This question is often asked and you can see countless lists online that swear they are the definite ones, the final verdict that would once and for all settle this matter of great importance. This is what this article is. Just kidding, are you insane?
Nobody can say for certain which film based on a Stephen King novel or story is the best or even makes up the top 10. After all, there have been 44 Stephen King film adaptations, and by the look of it.
They are only going to grow in the next few decades as the author is still publishing one or two novels a year! So far, King has published 64 novels, 19 screenplays, and over two hundred short stories, so the competition is fierce. He is the styled king (pun not intended) of horror.
Below you can find the 6 Stephen King horror movies we think are the best. The only thing our list pertains to are our own personal tastes, not even Stephen King’s (we’ll talk more about that later), so make what you want from it.
Cujo
If your kids are constantly nagging you about getting them a puppy, show them Cujo (1983). Just beware the therapist bills later. Cujo is a classic 1980’s horror that shows the gruelling fate of a mother and a son trapped in a car as they’re being attacked by a rabid dog.
The film was not critically appraised at the time, and that was mostly due to the divergences it made to King’s novel, which made the characters less human whose motives were less understandable. However, the film is still very effective in scaring the living hell out of us and its simplicity is another bonus.
Children of the Corn
It doesn’t take long to realise that something is rotten in the state of Nebraska. Children of the Corn (1984) is terrifying from the very start, and we partially blame the kids for that. Creepy kids in horrors are enough to make everyone’s skin crawl.
The film is based on King’s short story of the same name and the author even penned the original script, which gave more background to the cult and the revolution, but it was subsequently changed to make the film read more as a slasher.
Firestarter
Firestarter (1984) is another kid-centred work of King, but with a much less creepy kid. Charlie and her parents all have supernatural abilities (Charlie – control of heat and fire, Vicky – mind reading, Andy – controlling people’s behaviour) as a result of a secret government experiment gone wrong. What ensues is a David vs Goliath story, but we’re not sure which is which.
King was likely inspired by the declassification of documents relating to MKUltra, a secret project that had participants take hallucinogens (sometimes unknowingly) to test the powers and limits of the mind. This 1984 adaptation truthfully captures the spirit of the original.
The Shining
The Shining (1980) is Stanley Kubrick at his best, but is it Stephen King at his best? Not according to the author. King’s dissatisfaction with the adaptation of his novel is so notorious that it deserves its own adaptation. He even said that it was the only adaptation he truly hated.
King disliked the casting of Jack Nicholson and his acting, because they revealed the plot twist at the very beginning. He also disliked Wendy in the film and how she seemed to be helpless. Nevertheless, he praised Kubrick and his artistry, just not his adaptation skills.
Misery
Let’s do a complete 180 and talk about one of King’s favourite adaptations of his work – Misery (1990). Misery is a cautionary tale for writers of romance novels and any novels really. It’s probably a nightmare King has had in the past. The film is classified as thriller, not horror, but we’re not sure we can fully agree.
Misery is a two-people-in-a-room novel and film and it does brilliantly with less. The acting is superb and the tension leaves you on the edge of the seat. It still is the only Stephen King adaptation to win an Oscar (Kathy Bates, Best Actress, 1991).
Carrie
It’s only natural to end this list with the first Stephen King adaptation based on his very first novel – Carrie (1976). Brian De Palma’s take on the novel is inspiring and perhaps exactly how most of us imagine a Stephen King adaptation on screen.
The characters are fleshed out, the narrative is gradually enfolded until the climax that none of us are ready for each time we rewatch it. We can write a whole article about the acting performances that won nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
King was also pleased with the adaptation and thought that despite the fact that the film is dated now, it is still a pretty good film. “De Palma 1, Kubrick 0” – Stephen King, probably.
Those of you who are fans of true crime videos and podcasts probably already know who we’re going to talk about.
Kendall Rae is one of the most famous true crime YouTubers with over 3.2 million subscribers and videos detailing horrific crimes, as well as famous horror stories and conspiracy theories. She and her husband Josh also run the Mile Higher Podcast, which features similarly themed videos, but also discusses strange phenomena.
In this article, we will talk a little bit more about the videos on Kendall Rae’s eponymous channel that detail famous (true crime or not) stories that went on to inspire films and TV shows. We recommend you watch these videos after seeing the dramatised adaptations to get a better grasp of the story they were based on.
All we can say is that often reality is even more horrific than fiction.
Stanley Hotel
Let’s start with the most notorious example on this list or the story of the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley Hotel is a Colonial Revival hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, but behind its beautiful façade the paranormal takes shelter. Or so the paranormal experts say.
The hotel inspired Stephen King to write his bestselling horror novel The Shining, which was later adapted for screen by Stanley Kubrick.
King says it was the empty halls and eerie music that inspired him, but after the success of the book and the film adaptation, people began thinking the hotel was haunted, and in particular Room 217 where King stayed and had his nightmare about the hotel.
Kendall Rae and her husband Josh recounted the story of the hotel after their stay there. You can watch the videos on Kendall’s channel and the Mile Higher Podcast to learn more.
Robert the Doll and Raggedy Ann
If you have an irrational fear of dolls, we might have a video for you that could totally rationalise it. In a 2019 video, Kendall Rae told the story of Robert the Doll, a very real doll that’s supposedly very possessed, and its female counterpart Riggedy Ann. Both stories read like a horror film, so it’s not surprising that they inspired the blockbuster horror film Annabelle.
The Dee Dee Blanchard Case
In one of the most shocking and tragic cases to have ever grabbed the attention of the whole nation, Dee Dee Blanchard, a heroic mother who singlehandedly raised her severely disabled daughter (Gypsy Rose), was found dead. Gypsy Rose was missing and everyone feared the worst.
Nobody, however, expected to find out that Gypsy Rose was in fact the person who arranged for her mother to be killed. Not only that but it was revealed she had no health conditions at all, let alone such that require her to use a wheelchair and to feed through a tube.
The bizarre and very tragic case of Gypsy Rose and her mother Dee Dee was covered by Kendall Rae in a 2017 video, that explains the harrowing tale in detail. The case also went to aspire the hit Hulu mini-series The Act and the Lifetime film Love You to Death.
Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy
The death of Conrad Roy created one of the most infamous constitutional debates in the United States. Conrad Roy was not murdered; he committed suicide in his car. However, investigators soon revealed the text messages sent by his girlfriend Michelle Carter who not only told him it was okay to kill himself, but actively encouraged him to do so.
The question that the jury had to respond to in the Conrad Roy trial is whether Michelle was protected by her First Amendment rights to say what she did, no matter how incredibly sick it was.
Kendall Rae and Josh discuss this tragic case with their viewers on their podcast and as always, they include various viewpoints and intricate details about the relationship between Michelle and Conrad.
As we are speaking, Hulu had just released the miniseries that depicts the events preceding Conrad’s suicide. The show is titled The Girl from Plainville.
The Zodiac Killer
It’s only fitting to end this article by bringing up the perhaps most famous unsolved case of all – that of the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac is known to have murdered five people in the Bay Area of Northern California in the late 1960’s, although he claims to have killed 37 people in total.
It’s not only the fact that these murders remain unsolved that interests people, but also the mysterious ciphers the Zodiac Killer produced and sent to various police stations and newspapers. Out of the four ciphers, only two were cracked, one of which fairly recently.
Much like other YouTubers in her sphere, Kendall Rae has discussed the Zodiac murder, his ciphers and various theories concerning his identity. She first talked about this case in 2018, then she followed up with another video in 2021 when the second Zodiac cipher was solved, and a third one where she discussed all this in length in her podcast with Josh.
We recommend watching all of these videos if you want to learn everything about this sick and mysterious killer. Later, you can watch the sleeper movie about this case called Zodiac.
