5 Stephen King Stories Begging for a Movie Adaptation
5 Stephen King Stories Begging for a Movie Adaptation
There sure have been a lot of Stephen King adaptations over the years. The King of Horror has seen his work adapted into movies, TV shows, comic books and everything in between, from the sublime (The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, Misery) to the ridiculous (Dreamcatcher, The Mangler, Maximum Overdrive).
At this point, after the umpteenth Children of the Corn sequel or Pet Sematary remake, it might seem like every King property has been mined down to the bedrock, but there are still a ton of great stories that have yet to make the transition into other media.
Here’s a few of them!
Revival
This 2014 novel has come close to being adapted a few times - first in 2016 by Josh Boone and then, most tantalisingly, by Mike Flanagan in 2020 - but has yet to materialise. Perhaps that’s because of the nature of the story itself.
It’s a strange, meandering tale inspired by the works of Mary Shelley, Arthur Machen and Ray Bradbury: a slice of life drama following the everyday highs and lows of Jamie Morton, from childhood to adulthood, and his occasional interactions with eccentric travelling preacher Charles Jacobs. Jacobs is captivated by a mysterious force that he calls ‘secret electricity’. And has developed a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the afterlife…
The whole thing eventually coalesces into a truly horrifying (and batshit insane) finale that would be mindblowing on a big screen. Honestly, we should all just hope and pray that Mike Flanagan picks it up again. Or, failing that, Frank Darabont would be the perfect director to bring this novel to life.
The Gingerbread Girl
This highly suspenseful novella (from the collection Just After Sunset, 2008) is reminiscent of classic, claustrophobic King thrillers like Gerald’s Game and Misery. It’s the story of a grieving woman who takes up long-distance running to help her deal with the loss of her child. When her life begins to unravel, she moves to an isolated Florida key and runs afoul of local murderous psychopath Jim Pickering.
With its lonely locations and minimal cast of characters, this would make a great, taut 90 minute thriller. It’s dark, scuzzy and, especially in its final act, when Emily’s non-stop training finally pays off, unrelentingly tense. In the hands of someone like Fede Álvarez (The Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) this could be a scary, cathartic modern horror classic.
Everything’s Eventual
In this short story (from the collection Everything’s Eventual, 2002), we meet Dinky Earnshaw, a 19-year-old high school dropout with an unusual ability that he doesn’t fully comprehend. By drawing complex symbols, Dinky can influence the minds of others, even to the point of suicide, and now a mysterious organisation has recruited him to do just that. In exchange for a house, a car and everything else he could possibly want, Dinky emails his designs to the organisation’s targets. He’s perfectly happy, until he starts to question why these particular people are being targeted.
This is a fantastically strange story, dripping with mystery and paranoia, and would make for a gripping thriller. Think something along the lines of The Craft meets Enemy of the State, with a naive magical assassin trying to escape the clutches of a powerful, unknowable organisation. It’s the kind of high-concept, supremely fucked up premise that could be gold in the hands of someone like Brandon Cronenberg.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
This 1999 novel is a slim, tense survival thriller about a 9-year-old girl lost in the vast woods off the Appalachian Trail. As Trisha’s limited food and water supplies dwindle, she listens to a baseball game on her walkman and starts to see encouraging apparitions in the trees - most notably her hero, (former) Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon. She also begins to believe that she’s being hunted by a horrifying, wasp-covered being called the God of the Lost…
This story, simple as it is, could make for a gripping, gruelling exploration of solitary human survival - something like Gravity or The Revenant, but starring a little girl. In fact, Alejandro G. Iñárritu might be a good fit here; he already has experience working with terrifying bears. Intriguingly, Lynne Ramsay was attached to an adaptation in 2020, so here’s hoping that project doesn’t get lost in the woods.
N.
N. (also from Just After Sunset, 2008) is King riffing on both the overwhelming burden of compulsive neuroses and the cosmic horror of Lovecraft and Machen - as it turns out, a weirdly perfect combination. It’s the story of a psychiatrist’s interactions with a mysterious patient known only as ‘N.’, who has an obsession with numbers and a compulsion to count things. It all leads back to a strange stone circle in Maine (of course) that may or may not be a doorway to another reality.
Conclusion
It’s a fascinating exploration of how easily madness and delusion can spread, and its nested narratives and unreliable narrators create a tangible sense of unease. Perfect material for a psychological horror movie! N. has flirted with adaptation before - first in a multi-part graphic video series and then in a comic book - but it has never been properly translated to the screen. Imagine what Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless, Something in the Dirt) could do with it.
This is just a taste of the untapped potential in the King’s back catalogue; there are enough stories in there to keep Hollywood going for decades, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The man seemingly can’t help but come up with great ideas.
But what do you think? Would you watch any of these stories if they were turned into movies? And who would you like to see make them? Let us know in the comments below. And for more Stephen King, check out our collaborative article “Ask The Writers: What is the best version of The Shining”.