Our Favorite Things from Summer Game Fest 2025

Summer Game Fest, one of the biggest entertainment activities of the year, features upcoming activities through announcements, debuts, and updates. This event associates with various productions, producers, and other business associates in the industry, taking place in June in Los Angeles, and Den of Geek returned to join in on the fun first]… ]

The first article on Den of Geek‘s Den was Our Preferred Things from Summer Game Fest 2025.

The book is a weird creature in writing and publishing. Not quite a novel but lengthier than a short story ( and also longer than the craft’s red-headed stepchild, the novelette ). It’s a genre that, unlike a short story, requires more depth into a story’s plot and characters without sacrificing fundamental complexity, historical breadth, and multi-level plotting.

The story, however, also presents certain promotion problems: with length ranging from 17, 000 to 40, 000 thoughts ( a calculation that in itself is somewhat nebulous ), it can be tricky for publishers to convince consumers to shell out their hard-earned cash for a slim level that may not always reach even 100 pages.

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Despite all this, Stephen King has long been an artist who’s embraced the book, going all the way back to his first set of four of them, the then famous Different Times. In fact, some of his best works have fallen into this group, and it might even be argued that first King books like Carrie, The Working Guy, and The Long Walk are romances. This difference has also marked the panel alterations of King &#8217, s work. Condensing his usually giant novels or stretching his short stories to an acceptable working time for a feature can be difficult, but the novella has proven a number of times to be the ideal length for a film.

With the recently released The Life of Chuck in theaters and the highly anticipated release of the 15 movies and one limited series based on the author’s stories, the time has come to review the 15 films and the officially titled novellas. As one might expect, a number of them don’t work very well and haven’t even been widely seen while others are not just among the best King adaptations of all time, but stand tall as films on their own. Here are all 16 of them, with the order of least to first.

16. Dolan’s Cadillac ( 2009 )

This Canadian production, which was largely unreleased anywhere and was only released on video in the United States, is based on one of King’s more obscure tales. It was published in installments in his long-defunct official newsletter, Castle Rock, before being included in his 1993 collection, Nightmares and Dreamscapes. The plot is a revenge tale in which a teacher named Robinson plots to murder a mob boss named Dolan, who had murdered Robinson’s wife. The scheme involves a highway construction site and a pit in which Robinson plans to bury Dolan alive inside his car.

Wes Bentley and Christian Slater star as Robinson and Dolan in the film, which was helmed by journeyman TV director Jeff Beesley. The film suffers from the two leads ‘ wildly divergent performances ( Bentley is lax while Slater chews the scenery ), a lack of suspense, and a needless fistful of subplots, which are not widely reviewed. It also lacks the psychological edge found in King’s original text.

15. Riding the Bullet ( 2004 ) &nbsp, &nbsp,

Running just over 40 pages in King’s Everything’s Eventual collection,” Riding the Bullet” is probably more famous for the way it was originally published than for either the story itself or the film based on it. King made the novella available in 2000 as the first mass-market e-book, allowing readers to download it for$ 2.50. Hundreds of thousands of downloads were apparently sold, but King did not experiment much further with this kind of publishing.

In terms of the film itself, it was directed by Mick Garris, a King specialist who also directed the 1990s miniseries versions of The Stand and The Shining (among others ). He falls flat here with this limited release. It’s a slight tale about a college student ( Jonathan Jackson ) who has a spectral encounter while hitchhiking home to be at his mother’s side after she has a stroke and is forced to make a terrible decision. This one is a rather dull experience because Gairs ( who also wrote the screenplay ) struggles to make it into a full-length film.

14. A Good Marriage ( 2014 ),,

This little-seen indie thriller was adapted by King himself ( a relative rarity in the 21st century ) and directed by Peter Askin, perhaps best known for directing the original Off-Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. King’s story, published in the 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars, is about a woman who discovers that her husband is a serial killer after 27 years of marriage. The third act turn of the film, which features Joan Allen as the wife and Anthony LaPaglia as her secretly psychotic husband, is very faithful to the book.

The problem is that the story is relatively small and told on the level of a TV movie-of-the-week, with Allen and LaPaglia not demonstrating the kind of chemistry needed to make a long marriage&#8212, even one that has in this story settled into complacency. Sure enough, A Good Marriage was relegated to direct-to-video release after a brief theatrical run, establishing its status as “minor” King.

13. In the Tall Grass ( 2019 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

This Netflix movie, based on a novella by King and his son Joe Hill, was directed by Cube and Splice director Vincenzo Natali ( the story can be found in Hill’s Full Throttle collection, which also features a second father-son collaboration,” Throttle” ). In the original story, two siblings, a pregnant college freshman and her brother, pull over near a large field of grass while driving across country. They enter the field when they hear a young boy yelling for help from the grass, and they quickly become mired in an unsettling, constantly changing landscape.

The story contains some of the most disturbing imagery that either writer has ever dreamed up and continues the longtime King fascination with vast fields of tall vegetation that goes all the way back to stories like” Children of the Corn”. But Natali stretches the King boys ‘ relatively slim tale ( it runs about 46 pages in print ) to make a 90-minute movie, adding all kinds of new elements ( extra characters and a time loop aspect ) that render the film increasingly incomprehensible.

12. Big Driver ( 2014 )

Despite having a grimy plot, this movie ended up on the Lifetime cable network of all places despite being another entry from King’s Full Dark, No Stars collection. There are also King connections all over it: director Mikael Salomon helmed the divisive second miniseries based on’ Salem’s Lot a decade earlier while the teleplay was penned by Richard Christian Matheson, son of one of King &#8217, s idols, Richard Matheson. The story is about a mystery writer named Tess who, after giving a reading at a local library, is raped and tortured by a hulking truck driver on a rural road. Tess commits vengeance into her own hands after learning that the woman who invited her to the reading is the mother of her attacker&#8212, and thus led her into a trap.

Reminiscent in some ways of the cult horror film Mother’s Day,” Big Driver” reads pretty damn dark on the page, which makes some of the movie’s attempts at humor rather jarringly out of place. Although the film can’t really get past its tired revenge-exploitation roots, the theme of female empowerment is well-meant. Maria Bello stars as Tess, while Ann Dowd is the evil mom.

11. The Langoliers ( 1995 ) &nbsp, &nbsp,

The one full-fledged television production on this list is, ironically, proof of why sometimes it’s not always the best idea to give a King story a wide berth in terms of running time. The Langoliers, a commercial airliner that was first snagged into the sky by a rip in time, places the passengers trapped in an abandoned, decaying reality that are consumed by monstrous beings as time unavoidably progresses, was originally published in King’s 1990 collection Four Past Midnight.

One of King’s weirder excursions into that murky territory between sci-fi and horror,” The Langoliers” would probably have made for a tight, 110-minute movie. But at three hours with commercials, and released over two nights, director Tom Holland’s faithful adaptation is overly long. Plus, King’s story is difficult to read and doesn’t seem to have the time-eating monsters as Pac-Men, which they ultimately turn out to be thanks to some awful 90s television VFX.

10. Silver Bullet ( 1985 ) &nbsp,

Based on King’s 1983 novella “Cycle of the Werewolf”, one of the earliest works by the author to be published in a limited edition, Silver Bullet was adapted for the screen by King himself, who jettisoned the story’s format of dividing the story into month-by-month chapters for a more straightforward narrative that preserves what’s ultimately a very simple tale of a small Maine town under siege from a werewolf.

It’s very much a minor work and the movie reflects that. There is little suspense in the beginning about who the werewolf is, and the tension or mystery that arises quickly dissipates. Directed by Daniel Attias ( a TV veteran helming his sole feature film ), Silver Bullet features Gary Busey and Everett McGill hamming it up in the adult leads while Corey Haim does credible work as the young paraplegic hero. The werewolf costume is less authentic. In an era where movies like The Howling and An American Werewolf in London changed the game for this classic monster, the bear-like lycanthrope here is so 1960s.

9. Phone ( 202 ) from Mr. Harrigan: &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

One of the four stories in King’s last collection of novellas, 2020’s If It Bleeds,” Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” is about a teenager who befriends an aging, wealthy businessman, both of whom happen to get their first iPhones at the same time. The boy discovers that calling the mysteriously still-active number allows him to leave messages for Mr. Harrigan… messages that have repercussions when the businessman passes away and his phone is buried with him.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, the movie, is one of a number of King-based works that have been subsidized by Netflix. Directed by John Lee Hancock ( The Little Things ), the film stars It cast member Jaeden Martell as the boy Craig and Donald Sutherland in one of his final screen appearances as Mr. Harrigan. Although Hancock is a capable, competent director, Martell and Sutherland both deliver skillful performances, the movie has a slow pace. And building a movie around leaving voicemail messages just doesn’t seem like a good idea in practice.

8. Secret Window ( 2004 ) &nbsp, &nbsp,

Written and directed by David Koepp ( Jurassic Park ), Secret Window is based on” Secret Window, Secret Garden”, first published in the 1990 collection Four Past Midnight. Mort Rainey, an author who is experiencing writer’s block and going through divorce, shows up at his home in the John Shooter ( John Turturro ), claiming Rainey plagiarized a personal story and quickly escalated his grievance to include violence and murder.

Fans know that King loves to write about writers and their struggles, and similarities abound between this and King’s novel The Dark Half. However, the issue with both this story and the film is that the twist, that Shooter is not real but a hidden aspect of Rainey’s own personality, can be seen before the first act even begins. Koepp also changes King’s ending and removes the supernatural aspect of the novella. Still, the film is stylishly done with a good cast where Depp is not encased in prosthetics or makeup for a change.

7. Hearts in Atlantis ( 2001 ) &nbsp, &nbsp,

This is peculiar. Hearts in Atlantis is not based on the collection of the same name, per se, but rather on the book’s centerpiece novella,” Low Men in Yellow Coats”. Directed by Scott Hicks of Shine fame, the film stars Anthony Hopkins as Ted Brautigan, an enigmatic boarder who comes to live with 11-year-old Bobby Garfield ( Anton Yelchin ) and his mother Liz ( Hope Davis ). Although Ted and Bobby form a friendship, Ted is also on the run from the “low guys” who want to seduce him because of his psychic abilities.

Hearts in Atlantis got a mixed response from critics and audiences, although Roger Ebert enjoyed it, writing,” Rarely does a movie make you feel so warm and so uneasy at the same time”. The movie has a slow-moving but atmospheric tone, and Hopkins and Yelchin give excellent performances. The biggest problem is that the menace of the “low men” is rendered rather vague. This is because the original story was tied to King’s Dark Tower mythos, with nearly all of that context removed for the movie version.

6. Apt Pupil ( 1998 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

The longest and darkest novella in Todd Bowden’s beloved series” Apt Pupil” is about a high school student named Todd who discovers that Kurt Dussander, a Nazi war criminal, is actually living in his hometown. Fascinated with the Holocaust and its atrocities, Todd begins a parasitic, mutually destructive relationship with Dussander, one that brings out the sadistic qualities in both and ends with mass murder.

Unfortunately matching its pitch-black subject matter, the history of” Apt Pupil” onscreen is a troubled one. When funding ran out, the original 1987 adaptation starring Rick Schroeder and Nicol Williamson was abandoned halfway through production. So Bryan Singer picked up the option in 1995 and filmed it as his follow-up to The Usual Suspects, with Brad Renfro as Todd and Ian McKellen as Dussander. Both the film and the movie are spooky, but Singer also changes the ending, which is still dark but not nearly as violent as the novella. More disquieting, scandal erupted when three teenage extras accused Singer of making them strip naked for a shower scene, given later allegations surrounding Singer, this has only added an unsavory real-life aspect to an already deeply unpleasant movie.

5.1922 ( 2017 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

Thomas Jane has the honor of appearing in three Stephen King productions, two of which are incredibly good ( the third is, uh, Dreamcatcher ). This Netflix adaptation of a novella from Full Dark, No Stars is actually the most recent of the three, and features Jane as Wilf James, a farmer who hatches a plot to murder his wife ( Molly Parker ) and recruits their own son ( Dylan Schmid ) into helping him. Although they succeed, things start to turn a certain way for Wilf and his son shortly afterward. It&#8217, s a grisly narrative involving rats and the spirits of the vengeful dead.

It&#8217, s a macabre tale that Australian writer-director Zak Hilditch nails in terms of atmosphere and faithfulness, making for one of the sturdier recent King-based movies. The overall feeling of rot and dread effectively echoes what happens to Wilf both mentally and physically, and Jane is excellent as the tormented, sociopathic Wilf. This one’s a bit of a sleeper hit.

4. The Life of Chuck ( 2025 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

The Life of Chuck is not just the most recent adaptation of a King novella, but the story itself is one of the newer King tales to make it to the screen. The Life of Chuck is a tale in three acts told in reverse order, and was published in 2020’s If It Bleeds &#8212, the author’s fifth collection of novellas to date. It begins with an ex-husband and wife desperate to reconnect as the world teeters on the edge of apocalypse and ends with a teenager seeing a vision of his ultimate fate but determined to live life as fully as possible. And there’s a wild dance number in the middle.

Adapted by King specialist Mike Flanagan ( Doctor Sleep), The Life of Chuck is not really a horror tale at all despite some eerie touches throughout. Instead it’s a paean to the idea of appreciating every moment in life that you can, no matter how insignificant they may seem at the time. Additionally, it’s King at his most humanist and compassionate, which this planet could use at the moment. Flanagan captures the tone of King’s story perfectly, and the ensemble cast, led by Tom Hiddleston as the adult Chuck and Mark Hamill as his crusty grandfather, is wonderful.

3. The Mist ( 2007 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

Director-writer Frank Darabont went from making Stephen King prison dramas ( like The Green Mile and one more that will come later on this list ) to adapting this pulp horror shocker, based on King’s 1980 tale that clocked in at around 130 pages. A group of people who find refuge in a supermarket after a mysterious fog containing nightmarish monsters descends on their small town and possibly the rest of the world are followed by a similar lean group in Rabatont’s film.

As is often the case with King stories, the people are just as dangerous as the monsters, as the survivors split into two camps representing reason and fanaticism. However, even the good guys have a tendency to make mistakes, which is what Thomas Jane’s protagonist David Drayton does when he makes the final choice that ends the film even more depressingly than King’s. The Mist is straight-down-the-middle horror, which Darabont proves he’s equally effective at.

2. Stand By Me ( 1986 ), ,

Stephen King’s classic novella” The Body” was first published in Different Seasons, alongside &#8220, Apt Pupil&#8221, and the story that inspired the next movie on this list. The Body was the first of three to appear on screen as Stand by Me, earning it the distinction of being the first movie to be adapted from a King story that wasn’t horror. The film is a poignant, nostalgic coming-of-age tale about four young boys who hike along a railroad track one endless summer day on a mission to see the dead body of another boy killed by a passing train.

&#8220, The Body &#8221, is a meditation on youth, growing up, and memory, reminiscent in some ways of Ray Bradbury’s work, and director Rob Reiner captures the tone of King’s novella in what is easily one of the best adaptations of the author’s work. The four boys, who include a painfully young River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, JerryO’Connell, and Corey Feldman, are all excellent actors, and Kiefer Sutherland and John Cusack excel in crucial supporting roles. Stand By Me remains a moving tribute to the fleeting innocence of childhood.

1. The Shawshank Redemption ( 1994 ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

You kind of suspected it would all lead here, right? The Mist director and future The Walking Dead series creator, Frank Darabont, faithfully transferred Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption to the screen in 1994. Despite positive reviews, top stars like Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, and a deliberate attempt to downplay the King connection&#8212, plus an eventual seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture&#8212, The Shawshank Redemption was a box office bust upon release, barely earning back its$ 25 million budget.

However, a second life on home video and cable television started to change things, and The Shawshank Redemption is now regarded as a beloved classic in its own right as well as one of the best King adaptations ever. Which it is: the movie is a beautifully acted, moving, and superbly told tale of both one man’s ( Robbins ) refusal to give up on himself as he spends a potential life sentence in prison on false charges, as well as the friendship he forms behind bars with another lifer ( Freeman ) who finds his own hope restored by their bond. It’s dark and harrowing in spots, with murder, savage violence, and rape all factoring into the story, but it remains a crowning achievement in the King filmography.

The Life of Chuck is currently available in theaters.

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