While many ofStephen King’s best movie adaptations, likeThe Life of Chuck, have little in common in terms of plot details, a lot of them come from one format that the author occasionally favors.Stephen King’s 66 booksprove that there is no shortage of material for creators who want to make movies and television shows from his work.
However, not all of King’s work is equally suited to every medium. Althougha movie version ofThe Standwas recently announced, withDeadlinereporting that director Doug Liman is attached, King’s longest book ever seems poorly suited to a standalone movie adaptation. Similarly, 1997’s disappointingThe Shiningminiseries proved the novel was better suited to a movie adaptation.
While Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie of the same name is often listed among the best horror movies ever, 1997 miniseries proved that bigger isn’t always better. This maxim might explain why King has penned so many novellas over the years. Longer than a short story but shorter than a book, novellas have historically been a tough sell for some readers.
Many of Stephen King’s Best Movies Are Adapted From Novellas
A Lot of King’s Most Critically Acclaimed Movies Come From Shorter Works
Since novellas don’t offer the immersive quality of a full-length novel or the brevity of a short story, they aren’t as common as either format. However, Stephen King clearly loves the novella format, and some of the prolific author’s best work has been contained in novellas. King’s 1982 collectionDifferent Seasonscontains both “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” and “The Body.”
Later adapted asStand By Me, “The Body” is a moving, nostalgic look back on ‘50s adolescence, whileThe Shawshank Redemptionlikely needs no introduction. Both these novellas work well on their own, but they are notable for producing some of King’s most critically acclaimed adaptations. Similarly, 2007’sThe Mistwas adapted from a novella in King’sSkeleton Crew.
A lot of Stephen King’s best movies come from his novellas, rather than his novels or short stories, and recent history attests to this trend. 2025’sThe Life of Chuckearned King his bestRotten Tomatoesscore in five years.
Adapted from the novella of the same name from the 2020 collectionIf It Bleeds,The Life of Chuckis the second of the collection’s four novellas to earn an adaptation.
Writer-director Mike Flanagan’s fantasy drama earned rave reviews upon release. Adapted from the novella of the same name from the 2020 collectionIf It Bleeds,The Life of Chuckis the second of the collection’s four novellas to earn an adaptation.
Why Stephen King’s Novellas Work So Well
This Shorter Format Condenses King’s Infamously Ambitious Writing
There are many potential reasons that King’s novella adaptations appear to fare so well with critics, but one compelling justification is the format itself. The novella’s structure forces King, who is somewhat prone to tangents and subplots, to write a more condensed, truncated storyline. As a result, directors don’t need to excise big chunks of the plot in its journey to the screen.
King’s novellas feel cohesive and uncluttered, unlike a lot of his bigger books, and their adaptations follow suit. An incrediblyambitious book like King’sThe Standfeatures over a dozen main characters and takes place across the entire United States, tackling the subject of a biblical war between good and evil and a global pandemic, over more than 1000 pages.
The novella can’t overstretch its boundaries without becoming a novel, meaning the stories are satisfying without feeling over-stuffed or overlong.
In contrast, King’s novellas are necessarily self-contained, since this is a requirement of the form. The novella can’t overstretch its boundaries without becoming a novel, meaning the stories are satisfying without feeling over-stuffed or overlong.
What Makes King’s Novellas Perfect for Adaptation
King’s Novellas Don’t Reach The Same Audience As His Novels
The other benefit that King’s novella adaptations enjoy is their relative obscurity. Outside of his famously successful e-bookRiding the Bullet,most of King’s novellas are less famous than his novelssince they were first released in collections instead of as standalone titles. As such, they don’t reach the screen already encumbered by big expectations from a huge fan base.
UnlikeCarrie,The Shining,It,It Chapter 2,Doctor Sleep, 2024’sSalem’s Lot,The Dark Tower,or many of King’s other movie adaptations, these novels can make a first impression on viewers. When bestselling novels receive adaptations or remakes, viewers have an idea of what they expect to see.
In contrast, movies likeStand By MeandThe Life of Chuckcan be free to surprise viewers. King even has an infamous story about a reader who refused to believe that he wrote the story one of her favorite movies was based on.The Shawshank Redemption’s happy endingwas so far from what she expected from King that it seemed impossible.
This might seem silly, but it is worth noting thatThe Shawshank Redemption’s Oscar-nominated movie adaptation was the first introduction many people, other than King completists, had to the novella. Since short story collections don’t sell as well as novels, it shouldn’t come as a major shock that even a reader familiar with King didn’t know he penned the prison drama.
Why King’s Novella Movies Are More Consistent Than Short Story Adaptations
The Short Story Format Sometimes Provides Too Little Inspiration
Of course,novels and novellas aren’t the only sources for Stephen King movie adaptations. Short stories likeStephen King’s “1408”have also inspired movies, which range in quality from great to terrible.The Night Flier,Mercy, andThe Boogeymanwere all adapted from King’s short stories.
However, there is an issue with turning short stories into feature films that adaptations of King’s novellas don’t suffer from. Namely, lesser King movies likeChildren of the Corn,Graveyard Shift, andThe Manglerprove that these stories don’t always have enough material to sustain an entire movie. This means the creators need to go off-piste with mixed results.
The moviesChildren of the Corn,Graveyard Shift, andThe Manglerwere all adapted from short stories featured in King’s debut collectionNight Shift.
Novellas are comparatively perfect in terms of length, as they have enough content for a movie but not so much that filmmakers need to start cutting entire characters and subplots. Even some of King’s less famous novella adaptations, like1922andSecret Window, are surprisingly great, and this could be due to the format’s strengths.
Short story adaptations often need to alter their source material so much that they almost become original stories, and certainly risk losing what made the plot appealing in the first place. Similarly, novel adaptations have to cut and truncate so much that they inevitably end up trimming things certain readers wanted to see onscreen.
The Life of Chuckwill be availabe to stream soon.
As such, novellas like “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” or “The Life of Chuck” are uniquely well-suited to adaptation. Filmmakers can bring the entire story to life without changing too many details, while also remaining sure that the resulting story won’t be overlong and unwieldy. This explains why Stephen King adaptations likeThe Life of Chuckwork so well.
