10 Stephen King Short Stories that Deserve a Feature Film

It is the story of an unnamed college dropout on the road beset by a captivating woman whose sheer presence causes him to participate in some truly horrific activities to “prove his love to her.” The protagonist is, himself, of an othered ilk — he’s introduced as a Rambo-type hippy (I’m talking the opening act of First Blood, not anything past that) who is persecuted for his “otherness.”

There’s a lot to play with in terms of identity here, and a possible backstory surrounding a seemingly troubled youth would open a world of possibility. That’s why I like Flanagan for this: it’s also a deeply intimate story about mental illness, relationships, and the capacity for evil. Nona herself is a captivating mistress whose mystery is held so close to the vest that she would be entrancing on screen. 

Nona is one of my favorite Stephen King short stories. It became a tradition for me to lay out in the sunshine and read the story as an initiation to summer, which is odd considering it takes place in the dead of winter. Ultimately, I have always wanted an adaptation of “Nona” – I’ve even named a tattoo I have after her.

A sci-fi horror tale that roots itself in the mystery of…sand? Yup, sand. But it’s a lot more than that. “Beachworld” is a beautiful study on the psychological effects of isolation. It’s a slow burn, with building tension between main characters Shapiro and Rand, that pivots to the more monstrous implications of the planet on which they have crash-landed.

With CGI creating masterful robotics on-screen (like Interstellar), the androids can be fleshed out with red herrings. There are memories of surfing beaches, a longing for the old, and a third act with a rescue ship that, while very abrupt in the story, could be drawn out to give weight to what comes next. Plus, it’s a mystery. Is Rand going completely psycho? Or is there something else on the planet that could haunt the space voyagers? 

Whannell’s work toeing the line between horror and science fiction, as displayed in Upgrade, would play very well here, especially with the slow-burn tension. His more active storytelling would give “Beachworld” the boost it needs to cover a feature length, adding some action to what could be just a lot of eerie landscapes.

“The Boogeyman” is one of the first things I read of King’s work, and to this day, it chills my soul (even more so now as a new parent). It hits a vital nerve of parenthood—the idea of putting your child to sleep and them not waking up in the morning *shivers*. But what if there was something otherworldly causing this?

It’s a story about the destruction of a family, the unraveling of a father, and the horrific reveal that he might not be going crazy. The framing story in the psychiatrist’s office provides lots of potential for unreliable narrators and undermines our understanding of the situation. 

The visuals in the story are so unsettling, needing to be handled with a gentle hand but without diminishing the horrific. And what starts as a mystery raveled in the pathological breakdown of a father quickly turns to the realm of horror. Jordan Peele is an expert crafter of suspense, creating scenes that slow burn amidst intense moments of shock and awe, which would be perfect for the story of “The Boogeyman.” His work in Get Out would play very well here because we know something is wrong, but we’re not sure what. That’s exactly how The Boogeyman could take on a feature film. 

Despite being a short story (more of a novella), there is a lot to unpack in “The Gingerbread Girl.” King’s story of Emily, who takes up running after the loss of her two-month-old child, goes so much farther in its implications than what’s just on the surface.

The first act of a marriage falling apart and Emily running to her father’s house on a tiny Florida Key, her growth as a runner and overcoming her grief, and, of course, the horrific twist that the tiny, empty Key boasts the vacation home of a wealthy man who gets his kicks murdering young women. And he’s got his sights on Emily (technically, she puts her sights on him and sees something she shouldn’t). 

With all the layers at play here, from the outwardly horrific to the emotionally underpinned, Karyn Kusama’s forays into horror hit the right notes to capture Emily’s internal and external struggles. Kusama definitely doesn’t shy away from the grotesqueries (a la Jennifer’s Body) but also handles the subtleties with a delicate eye (a la The Invitation). Even as the story mentions, this isn’t a horror movie; this is Emily’s life, and the film should have that lived-in feel Kusamas’ films often carry. 

RELATED: Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ Forged His Path to Horror Greatness

Blockade Billy is another one of King’s love letters to baseball. The story revolves around a minor league team whose catchers are going down like drummers in Spinal Tap. In a desperate attempt to find someone to fill in until they find a permanent replacement, they pull up William Blakley from his small-town league.

His exploits soon become legendary, earning him the moniker “Blockade Billy,” but there’s something off. He only repeats what others say, captivates the ornery pitcher who doesn’t like anyone, and some of his home plate blocks end badly. It’s an underdog sports movie wrapped in a mystery and ends in horror — some of my favorite things! 

Krasinski’s work with A Quiet Place proves he’s up to the task and has a “baseball” flavor about him. His work would very much captivate the spirit of old-school baseball while deftly navigating the more horrific elements of a film adaptation. 

My dad told me a story when I was young about how he quit smoking. He had lost the tip of his finger in a power saw and had it sewn back on. It was crooked, and you could see the scar. But I didn’t know that. I knew what he had told me: when you quit smoking, a cabal of evil finger cutters would come and take your finger if you ever lit up again.

It was a cautionary tale of why I should never smoke, and damn did it work. I even told my friends about it. That was until, of course, I read King’s “Quitters, Inc.,” and that was also the moment I learned my dad was a prankster of the highest order, and to this day, he denies ever telling me the quitting story. My dad is not to be trusted with things like this.

The actual story of “Quitters, Inc.” plays out in a slightly different fashion, with Richard “Dick” Morrison attempting to quit smoking and being referred to the small firm founded by a mob boss who died of lung cancer. The threats of aversion therapy are directed mainly at Dick’s family, and the narrative, playing out over several months, could grow into a full world of paranoia, close calls, and terror.

It’s got a gritty underworld feel that Scott Derrickson excels in, but it’s also laced with dark humor that makes our mafioso villains quite endearing. The premise is so simple and goes so deep into the upheaval of Dick’s life it would be a truly terrifying movie. 

Rage is pretty famously out of print in the U.S. by request of King himself after being linked to four school shootings (First Editions copies sell for $1,200 on eBay, and the 1985 The Bachman Books collection can run you up to $100 in used book stores). King wrote the book during his high school years as a cathartic exercise in his youthful angst. But it’s pretty clear why the story was taken off the shelves.

The students held hostage by a deeply disturbed school shooter, Charlie, begin identifying and understanding him over the course of their four-hour entrapment. The book ends with Charlie, now institutionalized, receiving a hopeful note saying, “There are a lot of us pulling for you, Charlie.” 

The short story is a compelling read. A disturbed Breakfast Club meets Carrie. The bullying, abuse, and mental illness of Charlie’s upbringing confront hard truths about the lack of access to real support for youth trauma. You’re not meant to sympathize with Charlie. It’s more so a portrait of the human capacity for evil.

With her adept handling of trauma, Jennifer Kent would be a beautiful choice for the psychology of the work. But rewrites would be necessary, veering away from Lord of the Flies and more toward Battle Royale, where we have true heroes working against Charlie. The ending of The Mist was changed in horrifying fashion for the screen, and I think Rage’s final act could be adapted in a modern way that undercuts Charlie’s actions and makes him a truer villain of the narrative. 

When thinking of the dream director for “The Road Virus Heads North,” I considered a few more classic choices, like James Wan or Andy Muschietti. Their proven ability to create novel jump scares in an industry full of cliche jumps would work very well for this more classically terrifying horror tale.

The story centers on horror writer Richard Kinnell, who picks up a bizarre and captivating painting at a yard sale. He learns that this is the last remaining work of a disturbed artist who killed himself after burning all his other paintings. As Richard continues on his road trip, the wild-eyed man with sharp teeth in the painting changes with each mile. Something about the changes becomes more familiar, hitting closer to home (literally and figuratively).

It’s building tension and picturesque gore and thus enter Guillermo del Toro. Famous for the enchanting nature of his work and ability to capture the beauty of the misfits, del Toro would give a hauntingly alluring gaze to the more straightforward horror short adapted for the big screen. 

To really make it a road trip movie—which is exactly what this is—it would need some fleshing out, an opening book signing, and more stops along the road trip. Road trip horror is a rare breed of amazing, and “Road Virus” could fulfill many tropes with a gradual intensity, which is also another one of del Toro’s specialties. 

Related: 10 Movies You Forgot Were Based on Stephen King Stories

When it comes to “The Man in the Black Suit,” it’s all about atmosphere. Narrator Gary recounts an encounter many years before when he was a young boy. Though the meeting is brief, there’s still plenty here that could build a genuinely intense feature horror film. First, Gary tells us that his brother died recently of a bee sting — expanding this into the full opening of the film adds emotional weight to everything that comes after.

While Gary is fishing, he is accosted by the titular Man in the Black Suit. The man is described intensely as a frightening presence that captures the imagination and, if done right, would be absolutely terrifying on screen. The man tells Gary lies about his family, but the lies are just believable enough to enhance the narrative. Michael Chaves has a knack for this kind of tension and building a foreboding presence that somehow haunts Gary.

While in the short story, Gary is lamenting a possible second encounter with the Man, a feature could twist expectations as we see this final showdown in all its gory glory. It’s a brief encounter with the Devil, so building on that brevity to create tension for a feature runtime would mean atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere.

Killer frogs, assemble! It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a good infestation creature feature, the likes of The Bees or Arachnophobia. “Rainy Season” has the double whammy of folk horror and animals in revolt: a couple arrives in the small town of Willow for a summer vacation only to discover they are this season’s tribute.

In true folk horror fashion, its superstition meets supernatural as outsiders enter a tight-knit community who “old-man Ralph (a al Friday the 13th)” their way around the couple, telling them they shouldn’t be here and should leave. But it’s all part of the ritual. See, a plague of frogs with razor-sharp teeth is about to rain down with the season’s first rainfall, and as long as the frogs eat the outsiders, the town is safe from certain destruction. And in the hands of the right director, it would be total batshit, crazy-town awesomeness.

Dougherty has the right amount of cheese (see sentient Gummy Bears in Krampus) and the right amount of true horror (see the bus story in Trick ’r’ Treat) to balance what could be a schlocky gamble but would most likely be a cult favorite.