If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Guillermo del Toro thinks most Lovecraft stories belong on television, not the big screen

Yes, we know that del Toro has long had plans for one Lovecraft classic - but what about the others?

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Sep 17 2026

Popverse's top stories

- Jason Momoa cast himself in Street Fighter

- Daniel Warren Johnson turned down DC's Absolute Batman for Transformers, and somehow everyone won

- Oh yeah, Critical Role's Sam Riegel has considered playing a Kobold... and making an all-Kobold game

Ask the average horror fan what Guillermo del Toro project they'd like to see make it to the big screen, and odds are they'll wistfully tell you something about his At the Mountains of Madness. Del Toro's adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name has become something of a white whale for horror fans (and perhaps the director himself), perfect for the Oscar-winning talents but long stuck in development hell.

However, as del Toro recently revealed in a fan Q&A, At the Mountains of Madness isn't the only Lovecraft story he cold see himself doing.

The fan Q&A in question was a Reddit AMA del Toro recently did in advance of the 20th anniversary rerelease of Pan's Labyrinth. During the interview, a fan writing under the name u/Madarakita asked the longtime horror vet if there were any other Lovecraft adaptations besides At the Mountains of Madness he'd like to get his hands on. And while del Toro seemed to have some answers lined up, they did come with a caveat.

"Most of his stories, by virtue of their length," the Shape of Water director wrote, "Are better adapted to one-hour television programs or 30-minute television programs. I would love to adapt The Thing On the Threshold, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or The Outsider, which is a horror story that is point of view until the final image. Those are the ones that scared me the most or disturbed me the most. At The Mountains is the only one, I think, that is a full feature."

That said, the Frankenstein director and longtime staple of the horror community also noted that Lovecraft's works are just difficult in general to adapt, and not necessarily because of their various lengths.

"He uses adjectives that are very open," del Toro said, "So you’ve got to codirect, so to speak, every image. And when you make them into film, they become very precise. To me, the best adaptation of Lovecraft is Ridley Scott’s Alien, which is basically Mountains of Madness. Second-best adaptation for me is The Thing. I know it's not Lovecraft, but it's very Lovecraftian in its makeup effects language. I love In the Mouth of Madness. I love Stuart Gordon’s Dagon. I love The Resurrected by Dan O’Bannon. It's full of craziness. There are a few movies that have been done in the right way."

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth returns to theaters for its 20th anniversary October 9.

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

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.

Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.