Today’s post on The Horror Bookshelf comes from Eddie Generous the creator, editor, designer, and publisher of Unnerving and Unnerving Magazine. The most recent release from Unnerving is the anthology Hardened Hearts, which is described as “17 stories of difficult love, broken hearts, lost hope, and discarded truths.” I’m a relatively new Unnerving fan, but I love everything Eddie Generous has been doing so far. I’m pretty excited to dive into this one as the theme and list of authors sounds fantastic. Eddie is stopping by The Horror Bookshelf to share 5 Stephen King adaptations that he thinks are better than the source material. I’m curious to see the reactions to Eddie’s article as Stephen King fans have a wide variety of favorite stories and adaptations. I hope Eddie knows what he may have gotten himself into!
Before I turn over the blog to Eddie, I want to thank him and Erin of Oh, For the Hook of a Book Publicity for having me on the tour for Hardened Hearts.
“The Film was Better”
By Eddie Generous, Owner/Editor of Unnerving
Stephen King is in a rare category where there have been enough film adaptations of his writing that any number of lists can exist, and guess what, here’s another one of them. Starting with the closest to par, below are (in my ultimate and perfect opinions) the adaptations of Stephen King’s literature that were better than the original story.
- Cell – Novel 2006 – Film (director Tod Williams) 2016 release (2014)
Cell is the worst Stephen King book I’ve read (note, I’ve not read five or six of his titles, so maybe something’s worse). It’s all over the place, poorly edited, and slapdash in follow through. Not that there aren’t good points, because there are, but upping on the book is a pretty low bar.
Playing against itself, this adaptation was long without a distributor and found itself dated by years upon release. Much like the source material, this bad boy jumps around, relying on pacing because if nothing else, it’s quick. What really put Cell, the film, above the book was the finale, it’s rewarding and offers that lovely horror grin (changed by King due to customer complaints).
Plus, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson never seem to fail, so there’s that too.
- 1922 – Novella 2010: Full Dark, No Stars – Film (director Zak Hilditch) 2017
1922 is recent film and a relatively recent story. It’s one of four novellas in the collection Full Dark, No Stars. It’s been a few years since I read the collection, however, unlike the film, 1922 was not at all the standout, nor was Fair Extension to get right down to it. Big Driver and A Good Marriage were both deep sinking tales that awed and stuck with me. 1922, while not bad, was a somewhat stale tale relying on nostalgic notes, referencing Hemingford Home to tug the good ole’ strings of the Constant Reader. It’s a melancholy story that drags the reader along, never giving the hint of hope and thusly never giving much to hope for.
The adaptation did much of the same, but in a way that was loud when necessary and creeping under the skin at other times. The acting is fantastic and visuals alongside the almost Kubrick-esque score put it into one of the finest King adaptations ever.
- The Dark Half – Novel 1989 – Film (director George A. Romero) 1993
The Dark Half is a well-intentioned book that worked for me about half the time. There were bits that blew me away, but the characters were tough to connect with, if it wasn’t for George Stark and his loud pulp appeal, this thing might’ve floundered into something fully disappointing. The adaptation was screaming, faster, darker, and the visuals worked in a way that my imagination did not. The Dark Half is an ok book and a damn good film.
- The Mist – Novella 1980: Dark Forces, 1985: Skeleton Crew – Film (director Frank Darabont) 2007
The Mist is a novella that dwells, most availably, within short stories in Skeleton Crew, Stephen King’s second collection. The most recent adaptation was absolute garbage, worthy of cancellation, the characters were absurd and gaudily written, the acting was befitting of the writing.
Now, the film The Mist from 2007 is everything the original story was and more, particularly in the finale. The film version saw a horror twist that the master of terror did not and for that, it’s over the edge.
- 1408 – Short Story 1999: Blood and Smoke (audio), 2002: Everything’s Eventual – Film (director Mikael Håfström) 2007
The adaptation of 1408 has an advantage over the others in that the original story was a sparse short story with huge space to roam in afterthought. The film explored everywhere it needed to be in order to be one of my favorite horror movies. The acting is perfect, there’s scope to connect and understand, letting empathy become toeholds for the terrors in room 1408 in the Hotel Dolphin.
Making a great film from a good short story is something worth noting and better the work of Stephen King is something special.
This list is right and perfect in every way, which is why you’ve nodded your head repeatedly since reading the first paragraph. I’m glad we all see this exactly the same way, so there’s no need to send me hate messages or question my views.
Hooray for Stephen King (also John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Thomas Jane)!
Links
Follow on Twitter: @GenerousEd
Purchase Hardened Hearts: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other fine online retailers.
About Eddie Generous
Eddie Generous is the creator, editor, designer, and publisher of Unnerving and Unnerving Magazine. Besides other books he published this year, he also is the editor and publisher of the anthology Hardened Hearts. In early 2018, Hellbound Books is publishing a collection of his novelettes titled Dead is Dead, but Not Always, and also he is teaming up with Mark Allan Gunnells and Renee Miller to release Splish, Slash, Takin’ a Bloodbath, a collection of short stories.
About the Hardened Hearts Anthology
17 stories of difficult love, broken hearts, lost hope, and discarded truths. Love brings pain, vulnerability, and demands of revenge. Hardened Hearts spills the sum of darkness and light concerning the measures of love; including works from Meg Elison, author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), Tom Deady, author of Haven (Winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel), Gwendolyn Kiste, author of And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe and Pretty Marys All in a Row, and many more.
Hardened Hearts dips from speculative, horror, science fiction, fantasy, into literary and then out of the classifiable and into the waters of unpinned genres, but pure entertainment nonetheless.
The Author Line-up
Foreword by James Newman
“It Breaks My Heart to Watch You Rot” by Somer Canon
“What is Love?” by Calvin Demmer
“Heirloom” by Theresa Braun
“The Recluse” by John Boden
“40 Ways to Leave Your Monster Lover” by Gwendolyn Kiste
“Dog Tired” by Eddie Generous
“The Pink Balloon” by Tom Deady
“It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To” by J.L.Knight
“Burning Samantha” by Scott Hallam
“Consumed” by Madhvi Ramani
“Class of 2000” by Robert Dean
“Learning to Love” by Jennifer Williams
“Brothers” by Leo X.Robertson
“Porcelain Skin” by Laura Blackwell
“The Heart of the Orchard” by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi
“Meeting the Parents” by Sarah L. Johnson
“Matchmaker” by Meg Elison
The Horror Bookshelf 
Haha. Yeah, Cell is garbage. Worst King book I’ve read by some distance. I agree on The Dark Half. I never thought too much of the book, but the movie is pretty good.
I love King’s books, but I have steered clear of Cell both the book and the movie fearing they would both be awful. I may have to give the movie a shot!
I can agree with most of this list, except for 1922. That was painful to watch because the mans accent was too strong.