It’s officially spooky season, and while we love reading books, some of us can’t get enough of the scares. If you’ve done your fair share of haunting fall reads, we’re here to share some adaptations for you to experience your worst nightmares come to life on the big screen.
IT by Stephen King
The 1986 novel, now twice adapted into award-winning films, tells the petrifying story of an evil clown that emerges from the sewer every twenty-seven years to prey on the children of Derry, Maine. Together, the seven friends must spend their summer facing their own personal fears to overcome the murderous events of Pennywise.
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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The award-winning 2018 Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House is nothing short of chilling. The retelling of Shirley Jackson’s original 1959 novel was created by Mike Flanagan, starring Victoria Pedretti as Nell. Both the book and series tell the story of the past and present of a family confronting the haunting memories of their childhood home and the frightening memories that drove them away.
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The Shining by Stephen King
The Shining, released in 1977, was Stephen King’s third published novel and first hardback bestseller. The original movie was then released in 1980. The horror novel and film follow Jack Torrance and his family as they move into the Overlook Hotel as Jack works as the winter caretaker. Jack’s young son Danny, possesses precognitive powers, and as Jack experiences alcoholism and uncontrolled rage, evil forces use his weakness against him to obtain claim of his son.
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Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Alvin Schwartz’s three-book collection debuted in 1981, with the recent movie released in 2019. Schwartz’s Scary collection of Stories to Tell in the Dark include “jump” stories, frightening retold horror stories, and traditional stories of ghosts, witches, vampires, and more. Thanks to the author’s extensive research and dedicated commitment to the craft of each book, many of the stories were pulled from folklore and urban legends with influences by William Shakespeare, Bennett Cerf, and Mark Twain.
The 2019 adaptation of Schwartz’s stories, directed by André Øvredal, takes place on Halloween of 1968 when Stella and her friends encounter an ominous notebook of stories leading them down a dangerous path with no way out.
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Pet Sematary by Stephen King
The 1983 horror novel was written by none other than Stephen King and adapted into films twice, once in 1989 and again in 2019. They tell the story of Dr. Louis Creed after his move from Chicago to Ludlow, Maine. After the family cat dies and he provides burial for it at a local pet cemetery that the local children have built near their home, he discovered an ancient Indian burial ground with sinister properties.
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Carrie by Stephen King
Stephen King’s epistolary horror novel was published in 1974 with a first-print run of 30,000 copies by Doubleday Publishing, which is now a part of Penguin Random House. The novel tells the story of Carrie White, who is ridiculed for her unusual religious beliefs instilled by her mother, Margaret, and discovers she has telekinetic powers. When high-school bullies push Carrie off the edge, her gift turns into an unexpected weapon of destruction that changes the lives of her classmates forever.
Directed by Brian De Palma, the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s work brings the story of Carrie White to life on the big screen, starring award-winning actors such as Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, and Piper Laurie. Since then, there have been many adaptions of Carrie, including a 1988 Broadway musical, a 1999 feature film sequel, a 2002 television film, and a 2013 feature film.
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The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
The original novel by William Peter Blatty was published in 1971 and is no longer shelved in traditional bookstores, but the anniversary edition was released in 2011 and is available in bookstores across the world. Soon after, The Exorcist‘s original film, directed by William Friedkin, was released in 1973 and is one of the most profitable horror movies ever made. Both tell the story of the demonic possession of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil and are inspired by the 1949 exorcism of a thirteen-year-old boy named Roland from Cottage City, Maryland.
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The Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris
The psychological horror novel, Silence Of The Lambs Book by Thomas Harris was released in 1988 and is actually a sequel to the 1981 novel Red Dragon. The novel follows the infamous Hannibal Lecter, who is a cannibalistic serial killer against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The on-screen adaptation was then released in 1991.
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Need more Halloween book-to-screen adaptations? Us too! Here’s our list of 10 Chilling Horror Novels That Should Turn into Scary Movies.