There are literally dozens and dozens of movies based on Stephen King short stories, novellas, and novels. Among these many films there are some major league clunkers, but there are also some absolute gems. If you include sequels and TV movies, the list goes well over fifty, and that’s not even including many limited release short films. Out of all those choices, here is my list of the fifteen best movies based on Stephen King works.
This work was also one of Stephen King’s finest horror novels. There is a haunted pet cemetery, spelled cutely with an ‘S,’ where everything buried comes back from the dead, but comes back twisted and evil. This is a great film where the tragic loss of a child proves too much temptation, and what comes back is terrifying and evil beyond belief. The ending of this film is absolutely fantastic, and one of the best endings of a King movie.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Pet Sematary (Special Collector’s Edition)
Storm of the century started as a two part mini-series and has since been released to DVD. This is an excellent story, which Stephen King wrote the script to, about a stranger appearing just as the worst winter storm in history hits a small isolated Maine island. This stranger has the power to force others to do as he wants, and he demands a child to raise as his own or else. This is a chilling and incredible story.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Stephen King’s Storm of the Century
This movie with actors John Cusak and Samuel L. Jackson, is based around a Stephen King short story about a haunted hotel room that has an incredibly long and tragic history. This evil room draws so much energy that it is only mildly cleaned once a week, and briefly, and is never rented out. An author who doesn’t believe in the supernatural checks in, only to find himself in an amazing repeating hell that is bent on devouring his very soul, and refuses to let him go.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: 1408 (Widescreen Edition)
Children of the Corn was based on a short story by Stephen King (and all six of the terrible sequels were based on movie studios trying to stretch it for a cheap buck). “Outlander! Outlander! We have your woman!” This classic line and scene helps define the movie, where a child prophet has convinced every child to murder all the adults in town, as they worship “He who walks behind the rows.” Talk about the wrong town to break down in! This is a very solid horror flick, with some really genuinely creepy moments.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Children of the Corn
This three hour and change movie is a two part movie, with Pennywise the Clown perhaps one of the most disturbing horror villains in movie history. I personally point to him (and watching this movie at the age of ten) as explaining my life long fear/hatred of clowns. This movie is often judged as the first half being excellent and the second half mediocre, in part because of a changed ending. In fairness, the book’s ending would be next to impossible to fully convert into a movie format, but all in all, this movie is still a great view, and the first half is excellent. You might want to skip this one if you have a phobia of clowns.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Stephen King’s It
A four part mini-series turned into DVD, “Rose Red” is a little over four hours and is a great modern version of the classic haunted mansion ghost story. A professor who has been fired for her paranormal studies takes a bunch of psychics into a haunted manor, secretly hoping that their powers will “jump start” the manor like a jump to a dead car battery and give her the evidence she needs to make her career… or she could be going insane and hoping for immortality. It’s not completely clear on this point, which makes the movie all the more interesting. This movie has good characters, some really scary scenes, and ties together very well at the end. Even better, it’s usually in the cheap DVD rack, so this movie is definitely a steal at a $10 or less buy.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Rose Red
This is based off a Stephen King novella and stars Johnny Depp and John Turturro. This is one of my personal favorite King movies, and if you’re a writer or a would be writer, this movie will have an added bonus. Johnny Depp’s character, Mort Rainey, is a successful writer struggling with a divorce, when a sociopathic stranger, John Shooter, shows up claiming that Rainey stole his story. Shooter demands credit, and has no issue killing anyone in his way until he gets everything he wants. This story has a fantastic surprise ending, great acting, and a creepiness that is hard to match.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Secret Window
One of the seemingly great secrets about Stephen King is he’s not just a horror author. Some of the best literary fiction of the past 50 years has been penned by King, and the movie “Hearts in Atlantis” is based on one of those novellas, down playing the supernatural and playing up the amazing story line and lives of the characters involved. The book “Hearts” has four novellas, and this film is only based on one of them, but it is a faithful and quality adaptation with great acting, great direction, and a film that individuals who don’t like King will even enjoy. This movie is a modern classic, in the same vein as “Stand by Me.”
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Hearts in Atlantis
Some will argue this movie should be rated higher, and they may have a point, but the fact that there are enough great movies based on Stephen King works that a film this good (rated on the top 250 movies ever on IMDB) could arguably not be in the top five just shows that there are some gems out there. Not only is Tom Hanks great in this film, but this touching movie (a not heavily hidden allegory of the Jesus story) follows the film and is a fantastic watch that generally follows the books very carefully.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: The Green Mile (Single Disc Edition)
While I think the Stanley Kubrik version is a good movie, King didn’t like it on the basis that it didn’t follow his story, so if the author doesn’t like it, it doesn’t make the list. King’s version, appearing first as a mini-series, is an exceptional horror film that really brings the book to life and delivers a terrifying film that is worth the watch every time.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Stephen King’s The Shining (Two Disc Special Edition)
Based on a long short story (or short novella, depending on how you look at it), this story has long been popular with Stephen King fans. This movie was extremely well done, capturing the terror of what happens when an unexplainable mist moves in, bringing a variety of mutated insects, huge tentacles, and all kinds of terrifying beasts into a town. Locked in a super market, not only do they have to worry about the other worldly terrors outside, but by a religious fanatic creating a child sacrifice cult that splits the survivors inside. This film has an ending that you will never forget… perhaps one of the most memorable in all of movie history.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: The Mist
This epic mini-series is based on the epic novel about a post apocalyptic Earth where most the world was killed by a Super Flu. The good flock to Grandma Moses, while the evil flock to Randall Flagg, setting up an ultimate conflict between good and evil even after most of the world’s population is dead. This was one of King’s greatest works, and the movie did a good job staying close to the storyline considering the massive amount of material it had to ingest into the plot.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: The Stand
This film is also on IMDB’s list of the top 250 movies of all time, and is a fantastic coming of age story about a group of four strange mismatched friends from junior high who try to track down a missing boy, presumed dead, by following some train tracks. Meanwhile they learn about each other and themselves, and end up all changing forever because of that several day journey. This is a very touching film with some sadness, and shows that Stephen King is not “just a horror writer.” This movie is based on the King novella “The Body.”
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Stand By Me (Deluxe Edition)
This was one of the best horror novels written by Stephen King, and the best movie based on a horror work. Annie Wilkes, the number one fan, is the worst nightmare of every celebrity, or every individual who has ever been stalked. An author gets in an accident, but is “rescued” by an obsessive fan, who ends up killing anyone who snoops around and creates the word “hobbling.” Anyone who saw the movie just winced at the mention of that word. Kathy Bates is exceptional as Annie Wilkes, and one of the most convincing movie psychopaths of all time.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: Misery
This movie is one of only three from the IMDB website that has a rating of over 9.0 (out of 10), and is rated as the second best movie of all time on that website, and for very good reason. This amazing movie is based on the equally amazing novella about a banker who is wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and is sent to a sadistic prison where the guards and warden are both corrupt. The acting is incredible, the storyline is amazing, and everything about this movie works. Not only is this the best movie ever adapted from a Stephen King work, but many cinema fans agree that it was one of the better movies ever made.
Buy the DVD at Amazon: The Shawshank Redemption (Single Disc Edition)
Contributor: Shane Dayton
The Langoliers, Riding the Bullet, Thinner, Maximum Overdrive….and the list goes on and on…..
The scariest book I have ever read in my life was The Shining! And I don’t scare easily…..I would start having panic attacks dang near and have to put it down for a while before continuing…..
Great list – The book version of The Stand, Boulder, Colorado is an important locale. Sadly, none of the filming was done in Colorado due to a tricky Amendment. Amendment 2, targeted equal rights to gays & lesbians, was misunderstood and backfired. Many groups worldwide banned anything “Colorado”. But you can get a glimpse of my beautiful hometown in the beginning of Kubrick’s the Shining. King live down the street from my friend while he was writing the Stand and the Shining. We never saw him.
whats the mist is doing on n°5??
Pet Sematery is an absolute piece of crap. I think you ran out of movies at about 11 backwards.You should make this a top 10 list.
Was ‘Apt Pupil’ ever made into a movie? I recently read it along with the Shawshank Redemption and thought it was excellent.
Would’ve liked to see Carrie, but I’m also happy that Storm of the Century made it. I ask people if they’ve seen that movie and they look at me like I’m retarded.
Great list! I would swap The Mist out for Apt Pupil, but that’s just my opinion
shawshank redemption is one of the most amazing films of all time.
like wise greenmile
segue:
Naturally I once again agree with you 100%. I think the fascination with King is another symptom of the dumbing down of our culture. It isn’t that writers like King don’t have their place; after all, if we have a High Culture, then there has to be a Low Culture too–it’s only fair.
But as you know, when people want to MIX the two, you get midcult, which stinks no matter how you smell it. (I paraphrase Dwight MacDonald, who said it far better). I don’t think we can go so far as to say that King is midcult, but his followers seem to push him in that direction, and King seems to place himself there by his attitude. (Naturally neither King nor his followers would ADMIT to him being midcult—his followers–some of them, at least, apparently want to place him High). Why? Why this fascination with a hack teller of creepy stories? Well, because more people today have a harder time conceiving of anything better, than people say… oh… 40 or 50 years ago. Back then, we had a rich horror tradition in both films and print. We had good craftsman like Matheson, Bloch, Rod Serling, and dozens of others plying the genre, and even Roger Corman’s and Hammer’s formulaic-but-stylish film-making added into the brew. I guess when exploitation became the POINT instead of a sideline, things started going south. And then King’s reputation was made, as far as I can see, with the original film version of “Carrie,” which resonated with teenagers and created the whole mystique of King. And then he came to seem loftier and “better” than the hack-produced slasher films of the time…. and that developed into this further mystique about him that he was some kind of “great,” some kind of an artiste. And whereas in the old days cream used to rise to the top (more or less) nowadays its celebrity and branding that rise, and the cream gets siphoned off into cult status. King became a “brand” and his name attained celebrity status… and from there we have the situation we see here. A fourth-rate hack writer of chills elevated onto a pedestal of worship.
I often think that it isn’t because literature is such bad shape that this kind of thing happens, but it’s because FILM is in such bad shape that it happens. We don’t REALLY look to the literary or art scene for our cultural totems and meanings and statements anymore; we look to film and popular music. And while music has had its ups and downs over the years, film has only gotten increasingly sucky. And the overall cultural zeitgeist has gone down into the spiral with it, where names like Stephen King and Steven Spielberg are considered “great” just because they sell a LOT of what they make.
hannah (#128):
In what way was it “amazing”? The subject itself is dreary, the characters are unoriginal, the ending was predictable, and there were no flash-bang effects to “amaze”.
I understand you liked the movie, but you are misusing the word “amazing”.
Lots of personal views today – lots of ideas. Thanks for the list. I’m not a ‘fan’ but am a movie buff. Have enjoyed most of these; and I agree that Shawshank is a good film – though perhaps the Green Mile was better acted. Perhaps a comment on here to clear up the ommissions would be helpful. I always forget to add the obvious until I’ve posted the list!
This is really random, but you know who I loved as a kid? R.L. Stein. He wrote this utterly terribly but entertaining horror books. Goosebumps were for kids and then when you got older you could graduate to his books for older kids that generally involved a lot of gruesome deaths for cheerleaders.
Even at that age I knew they were terrible books, but that didn’t stop me from reading pretty much all of them. Say Cheese and Die! for instance, was about a deadly camera. If someone took your picture with this camera you were pretty much in for it… Good stuff.
Damn, errors all over my post, “he wrote these utterly terrible but…”
104. Randall, 116. segue
Thank you both for your most perceptive entries.
And for the rest – EDGAR ALLEN, to those who have evoked your beloved work in comparison to this formulaic hack, do smite them with full fury from wherever you are!
I’m way to lazy to read through all of the comments to see if anyone has said this before but:
The movie version of the Mist sucked really, really bad compared to the short story. You didn’t mention it in the list, but they changed the ending in the movie version. That just ruined it for me.
A great movie you missed was The Langoliers. It followed the original story very closely, and while the graphics were very, very bad, it was an all around great movie.
Also, I don’t see why people don’t like Stephen King. I adore his novellas and short stories, and I honestly think he’s an incredible writer. His best works, in my opinion, happen to be the ones that aren’t necessarily of the horror genre. I could NOT put down Duma Key and Lisey’s Story (some of his most recent novels) and short stories like The End of the Whole Mess, the Jaunt and Autopsy Room 4 are just incredible! (The End of the Whole Mess made me cry so much!)
I have read most of Kings novels.. as far as the movies go, yes, Green Mile should be higher, The Dead Zone should be on this list, and I hated The Mist. One of the dumbest movies i’ve ever seen.
great list though!
Seen them all read them all. Children of the Corn is a piece of crap. Otherwise good list despite the exclusion of The Dead Zone.
I am going to repeat what has already been said, but have to get my 2 cents worth on this one.
* Agree with others The Dead Zone should be in the list.
* I hated It. Loved the book, hated the movie. All star cast? It was a bunch of has been TV actors, and the movie was not scary in the least. Tim Curry was ok as the clown, but overall a lame movie.
* if you were going to include a TV one, I agree that it should have been The Langoliers.
* And agree with many comments that putting in the TV version of The Shining is a crime! The Shining is one of my all time favorite Scary movies. Great filming, acting, directing, just an all time great quality movie.
* Bag of Bones is being worked on! I loved this book. I hope they do not go for the cheap shocks on this one and screw it up like they do most of his books. But looking at the director’s past movies, I am not holding my breath.
Christine missing????
Firestarer missing???
children of the corn was great when i was about 9 and i Watched it recently, it is crap.
Kings new short story book is crap as well. i must have read the skeleton crew about 50 times since i was a teen, and was chuffed to get this for christmas.
Sadly not one story got me thinking.
Oh well!!!
I’m not a huge fan of Stephen King or most of the movies based on his work, but I’m compelled to watch Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me everytime I surf into them.
The Shining is my favorite movie based on a King novel, mostly because it is one of the few that can’t scare me. My Color Guard team watched this movie pn Halloween and it literally scared the geebus out of the toughest girl on the squad.
the short story “Children of the Corn” was very good, I happen to prefer King’s short stories to his long novels, simply because they get to the point more. However I have read a majoriy of the books mentioned, and I agree with Misery probably the most, what a great book! And a wonderful movie. I loved It in novel form, but the movie was SOOOO drawn out, When it was over i couldnt believe i had just spent a whole afternoon watching it!
I agree with the placements for all of these EXCEPT the Mist. That movie was incredibly boring and it didn’t feel like King at all, something all these other movies have managed to accomplish. It felt like another generic horror movie, albeit one with a fantastic ending. Dreamcatcher should be where The Mist is. -_-
segue and randall-
i love you both, but i really do feel that many of king’s short stories (and only the short stories/novellas) are excellent. are they great, immortal literature? no, probably not, but there genuinely are some fantastically told stories in there. there is also quite a cult around his “dark tower” series, i haven’t read them, but a few people i respect hold them in high esteem as books (including the writing quality) and seem to see them as a totally different type of output from his horror pulp fiction. in short, i think the man CAN write, he doesn’t have enough talent to fill all of his VAST output (of mostly formulaic money makers) with it, but it does show up in concentrated doses in some of his short works (and they’re not all great either, segue i don’t know which ones you happened to read, but i assure you there are good ones.)
back to the list: rose red/the diary of ellen rimbauer was never produced in print until after the TV movie. king wrote it directly for the screen, any “book” form that appeared was a marketing tie in. so when you take that and his TV “shining” into account, it becomes pretty clear that king should never do his own screen adaptations!
also, “misery” (which i haven’t seen) didn’t invent the word “hobbling” it has long existed as a word referring to a method of temporarily disabling livestock -especially horses- so they couldn’t run away. king just applied the term to a human, not invented it.
lastly, i saw 1408 after reading the creepy little story, so maybe i “read-in” a creepiness to the film it in actuality lacked? hhhm, thanks for making me think of that.
Carrie?
I love all of these movies! I’ve seen every one except It, so i’ll be sure to check it out!
Great list!
lo:
Thanks, we love you too… but I never said King wasn’t a decent storyteller. I recognize that he is (though I confess, yes, that having attempted to read him several times when I was younger, I felt it was hit and miss… sometimes he was engaging… but just as often not). But being able to tell a story well is NOT the end all of being a good (let alone great) writer. John Steinbeck could tell stories too. But he was not a great writer. He was middling at best. And King is no Steinbeck.
The only one of these movies I have seen is Secret Window, which I thought was a great movie!
I haven’t read any of King’s books until now. I just started reading the Dark Tower series. I’m nearly finished with the first book and I have to say I’m quite enjoying it!
36. teapixie
52. Writergal
These comments make me sad, not because they disagree with me but because they sadly have no backing.
1. You want some great horror/cult authors with some range and originality? Read Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, Mark Z. Danielewski or Edward Lee (if you can take cheesy gore fests).
2. By saying that movies getting made or a lot of people read someone is a way of implying that they are talented in any way is about the most fluff filled comment on this board. I guess Uli Bowl is a talented and great director then, that L.Ron Hubard is a god of science fiction writing, that makes Phillip K. Dick look like a loser.
King is mediocre in every way, and he is loved for it. he is a horror author that never pushes your buttons, he never gets under your skin, his only good tricks are using tried and true means of 5 year old horror (Clowns, are you kidding me? It is no ones reason that they are afraid of clowns, you were afraid of clowns first but It may have been your first contact with one due to their lack of popularity.)
Hes safe and secure horror, hes a metal band that plays power ballads about the girl that got away every time.
Glad the Mist is on here, I think it was one of the films that really captured Stephen King’s characters – realistic but with a thin, distinct layer of cheese. Dreamcatcher was probably the truest King movie – the story, characters and execution were perfect.
I really can’t wait until people get their ass in gear and make Cell already – it’s my favourite of his books and you can never go wrong with a zombie movie!
If I may comment on King as a writer, I would hardly call him a hack. He may not be a writer of literature, but that does not make him a bad writer. He has some good books and some poor ones, just as a lot of writers. Many of whom claim to be writers of true “literature.” There are really bad writers out there making a living on it, many are making an incredibly good living (Twilight series anyone? Pure crap! In fact, King himself recently dissed the author for being a bad writer!) The thing is, none of what he does is meant to be “literature.”
And the films that come from his books, just as the majority of movies made, are meant for entertainment. Pure and simple.
Pulp fiction has been around for decades, and just because it doesn’t live up to the haughty taste of some folks, doesn’t make it bad.
Opinions, opinions, opinions!!!
flamie: I totally agree. I was so disappointed by The Mist, I felt sick about the $10 I wasted renting it. And because my brother suggested I rent it, I will never trust his taste in movies again. He violated our movie trust. He’s lucky I still talk to him.
I happen to think Stephen King is great and I read a lot of Algernon Blackwood and etc. His writing is different, his characters are interesting and to people who say “he’s a hack” really… shush. If he’s not your taste then fine, but to say he’s bad because he has no place in your room of classic Gothic and Post-war literature is being elitist. “I don’t know what people see in this Tarentino character, DW Griffith was FAR superior to that hack.” “Quite so good chap *smokes cigar*” Give it a rest, we know you’re intellectuals already. “Dumbing down of our culture” wow guys.
Excellent list, although it probably should have been a top 20 or 25.
I really like King as a horror writer. Give me a thrill…not gore. That just makes be want to…well, puke! Why would I want to read such other authors as Clive Barker or Edward Lee (read both to my dismay) when I can get that scary feeling from King or even Koontz.
I agree he is not the best out there. There are way more fantastic writers then he will ever be. But to be entertained…give me a King novel. I have read all of his works and many of them more than once…just for the thrill.
Also, if he was as bad as many of you say…why did you read his works, buy his books, watch his movies? He is popular becuase of the cheap thrill he can give. As long as you keep that in mind…enjoy!
He is a decent writer…that’s all. However even though the stories are good…MOST of the movies suck.
randall: OT but about steinbeck- i read it so long ago, but i remember thinking “east of eden” was very well written. i attempted “grapes of wrath” and “travels with charlie” but simply wasn’t interested in either of them.
but i have to know, do you think “east of eden” is poor writing? also i’d love a few examples of what books you find to be truly great (so i can read them if i haven’t already.)
99. Marv in DC: I actually liked the ending of “The Mist” for the FILM. I wondered what they were going to do, since the story ending is somewhat ambiguous. The place where they messed up in that one was pausing an incredibly knuckle-biting scene in the pharmacy to show off a stupid special effect (spiders inside a guy) that not only completely shattered the tension, but gave away what was about to happen next. Otherwise, I thought it a very good adaptation, and the ending made me fall off the couch!
As for the rest, “Children of the Corn” is a mediocre short story that made a terrible film. “Misery” was good not because it was scary, but because the characters were so good. King is at his best when he concentrates on character, not on trying to scare you. I enjoy his books even when they don’t scare me. (And you can’t scare me with this stuff – I’m too jaded.)
“The Dead Zone” is a good example of character over scares. It certainly has scary parts, but the overall emphasis is on the people and how this situation affects them. It’s a very strong book and the movie was well done, with good actors.
“The Green Mile” was AWESOME. Tom Hanks is great. I read the book the way SK wanted me to: in installments, not waiting for the compilation (which I have now).
I agree that there are better, more literary writers, but King will always be a special favorite because I usually enjoy his stories very much. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid and it’s been interesting to watch his body of work change over the years.
i absolutely love shawshank redemption i agree with that
the shining is a great fillm also
i didnt read through all 158 comments, but a quick correction, shawshank redemption is actually number 1 on IMDB
usually dont watch much scary movies because they are not good but almost all these movies are ones i have watched time and time again.
I have to say this is a good list but I would’ve made it differantly. I’ve actually seen all of these movies myself and I’ve read some of the books they are bases on. I’m surprised to see Rose Red was included, I found it to be pretty disappointing and way too long and boring at times. I’m also surprised that Carrie wasn’t included. It’s an iconic film and King really rose to fame b/c of this story. It’s also an iconic horror film that takes place in a high school setting that is now a popular genre.
I was also surprised to see that Cujo wasn’t included since that is also an iconic film. I would’ve replaced storm of the century with Cujo since Storm is good but it’s also too long and some scenes were just not needed at all. So, overall I did enjoy reading it and I hope my comments are thought worthy. thanx for reading
Woo Hoo!!!!! Awesome list!!!!
My first King novel was ‘Rose Madder’, and an excellent novel it was…. kept me up for several hours a night for a week when I was fifteen. ‘It’ has to be among the best, as is “Insomnia”, and a lot of others…
Hello, I am a huge Stephen King fan and I buy every last one of his books and am in the process of collecting his movies. Actually, all of his books are magnificant, however, I have been disappointed by a lot of the movies, I don’t think the directors and the ones that write the screenplays based off of his books have done a good job (Stephen King does not write the screenplay for his movies). The Shining (Stephen Kubrik’s) is definitely on to put. Although I have seen Stephen King’s version, his is actually a little more erier, but Kubrik’s had much better actors involved….Who can forget Jack Nicholson. But there were some classics that were extremely good that did not make the cut. If I wrote the list I would include, in no particular order:
1. Green Mile
2. Cujo
3. Carrie
4. Pet Semetary
5. Stand By Me
6. It (does get boring after the second half, even in the book)
7. Rose Red
8. Misery
9. Needful things
10 Sleepwalkers
11. Silver Bullet
12. Children of the Corn
13. Monkey Shines
14. The Shining
15. Firestarter
Personally I’d have placed “Hearts in Atlantis” and “The Green Mile” higher on the list than “The Shining” and “The Mist”: For me the latter two were way too BORING++ and Cliche’d++ to be as high as they were. As for “It” – has virtually turned me off Stephen King -based movies forever!
I also tend to believe King’s Novellas and Short Stories are actually far superior to his novels – I think he tries to be TOO shocking in the full-length format.
The elderly woman in The Stand is Mother Abigail Freemantle, not Grandma Moses.
I’ve seen 9 out of 15 of these but haven’t read any of the books
When I was a child “It” scared the bejeezus out of me. I watched it again for the first time in over a decade a few months ago, and found it completely ridiculous and totally un-scary. Go figure.
I’ve never read any of Stephen King’s work, but I have seen all of these movies, and while some I truly enjoy, others completely put me off the thought of reading one of King’s novels. He is the next on my book list, though, whenever I get the time to actually read recreationally again.
Oh, and I’m giving a shout-out to Kubrick’s “The Shining” as well — much, much better than King’s version.
lo: sorry it took so long to get back to you, but I was having trouble connecting with LV for several hours.
I don’t remember all of the short stories of King’s that I read, but the one’s I liked I do recall: The Body, 1408, Needful Things.
Those three had something compelling in them. They all, if I remember correctly, were morality plays.
Since I generally read non-fiction, 3 to 1 in fact, I am very picky, very, very choosy about my fiction. I saw you ask Randall about Steinbeck. I read all of Steinbeck in high school and loved it. I don’t know how I’d feel about it now, as an adult.
Faulkner and Joyce I love and Tolstoy I love. When I hear people say they can’t understand or “get through” one of them, I’m astonished! I find them easy to understand. My children were reading them in high school, so the “too difficult” label doesn’t hold water with me. Boring, is a personal opinion, and that I can buy.
just chiming in to say that hearts in atlantis is a beautiful story. er, several stories. either way, it was one of my favorites…
and misery was my first stephen king book….and i believe the first film based on his work that i saw. pure win, that.
Ah,Shawshank Redemption was extraordinary film, maybe one of best I’ve seen in my life. The same could be said about Misery; Kathy Bates is simply marvelous in this movie. However,I cannot say the same about Red Rose. It was interesting story, but the movie simply put me into a sleep.
I’ll agree with whoever said that Dead Zone should have been on the list.
I loveds the Mist, has such a funnily morbid ending, thought dreamcatchers might be on here but hey cant disagree with the list King has an awesome style of writing.
Oh man, Rose Red? That was one of the most boring miniseries ever! I still can’t believe I sat and watched the whole thing. Carrie should have been on this list and the original Shining should be on there as well.
Any King fans hear the rumors of a Dark Tower movie?
no langoliers? :/
segue- since i typed that i read “east of eden” “so long ago” i’ve been trying to pinpoint when it was. i’ve read it more than once, but i think it was first when i was 16 and last when i was 19 or 20. maybe it wouldn’t seem as lovely to me now, but i remember this one page that was nearly a prose poem that stayed with me, i wish i had the book here. i found it (thanks google):
“Sometimes a kind of glory lights up the mind of a man. It happens to nearly everyone. You can feel it growing or preparing like a fuse burning toward dynamite. It is a feeling in the stomach, a delight of the nerves, of the forearms. The skin tastes the air, and every deep-drawn breath is sweet. Its beginning has the please of a great stretching yawn; it flashes in the brain and the whole world glows outside your eyes. A man may have lived all of his life in the gray, and the land and trees of him dark and somber. The events, even the important ones, may have trooped by faceless and pale. And then – the glory – so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose and dappling light under a tree blesses his eyes. Then a man pours outward, a torrent of him, and yet he is not diminished. And I guess a man’s importance in the world can be measured by the quality and number of his glories. It is a lonely thing but it relates us to the world. It is the mother of all creativeness, and it sets each man separate from all other men.”
~John Steinbeck, East of Eden
i’m dying to hear what books/authors strike randall as “great.” these last few “book lists” have made me so sad that nearly all my books are in storage 6 hours away
Segue, Randall: If you read The Body did you not also read Apt Pupil? Very creepy story with none of the contrivances possible; no supernatural element. One of better written stories too. I believe SK has become a victim of his own popularity – he doesn’t need or heed an excellent editor; his stuff will sell anyway. Sometimes it is a good thing when someone prevents us from indulging in our every whim. He could be a great technical writer if he chose that path – and it shines through every so often regardless.
and for the record, i am a steven king fan, that’s why i know random things like the fact that “rose red” was written directly for the screen by king and was not a “real book” prior.
mom424- “rose red” is a great example of king indulging his every whim just because he can! (it’s pretty poor, but i still enjoyed it as a haunted house yarn). i’ve read few of his novels, but think i’ve read nearly all the short stories. this list has made me think of one called “Little Sisters of Eluria” that i read recently and enjoyed.
“no langoliers? :/”
Ha, that’s what I was gonna say.
I can’t believe it took so long for someone to mention the Dark Tower series. As for the movies (it’ll have to be movies), I haven’t heard anything. I can’t imagine them being very good though…
As for the whole “Is King good?” debate, as someone who’s read a decent share of his books, he is a very entertaining read. That’s all. He is the literary equivalent of eating potato chips. They’re delicious, and you can’t have just one…but they do nothing for you nutritionally
THINNER!!
where is thinner
one of the best stephen king films ever.
much better than some of the films and terrible mini series on here!
153. Egg – February 12th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
DW Griffith IS better than Quentin Tarantino though.