Every Stephen King Movie and TV Show You Can Stream Right Now

There have been attempts before to adapt The Stand, considered by many to be King’s most epic work, but what year was better to tell a story of an apocalyptic pandemic than 2020? This limited series gave an updated, big-budget look at the aftermath of a plague that kills nearly all life—and pits the survivors against one another.

Director Josh Boone was in charge, with an absolutely stacked cast, including Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Jovan Adepo, and Whoopi Goldberg, among others.

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This series, based on King’s Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finder’s Keepers, and End of Watch) was highly-regarded and little-seen for a while; it debuted on DirecTV’s Audience Network. Now, though, the show has moved all three existing seasons to Peacock.

The show has a great cast, led by Brendan Gleeson (best known from In Bruges or in his Harry Potter role of Mad Eye Moody) as retired detective Bill Hodges, on the hunt for a serial killer living in plain sight. This one is creepy in what’s closer to a Silence of the Lambs kind of way than a Pet Semetary kind of way.

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Don’t bully people! I mean, you shouldn’t do that anyway. But the first adaptation of King’s very first novel has proven generations and generations why bullying is not too nice—you never know when the object of scorn can make things…really bad. This is still the best version of one of King’s most classic novels. Sissy Spacek, who plays the titular character went on to a long career, and is even still playing King roles in Castle Rock (more on that later). Plus…this was John Travolta’s very first feature film role. As if you needed any more motivation.

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Secret Window is more thriller/mystery than straight-up horror, but its a really compelling story. Johnny Depp plays a writer (which we know King loves to write) who hides himself away in a secluded lake house in the midst of a divorce to be with himself and maybe get some writing around. Things go well…until a man (John Turturro) appears to accuse the successful writer of plagiarism. This movie came at what was probably the peak of Depp’s movie stardom (right around the time of the first Pirates of the Caribbean), and teaming him up with one of the very greatest character actors in Turturro let the sparks really fly. Based on the story “Secret Window, Secret Garden,” from King’s 1990 collection Four Past Midnight.

Stream It on The Criterion Channel

Dolores Claiborne is a bit more of a mystery or psychological drama than King’s usual brand of horror, but its nonetheless one of the best movies to come from his work. Based on the novel of the same name, this film tells the story of a daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who returns home when her mother (Kathy Bates) is accused of murdering an old woman she was the caretaker for. The script is written by Tony Gilroy (Andor, Michael Clayton), so you know just from that that this is really good.

Stream It on The Criterion Channel

In one of King’s most prescient works, The Dead Zone follows a man (Christopher Walken) who gets into a terrible car accident, and wakes up with psychic powers. In this case, he finds a terrifying politician (Martin Sheen), and after seeing a future that shows what he’s capable of, plots to assassinate him. David Cronenberg is one of the all-time great horror directors, and he doesn’t disappoint here.

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Children of the Corn is one of the most iconic productions of King’s work, and while it’s a bit cheesy, it still holds up to this day. What would you do if you found a group of religious and terrifying children…living in a corn field? Based on a story from his 1978 collection Night Shift, this adaption is fairly faithful, and is a perfect movie to watch with a few beers, some pizza, and some friends.

Stream it on AMC+

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A Good Marriage, which is based on a novella from King’s 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars, is definitely one of the campier entries on this list. The story is one that will sound familiar in the genre: a woman in a longtime marriage finds out that her husband miiiiight just be a serial killer. NBD.

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Based on King’s novel of the same name, Firestarter is about two college students who get experimented 0n to make a little extra money. When those two have a kid, that kid (Drew Barrymore) turns out to have extraordinary powers, namely, the ability to start fires with her mind. This was a huge inspiration for Stranger Things, if you were wondering.

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An absolute horror masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick (which King himself famously doesn’t like), The Shining (based on King’s novel of the same name, but with some changes) is the best movie on this list. Any horror fan should watch this one over and over and over again—it’s kind of the prototypical pick for the “art horror” that has continued into our modern age with movies like Midsommar or shows like Midnight Mass.

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One of our favorite modern masters of horror, Mike Flanagan, is a Stephen King superfan. Not only did he adapt Gerald’s Game into a film for Netflix (more on that in a bit), but he took the tough task of adapting Doctor Sleep, the novel that follows up on the story of The Shining. The theatrical film is a great ride, centering on Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance (the grown up version of Jack’s son from The Shining), but the Director’s Cut takes things to a whole new level. A dark, unforgettable horror experience. Flanagan has more King adaptations on the way—his movie The Life of Chuck (based on a King short story) is due out in 2025, and it was recently announced that he’ll be making his own Carrie series for Prime Video. He also owns the rights to The Dark Tower, so there’s a good chance we’ll see that sooner or later too.

Stream the Theatrical Cut on Max

Stream the Director’s Cut on Prime Video

Maximum Overdrive is Stephen King’s only outing as a director, and it’s truly one of a kind. Loosely based on his short story “Trucks” (from 1978’s Night Shift), the film is about a supernatural happening after a comet passes that makes all machines on earth sentient. While most of King’s stories are dark, intense, and sometimes sincere and earnest, Maximum Overdrive is fairly campy and has a soundtrack entirely by AC/DC (who King has called his favorite band). While King himself has called it a “moron movie,” it’s nonetheless picked up a loving cult following through the years.

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Based on the novel of the same name and directed by Zombie master George A. Romero, The Dark Half finds King writing about what he knows best: a writer. This interesting story follows a writer (played by Timothy Hutton) who has lots of success writing dark novels under a pen name—and then that pen name becomes the primary suspect in a series of gruesome murders.

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Riding the Bullet is certainly among the trashier selections on this list. Based on the novella of the same name, it’s about a young man (Jonathan Jackson) who finds out his mom is dying and tries to hitchhike home, only to find out that the guy who picks him up (David Arquette) is not who he says he is. Don’t hitchhike, kids!

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Let’s be serious for a second. Cell is not one of Stephen King’s best books, and the adaptation of Cell, which somehow got Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack to be a part of its cast, is one of the very worst adaptations of his work. Overall bad! But it’s here if you want to watch. It’s about cell phones that kill you, for what it’s worth.

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The original Salem’s Lot adaptation—based on King’s iconic vampire novel—comes from horror legend Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) and is certainly a strong adaptation. At 3 hours (since it was originally a TV event) it’s a little lengthy, but when it’s good, it’s really good.

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After sitting on the shelf for a few years, Warner Bros. finally released its new adaptation of Salem’s Lot on Max in 2024. Lewis Pullman plays the lead role of Ben Mears, and the film is a solid adaptation of a truly classic vampire story.

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This series, based on King’s 2018 novel of the same name, might just be the best TV adaptation of his work yet. The focus is on a man accused of murder, with DNA evidence sticking him right at the scene of the crime—except he’s also on camera at a conference nearly 100 miles away.

The series makes a number of changes from the source material, but everything is always done in service of the story, adding depth and deeper characterization while maintaining the heart and tentpole moments from the book. With a cast led by Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, and Jason Bateman, The Outsider is a worthy binge for anyone looking for a horror/thriller mash-up.

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