51 Years Later, Stephen King’s Next Horror Book Adaptation Will Be His Scariest Ever

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Everyone is excited about Mike Flanagan’s new version of Stephen King’s Carrie, and many believe it will be even better than Brian De Palma’s well-known film. While Stephen King has written a lot of books, his first novel, Carrie, published in 1974, is still one of his most popular and memorable stories.

Carrie is a story told through letters, detailing the life of a teenage girl who is bullied and discovers she has the power to move things with her mind as she goes through puberty. The novel is famous for its dramatic ending, where Carrie uses her powers to get revenge on those who have hurt her. The story has been adapted into two movies, released in 1976 and 2013.

Brian De Palma’s 1976 film Carrie launched the careers of Sissy Spacek, Nancy Allen, and John Travolta, and it’s still considered a landmark horror movie. The 2013 remake of Carrie didn’t perform as well at the box office and was criticized for being a less dark and intense adaptation of the original story.

The upcoming adaptation of Carrie seems to be heading in a good direction. Director Mike Flanagan, known for his work on Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, is creating a miniseries for Amazon after leaving Netflix. It’s expected to be released in 2026 and hopefully avoids the pitfalls of previous attempts.

Mike Flanagan’s Netflix Hits Prove His Version of Carrie Will Be Scarier Than Earlier Adaptations

Image courtesy of Everett Collections

Flanagan recently directed a well-received film, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novella The Life of Chuck, though it didn’t perform well in theaters. This project was a bit different from his other work, as Flanagan is primarily known as a leading horror director of his generation. The Life of Chuck was an uplifting fantasy drama, unlike his usual focus on horror.

I’ve been consistently impressed with Mike Flanagan’s work in horror. He first caught my eye with films like the mind-bending Oculus and, more recently, the unfairly overlooked Doctor Sleep. But honestly, it’s on television where he really shines. His run of limited series on Netflix has produced some of the most genuinely frightening and well-crafted horror I’ve seen in years – truly some of the best the genre has to offer.

The 2018 series The Haunting of Hill House skillfully combined frightening moments with a heartbreaking family story. In contrast, Midnight Mass (2021) was a more deliberate, reflective, and mournful horror story, focusing more on the characters and their emotional journeys than on jump scares. However, the finale of Midnight Mass was still incredibly powerful and emotionally impactful.

In 2022, Mike Flanagan changed things up with The Midnight Club, a series based on Christopher Pike’s young adult horror novels. This show was quicker-paced and had a more lighthearted feel, using multiple perspectives and stories within the main plot, but it remained emotionally impactful like Flanagan’s previous work.

In 2023, Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher took a surprising direction. While inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s story, the series dramatically departed from the original, becoming a darkly humorous and over-the-top horror show that satirized the pharmaceutical industry and the opioid crisis. It was a visually striking, often brutal, and surprisingly colorful series, proving Flanagan’s ability to create more than just straightforward drama and horror.

Matthew Lillard’s Comments Make Mike Flanagan’s Carrie Even More Exciting

The time is right for this filmmaker to reimagine Carrie. Though the 1976 film is still considered a classic, it understandably feels dated now. The 2013 remake, however, failed to deliver any scares and hasn’t improved with age, proving to be a misstep.

Good news for fans: one of the actors in the new Prime Video series based on Carrie has shared that Mike Flanagan’s version will be a unique and original take on Stephen King’s novel. Matthew Lillard, known for his role in Scream and playing Principal Gayle in the series, told BloodyDisgusting that audiences can expect a completely fresh interpretation of the story, not just a repeat of what’s been done before.

Per Lillard describes the show Carrie as excellent, noting it’s divided into three distinct parts and is a very faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel—even more so than the original film. He enjoyed it immensely, but laments the long wait for new episodes due to its quality.

Lillard is right – De Palma’s movie version of the story left out many details and background elements from King’s book, largely because the film had to be shorter. Plus, the book is written as a series of letters and diary entries, which is a difficult format to translate to the screen. Fortunately, Flanagan’s filmmaking style is a great fit for this kind of story.

Mike Flanagan’s Carrie Can Provide One Thing Earlier Adaptations Were Missing

Mike Flanagan, the creator of The Haunting of Hill House, is known for his creative adaptations. While the 2018 series doesn’t follow the plot of Shirley Jackson’s novel closely, it successfully captures the same unsettling atmosphere and focuses on complex characters, delivering a similar blend of psychological horror and emotional storytelling.

The novel’s unique structure, told through letters and other documents, lets King explore Carrie’s world – her school, family, and town – in great detail. The longer format of a miniseries now gives Flanagan the same freedom. Unlike previous adaptations limited by time, Flanagan has more space to fully develop these aspects of the story.

Beyond his other talents, he’s had a lot of practice adapting stories by authors like Poe, Jackson, and King, which makes him perfectly positioned to reimagine Carrie for modern audiences. Because of this, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series, expected in 2026, has the potential to be the year’s best horror show.

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2025-11-27 23:09