Wait, THAT Was a Stephen King Adaptation???
- Sep 18
- 7 min read
Stephen King is one of the most beloved American authors of all time. I mean, the guy is the King of Horror. His name is so ubiquitous that even people who don’t read books know who he is.
He’s written over 65 novels. Over 200 short stories. That’s not even counting screenplays, essays, nonfiction, the Richard Bachman books. The man has basically written enough material to fill multiple libraries, and the sheer output is staggering.
Some of it’s horror, some of it’s fantasy, some of it’s drama, some of it’s just… strange. Funny, sad, weird, undefinable.
But mostly? He’s the guy who gave us clowns in sewers, haunted hotels, killer cars, rabid dogs, telekinetic prom queens, and about a million nightmares.
Because he’s been so prolific, and because Hollywood can’t resist a scary bestseller, there have been a ton of Stephen King adaptations.
Some of them are classics: Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary, Christine, The Dead Zone, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me. And then the juggernauts: It, both the TV miniseries and the recent movies. Those are the ones everyone knows.
But here’s the thing, King’s catalog is so massive that for every Shawshank, there’s a forgotten little TV movie, or a box office bomb, or a weird indie release that barely played in theaters.
Some of these adaptations are based on short stories you didn’t even know existed. Some are from his Richard Bachman phase. Some just didn’t connect with audiences, or were dumped by studios, or got lost in the shuffle of bigger King projects.
And a lot of them are the kind of thing where you go, “Wait, THAT was a Stephen King story??”
And here’s what’s fascinating: some of these forgotten adaptations have big stars. Some were made by talented directors. Some of them are actually really good. Others are truly terrible, unwatchable messes that give King adaptations their bad reputation.
But they all have one thing in common: almost nobody saw them, and almost nobody talks about them.
Which brings me to right now. In honor of the release of The Long Walk, which is an adaptation of the very first novel King ever wrote (under Richard Bachman) and, I’ve got to be honest, is not a good movie, I thought it would be the perfect time to dig into King’s forgotten cinematic history.
Not the blockbusters, not the classics, not the obvious ones. I’m talking about the oddballs, the bombs, the ones you didn’t know even existed.
So here it is: ten relatively unknown, unpopular, or under-the-radar Stephen King adaptations.
Some are worth seeking out, some are worth avoiding, but all of them are fascinating little footnotes in the career of the most prolific horror writer of our time.
And since King has given us more stories than any one person could possibly consume, it’s worth shining a light on the ones that slipped through the cracks.
So without further ado, here’s the list (in chronological order) of 10 Stephen King adaptations that most people don’t know about.
10 Relatively Unknown Stephen King Adaptations:
Based on a short story from King’s Night Shift collection, this is about workers in a run-down textile mill who discover the basement is infested with mutant killer rats.
A drifter (David Andrews), a mean foreman (Stephen Macht), and a professional exterminator (played by the great Brad Dourif) all get pulled into the carnage. It’s dirty, grimy, and full of rubber rats.
This is one of those “so bad it’s kind of fun” King movies. The rats look fake, the acting is uneven, and the whole thing feels like a bad late-night cable horror flick… but Brad Dourif talking about Vietnam and rats? That’s worth the price of admission alone.
Based on a short story from Nightmares & Dreamscapes, this one follows a tabloid reporter (Miguel Ferrer, perfectly cast) investigating a mysterious pilot who lands only at small airports and leaves behind a trail of mutilated bodies. Oh, and the pilot may be a vampire.
I kind of love this one. Miguel Ferrer is such an underrated actor, and he’s perfect as a sleazy reporter chasing something supernatural. It’s low budget and not particularly scary, but it’s got atmosphere. And the idea of a vampire in a Cessna is so ridiculous it somehow works.
Based loosely on King’s collection of connected stories (Low Men in Yellow Coats in particular), this one stars Anthony Hopkins as a mysterious man with psychic powers who befriends a young boy in 1960s small-town America.
There are elements of King’s Dark Tower mythology in there, but the movie mostly plays like a nostalgic drama.
This is one of those “wait, that’s Stephen King?” movies. It feels more like a Hallmark drama than horror. Hopkins is great, the kid is good, and it’s sentimental. But it cuts out almost all of the darker King material. It’s fine, but it’s also one of the most toothless King adaptations.
Based on a short story from Everything’s Eventual, John Cusack plays a skeptical writer who investigates supposedly haunted locations. He checks into room 1408 at a New York hotel and finds himself trapped in a psychological nightmare.
Samuel L. Jackson pops up as the hotel manager who warns him, “It’s an evil fucking room.”
I really like this one. Cusack is basically in a one-man show for most of the movie, and he sells it. The room itself is the villain, and it’s genuinely creepy. Sure, it leans too hard on CGI at times, but as far as King adaptations go, this one is way better than people remember.
Loosely based on King’s short story “Gramma," this one has a mother and her sons moving in to take care of their elderly grandmother… who just so happens to be harboring dark, supernatural secrets.
Produced by Blumhouse, directed by Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut), and starring Frances O’Connor, Chandler Riggs, and Dylan McDermott.
Honestly, this is pretty forgettable. It has a good cast, but it feels like a generic low-budget horror flick you’d stumble onto on Netflix and then forget about immediately. “Gramma” is a creepy little story. Mercy somehow manages to make it dull.
Based on a novella from Full Dark, No Stars, this one stars Joan Allen as a woman who discovers that her husband (Anthony LaPaglia) is actually a serial killer. Written for the screen by King himself.
I wanted this to be great, the setup is chilling, Joan Allen is terrific, and King himself adapted it. But the movie is flat. It feels like a Lifetime thriller more than a Stephen King shocker. Still, the idea of finding out your spouse has a horrifying double life? That’s pure nightmare fuel.
Based on King’s 2006 novel, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson reunite (after 1408) in this story about a mysterious signal broadcast over cell phones that turns people into murderous, zombie-like maniacs. It’s basically “zombie apocalypse via Verizon.”
Yikes. This is bad. The book was already one of King’s weaker efforts, and the movie is worse. The CGI is awful, the scares are nonexistent, and even Cusack and Jackson can’t save it. It’s one of those King adaptations you forget five minutes after watching.
Based on a novella from Full Dark, No Stars, this Netflix original stars Thomas Jane as a farmer in 1922 who conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, with the help of his teenage son. Of course, things spiral into guilt, madness, and rats. Lots and lots of rats.
Now this is how you adapt King. Thomas Jane is phenomenal, the atmosphere is bleak and oppressive, and it’s genuinely unsettling. It’s slow, but in the right way. One of the best “under the radar” King adaptations out there.
Based on a novella King co-wrote with his son Joe Hill, this Netflix horror flick is about people who wander into a field of tall grass… and then can’t get out. Time and space warp, voices mislead, and Patrick Wilson chews the scenery as a creepy preacher.
The concept is scarier than the movie. A field of grass that traps you forever? Terrifying. The execution? Eh. It starts strong, gets weird, and then kind of collapses into nonsense. Patrick Wilson, though, is always fun to watch.
Based on a novella from If It Bleeds, this Netflix adaptation stars Jaeden Martell (It) as a teenager who befriends a wealthy old man (Donald Sutherland). After the old man dies, the boy leaves messages on his phone, and discovers the dead man is somehow answering from beyond the grave.
This one’s not really horror, it’s more of a melancholy supernatural drama. And honestly? It’s kind of dull. Martell and Sutherland are both good, but the movie is sleepy. The premise is creepy on paper, but the execution feels like a Hallmark ghost story.
Closing Thought
So there you go: ten King adaptations you probably haven’t seen, maybe haven’t even heard of. Some of them are hidden gems (1922, 1408, The Night Flier), some are disasters (Cell, Mercy), and some are just odd little curiosities.
But that’s the beauty of King’s career. He’s written so much, and Hollywood has adapted so much of it, that there’s always another strange corner of his universe to stumble onto. And even the bad ones remind you of just how big King’s shadow is over horror and pop culture.
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