Few writers explore the space where ordinary life bleeds into nightmare territory as effectively and consistently as Stephen King. He has a unique ability to fuse real-world anxieties with the fantastical and horrific. It’s an ability that has converted countless Constant Readers and turned stories about possessed objects, small-town secrets, and other worlds than these, into existential explorations of loss, love, and what it means to be human.
It’s also what separates the better adaptations of his work from the rest. Rather than simply just replaying the horror hits, they show us people who are broken, brave, and heartbreakingly real. That blend of horror and heart is what keeps King’s work relevant and continuously being reinvented on screen. With King, the terror never exists in a vacuum. The horror lives inside the familiar.
With Francis Lawrence’s harrowing and heart-wrenching take on The Long Walk having reignited conversation around King (and Richard Bachman) adaptations, we’ve rounded up ten of the most devastating Stephen King movies streaming right now and where you can watch them. These picks lean into the gut-punch, the moments that unsettle and linger. The ones that reach up and squeeze the heart…just a little.
Lisey’s Story (2021)
Lisey’s Story has always been one of King’s most intimate, grief-heavy novels, and the adaptation directed by Pablo Larraín (Spencer) intentionally leans into that intimacy. Both follow Lisey Landon as she digs through the life and secrets of her recently deceased, famous writer husband, Scott Landon. Throughout the story, Lisey finds herself facing an obsessed stalker, unburying repressed memories, and traversing Scott’s strange escape world, Boo’ya Moon, to confront what really happened to him.
Julianne Moore’s central performance keeps the series grounded in very human emotion, even when the imagery gets surreal. With every episode written by King himself, the supernatural elements beautifully intertwine with themes of trauma, marriage, and the costs of creativity in a way that hits harder than straight horror alone. This eight-episode series is available exclusively on Apple TV+.
The Mist (2007)
Based on King’s 1980 novella, Frank Darabont’s The Mist (2007) traps David Drayton (Thomas Jane), his son, and a random assortment of community members in a grocery store when a mysterious, monster-filled fog rolls in to town. What begins as a tense survival situation quickly turns into a brutal study of fear and the ways people break under pressure.
What makes Darabont’s film so brutal, and why the novella still haunts Constant Readers, is the moral weight of its choices. Here, the ending deliberately diverges from the source material to deliver a gutting, uncompromising blow. That final beat reframes everything the movie built toward and still stands as one of the boldest endings of all time. If you want to watch it and see what all the fuss is about, The Mist is currently streaming on Paramount+.
Stand By Me (1986)
Directed by Rob Reiner (Misery), Stand by Me turns Stephen King’s novella The Body into a quiet, gut-wrenching coming-of-age story about four boys who set out to find a dead body and come back changed. The film is grounded in small moments that feel genuine and lived-in, from the way the kids trade jokes to the way old wounds break open. It’s a story that is particularly crushing in the way it centers loss as part of growing up. And because the performances from River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O’Connell make the bond between these kids feel painfully honest. For streaming, Stand by Me is currently available on Netflix Standard (no-ad) and Premium plans.
Pet Sematary (1989)
Mary Lambert’s Pet Sematary adapts one of King’s bleakest novels into a film that still rattles decades later (thanks, Zelda). The story follows the Creed family as they move into a new home, only to discover a burial ground beyond their backyard that holds a tempting power. In short, sometimes, dead is better. It also captures just how far love and denial can push someone, and it lingers far past the credits due to the horror being rooted in something heartbreakingly human. A shattering portrayal of loss, Pet Sematary stares death right in the face and charts the ripples as they expand outward. Few King adaptations are this emotionally punishing, especially in its final moments. If you want to revisit and go down that road, Pet Sematary is currently streaming on Paramount+.
The Outsider (2020)
The HBO adaptation of King’s 2018 novel, The Outsider, starts as a grim, straightforward crime story and then gradually evolves into something…stranger. The 10 ep, limited series follows a small town after the horrific (truly, horrific) murder of a boy. What initially seems like an open-and-shut case soon reveals itself to be anything but. Ben Mendelsohn anchors the show as the classic cop pushed to the edge, while Cynthia Erivo brings calm, cleverness as King’s fave, Holly Gibney.
What makes The Outsider so upsetting is the way it stretches out the fallout of loss and the chilling possibility of being wrong in a way that has real consequences. While there are certainly shocks here, the real horror lies in the uncertainty and instability of emerging from a disillusioned worldview. There’s a lot to chew on here, and it’s all available to stream on HBO Max.
11.22.63 (2016)
Originally premiering on Hulu, the eight-episode 11.22.63 series, based on King’s massive 2011 novel, follows Jake Epping as he travels back to the late 1950s in an attempt to stop the assassination of JFK. This big historical question, while central to the plot, is always intertwined with the smaller, human ones. It is here that both the book and the series carry the most emotional weight. As Jake makes friends and finds love, the story quickly evolves into a broader exploration of love, loss, and the price of trying to fix something that’s already broken. It’s also one of King’s most romantic and melancholy stories ever. Lucky for all of us (and our wallets), 11.22.63 is now available to stream for free on Tubi.
Cujo (1983)
A Stephen King classic, Cujo turns a simple trip to the mechanic into a genuine nightmare scenario. In Lewis Teague’s film adaptation, the horror centers on Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her young son Tad, when Cujo, a formerly lovable Saint Bernard gone rabid (through no fault of his own), traps them in their Ford Pinto. Isolated and alone, Donna soon finds herself in a frantic fight to save both herself and her son.
Even though Teague alters King’s original, truly heartbreaking ending, Wallace’s performance conveys the sheer anguish of the situation in a way that never loses its potency. Unlike some of the other stories on this list, the threat here is not supernatural, and it becomes all the stronger because of it. There are no winners here, with even Cujo himself being worthy of sympathy. Cujo is now streaming for free on Pluto TV.
The Green Mile (1999)
Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile (yes, Darabont, again) adapts King’s 1996 serialized novella into a lengthy, poignant film about life on death row and the enigmatic, miraculous presence of John Coffey. Tom Hanks plays the weary guard Paul Edgecomb, and Michael Clarke Duncan gives a towering performance as Coffey, a convict with a literal healing gift.
Both the movie and the original story are emotionally effective due to the balance they strike, conveying two harsh truths simultaneously. The cruelties of an unjust system are on full display, and yet at the same time, the story allows for something inexplicable and beautiful to exist within those same cruel walls. The end result is a film that will absolutely break your heart, yet still leaves room to believe in the power of small, meaningful acts of kindness. If you find yourself craving a good cry, The Green Mile is available on VOD through services such as Prime Video and Apple TV.
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Proving all the skeptics so very wrong, Mike Flanagan brought the seemingly unfilmable King book Gerald’s Game to where else but Netflix. A tight, claustrophobic thriller that is as much about abuse as it is about survival, the story drops Jessie Burlingame into an impossible situation when a romantic weekend goes so very wrong. Starring Carla Gugino as Jessie, Gugino carries the film as the story moves between present terror, hallucination, and buried memories.
What makes Gerald’s Game a riveting, emotional journey to embark on is how small and intimate everything feels. The danger of Jessie’s present situation forces her to confront deeply held traumas while simultaneously testing her survival instincts. The horror here is never just a physical one. Like Jessie, Flanagan invites viewers to live inside a single, unbearable moment, following it through to its painful conclusion. If you want to check it out, Gerald’s Game is still available to stream on Netflix.
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
With his version of Hearts in Atlantis, adapted from King’s novella Low Men in Yellow Coats, director Scott Hicks delivers a wistful, slightly mysterious film about memory, mentorship, and the decay of childhood innocence. In the movie, Anthony Hopkins plays Ted Brautigan, the quietly haunted neighbor who becomes a friend and almost father figure to young Bobby Garfield. Portrayed by Anton Yelchin, the movie follows how that bond reshapes Bobby’s life as strange threats from Ted’s past begin to surface, and ultimately take him away from Bobby.
While the story is indeed a little saccharine, it is also touching in its exploration of loss from a child’s perspective and the way those losses shape us as adults. The tragic real-world loss of Anton Yelchin also adds a palpable sting to this particular story. A remarkable talent who passed far too soon, it’s nearly impossible to watch Hearts in Atlantis without mourning what could and should have been. That said, movies like Hearts in Atlantis aren’t made anymore, and if you’re feeling sentimental, it’s a story worth revisiting (especially if you have a library card, and some Kleenex). Hearts in Atlantis is currently available to stream on Kanopy.
The Long Walk is available Tuesday, 11/25 on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital and will be available 12/23 on 4K UHD from Lionsgate.
Categorized: Editorials
