The Best Stephen King TV Show Adaptations, Ranked

I saw my first Spirit Halloween the other day, so you know that means—it’s time to kick off the party. And by party, I mean Halloween spirit. What better way to do that than with some good ol’ Stephen King television adaptations? While he isn’t the most widely adapted author (Shakespeare takes that cake), King is the most widely adapted living author.

With nearly 30 titles available, including recently released MGM+ sleeper hit The Institute, these are streaming’s best Stephen King TV show adaptations, ranked. They were chosen for their ability to highlight King’s mastery of storytelling in the thriller, psychological thriller, and horror genres, and for their current streaming availability.

9

Under the Dome (2013 – 2015)

Loosely based on King’s 2009 bestseller of the same name, Under the Dome centers on the residents of Chester’s Mill, who find themselves cut off from the rest of the world after an indestructible, transparent dome covers their town. With dwindling resources and spiking tensions, panic ensues, despite the dividing efforts of those who try to maintain order.

Why you should watch: It’s a compelling mix of sci-fi and mystery with disaster elements, and a solid horror premise exploring human nature under extreme circumstances. It’s proof that stress and chaos breed one thing: intense, uncontrollable drama.

Subscription with ads

Yes, $8/month

Simultaneous streams

3

See what the big mystery surrounding this impenetrable dome that’s encapsulating an entire town is all about!

8

11.22.63 (2016)

Stephen King doesn’t just write horror. In fact, some of his best adaptations aren’t scary at all, and that’s where 11.22.63 comes into play, showcasing his sci-fi thriller skills.

Based on the 2011 novel, James Franco stars as Jake Epping, a time-traveling high school teacher who goes back in time to save JFK. While there, though, he finds himself drawn to his life as he gathers information about the people and events leading up to the actual assassination. He quickly learns that history does not want to be rewritten and attempting to do so can turn super-dangerous, superfast.

Why you should watch: The series’ sudden bursts of surreal violence is quite good, especially when paired with its depiction of Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) as a creepy, abusive nitwit. It’s more accurate to history than you’d think, sans all the time-traveling stuff.

Subscription with ads

No subscriptions

Live TV

Yes

Price

Free

Get your time travel on with James Franco in this race to save JFK from assassination.

7

The Dead Zone (2002 – 2007)

Another example of King’s sci-fi skills, The Dead Zone is a highly underrated TV show adaptation.

Based on characters from King’s 1979 novel, The Dead Zone TV show follows the plight of Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall), a teacher who develops psychic powers after being in a coma for six years. He awakens with the ability to tap into the damaged area of his brain—i.e., the dead zone—where he can see visions of the past and future and have contact with people or objects. Creepy.

Why you should watch: The Dead Zone became a key story in King’s universe, being the first to feature the now-infamous fictional town of Castle Rock. It features a riveting premise, innovative photography, and some fantastic writing.

Subscription with ads

Yes, via Prime membership or $9/month

Live TV

No

Price

Included with Amazon Prime subscription ($15/month or $139/year) or $9/month standalone

Simultaneous streams

3

Experience the dead zone with Anthony Michael Hall in this riveting Stephen King adaptation.

6

Storm of the Century (1999)

“Give me what I want, and I’ll go away,” says the malevolent force at the center of mammoth miniseries Storm of the Century, which stands as a rare example of a Stephen King story specifically written for television.

Colm Feore stars as Andre Linoge, a sinister stranger who just may be the devil incarnate. As the isolated Maine island hamlet Little Tall Island braces for a devastating winter storm headed their way, Linoge shows up with an uncanny knowledge of the town’s dirty secrets, then uses it to drive some of the locals to commit murder and suicide. After each horrific event, he repeats the same phrase. What he wants, though, is more horrifying than the havoc he wreaks.

Why you should watch: In 2020, King named Storm of the Century his favorite production of his television career. It’s an inexplicable horror story whose compelling small-town characters and dark moral dilemma will unnerve you long after it has ended, like a good King story should.

Subscription with ads

Yes, $10/month

Live TV

Yes, various plans available

Price

Starting at $10/month ($2/month for students)

Number of live TV channels

Over 85

Find out what it is Andre Linoge wants in this chilling Stephen King tale.

5

Mr. Mercedes (2017 – 2019)

A stellar example of Stephen King’s thriller skills sans any horror is hit crime thriller Mr. Mercedes, which adapts King’s Bill Hodges novel trilogy. It’s also the author’s first hard-boiled detective book.

Retired detective Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) is still haunted by the unsolved “Mr. Mercedes” case from 16 years prior, where a perpetrator stole a Mercedes-Benz and drove it straight through a line of jobseekers at a local job fair. Years later, when brilliant psychopath Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) emerges, he lures the former detective into an online game of cat-and-mouse that yields deadly, real-life consequences.

Why you should watch: Plain and simple, Mr. Mercedes is high-octane nightmare fuel right out of the gate, without even a tinge of the strange or supernatural.

Subscription with ads

Yes, $8/month

Live TV

Select live sports

Price

Starting at $8/month ($3/month for students)

Simultaneous streams

3

Watch this intense game of cat-and-mouse play out between a retired detective and a complete psychopath in this Stephen King hit.

4

The Institute (2025 – Ongoing)

The Institute is one show worth an MGM+ subscription alone, and lucky for us, it’s been renewed for a second season before its first has even ended.

When teenage genius Luke Ellis (newbie Joe Freeman), who possesses both telekinetic and telepathic powers, wakes up one morning in a facility full of other kids with special abilities, he realizes they’re all being held captive by a shadowy organization called The Institute, led by the ruthless Mrs. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker). They kidnap kids like him, only to put them through a series of brutal, humiliating tests meant to enhance their powers for shocking purposes.

Why you should watch: The kid playing Luke Ellis is outstanding. He’s one to watch. Plus, psychic children are intriguing. These kids are memorable characters at the center of an engaging mystery and creepy narrative remarkably enhanced by the bleak atmosphere and setting. They work so well, you start to feel trapped within your own skin.

3

Castle Rock (2018 – 2020)

Castle Rock is a gem of a psychological horror series.

Set in the Stephen King multiverse, season one of Castle Rock combines the mythological scale and intimate storytelling of the master of horror’s works to weave together an epic saga of darkness and light that plays out in a few square miles of Maine woodland. Season Two breaks away and serves as a stand-alone story, focused on everything you ever wanted to know about Annie Wilkes pre-Misery.

Why you should watch: Annie Wilkes is arguably one of King’s best, most psychologically twisted characters, so to see the events that led up to her becoming a serial killer nurse is utterly fascinating, and Lizzie Caplan gives a captivating performance as Wilkes in her formative years.

Subscription with ads

Yes, $10/month

Live TV

Yes, various plans available

Price

Starting at $10/month ($2/month for students)

Number of live TV channels

Over 85

Get lost in this creepy epic saga of darkness vs. light and experience the origin story of the infamous character Annie Wilkes.

2

The Outsider (2020)

What if there was a serial killer who could shape-shift to look like anyone? Moreover, what if this monster went around framing innocent people for his horrendous crimes? That’s the premise of The Outsider.

Jason Bateman stars as Terry Maitland, an unlucky soul who gets framed for murdering a child, and Ben Mendelsohn is Ralph Anderson, a grieving, skeptical, recovering alcoholic cop who thinks Maitland is guilty. The more he digs, the deeper he’s led on an extremely disturbing search for the truth. The show is a bit of a slow burn, but its meticulously crafted atmosphere is masterful and effective at driving home the dreadful underlying truth surrounding this mega-unnerving supernatural mystery.

Why you should watch: Fans of The Wire will be stoked to know that writer Richard Price helped turn King’s novel into this chilling adaptation, with such dexterous creativity, you don’t even notice when this seemingly straight-forward murder investigation takes a turn toward the supernatural.

Price

Starting at $10/month or $100/year

Subscription with ads

Yes, $10/month

Simultaneous streams

2 or 4

Live TV

Live sports available in Standard and Premium plans

Go deep inside this unnerving world where shape-shifting serial killers exist actually exist.

1

Stephen King’s It (1990)

To this day, I stay away from gutters and clowns because of this story. Hands down, it’s one of King’s most popular books of all time. Stephen King’s It is a two-part miniseries that was the first attempt at adapting the author’s source material, and it still stands as one of the best of all time.

In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon that can transform itself into its prey’s worst fear to devour them—in this case, a terrifying, bloodthirsty, child-killing clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). Thirty years later, the outcasts reunite to stop the deadly clown once and for all when it returns to their hometown.

Why you should watch: Curry’s Pennywise was the impetus of every 80’s and 90’s kid’s fear of clowns. It is the epitome of everything that makes Stephen King the magnificent storyteller he is. Is it his magnum opus? Perhaps …

Price

Starting at $10/month or $100/year

Subscription with ads

Yes, $10/month

Simultaneous streams

2 or 4

Live TV

Live sports available in Standard and Premium plans

Join seven former pre-teen outcasts as they face the child-killing clown that terrorized us all, Pennywise.

Other great TV adaptations of King’s that weren’t available to stream in the U.S. include Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, The Stand (1994), and Salem’s Lot (1979). Keep your eyes peeled, though, because coming this fall is Welcome to Derry, the prequel to IT, and Mike Flanagan is adapting Carrie and The Dark Tower, set to premiere in 2026. If TV shows aren’t your thing, check out these spooky films while you wait for Halloween!