For bookworms and audiophiles alike, the news of a film adaptation is a double-edged sword, the excitement of seeing a favorite story on the big screen at odds with the anxiety of the movie being a less than stellar take on the original. Will it remain faithful to the book? Who will be cast to play the characters? And, most importantly, will it be any good? Though it seems as if more and more books are being adapted as of late, the truth of the matter is that, in terms of numbers alone, only a very small percentage of books ever make it to the screen. Unless you're the master of horror fiction, Stephen King.
One of the world's most popular and prolific authors, King has published more than 60 novels and 200 short stories, many of which have been adapted for film and television. In fact, he is one of the most adapted authors in the English language—up there with Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and Charles Dickens—and ranks at the top among living authors with the most page-to-screen credits to their name.
The first film adaptation of a Stephen King book arrived in 1976 with Carrie, a critical and commercial success that garnered two Academy Award nominations. And as King's books gained popularity, so did the clamor for more screen adaptations of his work. Many, many of his stories have been turned into hit movies and shows, including The Shining, IT, and The Stand. Currently, there are more than 50 films and 30 television episodes or series based on his stories, plus multiple sequels and series derived from his work. The most recent among them are The Boogeyman, which hit theaters in June 2023, and the upcoming remake of 'Salem’s Lot, which is set to arrive later in 2023. And as of this writing, there are still 20 more adaptations of King’s books listed as either in production or upcoming.
If you’re a Stephen King fanatic, or are interested in learning about the movies and shows made from his books, this round-up will provide you with a comprehensive list of the very best Stephen King screen adaptations. Watch the adaptation and then listen to the audiobook, or vice versa—this choice is yours. Either way, you can see how the adaptation stacks up against the source material and experience these legendary frights over and over again. Double the scares, double the fun!
Carrie (1976)
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Piper Laurie, John Travolta
Director: Brian De Palma
Sissy Spacek rose to fame with her starring role in this faithful adaptation of Carrie, the story of a teen girl who manifests telekinetic powers after years of enduring bullying and abuse, and it was a big success at theaters. There was a little-known remake in 2002, which included the amazing Patricia Clarkson, and in 2013 it was adapted again, this time receiving a modern reimagining and featuring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. But Spacek will always be the Carrie White of our hearts, which is what makes it all the more exciting that she also narrates the audiobook version in her gentle Texan twang.
‘Salem’s Lot (1979)
Starring: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia
Director: Tobe Hooper
An author goes home to Maine hoping to defeat his personal demons and be inspired to write a new bestseller? Sounds like this one could have been an autobiography if it wasn't for, you know, all the vampires. This 1979 miniseries was the first television adaptation of a Stephen King book. It was remade into another TV series in 2004, this time starring Rob Lowe (who also appeared in the first TV adaptation of The Stand). Both adaptations were praised by audiences and critics alike, and each garnered Emmy nominations. And there’s a new film adaptation, with Lewis Pullman, Pilou Asbæk, and Alfre Woodard, coming later in 2023. The audiobook is narrated by the late, great legendary Ron McLarty, who lent his incomparable voice to more than 100 audiobooks, including Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Richard Russo's Empire Falls.
The Shining (1980)
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Director: Stanley Kubrick
This time, the main character is an author who travels away from home to find inspiration. When Jack Torrance moves his wife and son into the remote Overlook Hotel to work as the off-season caretaker, he's hoping he'll have the time to finally create a new work. But what the Torrance family find instead is horror and violence beyond imagining. While notoriously far from faithful to the book, Kubrick's adaptation is a classic movie and considered one of the greatest works of horror filmmaking, period. In 1997, the book was again adapted into a three-episode television miniseries starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay, with King writing the teleplay himself. (Famously, King was reportedly unhappy with the first film adaptation.) In audio, you can hear veteran actor Campbell Scott narrate the story of the Torrance family's collapse, with a strong performance that roots listeners to the spot as the scares pile up.
The Dead Zone (1983)
Starring: Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Brooke Adams
Director: David Cronenberg
Johnny Smith awakens from a coma with the ability to predict the future when he touches people, a questionable gift that goes horribly when he shakes the hand of a politician. Maybe more famously, The Dead Zone was also a USA network series from 2002 to 2007, starring the Brat Pack’s Anthony Michael Hall. The series remains the longest-running Stephen King show to date. The audiobook is expertly narrated by Academy Award–nominated actor James Franco, who also happens to be the star of a different King adaptation, Hulu’s time travel stunner, 11/22/63.
Cujo (1983)
Starring: Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Danny Pintauro
Director: Lewis Teague
E.T. alum Dee Wallace stars as a mom trying to keep her son safe while trapped in a car by a rabid dog. The film differs in several places from the source material, especially with its ending, which is a tad lighter than the infamous gut punch of an ending King laid out in the original novel. (But don’t you worry—the dog is terrifying in both.) In the audiobook, you’ll hear those differences and King’s bleak, soul-shattering ending narrated by veteran actress Lorna Raver, who is no stranger to horror films herself, having starred in Sam Raimi’s exceptional 2009 film, Drag Me to Hell.
Firestarter (1984)
Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott
Director: Mark L. Lester
The 1984 film adaptation of this story, following a young girl with the power to start fires with her mind, was Drew Barrymore's very first starring role, and her first role after her supporting turn as E.T.'s Gertie. (Barrymore would go on to appear in King's anthology thriller Cat's Eye in 1985.) Zac Efron starred alongside newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the 2022 remake, and famed character actor Dennis Boutsikaris, who has won 13 AudioFile Earphones Awards and eight Audie Awards for his voice acting, deftly handles the narration for this explosive novel.
Stand By Me (1986)
Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell
Director: Rob Reiner
The story of four young boys on a walk to see a body by the train tracks was the biggest hit for a King film at the time, and it remains one of his most beloved adaptations. It was inspired by a novella titled "The Body," featured in Different Seasons, a collection that also contains "Apt Pupil," which was adapted for the screen in 1998, and another exceptional short story, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," that gave birth to an exceptional movie.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Clancy Brown
Director: Frank Darabont
Another of the most beloved and faithful adaptations of a King work, The Shawshank Redemption is simply unparalleled. Andy Dufresne is sent to prison for killing his wife and her lover, but he may actually be the only innocent man in jail. And over his decades spent at Shawshank Prison, he patiently plots his escape. This film, with a title shortened from its origin short story, was nominated for several Academy Awards. All of the dazzling, intense stories in Different Seasons are narrated by the late Frank Muller, an award-winning voice actor who worked on half a dozen King audiobooks.
The Running Man (1987)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Dawson
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Initially written and published under King’s pen name Richard Bachman, this tale of a man trying to win a billion dollars by staying alive on a deadly reality game show in 2025 was way ahead of its time. The film’s Richard Dawson was perfectly cast as the host, since he hosted game shows, including Family Feud and Match Game, in real life. Narrator Kevin Kenerly may not be a game show host, but he is a Shakespearean actor, clout and training that aides him in building a powerful, heart-pounding performance in audio.
Pet Sematary (1989)
Starring: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby
Director: Mary Lambert
This is one of King’s most terrifying novels, and it easily became one of the scariest adaptations of his work. (And honestly, maybe just one of the scariest horror films, bar none.) It’s the story of a couple who move into a new home and discover a pet graveyard in the woods, where the buried dead can come back to life. When tragedy strikes, the promise of reanimation becomes all too tempting to resist. But sometimes, dead is better. There was a sequel to the original adaptation in 1992, a remake in 2019, and as of writing, a prequel film is in the works. The audiobook is narrated by the award-winning, multi-talented actor Michael C. Hall, who is quite familiar with graveyards, as the star of Six Feet Under, and the dead, having portrayed the charismatic title serial killer in Dexter.
Misery (1990)
Starring: Kathy Bates, James Caan, Lauren Bacall
Director: Rob Reiner
This is another of King’s most critically acclaimed adaptations, and the second from director Rob Reiner. Kathy Bates won a (much deserved!) Academy Award for her portrayal of super-fan Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who really, really loves Paul Sheldon’s Misery Chastain novels. But when fate delivers a severely injured Sheldon into her hands, her love turns to hate when she discovers he has plans to end the series. The movie is near-perfect, but the novel is even scarier and far bloodier. This listen is perfectly narrated by Academy Award-nominated actress Lindsay Crouse.
Needful Things (1993)
Starring: Ed Harris, Max von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia
Director: Fraser C. Heston
In the 1993 film adaptation of the novel, Max von Sydow rolls up into King’s famous town of Castle Rock and opens a store selling the things people want most but that might make them lose their minds. Spoiler: They do, in fact, become unhinged, and all hell breaks loose in the town. There’s always a catch, it seems. You already know that King is an amazing storyteller, but now you can literally hear his prowess—he narrates the audiobook of Needful Things himself. Small-town Maine horrors hit home when narrated in a small-town Maine accent.
The Stand (1994)
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe, and Jamey Sheridan
Director: Mick Garris
The first miniseries adaptation of The Stand, considered by many fans to be King’s best book, was, simply put, the television event of 1994, nominated for six Emmy Awards. The story follows a group of disparate survivors of a global plague, left to pick sides in a post-apocalyptic battle for good and evil in the now-desolate United States. It was remade as another series in 2020 with an all-star cast including James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgård, and Whoopi Goldberg. This novel is also King’s longest, clocking in at over 47 hours. But not to fear—the narration is deftly handled by Grover Gardner, who has 1,200-plus audiobook titles under his belt and was named one of AudioFile Magazine's "Best Voices of the Century."
Dolores Claiborne (1996)
Starring: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Strathairn
Director: Taylor Hackford
In this gem, a housekeeper suspected of killing her employer tells the story of her life, including the suspicious death of her abusive husband decades earlier. Academy Award winners Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh play Dolores and her daughter, respectively, with the always incredible David Strathairn giving a truly creepy performance as the husband. Off screen, Frances Sternhagen, renowned for her work on stage and screen, lends her distinct voice and acting chops to the audiobook.
The Green Mile (1999)
Starring: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell
Director: Frank Darabont
The Green Mile is yet another one of King's most highly acclaimed adaptations. In this Academy Award–nominated film, the one-and-only Tom Hanks stars as a prison guard assigned to death row, where he meets a convict named John Coffey, who soon changes his life and alters his perspective in tremendous and terrifying ways. The Green Mile was originally serialized in six volumes, but fortunately for fans, it is now collected in one fantastic audiobook, expertly narrated by the legendary voice actor Frank Muller.
The Dark Tower (2017)
Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
This is an eight-book series written over several decades about Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, who must fight and conquer evil in a post-apocalyptic version of a world similar to our own. The 2017 film is not a strict adaptation of the series, as the movie adapted various segments from across a few books in the series. The first audiobook, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, is expertly narrated by veteran voice actor George Guidall, who at one time held the record for most audiobook narrations.
Under the Dome (2013–2015)
Starring: Mike Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Natalie Martinez, Dean Norris
Director: Various
When a mysterious, invisible force field appears over the sleepy town of Chester's Mill, Maine, it is alarming for many reasons. For starters, no one can get in or out, and planes and birds and cars disastrously crash into it. And even more ominously, no one knows where it came from or how to make it go away. As the days pass by with no solution, the residents become increasingly desperate, eventually turning to violence. This isolation horror novel was adapted into a three-season television series. The audiobook narrator is Tony-nominated actor and singer Raul Esparza, who is always a consummate professional, extraordinary talent, and a genuine delight to the ears.
A Good Marriage (2014)
Starring: Joan Allen, Anthony LaPaglia, Kristen Connolly, Stephen Lang
Director: Peter Askin
A Good Marriage is the scary story of a wife who discovers her husband of decades has a dark secret, casting doubt on their entire marriage. This comes from the story collection Full Dark, No Stars, which has inspired two other adaptations as well—Big Driver (2014), about a stranded motorist who seeks revenge on her assailant, and 1922 (2017), about a man who murders his wife when she stands in the way of his happiness, an act that leads to paranoia, delusions, and fatal consequences. The stories are passionately narrated by a team of talented narrators—Golden Globe nominee Craig Wasson and two-time Tony nominee Jessica Hecht.
11/22/63 (2016)
Starring: James Franco, Sarah Gadon, Cherry Jones, Josh Duhamel, Chris Cooper
Director: Multiple directors
What if someone told you that you could go back in time and stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? If given proof that it was possible, would you do it? That’s exactly the dilemma English teacher Jake Epping faces when he is roped into a mission that involves traveling, through a seemingly normal storage room, back to 1958. But as we all know, changing the past always has terrible consequences for the future. What will Jake find when—and if—he returns home? This audiobook is also narrated by veteran actor Craig Wasson, who delivers a phenomenal performance.
IT (2017, Chapter One, and 2019, Chapter Two)
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader
Director: Andy Muschietti
Stephen King taught millions of his fans why their fear of clowns was justified with this terrifying tale of a killer clown named Pennywise, who terrorizes a small town in Maine, and the group of outcasts who take him on as teens, and later, as adults. Before these genuinely horrifying, award-nominated films arrived on the big screen, you could tune into IT on the small screen. Back in 1990, IT was a two-part miniseries, starring Richard Thomas and Tim Curry, and still managed to be terrifying despite being on prime time television. The debate rages on: Who is the best Pennywise—Curry or Skarsgård? While it may be hard to choose the scariest clown, there's no debating that actor Steven Weber of Wings fame, not to mention star of The Shining miniseries, does an expert job lending his voice to this truly spine-tingling story.
Mr. Mercedes (2017–2019)
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Kelly Lynch, Mary-Louise Parker, Holland Taylor
Director: Multiple directors
Mr. Mercedes is the first installment in the Bill Hodges Trilogy. Hodges is a retired police officer haunted by the unsolved mass killing of several citizens in a small town. When he starts receiving taunts from a "Mr. Mercedes," claiming to be the culprit and threatening to strike again, Hodges must come out of retirement and risk his own life to potentially save thousands. The adaptation ran for three seasons with Academy Award-nominated actor Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) perfectly cast as Bill Hodges. This audiobook, and the following two books in the trilogy, Finders Keepers (2015) and End of Watch (2016), are also narrated by the pitch-perfect Will Patton.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson
Director: Mike Flanagan
More than three decades after the publication of The Shining, King wrote a sequel of sorts, which was also adapted into a film. Doctor Sleep follows a now-grown Danny Torrance, who is battling with the trauma of his childhood and the same (non-supernatural) demons that plagued his father. When Danny encounters a young girl with special gifts similar to his own, they must work together to fend off a growing gang of quasi-immortals who live off the pain and psychic energy of people like them. It’s a bona fide supernatural battle for the ages that also manages to meditate thoughtfully on legacy, addiction, and complex family dynamics. The audiobook performance is also expertly delivered by Patton, an esteemed actor with a voice made for narration work.
In the Tall Grass (2019)
Starring: Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Patrick Wilson
Director: Vincenzo Natali
This Netflix original film was based on a novella collaboration between King and one of his sons, horror writer Joe Hill. It follows a sister and brother who pull their car off to the side of the road after hearing a young boy crying for help. Lured by the sound of his voice into a wild overgrowth, they soon become separated, increasingly frantic, and trapped. The audiobook is voiced by Stephen Lang, an outstanding, longtime character actor whose soft, gravelly voice is perfect for the terrifying tall tale of horrors lurking inside a patch of weeds.
The Outsider (2020)
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Mare Winningham
Director: Multiple directors
In one of King’s most supremely scary recent novels, series of horrific murders appears to be carried out by seemingly normal, upstanding citizens. But they’re not the true perpetrators of the crimes—at fault is a manifestation of pure evil capable of mimicking just about anyone. How do you stop a killer who can look like your friends, your neighbors, or even your closest loved ones? The Outsider is also narrated by Will Patton, whom AudioFile credited with turning "this story into an audio blockbuster." Needless to say, both the television show and the audiobook are utterly pause-resistant.
Lisey’s Story (2021)
Starring: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joan Allen
Director: Pablo Larraín
A grieving woman, mourning the loss of her award-winning author husband, discovers the dark, supernatural place he visited throughout his life, which both terrified and inspired him. Lisey’s refusal to shy away from the horrors she finds may help her finally start the grieving process and find peace. This heartfelt and haunting novel was adapted for an Apple TV+ limited series. Academy Award nominee Mare Winningham, who appears in the King adaptations Under the Dome and The Outsider, is perfection as the audiobook narrator.
