Image: New Line Cinema
About This Quiz
In 2013, a little horror flick called "Carrie" raked in more than $85 million at movie theaters around the globe. An earlier version of the story, which came out in the '70s, topped $30 million in ticket sales, and also managed to become one of the most iconic ... and terrifying ... horror movies ever made. Both of these films were inspired by a 1974 book written by a then-unknown author named Stephen King.Â
You might not believe it now, considering that King is one of the most successful writers of all time, but he was so disgusted by his early drafts of "Carrie" that he tossed them in the trash, believing that they were so bad no one would ever want to read them. Luckily, his wife rescued the pages and encouraged her husband to finish the manuscript. It became King's first published novel, launching a career that would produce dozens of books and short stories, the majority of which would end up being adapted to film, TV and other media.Â
While not all these onscreen adaptations of King's books are totally faithful to the stories put on paper by the horror master, they still feature the familiar characters and bone-chilling terrors of the novels that inspired them. Think you can match these movie stills to the correct King flick? Prove it with this quiz!
"The Green Mile"
At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, the long hallway down Death Row is covered in green linoleum, earning it the nickname "The Green Mile." A 1999 film of this title stars Tom Hanks as an immortal prison guard and Michael Clarke Duncan as a condemned man with special powers — and a fondness for mice.
"The Tommyknockers"
"Dolores Claiborne"
"Children of the Corn"
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"The Dark Half"
"Maximum Overdrive"
"It"
Pennywise the clown has been keeping readers from sleeping every since King's novel "It" was published in 1986. A 1990 TV miniseries gave the world its first onscreen look at the killer clown, but it wasn't until 2017 that a big-budget film brought Bill, Bev and the rest of the Derry gang to the big screen.
"Sometimes They Come Back"
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"1922"
"Secret Window"
"Apt Pupil"
"Carrie"
Both big-screen versions of "Carrie" feature powerful imagery from King's 1974 debut novel. If the whole gym class shower scene isn't burned into your brain, you're pretty much guaranteed to never forget the terrifying bloody prom finale ... no matter how hard you try.
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"The Shawshank Redemption"
"The Shawshank Redemption" had the usual Stephen King horror, but also came with added drama and emotion that made the 1994 flick a huge box office success. Who can forget Andy celebrating his freedom as the rain pours down on him, or Red and Andy finally meeting up on that beach after all those years?
"1408"
"The Dead Zone"
"The Running Man"
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"Silver Bullet"
"Sleepwalkers"
"Needful Things"
"Stand By Me"
Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern snack on cherry Pez as they straddle the line between youth and adulthood in "Stand By Me." This 1986 movie is based on the story "The Body," which was part of King's 1982 anthology "Different Seasons." And if you learn nothing else from this movie, let it be this — train tracks are for trains, not people.
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"A Good Marriage"
"Dolores Claiborne"
"The Tommyknockers"
"Misery"
In the 1990 film "Misery," Kathy Bates plays a deranged fan who ends up rescuing her favorite writer from a car wreck ... then imprisoning him in her home and smashing his ankle with a sledgehammer. Bates won a Best Actress Oscar for her stellar work in the role of Annie Wilkes.
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"Sleepwalkers"
"Maximum Overdrive"
"The Shining"
The 1977 Stanley Kubrick movie "The Shining" may be one of the most recognizable films based on a Stephen King book, but that doesn't mean the author was a fan. In fact, King has been very vocal over the years about how he dislikes the way the movie differs from the book. Still, though ... that ax scene, and those creepy twins, loom large in the memories of movie fans decades after "The Shining" hit the big screen.
"Sometimes They Come Back"
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"Misery"
"11.22.63"
"Thinner"
"Christine"
When Southern California teen Arnie restores a red and white '58 Plymouth Fury, he has no way of knowing that the car has a mind of its own. Eventually, the sweet ride he dubs "Christine" reveals her dark side, crushing bullies and blowing up a gas station in this 1983 horror classic.
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"Pet Sematary"
In the 1989 horror favorite "Pet Sematary," viewers learn that sometimes dead really is better. In the film, Louis buries his dead cat in a mysterious cemetery in the woods, which somehow brings the feline back to life ... sort of. Failing to learn his lesson, Louis then buries his son Gage in the same cursed earth, resulting in a terrifying finale involving a murderous scalpel-wielding toddler.
"The Mangler"
"Creepshow"
"The Mist"
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"The Stand"
"Salem's Lot"
Writer Ben Mears gets more than he bargained for when he returns to his childhood hometown in the 1979 TV miniseries "Salem's Lot." Based on a 1975 King novel, the movie reveals what happens when vampires come to small-town Maine.
"Carrie"
"Dreamcatcher"
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"Cujo"
Before Beethoven showed the softer side of St. Bernards, a pup named "Cujo" gave this breed a bad name in a 1983 movie based on a 1981 Stephen King novel. A bite from a rabid bat transforms a family pet into a cold-blooded killer who traps a family in their car during a heat wave, forcing mom to take drastic action to save her son from the beast.
"Cat's Eye"
"Hearts in Atlantis"
"The Dark Tower"
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"A Good Marriage"
"The Green Mile"
"Children of the Corn"
A couple passing through Gatlin, Nebraska end up stranded in the strange small town in the 1984 classic "Children of the Corn." Wondering where all the adults went, the couple soon learns that the town is controlled by a cult of evil kids who are willing to kill to ensure a successful harvest.
"Firestarter"
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"It"
"The Shawshank Redemption"
"Cell"
"The Dark Half"
"The Dark Half" stars Timothy Hutton as a novelist who believes he's being stalked by his own pen name come-to-life. Turns out, it's his own evil twin who's after him in this 1993 movie based on a 1989 Stephen King book.
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"The Running Man"
"1922"
In "1922," a farmer named Wilf enlists the help of his son to kill his wife, dropping her down a well and tossing a cow over top to cover his crime. The slow-burning horror flick shows how the evil deed costs Wilf everything he holds dear, from the farm to his hand to his son ... and eventually his life.
"The Shining"
"The Lawnmower Man"
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"Stand By Me"
"Secret Window"
Similar to "The Dark Half," "Secret Window" tells the story of a tortured writer — looks like King draws on his own experiences when writing his books. This 2004 film, which is inspired by the 1990 anthology "Four Past Midnight," features a writer with multiple personalities who ends up killing his cheating wife.
"The Tommyknockers"
"1408"
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"The Dead Zone"
John Smith, played by Christopher Walken, wakes from a five-year coma with some paranormal skills in the 1983 movie "The Dead Zone." He uses these powers to rebuild his life, and ultimately saves the word from nuclear destruction.
"Pet Sematary"
"Apt Pupil"
"Maximum Overdrive"
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"Cat's Eye"
"Cujo"
"Christine"
"The Night Flier"
In "The Night Flier," bodies keep turning up around airfields. Turns out, a murderous vampire is traveling by plane to seek out victims. Reporter Richard Dees ends up being blamed for the killings as he investigates the crimes.
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"Children of the Corn"
"Carrie"
"11.22.63"
In "11.22.63," James Franco plays English teacher Jake Epping, a Maine resident who travels back in time to the early '60s. As he meets Lee Harvey Oswald and attempts to change the course of history, he learns that efforts to help can sometimes make things much, much worse.
"The Dark Half"
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"Graveyard Shift"
"Gerald's Game"
A romantic weekend alone turns into a nightmare in "Gerald's Game" when the title character dies, leaving his wife handcuffed to a bed with no way to escape. As she slowly begins to lose her mind, she spots a mysterious figure, who just might be a killer in this 2017 flick.
"The Mangler"
"The Shining"
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"Secret Window"
"The Green Mile"
"It"
"Creepshow"
The 1982 film "Creepshow" was a horror anthology in the vein of some of King's short stories collections. Fans of this movie may remember poor Jordy Verrill (played by King), a mysterious crate creature or a whole bunch of creepy roaches.
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"Needful Things"
"Cell"
OK, so maybe this one is stretching things a little bit ... In "Cell," people around the world are infected by their phones and programmed to kill with impunity. Only a handful of people are unaffected, including stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, who play Clay and Tom.
"Sometimes They Come Back"
"Dolan's Cadillac"
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"1922"
"Hearts in Atlantis"
"Pet Sematary"
"The Stand"
"The Stand" is Stephen King's take on the apocalypse, where just a few humans have survived a global flu epidemic. The six-hour film may look dated today, but it features some big names in the roles of survivors who fight the battle of Vegas vs. Boulder.
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"Sleepwalkers"
Those who couldn't pick a side in the Jacob vs. Edward battle in "Twilight" might enjoy the 1992 movie "Sleepwalkers." Based on a screenplay by Stephen King, this horror movie features shapeshifters who can become both werewolves and vampires at will. Oh, and only cats can kill them, so this story really does have something for everyone.
"Silver Bullet"
"Dreamcatcher"
"The Night Flier"
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"Riding the Bullet"
"The Shawshank Redemption"
"Thinner"
After hitting and killing a woman with his car, lawyer Billy Halleck is subject to a curse by the victim's father in the movie "Thinner." Halleck finds himself losing a whole bunch of weight, and is finally forced to beg the gypsy to break the curse. Warning: You'll never look at pie the same way again after watching this flick.
"The Lawnmower Man"
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"Maximum Overdrive"
"The Mist"
"Stand By Me"
"The Dark Tower"
Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series includes at least eight books, the first of which came out in 1998. In 2017, Hollywood finally brought the story to the big screen in a movie starring Idris Elba as Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black.
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"Graveyard Shift"
"The Shining"
"Christine"
"The Running Man"
In his 1982 novella "The Running Man," King imagines the far-off future of 2019, when prisoners will be allowed to compete on game shows to win their freedom. The 1987 movie adaptation stars Arnold as a criminal named Ben Richards. Game show host Richard Dawson also appears as the host of the twisted escape show, which takes serious liberties with King's original tale.
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"Graveyard Shift"
"Secret Window"
"Apt Pupil"
Based on a 1982 Stephen King story, the 1998 movie "Apt Pupil" is a terrifying look at Nazis living in the modern world. Brad Renfro plays a high school student named Todd who finds a Nazi war criminal hiding in his neighborhood ... then blackmails him to tell him all about the horrors of the 1940s.
"Cujo"
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"Children of the Corn"
"1408"
John Cusack gets more than he bargained for in "1408" when he checks into a supposedly haunted room while researching a book. The flick features an awesome twist, and four different endings were filmed to appeal to all kinds of movie fans.
"Needful Things"
"Firestarter"
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"Cat's Eye"
"Cat's Eye" includes three short horror films framed by a stray tabby cat. It was one of two major King movies in the '80s to feature a young Drew Barrymore.
"Sometimes They Come Back"
"Dolores Claiborne"
"Gerald's Game"
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"The Dead Zone"
"Hearts in Atlantis"
"A Good Marriage"
In 2005, Kansas police announced they had finally captured long-elusive serial killer BTK, who turned out to be a man named Dennis Rader. As more details were revealed, Rader's wife told police that she never knew about her husband's horrific acts. The events inspired King to write "A Good Marriage," which became a 2014 film.
"Doctor Sleep"
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"The Mist"
Based on a 1980 King story called "The Fog," "The Mist" focuses on a group of people trapped in a small-town grocery store after a storm. As a misty fog settles in, it bring monsters that seem to want nothing more than to destroy humans.
"The Green Mile"
"Creepshow 2"
"Dolan's Cadillac"
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"Desperation"
"The Dark Half"
"Maximum Overdrive"
Inspired by the short story "Trucks" from his book "Night Shift," the 1986 movie "Maximum Overdrive" is a campy flick about machines on the rampage, with an AC/DC soundtrack to boot. Viewers might remember such classic scenes as a vending machine shooting out sodas or a child trying to escape a steamroller that has a mind of its own.
"Pet Sematary"
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"Riding the Bullet"
"Dreamcatcher"
Would you be totally shocked if we told you the 2003 movie "Dreamcatcher" was set in Maine? This scary flick is set against a snowy winter backdrop and features a group of men who run into parasitic aliens while on a hunting trip. NKOTB band member Donnie Wahlberg appears in the movie alongside Morgan Freeman and other big names.
"Sleepwalkers"
"Thinner"
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"Big Driver"
"Silver Bullet"
Inspired by the King novella "Cycle of the Werewolf," the 1985 flick "Silver Bullet" stars Corey Haim as a boy named Marty who lives in a town with a whole lot of murders ... in Maine, of course. After shooting him in the eye with a bottle rocket, Marty learns that the wolf is none other than the local reverend himself, but that doesn't mean anyone will believe him ...
"1922"
"The Stand"
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"Needful Things"
Based on a 1991 King novel, the 1991 movie "Needful Things" is the story of a small-town store owner who can get you anything you want — for a price. After proprietor Leland Gaunt creates a riot among neighbors, he is forced out of town when his store burns to the ground.
"Desperation"
"Carrie"
"11.22.63"
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"The Dark Tower"
"Christine"
"The Running Man"
"Dolores Claiborne"
Kathy Bates makes a critically-acclaimed appearance as the title character in "Dolores Claiborne," a servant in Maine (yes, again) who is accused of murdering her boss. Less a horror story than a thriller or drama, this flick also features Jennifer Jason Leigh and Christopher Plummer.
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"Misery"
"The Dead Zone"
"The Tommyknockers"
In the 1993 movie "The Tommyknockers," a mysterious object buried in the woods is giving the people of Haven, Maine bizarre powers, including telepathy. Turns out, it was aliens. In a 2014 interview with "Rolling Stone," Stephen King called this an "awful book," so don't hold your breath waiting for a sequel.
"Cujo"
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"Riding the Bullet"
"It"
"Firestarter"
Based on a 1980 novel, "Firestarter" tells the story of a young girl who can set things ablaze with her mind, so of course, the government is after her. Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott also appear in this thriller.
"Cell"
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"The Stand"
"Sometimes They Come Back"
When Jim Norman returns to his hometown to teach, he notices that all the new students showing up in his class look an awful lot like the greasers who killed his brother as a child. Looking for a way out of hell, they are back to kill Jim himself, until they are sent back to the Devil thanks to a ghost train in "Sometimes They Come Back."
"Creepshow"
"The Shining"
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"Hearts in Atlantis"
Anthony Hopkins plays Ted, an elderly boarder with telekinetic powers in the 2001 movie "Hearts in Atlantis." While living near a boy named Bobby and his mom Liz, Ted and Bobby become close friends, even as they attempt to steer clear of the mysterious "low men in yellow coats."
"Gerald's Game"
"The Shawshank Redemption"
"Stand By Me"
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You Got:
/40
