The 15 Best Shows To Watch if You Love Stephen King

Updated Oct 26, 2026, 1:13 PM EDT Liam Gaughan is a film and TV writer at Collider. He has been writing film reviews and news coverage for ten years. Between relentlessly adding new titles to his watchlist and attending as many screenings as he can, Liam is always watching new movies and television shows. In addition to reviewing, writing, and commentating on both new and old releases, Liam has interviewed talent such as Mark Wahlberg, Jesse Plemons, Sam Mendes, Billy Eichner, Dylan O'Brien, Luke Wilson, and B.J. Novak. Liam aims to get his spec scripts produced and currently writes short films and stage plays. He lives in Allentown, PA. Stephen King may be the most popular author of his generation, as there certainly isn’t another writer who has inspired as many great movies. While there are a few adaptations like The Dark Tower and Maximum Overdrive that have been perceived as massive disappointments, films based on King novels and short stories like The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, and The Green Mile are often cited when discussing the greatest films ever made. King often writes about supernatural, horror, and mystery themes that are often better suited to be depicted in prestige television shows. The extended time that these shows have to develop nuanced stories and flesh out their worldbuilding gives them an opportunity to bridge a greater connection with their audience, in the same way that King’s novels do. Here are the best shows to watch if you love Stephen King movies. 15 'Servant' (2019–2023) Image via Apple TV Servant is a show that comes with King’s official recommendation, which isn’t a huge surprise given that he has generally been supportive of M. Night Shyamalan’s work within the horror genre. Shyamalan is by no means consistent, but Servant is a show that is right up his alley with its story of supernatural, high-concept horror, domestic paranoia, and emotional revelations related to the evolution of a troubled family. Servant is a great binge watch that gets weirder and more mythologically interesting as it goes along, and the half-hour episodes ensure that it feels like an appropriate feat of bite-sized horror. Although there are certainly some uncomfortable moments of pure terror (including the particularly harrowing finale of Season 2), Servant is also playful with its social satire and quirky characters, including Rupert Grint in his strongest work outside of the Harry Potter franchise. 14 'The Boroughs' (2026) Image via Netflix The Boroughs could be seen as a descendant of King because it is the latest show from the Duffer Brothers and shares a lot in common with Stranger Things, which was itself inspired by Stand by Me and It. Although King is renowned for telling stories that appropriately capture the primal emotions of childhood and adolescence, he’s also been known to write empathetic stories about older characters, and The Boroughs is an inventive work of science fiction fantasy that explores mysterious supernatural activities going on in a retirement community. The Burroughs has an engaging unfolding mystery and a number of terrific creature feature designs that King would certainly approve of. Although Netflix made a mistake by cancelling the show, despite there being strong reviews and a hook for a Season 2, The Boroughs is satisfying enough as a standalone miniseries that King fans won’t want to miss it. 13 'Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen' (2026) Image via Netflix Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is a rich blend of traits that are common with King’s stories, as it blends creepy locations, mysterious rituals, family secrets, and dark humor into an outrageous work of gothic horror that ranks among the best miniseries Netflix has made. Camila Morrone gives a breakout performance as a young woman who is taken by her fiancé (Adam DiMarco) to meet his family before their wedding, only to discover that they are part of a strange cult that demands some sort of sacrifice. Something Very Bad is Going To Happen sustains a compelling mystery, but also remains aware of the tropes that it is playing with in a self-aware riff on awkward family allusions. The fourth episode “The Witness” is a standout in particular because it has a similar style of nostalgic horror to King’s Secret Window. 12 'The Fall of the House of Usher' (2023) Image via Netflix The Fall of the House of Usher is another show that shares DNA with King because it was created by Mike Flanagan, who is responsible for some of the best King adaptations in recent years. The Fall of the House of Usher is technically based on the story of the same name by Edgar Allen Poe, but it works in homage to all of the gothic author’s most famous stories for a ruthless satire of consumerism. Flanagan takes a modern twist with The Fall of the House of Usher by turning the titular family into the empire behind a pharmaceutical company, drawing direct parallels to the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma. The entire ensemble is fantastic, but one of the standouts is Mark Hamill, just before his similarly exceptional work in the King adaptations The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk. 11 'The Third Day' (2020) Image via HBO The Third Day is one of the most underrated shows that HBO has ever made, and it might be the result of being released in the midst of the pandemic (when audiences weren’t in the mood to watch something dreary and hopeless) that it hasn’t gained some sort of cult fandom. Jude Law stars as a grieving father who travels to a mysterious island off the English coast, only to find a cult society with strange practices that draws him into a psychological nightmare. The Third Day has an approach to trauma and familial conflict that might be familiar to those who have been a fan of King novels like Pet Sematary, but it is also a very inventive achievement on a technical level that takes a significant twist towards the middle of its season that makes for a richer and more rewarding experience. 10 'The Leftovers' (2014–2017) Image via HBO The Leftovers is a deeply existentialist science fiction drama that explores themes of faith, spirituality, and familial trauma, all of which are prominent in many of King’s best novels. One of the aspects of King’s writing that continues to draw in readers is the attention to detail with which he crafts his world; The Leftovers does a great job of expanding its mythology over the course of three excellent seasons, serving as one of the rare shows that ends as perfectly as it begins. The Leftovers contains frequent plot twists and turns that may catch viewers off guard, even if King fans are accustomed to watching material that surprises them. As with any of the best novels written by King, The Leftovers is often at its best when focusing on sensitive human characters that the audience can relate to on a personal level. 9 'Mr. Robot' (2015–2019) Image via USA Network Mr. Robot is a grounded drama that examines the overreliance on technology and consequences of corporate greed, but it flirts with supernatural and surrealist qualities in some of its most devastating episodes. Any fan of King’s films and books loves a good scare, and there are certainly moments in Mr. Robot where it transforms from being a psychological thriller to being an all-out horror film. Mr. Robot is unique in that it has an unreliable narrator, as the character of Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) frequently lies to the viewers because of his mental health disorders and the trauma that he experienced growing up with his father, Edward (Christian Slater). The notion of a protagonist who is not entirely honest with the audience is something relevant in many of King’s best books, including The Shining, Christine, and The Outsider, among many others. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you. 😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger) 🧸Chucky(Child's Play) 📞Scream(Ghostface) 🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files) FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE → 01 Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you. ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there. NEXT QUESTION → 02 You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything. AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does. ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement. NEXT QUESTION → 04 Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight. AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking. AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing. AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do. ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare. AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep. REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE → The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind. Elm StreetYour nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument. Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever. You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage. These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired. You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep. ChuckyYour nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it. Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you. You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too. The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults. By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own. ScreamYour nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them. Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party. You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films. The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention. Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home. The ConjuringYour nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving. The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary. Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds. This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be. Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 8 'Twin Peaks' (1990–2017) Image via ABC Twin Peaks may be the greatest supernatural mystery series of all time, as David Lynch created a groundbreaking new way of making television that had an instant “water cooler effect” on viewers who were keen to break down what each new revelation meant on a daily basis. Although it begins in a version of reality that is not that unusual compared to other mystery shows, Twin Peaks developed a rich mythology relating to the existential battle between good and evil, a concept King has touched on in The Dark Tower, The Shining, and It. Twin Peaks is also one of the scariest shows ever made, as Lynch ended up creating a truly terrifying television villain in Frank Silva’s BOB, a demonic entity who has the power to corrupt innocent people like Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) and get them to commit acts of horrific violence. 7 'Legion' (2017–2019) Image via FX Legion is unlike any other superhero show, as it is more interested in exploring mental health and the human condition than in setting up crossovers with the rest of the X-Men franchise and the larger Marvel universe. Legion proved to be more than just a standard story of good and evil, as the protagonist, David Haller (Dan Stevens), proves very early on that he has a haunting dark side that is waiting to be unleashed. Legion frequently featured shocking moments of body horror and suspense that could be compared to many of King’s novels, as the show frequently delves into David’s nightmares and shows what they would look like in reality. However, the series also focuses on themes of maturation and “found family” that represent the more wholesome side of storytelling that is often at the center of King’s most beloved work. 6 'Primal' (2019–Present) Image via Adult Swim Primal was a groundbreaking achievement in animation that took a chance on an unusual central relationship and period in fantasy. King is often praised for putting non-traditional heroes at the center of his stories, as he does not conform to the standard archetypes that most authors seem to abide by; similarly, Primal proved that animation could be intended for a far more mature audience with this epic story of family and fear in the prehistoric era. Primal was a particularly game-changing show for Adult Swim, a network that has generally been centered on more comedic programming like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Sealab 2021. While King has yet to write a novel about prehistory and dinosaurs, the immaculate visual design, depthful character relationships, and eye-popping animation style of Primal certainly seem like it would meet with his approval.