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Greetings again from the uncomfortable spot of having to pick my 'favorite' horror media, a position in which my editors seem to just delight in putting me. On this week's episode of Popverse Picks, I've been tasked with compiling some of my favorite Stephen King adaptations, and since you know how difficult I also delight in being, loyal reader, that's going to go well beyond your standard movies and TV shows.

Yet, similar to my horror franchise favorites of articles past, I prefer to begin by taking the most obvious choice off the table first. That, of course, is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. With absolute respect for King himself (who is famously not nuts about the movie), The Shining is, to my mind, one of the towering achievements in all of horror. So, to pay deference to the Master and to keep this list from being predictable, I'm saying right now we're not considering it.

If you don't like that, well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the picks anyway. I know I had fun writing it so in any case, I kind of come out the winner here. That's author privilege, baby!

Best adaptation of a Stephen King novel into a movie: Misery

Kathy Bates won the Academy Award for a reason, folks. Think about the fact that Stephen King is behind some of the most horrifying supernatural creatures in all of cinema (Pennywise, He Who Walks Behind the Rows, The Overlook Hotel), and yet, when it comes to the freakiest characters with his DNA, a regular human nurse constantly makes the Top Five list.

I guess "regular human" is a bit of a stretch, but the point is that the only thing that makes Annie Wilkes so terrifying is the legendary performance by Kathy Bates. That performance won her the Best Actress Award at the 1991 Oscars and still resonates today. In fact, in today's culture of toxic fandom, it might be even more relevant now.

Best adaptation of a Stephen King short story into a movie: 1922

This might be a controversial opinion, but I think one of the best things Stephen King does is take familiar Americana and make it horrifying. That's certainly something that made it into 1922, the slow-burning horror-noir that turns heartland into bloody guts. No, this movie doesn't have the biggest jump scares and you could argue that the "supernatural" elements of the film could be chalked up to Thomas Jane's character's hallucinations, but it does make singularly brilliant usage of one of the most terrifying forces of all: guilt.

Best adaptation of a Stephen King screenplay into a movie: Creepshow

Stephen King has written a few screenplays in his day, and I don't think a single one of them shines brighter than the 5-part Creepshow. Remember, Stephen King is, at heart, a kid who grew up on EC Comics, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Creepshow. Yes, I know that both The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill and The Crate are technically adaptations of other King works, but I'm offering the Creepshow script up as a whole here - both Jordy and Fluffy are just parts of the whole. 

Best adaptation of a Stephen King novel into an action figure: This large Pennywise

Alright, now we're getting into weird territory, and beloved reader, you know that's where I like to spend my days. From the many pieces of merchandise made out of King properties, few are replicated like the Bill Skarsgård iteration of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and few pieces of Pennywise the Dancing Clown merch capture the King-created terror like this guy.

Just look at that! You can put that in your house right now! Hell, you can even put it in your bedroom, if you're that kind of Bill Skarsgård fan.

Best adaptation of a Stephen King novel into a dog's Halloween costume: This small Pennywise

Look, I'd like to consider myself the sophisticated sort, but when it comes right down to it, you put a Halloween costume on a dog, and I will give you money. And if we get into more and more obscure adaptations of Stephen King's works, I'm naturally going to want to work my delight in costume canines into this whole ordeal. Granted, this is pretty much the only Stephen King novel adapted into a dog's Halloween costume (save for Georgie, from the same movie), but even if there were more than this, I think I'd still consider it the best.

A puppy Annie Wilkes sure would give it a run for its money, though.

Best adaptation of a Stephen King novel into a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror special: The Shinning

I am a giant fan of The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror (check out my comic book collection for proof), so whenever America's favorite cartoon family tackles America's favorite horror writer, I'm obviously going to take note. And though I think there have been some stellar King sketches (I wrote about the 2022 parody Not It a few Halloweens ago), none come close to the very first one, which showed up in Treehouse of Horror V.

Maybe it was the fact that it was written during The Simpsons' golden years that makes this sketch so great. Maybe it's the fact that Moe just works as an Overlook Hotel employee. Either way, this is one I've revisited many a Halloween before, and one I'll revisit again in Halloweens' future.

Best adaptation of a Stephen King short story named after a song covered by Stephen King: Stand by Me

OK Kinglings, let's get into what you really want: niche, Inception-like meta-adaptations that would make even the most pedantic of Stephen King fans say, 'this is too much.' But before we get there, we gotta talk about the Rock Bottom Remainders.

Composed of a rotating group of some of America's most widely read authors, the Rock Bottom Remainders are a musical group that has included everyone from Scott Turow to Matt Groening to Amy Tan to, of course, Stephen King. They've only put out one charity album, Stranger Than Fiction, and it featured a set entirely made of song covers. So, what song did Stephen King cover on his one studio album?

You guessed it, the same song referenced in the cinematic adaptation of his story The Body, Stand By Me.

To be entirely fair, I don't think any other piece of media had been adapted in this way (story > movie > author sings song featured in movie). But then again, that's a great argument for this one being the best, isn't it?

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.