With 65 novels, 12 collections and more than 200 short stories to his name, Stephen King's work has become a genre in itself. Unsurprisingly, numerous films and television shows based on his writing are available to stream across platforms including Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Paramount+, AMC+, The Criterion Channel and Hulu. As the nights draw in, there is no shortage of chilling options to choose from.
One of the most ambitious recent adaptations is The Stand, a limited series that first arrived in 2020. Directed by Josh Boone, it offers a big-budget retelling of the aftermath of a pandemic plague that wipes out nearly all life, pitting survivors against one another. The cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Jovan Adepo and Whoopi Goldberg.
For those who prefer their horror closer to psychological thriller territory, the television adaptation of King's Bill Hodges trilogy – Mr. Mercedes, Finder's Keepers and End of Watch – has all three seasons available on Peacock. Brendan Gleeson leads as retired detective Bill Hodges, hunting a serial killer living in plain sight. The tone is more akin to The Silence of the Lambs than outright supernatural terror.
Frank Darabont, who previously directed The Shawshank Redemption, returned to King's work for a darker tale in The Mist. Set in a small Maine town engulfed by a mysterious fog filled with monstrous creatures, the film stars Thomas Jane, with Marcia Gay Harden delivering a memorable turn as a religious fanatic. It is best watched on Paramount+, as the Peacock version has had the expletives removed, making it feel oddly like a cable broadcast.
Other standout offerings include 1408, in which John Cusack plays an author investigating a notoriously haunted New York hotel room, against the advice of a character played by Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on a short story from King's collection Everything's Eventual. And for a classic, the original Carrie – an adaptation of King's debut novel – remains a powerful warning against bullying, with Sissy Spacek in the title role. Spacek would later return to King's universe in the series Castle Rock.
