Watching these seven best Stephen King adaptations will prepare you for Carrie on Prime Video

For Stephen King fans the month of October is locked in – which is appropriate given it’s the month of Halloween.

For now, we are just two weeks away from the horror visionary Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series dropping on Prime Video on October 7.

The hype for the first ever television adaptation of King’s 1974 novel is already reaching fever pitch, with fans anticipating the telekinetic chaos about to be unleashed by the teenaged psychic.

But how about King fans who just cannot wait to get their TVs switched onto the latest show from America’s top horror writer? That’s where we come in.

Here you’ll find a breakdown of LADbible’s top 7 shows and films to help you survive until Carrie is on hand to wreak havoc with your television screen.

Storm of the Century reminded fans of Window's Bay (ABC)

Storm of the Century (1999)

For those missing Widow’s Bay since the final episode dropped on Apple TV in June, we recommend this ABC mini-series that spooked viewers in the late ‘90s.

Here residents of the isolated Little Tall Island face a terrifying weather event which could destroy everything they know. Like Widow’s Bay the supernatural leaks into the trappings of the local neighbourhood – just without monsters and ancient curses.

1408 (2007)

Rated as one of King’s most standout psychological horror film adaptations, 1408 is directed by Mikael Hafstrom and stars John Cusack as cynical author Mike Enslin. Determined to debunk the paranormal after the death of his daughter, Enslin defied the warnings of hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) against investigating room 1408. What started as an investigation becomes a life-or-death battle for survival in this 80% Rotten Tomatoes-rated movie.

1408 is considered one of King's greatest adaptations (YouTube clip)

Salem’s Lot (1979, 2004, 2024)

Based on King’s 1977 novel, the first two-part miniseries traced the parasitic decay of a secluded Maine community as directed by Tobe Hooper, who branched off from King’s portrayal of head vampire Kurt Barlow by presenting him as an iconic, blue-skinned villain more in keeping with the original Nosferatu.

By 2004 the TNT miniseries returned Barlow to the more sophisticated blood-sucker of the novel, but it was criticised for its use of now out-of-date looking computer graphics of the time.

Then the 2024 film delighted fans with its compressed return to the 1970’s setting with atmospheric shots and hard action showing how locals banded together to rid their small town of the vampiric terror.

The Mist (2007, 2017)

By exploring how human relationships quickly breakdown – and reemerge – under severe hardships caused by the monstrous mist, Frank Darabont’s adaptation went down in history and the definitive interpretation of King’s 1980 novella. Here we see locals trapped in a supermarket, choosing their leaders and battling for survival as they are picked off one-by-one.

By 2017, the story was presented in a sprawling arc across several towns, which focussed on the father-son dynamic of the protagonists with the mist symbolising punishing psychological guilt. Mike Flanagan is in the process of rebooting the story in an upcoming Warner Bros adaptation.

Tim Curry terrified fans with his depiction of Pennywise the Clown (Getty)

IT (1990, 2017, 2019) and Welcome to Derry (2025)

Since the first standout performance by legend Tim Curry as the original Pennywise, traumatised fans have been gripped as the town of Derry suffered horrific and repeated intrusions by the feral clown. The original ABC miniseries was released as a two-part film before it was distributed on video.

The franchise returned twenty-seven years later thanks to director Andy Muschietti - with the band of ‘Loser’s Club’ misfits battling it out against a Pennywise reimagined by actor Bill Skarsgard.

The 2019 movie concluded by bringing back the original child cast in flashbacks, with HBO exploring the themes of exploitation and shapeshifting monsters in the 1960’s set prequel Welcome to Derry.

The Shining (1980, 1997, 2019)

This masterpiece by King, directed by the man many describe as a genius, Stanley Kubrick, has gone down in history as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The story takes the viewer through a cold psychological descent into the soul of the terrifying Overlook Hotel, with Jack Nicholson playing an unhinged would-be writer who banished his family to winter there while he ‘completes’ his work. Nicholson’s unforgettable performance was ironically what infuriated King – who created a sympathetic Jack Torrance main character - and led to conflict with Kubrick who stripped him down to his most brutal mania.

So King wrote and produced the 1997 miniseries faithful to the book, with a redemptive ending but again not great special effects. Director Mike Flanagan stepped in with Doctor Sleep, which reconciled the two warring versions of the tale – King’s depth and Kubrick’s vision.

Nicholson's incredible portrayal of the troubled Jack Torrance is considered an acting masterclass, except by Stephen King (Getty)

Carrie (1976, 1999, 2002, 2013)

With themes of bullying, coming of age and psychic power Brian De Palma’s original movie is considered a masterpiece and the acclaimed finale certainly stays with anyone who ever watches it. Considered the gold standard for King adaptations makes this a hard one to beat, however several have given it a go.

The 1999 sequel, The Rage: Carrie 2 was widely panned as uninspired, and the 2002 NBC television series was seen as clunky in comparison to both the original and the novel. The 2013 remake took a modern twist by weaving cyberbullying into the plot, but the reviews were mixed. With such a high bar set by the original and backlog of lacklustre reboots, Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated version seeks to break new ground rather than retread old paths.