We live in a time when horror TV shows have become a big part of television. Whether it’s campy, gory, or anything else, there are so many shows to choose from. And you want to know who has a lot of adaptations out there? The king of horror himself, Stephen King.
But King has so many miniseries, limited series, and shows that it's hard to pick just one to watch. Well, here are the five best Stephen King adaptations and how you can stream them right now. Keep in mind that most of these aren’t full one-for-one adaptations, but they're still fun to watch.
Carrie
Based on the novel Carrie, Stephen King's first published book, the new TV show follows the titular girl, Carrie (Summer H. Howell), as she adjusts to high school after being sheltered her entire life by her religious, overbearing mother. As she goes through the torture of bullying, she discovers she has powers unlike anything else—she is telekinetic.
The series isn’t a one-for-one adaptation of the book, but honestly, that makes the show even better. Mike Flanagan, who famously adapted The Haunting of Hill House, brought it to life over at Amazon Prime, and personally, it’s one of my favorite adaptations so far. It perfectly shows what it would be like to be a girl and suffer like Carrie in today’s world with social media, and it improves on the story.
While the Carrie movie is great and the later adaptations are alright, this is the series I'd truly recommend, especially since Flanagan has a “three-season plan.”
You can stream Carrie on Amazon Prime.
Mr. Mercedes
Starring Brendan Gleeson, this crime drama is adapted from the Stephen King novel Mr. Mercedes and the two novels that followed. The series mainly follows a retired detective (Gleeson) who is haunted by the unsolved case of a man who drove a Mercedes through sixteen people during a job fair years ago. While thinking about it, he runs into the path of a new psychopath who is looking to change his life and not for the better.
It’s annoying that this series premiered on Audience and then ended in 2020, so it never really got a clear final season. But the three seasons we got were well-written and adapted, and they featured great performances from both Gleeson and Harry Treadaway, who played Brady, the psychopath we mentioned earlier. It’s a fun, well-received series worth your time.
You can stream Mr. Mercedes with a Peacock add-on on Amazon Prime.
IT: Welcome to Derry
As a girl who grew up watching those IT films and the original movie that starred Tim Curry, I was ready for IT: Welcome to Derry when it was announced. When I finally got around to watching it once all the episodes were out, I was stunned to find that, yes, even Stephen King’s work can be improved and made much more intense.
The series takes place in 1962, 27 years before the events of the IT novel, and follows the kids and their son as they move to Maine, just as another young boy suddenly vanishes without a trace. From there, strange events begin to occur, drawing people together and forcing the kids to hunt down an ancient evil.
I mean, you can't miss much with Welcome to Derry. It has Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgard in his brilliant way, and some of the goriest, creepiest moments I have seen on television in a long, long time. It’s a new level of terror. Personally, I think this is one of the better horror TV shows out there; if you haven’t seen it, you should watch it, even if you haven’t read Stephen King's book. The amount of lore is amazing and thankfully season 2 is already in development.
You can stream IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max.
Castle Rock
Last but not least, we have Castle Rock. With two seasons and based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, this supernatural show will hook you from the first episode. The series creatively weaves elements, characters, themes, and other aspects from several different King novels into the same town, which, of course, is set in Maine.
The series really had a lot going for it, and if you’re a King fan, it gave us plenty of characters from the books with deep backgrounds for the first time. Each season felt more like an anthology than anything else because it introduced new stories every time. It’s a shame Hulu canceled it because of streaming strategy and other 2020 factors, so we never got more seasons. But the ones we did get were killer (pun intended).
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.
All of these shows are available to stream online, so happy streaming!
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