If you’ve ever seen a clown at a party and got scared out of your wits, then you probably have Stephen King’s books to thank for the trauma. Stephen King has been scaring people’s socks off since 1974 — that’s half a century’s worth of incredible horror stories. Everything from a tale about humiliating a girl during prom to turning the friendliest dog species into a town’s nightmare, the man has given us a lot of trauma. Since his first publication, he has proven himself to be a master at storytelling. Later, he was crowned as the “King of Horror” and has lived up to the reputation with nearly all of his works. His books have simple concepts that he expands upon with well-thought-out plots, rightly placed horror elements, and multi-dimensional characters. Like he always likes to say, he puts ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
Over the years, he has also delved into other genres, including fantasy and drama, with stories like 11/22/63, The Green Mile, and Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption. These stories prove that he is not just a great horror writer but a great storyteller in general. Nearly all his works have been adapted into a movie or a TV show. So, his fans have had the opportunity to not only enjoy his books but also see his creations on the big screen.
In this article, we’re going to be talking about the 7 best Stephen King books that were adapted for live-action movies. These Stephen King movies were fantastic in their adaptation and have brought more people into the world that the King of Horror has created.
How Many Books Has Stephen King Written?
Stephen King has a total of 65 novels, 12 short story collections, and 5 non-fiction books. His first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974 and was received unanimously with positive reviews. Within two years of its release, the book was adapted into a movie in 1976. The movie Carrie is considered one of the best Stephen King adaptations as well.
Best Stephen King Books 2024
Stephen King is one of the most consistent writers, and nearly every book he’s written has been received well by readers. The following list has some of Stephen King’s best books that have made their way into Hollywood production. Let’s take a look at our favorites.
BEST OVERALL
The Shining
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The Shining is the story of Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and a recovering alcoholic. At the beginning of the story, Jack works as a literature professor but loses his job because of his alcoholism and anger issues. Later, one of his closest friends offers him a job as the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the off-season. Jack takes the opportunity not only as a means of income but also as an opportunity to work on his book and resolve his psychological issues. He moves into the hotel with his wife, Wendy, and his five-year-old son, Danny. Unknown to any of them, the hotel has a dark and evil presence that is about to change their life forever.
The Shining stands tall among all his works in terms of book and movie adaptation. It is a psychological horror story with incredibly tense moments right till the end of the climax. King has this innate ability to create eerie moments with the descriptions and ideas that he pours into his work. King explores the themes of mental illness, isolation, addiction, psychological and supernatural beings, and so much more.
The movie, on the other hand, focused more on supernatural perspective but was still brilliantly executed by director Stanley Kubrick. King was vocal about his disappointment with the changes the movie made, but nonetheless, the movie is one of the best horror movies and a classic for the viewers. If you’ve only seen the movie, then take this opportunity to read the book and see what’s the difference between the two. This is still one of the best Stephen King books in 2024.
BEST THRILLER
Misery
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Misery is a story about a best-selling author, Paul Sheldon. He is known for his romantic novels, and one in particular, Misery, which features the character Misery Chastain. In the manuscript of his final book of the series, he kills off Misery during childbirth. Days later, during a night of snowstorm, he gets caught in the storm and crashes his car near a small town known as Sidewinder.
Paul wakes up to Annie, a former nurse who is trying to stabilize his condition. Instead of taking him to the hospital, she takes him to her house and treats him there. Upon reading his Misery manuscripts, she gets furious about him killing the main character — she turns out to be an obsessive fan of his books. In retaliation, she takes him hostage and forces him to write a story where Misery is resurrected. The story continues to delve into the themes of mental instability, toxic fandom, desperation, and violent torture.
With Misery, Stephen King blends both horror and thriller with an edge-of-the-seat story. Here, he manages to create a sense of deep anxiety and uncertainty about Paul’s fate, who is being held hostage for months. With Annie being so unstable, there is no saying what she’ll do next. King does a great job describing her behavior, and whether you’re too squeamish or not, her acts will send chills down your spine. This is definitely one of his most violent books. The book has also been adapted into a movie in 1990, for which Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role as Annie. The movie has definitely captivated audiences with its adaption.
BEST SCI-FI FANTASY
The Mist
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The Mist is a novella published in 1980 as a part of the Dark Forces anthology. The story takes place in Bridgton, Maine, and centers around David Drayton, who is trapped in a grocery store along with his son, Billy, and neighbor, Brent. There is a massive thunderstorm outside, covering the entire town in an unusually thick mist. While everyone hides in the store, the mist brings unknown and dangerous creatures along with it. Now, David must take charge and work with others so that they can get back to their cars and return home safely. The story explores how desperate humans can get in dire situations.
Stephen King based the story on an idea he got while he was in a grocery store during a thunderstorm with his son. Isn’t it amazing how the mundane places around us can inspire creative minds to come up with such concepts? Stephen King has written a lot of books, but it’s his simplest concepts that carry heavy weight. Most of the book takes place inside the store, yet the story rarely falters to engage the readers and retain their attention. Frank Darabont, the director of the movie, also does a great job of adapting the story and characters in the most engaging way. A lot of the effects are used convincingly to create the necessary environment.
BEST SUPERNATURAL DRAMA
Carrie
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This book is about Carietta “Carrie” White, a 16-year-old girl living in Chamberlain, Maine, with her mother Margaret. She is born with telekinesis, the power to control objects with her mind. One day, she is bullied by Chris Hargensen, a popular girl in the school, which sends her into a state of panic. Later Chris gets expelled from the school and with a sense of retribution, she makes a plan to humiliate Carrie in front of the entire school. She asks her friends to ask Carrie out for prom and rigs the election, naming Carrie as the prom queen. This is when she dumps buckets of pig blood on her, harnessing laughter from everyone there. This enrages Carrie to take her revenge and goes on a rampage.
Carrie was Stephen King’s first mainstream novel. What was intended to be a short story later became a complete novel. King uses the idea of being an outcast and suppressing emotions to tell this revenge fantasy in a harrowing way. When Carrie unleashes her powers, it creates a terrifying situation for everyone, even readers. For his first book, this was an incredible feat. In terms of movie adaptations, there have been a few movies since its release. But it’s always the first one that most people prefer. The first movie was released two years after the book was published and was directed by Brian De Palma.
BEST HORROR MYSTERY
IT
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The story of IT takes place in the small town of Derry, Maine. The book is divided into two parts; the first part takes place between 1957 and 1958, with the second part taking place between 1984 and 1985. It is a story about seven kids fighting an evil entity, Pennywise. He takes the form of a dancing clown and preys on the children of the town by exploiting their fears. And since they don’t know his name, they refer to Pennywise as “it.”
The story starts with one of the main characters, Bill, whose brother, Georgie, is taken away by Pennywise. A year later, Pennywise’s presence grows stronger and more kids go missing. Bill and his friends come together to kill the clown. Unfortunately, Pennywise doesn’t die; he is gone just for now. The second part takes place when Pennywise returns 27 years later, bringing everyone together to kill him once and for all.
IT is one of King’s crowning jewels in this massive catalog of successful novels. This book has had the most cultural influence on the modern readers. Despite having nearly 1200 pages, this isn’t King’s biggest book. The book is massive and has a lot of intricate details of the town and Pennywise’s evil deed. The book was adapted into live-action twice. The first one was a two-part mini-series in 1990 and the second version was a two-part movie released in 2017 and 2019. Both of them made their mark at the time of their release. It’s a great watch if you like horror movies.
BEST FANTASY DRAMA
The Green Mile
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The story of The Green Mile takes place between two time periods. In both periods, the story is narrated by the same person, Paul Edgecomb. In 1930, he worked as a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, aka “The Green Mile,” and in 1996, he recollects the events as an old man resting in a nursing home. He narrates the story of one very unique inmate named John Coffey. He was a large black man convicted of raping and murdering two young girls. Despite his big stature, John was a humble man with a supernatural gift — he could heal others with his touch. The book continues to describe John’s powers through many different events and also the prison guards’ growing empathy towards him, realizing that he may not have committed the crimes. But will the justice system yield?
The Green Mile, published in 1996, was originally split into a six-part series, which was later republished as one novel. This book is definitely one of King’s unique stories. The book ends on an extremely poignant note that leaves us in pieces. King has done exceptional work, making us care for the characters and allowing us to attach to them and feel empathetic.
Frank Darabont directed the movie with the same name — The Green Mile. This was his second Stephen King movie and knows exactly how to approach his adaptations. With an incredible screenplay combined with terrific casting, the movie tugged at our heartstrings at every moment possible.
BEST NOVELLA
Different Seasons
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Different Seasons is a collection of four novellas published in 1982. The stories include Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, The Body, and The Breathing Method. All these four stories correspond to each of the four seasons that we experience. Except for The Breathing Method, all other novellas have had movies made on them. Two of them, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and The Body (movie name: Stand By Me) are considered great cinemas in modern movie culture.
If you’re new to Stephen King books and want to start with something mellow, this could be a good place to start. Each of the stories here is unique, explores different themes, and has personalities of its own. Each of the stories has pretty decent length, so if you’re up for it, you could finish them in a day or two.
Bonus Recommendation
Fairy Tale
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Released in 2022, Fairy Tale is Stephen King’s dark fantasy novel that is being turned into a series soon. Paul Greengrass, who is also known for movies like The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Captain Phillips, is set to work with A24 to develop the book into a 10-episode series. The show is in early development, so there isn’t any information about the timeline for its release at the moment.
The book is about a 17-year-old boy, Charlie Reade, who lives with his father, George. After his elderly neighbor, Mr. Howard Bowditch dies, and his German Shepherd dog, Radar, falls ill, he finds a recorded message. The message is addressed to him and tells him about a portal in Mr. Howard’s backyard that leads to a hidden world. It turns out that Mr. Howard is actually 120 years old and this world is the reason for his long life. Charlie takes it upon himself to take Radar there and help her restore to health. But all is not as easy as it seems, there are dark forces in that world at play and he finds himself in between all of the chaos.
Stephen King spends a decent amount of the book with Charlie and Radar, where their bond deepens, which will strike a chord with pet parents. Staying true to its name, the book has a lot of fairy tale elements but with King’s twists on them. And just like most fairy tales, all of it leads to a war between good and evil. The book is definitely worth the read if you want to stay ahead of the adaptation.
Why is Stephen King so Popular?
Stephen King is popular mainly because of his style of writing, which does a great job of captivating readers by creating edge-of-the-seat moments. He has a fantastic sense of how to create and develop an eerie atmosphere with just the right amount of horror elements. The characters he creates are deeply relatable, allowing the readers to bond with the characters and constantly worry about their fate.
It’s not protagonists; even the supernatural characters he creates are iconic, leaving a mark on you forever. Some of his creations have left a mark and continue to do so.
He also has a lot of versatility as he has ventured away from the horror genre quite often. Nearly every genre that he bases his stories on has left a great impression on readers. This is a quality that we rarely see.
How We Chose the Best Stephen King Books
These books were chosen by our team of avid readers who have found solace in reading Stephen King’s books since their childhood. They have read nearly all of his books, spanning multiple genres. They also watched the movie adaptations to compare how similar or different they were from the books.
A lot of factors, like how faithful the movie was to the source material, the screenplay, the cast, and the soundtracks, were considered when making this list. They also did plenty of research online via open forums to understand other readers’ and movie watchers’ perspectives. These books are extremely entertaining and scary at the same time. If you’re looking for some impactful reads from Stephen King that were also made into movies, these are it. Take a pick.
FAQ
What is the most famous Stephen King book?
The Shining is Stephen King’s most famous book.
What is the scariest book ever written?
For us, it’s definitely The Shining, given the dark themes added with supernatural elements. It is then closely followed by Cujo.
Is The Shining scary to read?
Yes. The Shining has great moments of horror, making it one of his best works.
What is Stephen King’s greatest work?
The Stand is considered to be one of his greatest works.
What is unique about Stephen King’s writing?
The Relatable characters, supernatural elements, and his way of describing even the simplest scenes are absolutely wonderful to read.
What is Stephen King’s best-selling movie?
IT: Chapter 1 is the highest-grossing movie based on his books.
What author is similar to Stephen King?
Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, is also a great fiction writer that you should check out.
What was Stephen King’s first bestseller?
His first publication, Carrie, was extremely successful and became a bestseller in a short time.
What is the most sold Stephen King book?
The Shining is his most sold novel.
What book by Stephen King should I read first?
His first book, Carrie, is a great starting point for first-time readers.
