The term "master of horror" gets thrown around a lot these days, but if anyone deserves the title, it's Stephen King. His prolific catalog of horror classics and dramatic short stories has been a spooky season staple for decades. With Halloween just around the corner and his latest adaptation, "The Long Walk," finally making the trek to streaming, it's the perfect time to revisit some of your favorite stories from the author on the big screen.
King's work is basically a genre in and of itself, and just like with any genre, there's a Grand Canyon-sized gulf in quality between the best and worst examples. Luckily, for every adaptation that falls short, there are several more that elevate the source material into iconic nightmare fuel that leaves me sleeping with the light on.
5. 'The Shining' (HBO Max)
"The Shining" is a contender for the title of horror movie GOAT for a reason. Jack Nicholson is both iconic and terrifying as Jack, who takes his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to a remote mountain lodge to work as its winter caretaker. It's supposed to be an easy gig, a bit of R&R to bring his family together again and push him through his writer's block. But the Overlook Hotel has other plans for their stay, which quickly descends into a living nightmare.
This movie is beloved because it trades in the scrappy low-rent quality of King's other works for director Stanley Kubrick's meticulous craftsmanship and vision, making it undeniably among the most cinematic adaptations on this list. But it's not top spot material in my book. I'm not alone either; King himself famously isn't a fan of this adaptation, which makes me feel validated for all my nitpicky issues by comparison.
Watch "The Shining" on HBO Max now
4. 'Gerald's Game' (Netflix)
![Gerald's Game | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/twbGU2CqqQU/maxresdefault.jpg)
Anything from Mike Flanagan is an instant must-watch for me, so you know I had to include "Gerald's Game" on this list. With a story that unfolds almost entirely in a single room, King's 1992 novel was long thought to be unfilmable, but Flanagan managed to finally crack the code.
Carla Gugino stars as the trapped and increasingly desperate Jessie, who's stuck handcuffed to the bed after her husband Gerald Burlingame (Bruce Greenwood) dies from a heart attack. Most of the action unfolds in her mind, but Flanagan’s clever use of flashbacks and imagined conversations turns Jessie’s internal torment into a gripping psychological nightmare that winds tension tighter with every turn.
Watch "Gerald's Game" on Netflix now
3. 'It' (HBO Max)
I wasn't excited for the "It" two-part movie remake until I saw Bill Skarsgård's take on Pennywise in an extended preview. I love Tim Curry as much as the next person, but he's more funny to me than scary in the original miniseries. With Skarsgård, he plays Pennywise more like a lure on a cosmic horror angler fish than a literal clown, a living nightmare piloting a human meat mech, and it's thoroughly unsettling.
"It" couldn't have come at a more perfect time, too, riding the wave of '80s horror nostalgia that "Stranger Things" kicked off (complete with Finn Wolfhard in the cast). The movie follows a group of young outcasts pitted against an inhumane killer lurking beneath the streets of their idyllic Maine town. Director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation stands out not just for its scares but for its uncanny ability to make you care about its young heroes as they stare down unimaginable horrors.
Watch "It" on HBO Max now
2. 'The Long Walk' (2025)
When it comes to dystopias, you don't get much bleaker than "The Long Walk." Director Francis Lawrence's, best known for helming "The Hunger Games" films (except the first), new adaptation is a grueling watch but a satisfying one nonetheless. Plus, Mark Hamill is in top form as yet another villain you love to hate.
The premise of this story is simple: 50 young men enter an endurance competition to walk and walk and walk some more until only one of them is left standing. Anyone who falls behind is executed on the spot. It works, and allows Lawrence to trade the grim spectacle of "The Hunger Games" for even grimmer realism, where bloodied, mangled feet and brutal violence are somehow less terrifying than the disturbingly familiar military dystopia chewing them up and spitting them out.
Buy or rent "The Long Walk" on Amazon or Apple now
1. 'Carrie' (1976)
"Carrie" ranks among my all-time favorites because the only thing I love more than horror movies is the badass women starring in horror movies. And Sissy Spacek's haunting performance is one for the history books, even earning an Academy Award nod — an accolade that's still frustratingly rare for the genre.
She stars as the titular Carrie, a shy teenage outcast caught between her classmates' bullying and her Bible-thumping mother (Piper Laurie). A small act of kindness from a popular classmate (Amy Irving) could finally be her chance at climbing the social ladder, but King rarely serves up happy endings. Director Brian De Palma delivers with every chill, scream, and one of cinema’s most unforgettable shock-and-awe sequences. You can catch "Carrie" on MGM Plus now, but as of November 1, it'll stream on Tubi for free (just food for thought).
Watch "Carrie" on MGM Plus now
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