For over five decades, the “King of Horror” Stephen King has steadily dominated both the literary world and Hollywood with his spine-tingling original tales. After selling his first professional story “The Glass Floor” in 1967, the revered writer published his debut novel Carrie in 1974, and just two short years later a big screen adaptation of the horror story was released to widespread critical acclaim.
Carrie established King as a leading voice in the horror genre and both the novel and film’s success skyrocketed him to prominence, paving the way for future television and cinematic adaptations of his chilling work. From celebrated classics like The Shining, Misery, and The Shawshank Redemption to TV hits including The Stand and 11.22.63, King has proven time and time again his creations possess universal appeal.
While a vast majority of his film and TV contributions have been based on his own bestsellers, there have been projects from the legendary author not adapted from his existing work. Let’s look back at 12 Stephen King movies and shows that aren’t based on his books.
12 The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
While Brian de Palma's 1976 supernatural masterpiece Carrieis regarded as one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time, the often forgotten (for good reason) 1999 sequel The Rage: Carrie 2 wasn't able to resonate with audiences the same way its predecessor did.
In the film, Carrie White's younger half-sister Rachel Lang (Emily Bergl) struggles with her own debilitating and powerful telekinesis while coping with the shocking suicide of her best friend, prompting her to seek revenge on her behalf.
An Uninspired Cash-Grab Sequel
The Rage was heavily criticized for blatantly recycling the concept and themes of the '70s knockout, and it was originally meant to have a completely new, separate, story, but eventually was retooled to serve as a sequel instead.
Amy Irving, who appeared as Carrie's classmate Sue Snell in the '76 flick, reprised her role with the character becoming the school's guidance counselor. At the time, she sought de Palma's blessing to return for the follow-up installment, but in a recent 2024 interview Irving seems to have regretted the decision, saying, "I'm sorry I ever made that film. ... Except they paid me a sh**load of money." Stream on Max
11 The X-Files - "Chinga" (1998)
Horror master Stephen King writing an episode for the juggernaut sci-fi series The X-Files was an absolute no-brainer, as the renowned author was personally asked to pen an installment for the cultural phenomenon by the show's creators. In the exciting episode, Scully takes a much-needed vacation to Maine where she stumbles upon a strange case in which the victims have disturbing self-inflicted wounds that led to their demise, seemingly being compelled to do so by an enigmatic little girl.
Superfan King's Writing Dream Comes True
An avid and passionate viewer of The X-Files, King had approached star David Duchovny and told him how much of a fan he was and how he would love to work on an episode of the series. He then got in contact with series creator Chris Carter and together the pair penned "Chinga," with the writer working on the script from his Maine home and sending Carter drafts to revise.
King's original story became heavily edited by the creator because he claimed the author wasn't used to writing for Mulder and Scully. While the finished product was memorable, episode director Kim Manners later commented:
"I was very excited to be able to direct a Stephen King piece, and when it was all said and done, there was very little Stephen King left in it. The nuts and bolts were his, but that was really one of Chris' scripts."
Stream on Hulu
10 Creepshow (1982)
The King of Horror teamed up with cinema and zombie icon George A. Romero to create the 1982 horror comedy Creepshow, an anthology film that features five spine-tingling tales that pay homage to the popular EC comics of the 1950s.
To ensure that the chilling picture accurately captured the essence and feel of the comic books, Romero even utilized the talents of famed effects specialist Tom Savini to replicate the overall look. The undisputed '80s classic also features famous faces like Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, and Ted Danson.
King Dominates On-Screen and Off
The thrilling flick marked King's screenwriting debut and while two of the tales were based on his short stories, the author specifically wrote "Something to Tide You Over," "Father's Day," and "They're Creeping Up on You!" for the film.
King himself also starred in the segment "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill," appearing as the dim-witted titular hillbilly in the story and knocking it out of the park with his campy performance. Creepshow brilliantly blends horror and humor while delivering plenty of blood and gore, and marked the first on-screen collaboration between King and Romero. Buy/Rent on Apple TV+
9 Children of the Corn Sequels (1992 - 2018)
While the original 1984 horror film Children of the Corn was based on King's short story of the same name and centered on a group of murderous kids killing all the adults in a small town, the subsequent sequels veered away from its subject source and the author's work.
The cult classic helped spawn the chilling franchise that consisted of a whopping 8 sequels that were released between 1992 and 2018, with actors like Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts, and Eva Mendes all making appearances early in their respective careers.
A Horror Franchise is Born
The unsettling franchise's second installment, Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, took place eight years later andfollowed a journalist and his son as he bravely heads to the bloody town of Gatlin, Nebraska to investigate the horrific murders, only to be targeted by the possessed and dangerous kids himself.
Each of the ensuing sequels veered further and further away from King's original work but nonetheless remain connected to the bestselling author, and all but two of the installments were given a direct-to-video release. Stream on Max
8 Cat's Eye (1985)
Hot off the heels of his successful contributions to the revered classic Creepshow, King opted to pen another horror anthology film with Cat's Eye, this time reuniting with director Lewis Teague, who helmed the big-screen adaptation of his novel Cujo two years prior.
Hollywood royalty and acting superstar Drew Barrymore headlined the underrated picture (having previously starred in King's Firestarter), with Cat's Eye revolving around a mysterious traveling cat who is on a mission to locate a little girl in need.
Writing Return to the Silver Screen
Similarly to Creepshow's structure, Cat's Eye consists of three stories involving the mystical feline and young girl, with two of the entries being based on King's past work and the third being unique to the horror film.
King wrote "General" specifically for Cat's Eye, and the project earned the author widespread critical praise upon its release for his clever screenplay and its overall entertainment factor, with Roger Ebert declaring, "Stephen King seems to be working his way through the reference books of human phobias, and Cat's Eye is one of his most effective films." Rent/Buy on Prime Video
7 Tales From the Darkside - "Sorry, Right Number" (1987)
Sticking with the horror anthology route, King once again joined forces with George A. Romero to write an episode for his engrossing '80s television series Tales from the Darkside, doing so for the 1987 installment "Sorry, Right Number" in its fourth and final season.
The episode centers on the wife of a horror novelist who receives a distraught phone call from a mysterious person, prompting her to nervously contact all her friends and loved ones and check on them. When she finally discovers the true identity of the caller, it becomes far too late.
King & Romero Thrill Once Again
After the positive reception of the episode and teleplay, King went on to include "Sorry, Right Number" in his short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, the first and only time he has done so with his anthologies.
A short film was even inspired by the episode and was released in 2005, and the entry highlights the impressive creative relationship between King and Romero while further proving that the legendary author was the ultimate master of both terror and suspense. Currently unavailable for streaming
6 Golden Years (1991)
In the sci-fi thriller miniseries Golden Years, elderly janitor Harlan Williams (Keith Szarabajka) finds himself caught up in a violent explosion at the top-secret facility he works at and is stunned when he discovers he is aging in reverse as a result of being exposed to the unknown chemicals.
Harlan is then forced to go on the run with his equally perplexed wife when a relentless operative is brought in to cover up the accident and investigate his unexplainable condition, leading to a country-wide manhunt.
Patience is a Virtue for King
King held on to the idea and premise for Golden Years for a long time, claiming he jotted it down in his notebook years before it came to fruition on the small screen.
The author called the miniseries a "novel for television" and initially wrote the scripts with the intention and hopes that it would become a regular series, thus why Golden Years ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger; CBS ultimately passed on and did not pick up the thriller for future installments. King credited Twin Peaks with being able to create Golden Years, saying in a 1991 interview:
"Up until
Twin Peaks
came on, the only sort of continuing drama that TV understood was soap opera,
Dallas
,
Knots Landing
, that sort of thing. To some degree David Lynch gave them that. But he turned the whole idea of that continuing soap opera inside out like a sock. If you think of
Twin Peaks
as a man, it's a man in delirium, a man spouting stream-of-consciousness stuff.
Golden Years
is like
Twin Peaks
without the delirium."
Currently unavailable for streaming
5 Pet Sematary Two (1992)
Like the Stephen King classic Children of the Corn, the celebrated author's deeply unsettling supernatural horror hit Pet Sematary terrified brave moviegoers when it hit theaters in 1989, with the adaptation focusing on the Creeds as doctor and patriarch Louis (Dale Midkiff) moves his family to the remote town of Ludlow, Maine for a job opportunity.
After his son is tragically killed in a car accident, Louis discovers the cemetery behind their home possesses magical capabilities and can bring both people and animals back from the dead, with horrific results.
A Lackluster Film Follow-Up
As with many popular horror flicks, movie studios jumped at the chance to replicate the box office magic of the original and the unrelated 1992 sequel Pet Sematary Two was subsequently released three years later.
The follow-up once again takes place in Ludlow and depicts the desperate efforts of a grieving father and his son as they try to resurrect the late matriarch by using the ancient and powerful cemetery. Before the film's premiere, King had his name removed from the sequel as he did not officially collaborate on the negatively received project, despite it technically taking place in his created world. Stream on Max
4 Sleepwalkers (1992)
King continued his silver screen takeover when he wrote the story for 1992's Sleepwalkers, the talented author's first completely original feature screenplay that follows shape-shifting vampires Charles (Brian Krause) and Mary (Alice Krige) as they relocate to a small Indiana town in search of their next prey, having fled California after draining and murdering a young girl in order to feed their life force.
The pair set their sights on teenage virgin Tanya (Mädchen Amick), but find devouring the young woman tougher than they imagined.
King's Memorable Cameo
As in Creepshow, King made an appearance in Sleepwalkers as the cemetery caretaker and worked alongside fellow horror novelist Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Candyman), who portrayed the forensic tech.
King's wife Tabitha actually wrote a treatment for a potential sequel to Sleepwalkers that centered on a woman's basketball team, and potential rumors of a follow-up began to swirl in 2020 though nothing has come from it. Director Mick Garris would go on to adapt other works from King including television's Bag of Bones, The Stand, and Desperation.Rent/Buy on Prime Video
3 Storm of the Century (1999)
In the 1999 horror miniseries Storm of the Century, the residents of the fictional town of Little Tall Island, Maine prepare for a dangerous and potentially catastrophic blizzard as its devoted constable Mike Anderson (Tim Daly) rallies to keep his fellow townsfolk safe from the impending snowstorm.
When the sinister and malicious stranger Andre Linoge (Colm Feore) shows up just as the blizzard arrives, the community's dark and sordid secrets are revealed as the intruder fights to spread destruction and bloodshed amongst its people.
King's Television Triumph
The screenplay for Storm of the Century was written by King specifically for television in 1996, though he did debate whether or not it should be a miniseries or novel. Shortly before its release, a book of the screenplay became available that featured photographs from the set and an excerpt from King himself about the creation of Storm of the Century.
The program garnered positive reviews from critics and was a massive ratings success, with each of its three episodes attracting roughly 19 million viewers; King called the gripping miniseries his favorite TV production of all his works. Stream on Hulu
2 Rose Red (2002)
Set within the chilling walls of the titular antiquated Seattle mansion that is said to be haunted, the 2002 horror miniseries Rose Red chronicles the efforts of unorthodox parapsychology professor Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis) as she investigates the strange occurrences and tragic history of the sprawling estate, enlisting the help of a skilled group of psychics on her quest to better understand the mystery of the manor.
Naturally, things take a violent and deadly turn when the team inadvertently unleash a horrific supernatural force.
Homage to Haunted House Classics
King initially envisioned Rose Red as a full-length feature film, and he even pitched the spooky concept and idea to Steven Spielberg in 1996, wanting the project to be a loose remake of the Rober Wise '60s flick The Haunting.
The author drew inspiration for the script from an alleged haunted house in his hometown of Durham, Maine, though the King/Spielberg collaboration never materialized because the director wanted more action and thrills and King more horror elements. Rose Red dazzled audiences and averaged18.5 million viewers over the course of its three episodes, though its critical response was more lukewarm. Stream on Hulu
1 Kingdom Hospital (2004)
Former Brat Pack member and '80s heartthrob Andrew McCarthy starred in the horror medical mystery series Kingdom Hospital, which follows the lives of the eccentric staff of a dilapidated yet modern Maine hospital where unexplainable occurrences and ghostly apparitions plague the medical personnel and staff.
McCarthy portrays brilliant surgeon Dr. Hook, who finds himself at odds with his arrogant colleague Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davison) while assisting psychic Sally Druse in figuring out the truth about the hospital and its restless spirits.
King Takes on Another Writer's Work
King adapted and developed Kingdom Hospital from Lars von Trier's Danish program The Kingdom, firststumbling upon the source material while working on The Shining TV series when he was at a video store in 1996. The projectwas also the first time that the author adapted someone else's work rather than his own, and he described the show as "the thing I like best out of all the things I've done."
Despite earning an Emmy nomination and having the highest-rated drama debut of the year, a second season of Kingdom Hospital never came to fruition due to dwindling ratings, despite King creating a storyboard for one. Currently unavailable for streaming
Comments
Post a Comment