Even with all the exciting horror movie releases and spooky TV shows coming up, it's impossible not to rewatch the all-time classics and my personal favorites that haven't been seen in a while. To start getting into the All-Hallows spirit with my wife and 13-year-old daughter, I put on the George Romero-directed film, Horror comedy with a script by Stephen King horror show after realizing it had been decades since I last saw him.
While I could never seriously say that Warner Bros.’ 1982 comedy was a flawless, top-notch film, I was sadly pleased to find that it was just as twisted, uneven, and gleefully disgusting as I remembered it, if not more so. And it sparked a pretty specific desire in my brain for an upcoming Stephen King project (or more) that I honestly hadn’t given much thought to during my many years as a fan.
Stephen King should write more live-action anthologies
Despite being primarily known as a prolific horror novelist, Stephen King has worked directly on quite a few live-action projects, from his single feature effort Maximum Overdrive (adapting his story “Trucks”) to writing the script for all the episodes of Apple TV+ Lisey's Story To write to the loved one The Stand miniseries in the 90s and beyond. But to date, he has only written the script for one other anthology beyond horror show:Lewis Teague's 1985 horror film Cat's eye.
That low number is a bit shocking to me, considering that there have been the same number of anthology series devoted entirely to King's works that he didn't write for: Nightmares and dreamscapesand Hulu Castle Rock. (Not to mention specific segments in Tales from the Dark Side and others.) Obviously we're talking about a writer known for writing 700+ page tomes, and anthology segments are a different animal, but horror show This alone is proof that he can do well with another horror master behind the camera.
It also doesn't hurt that special effects expert Tom Savini is handling all the macabre stuff, so having him on board for this hypothetical future project is also a must. He directed a segment of the Greg Nicotero episode horror show series in AMC, so the blood-soaked connective tissue remains intact.
Creepshow segments directly address specific fears without beating around the bush
One reason why horror show The fact that it works so well as a horror film and as a comedy is because these are fairly straightforward stories that spend little time on unnecessary subplots with forgettable supporting characters. Each story follows a simple but effective format that sets up each story's choices for the hero and/or villain, and the main thematic or visual threat that the characters will be forced to deal with. And then it delves deeper into those fears.
For example, Stephen King himself took on the co-starring role in the segment “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” whose premise of a simpleton whose curiosity seals his plant-based fate is fully realized without needing anything beyond the fear of seeing how dire Jordy's situation can become.
Meanwhile, watching “Something to Tide You Over” in the modern era is almost surreal, given that it stars comedy legends like Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson. And yet, it manages to elicit legitimately unsettling feelings in viewers by leaning into the innately harrowing fear of being buried alive — or up to your neck in sand to be super-specific here. Plus, the mounting sense of dread that Nielsen’s character feels before the climax of that segment is successfully unnerving, even though he definitely deserves the worst.
But seriously, if we're talking about extremely effective filmmaking, then there's no need to look any further than the bug-filled “They're Creeping Up on You!” segment. Because, by God, while I'm sure that segment is PETA's brand kryptonite, it's still mighty shocking to see an intentional infestation on that scale. Who needs dense exposition when you have to pay attention to the sound of thousands of tiny little legs?
King's short stories are often as powerful as his epics
Stephen King has written a dozen published collections of short stories and novellas to date, dating back to 1978. Night shift until 2024 You like it darkerwithout taking into account the countless shorter works that exist outside of those compilations. And for many, those less extensive creative efforts can be just as impactful as their more massive efforts, such as HE, The Standor your The Dark Tower series.
Because even with his longer novels that tackle more complicated plots, King tends to have a better hit rate when it comes to getting his endings right than he does with some longer stories. And he's still able to create memorable characters in those settings, often by confronting them head-on with what scares them most, without the need for narrative wiggle room.
It's clear that Stephen King has long since moved on from making anthologies to bring his stories to the eyes of fans, so perhaps it's not such a pleasant way for him to work. Or perhaps he's only interested in focusing on longer-form live-action projects at this point in his life and career. And that would be perfectly fine, obviously, as he's created more epic works than anyone else could ever hope to match.
But if it turns out that those ideas are wrong, and all King needs is someone to push him in that direction and remind him how great he is… horror show and Cat's eye are, and how much anthology cinema could benefit from an injection of their talent, let me then do so with polite truthfulness.