excellent at bringing women to life on screen. Rosemary's Baby or other works of Levin's would be a perfect fit if Flanagan ever decided to go in that direction.
Comments
Post a Comment