Presented by Neon’s The Monkey, Bloody Disgusting is celebrating this weekend’s release of Osgood Perkins’ highly anticipated horror with Stephen King Week. Yesterday, Luiz H.C. provided us with a ranking of King’s made-for-TV originals. Today, Rachel Reeves closes out the week by looking ahead at more short stories to tear from the page and put on the screen.
Stephen King‘s massive influence on horror often gets tied to his sprawling, epic novels, and understandably so. But tucked away in the shadows are his short stories, raw and unfiltered bursts of terror that leave a lasting impression in just a few pages. With Osgood Perkins now having brought The Monkey to the big screen, it’s hard not to wonder about the other compact tales waiting in the wings.
What truly sets these brief works apart is their precision. Every line and every twist evokes fear and fascination without the luxury of a drawn-out backstory. King’s short stories operate like a distilled essence of dread, forcing those who partake to confront the pure and uncanny. This economy of storytelling—where every word counts—challenges expectations and provides fertile soil for directors looking to create tension, atmosphere, and unforgettable horror on screen. From supernatural terrors to psychological nightmares, here are a few more stories just waiting for a visionary director to bring them to life.
“I Am the Doorway”
Initially published in Cavalier magazine and later collected in Night Shift, “I Am the Doorway” is easily one of King’s most disturbing tales. Taking more of a science-fiction route by way of the Cronenberg Expressway, “I Am the Doorway” recounts the tragic story of Arthur, a former astronaut who returns from a mission to Venus with far more than he bargained for.
Before too long, Arthur’s hands develop an odd redness and deep itch. Though worrisome, Arthur’s initial worry soon gives way to sheer terror when eyes burst forth from his fingertips and palms. Arthur quickly realizes his body is being used by something not of this world as a conduit to see, observe, and commit terrible crimes. Ultimately, Arthur finds himself stuck between a rock and the ultimate of all hard places.
Largely playing out as a conversation between friends, it is the open space (and outer space) that King builds into the story that practically aches for the complete adaptation treatment. On top of the spaciousness element, the striking visuals King is able to convey through his story are top-tier, to say the least. I mean, it’s no surprise that multiple covers of Night Shift feature imagery from “I Am the Doorway.” Those hands are creepy as heck and, if executed right, could easily send chills rippling through theater aisles.
“Two Talented Bastids”
One of King’s more recent pieces of writing, “Two Talented Bastids” is the opening story in his 2024 collection You Like It Darker. The “two talented bastids” in question are Laird Carmody, a famous writer, and Butch LaVerdiere, a successful artist. However, Laird and Butch were not always successful and inexplicably seemed to hit their respective creative strides a little later in life, at exactly the same time. For decades, neither man would speak on their parallel wins and non-traditional path to financial victory. But when Laird finds himself on his deathbed, he finally reveals the chilling and otherworldly secret to his success to his son.
The source of talent and creativity is certainly not unfamiliar subject territory to King, but how he captures it in this particular narrative is undoubtedly one of his strongest attempts. “Two Talented Bastids” also addresses the inherent fear that fuels the relentless pursuit of success, the unfortunately unequal distribution of talent, and the hesitancy many feel about discussing the matter. It’s also a rather spooky story at times and one that could easily benefit from a strong visual component.
“Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut”
King’s work is rich with some incredible female characters (and some duds, of course), but one that never gets quite the credit she deserves is Ophelia Todd from “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut.” First appearing in Redbook in 1984 and later collected in Skeleton Crew, Ophelia Todd is a woman from Castle Rock, Maine who loves fast cars, fast routes, and being the one behind the wheel, both literally and figuratively. Obsessed with finding the quickest routes between Point A and Point B, Ophelia does not allow well-worn routes and traditional paths define her commute or her life.
On one particular shortcut quest, Ophelia stumbles upon a rift of some sort in the time-space continuum that allows her to do the seemingly impossible. Not only does this discovery allow her to make killer time, she begins to age backward and change in powerful ways. Though the story is interesting in itself, it is the exploration of Ophelia and her road to empowerment that truly makes the story a ride worth taking. And after all, who doesn’t love watching a badass babe drive a badass car around while discovering what freedom truly means, right?
“The Man in the Black Suit”
King has a way of capturing the nostalgia of childhood that feels so authentic and effortless. His ability to spin the most mundane of situations into passages that pull at the heartstrings or crystalize young terror is key to the success of familiar faves like IT and “The Body.” It is also what makes “The Man in the Black Suit” a story worth exploring on a larger scale.
Written as a tribute to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown” for The New Yorker and later collected in Everything’s Eventual, “The Man in the Black Suit” recounts a young boy named Gary’s encounter with the Devil while fishing. Though truly simple, it is the way this encounter toys with Gary’s deep, understandable fears and haunts him for the rest of his life that opens the door to cinematic possibilities. Even though the original story takes place in 1914, the ideas it addresses are timeless. After all, death comes for everyone, but what happens when one does not go gentle into that good night and becomes forced to confront this decision when the sun begins to set for the final time?
“The Gingerbread Girl”
Collected in Just After Sunset, “The Gingerbread Girl” is a tough hang due to some of its subject matter, but it’s also an incredible one. Emily, the heart of the story, copes with the loss of her young daughter by taking up running. Soon, Emily runs away from her husband all the way down to the Florida Gulf to her father’s summer house. While out on one of her intense daily runs, Emily accidentally runs into trouble with her neighbor. Only this trouble is far more serious than a simple landscaping issue. This trouble is of the most serious and deadly variety.
Part thriller, part examination of grief and the ways we cope, “The Gingerbread Girl” is suspenseful and expertly crafted. While films of this variety had a bit of a heyday in the 90s and early 2000s, the thriller genre has tragically become a bit of a lost art. Straddling the ambiguous line that divides a short story from the novella, King provides plenty of story in “The Gingerbread Girl” to work with and a central character that one can’t help but cheer for from the sidelines.
“The Jaunt”
Another story collected in Skeleton Crew, “The Jaunt” starts out innocently enough. As Mark Oates and his family prepare for a trip to Mars, he tells his kids about Victor Carune, the man who discovered teleportation, aka Jaunting. Self-editing, Mark leaves out some of the more gruesome accidents and terrifying truths that materialized while pursuing safe teleportation technology. By doing so, Mark inadvertently piques his son’s curiosity about what happens during Jaunting, resulting in one of the most chilling conclusions King has ever delivered.
Similar to “I Am the Doorway,” the combination of past and present storytelling in “The Jaunt” allows for an expansiveness that could theoretically make the jump from page to screen. It also offers yet another sci-fi King excursion, which is, quite frankly, a strong side of King that he doesn’t get quite enough credit for. Yet, he is still King, and the horror of “The Jaunt” could be a veritable playground for the right, twisted mind.
“Uncle Otto’s Truck”
King clearly loves a good cursed or possessed item, and I, for one, love to see it. Especially when said item happens to be a vehicle. “Uncle Otto’s Truck” from Skeleton Crew is one such vehicular storytelling vessel and recounts the story of Otto Schenck and his red Cresswell truck. After running down his business partner, Otto becomes convinced that the truck is alive, operating itself, and coming for Otto next. When Otto’s nephew finds Otto dead, drowned in motor oil with a spark plug stuffed down his throat, his nephew begins to think Otto wasn’t quite so crazy after all.
Of course, there is the road that one can drive down that uses the story to hint at how unresolved guilt can destroy a mind. There is also the road that simply delivers yet another murderous machine movie to add to King’s already-stacked collection. But who doesn’t want more of that? With plenty of room left for creative interpretation and extrapolation, “Uncle Otto’s Truck” is the no-brainer adaptation gathering dust in the garage just waiting to be salvaged.
The Monkey is now playing in theaters everywhere. Get tickets now and enter to win an exclusive 1/50 resin sculpt made from the original Monkey.
