Stephen King is the undisputed master of horror. He may not be your personal favorite author actively working in the genre, but he has undoubtedly influenced your favorite to some degree in the half century since his first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974 – not to mention the classic film adaptation by Brian De Palma that followed just two years later.

His talent is also often underestimated when it comes to telling stories that aren’t necessarily horror. For all their unsettling moments, Stephen King films like Stand By Me, Dolores Claiborne, and The Shawshank Redemption (like their source material) are character dramas rather than unfiltered horror stories. But even without memorable metaphors like a child-eating clown creature or a father forced by ghosts to murder his family with an axe, these stories paint complicated portraits of humanity and our inadequacies that rival those of the author’s horror stories. Something like Mr. Harrigan’s Telephone, one of the many King stories adapted as Netflix films, would work just as well as a disturbing coming-of-age drama about an unconventional friendship if you left out the explicitly supernatural aspects entirely.

King himself seems to appreciate these kinds of Stephen King films as much as the overtly scary ones. When Deadline asked him in 2016 about his personal favorite adaptation of one of his books, he actually named two of them (both of which, as you might expect, also landed on his own list of the seven best Stephen King films overall).

Frank Darabont began writing horror films in the ’80s, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and The Blob. He also tried his hand at directing for the first time, turning King’s short story “The Woman in the Room” into a short film in 1983 as part of King’s “Dollar Baby” program, which allowed up-and-coming talent to adapt his work for the price of a single dollar before the initiative was shut down in 2023. So it should come as no great surprise that Darabont has shown a knack for bringing King’s writing to life on the big screen. More impressive is the variety of Stephen King stories Darabont has turned into acclaimed films, from the highly emotional prison dramas The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile to the ultra-dark monster movie The Mist.

“Shawshank,” based on King’s novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Trial,” is widely considered the best of Darabont’s King adaptations, and it’s hard to argue with that opinion. The film flopped when it was first released in theaters in 1994, eclipsed by the combined might of Robert Zemeckis’ blockbuster “Forrest Gump” and Quentin Tarantino’s widely acclaimed crime thriller “Pulp Fiction.” Thirty years later, however, it’s “Shawshank” that stands the test of time better. Darabont’s drama about the decades-long friendship between inmates Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins at his most huggable) and Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman in perhaps his greatest role) is a lot like It’s a Wonderful Life in that it’s willing to go to some truly dark places, which makes its uplifting and frankly sentimental moments feel earned rather than contrived or manipulative.

“(…) I love ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and I’ve always enjoyed working with Frank,” King told Deadline. “He’s a nice guy, Frank Darabont.”

Rob Reiner was at the height of his directorial powers in the ’80s, making This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally in the space of five years (!). Just a year later, he directed another acclaimed Stephen King film, 1990’s Misery, which won Kathy Bates an Oscar for her portrayal of a mentally ill devotee who imprisons her favorite author. Both the film and the book it’s based on tap into King’s anxieties about his real-life fame, and he’s made no secret of how much he loves Reiner’s film. It could easily have been his other favorite adaptation of his work, too…if it weren’t for Stand By Me.

Reiner’s 1986 drama is so universally acclaimed, like The Shawshank Redemption, that it’s easy to dismiss it as overrated. But watch it once and you’ll quickly be reminded why Stand By Me is still considered the gold standard for coming-of-age films. Set in the ’50s (based on King’s novella The Body and partly inspired by the author’s youth), the story follows four young friends who set out to find the body of a local boy who has gone missing. They think it’s going to be a fun adventure – and they end up baring their souls to each other as they battle their personal demons and come face to face with death itself (literally). It’s a great film that’s as poignant and intense as it is funny and lighthearted. And what else is there to say about the wonderful performances by a young Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and especially the late River Phoenix (in one of his most heartbreaking roles)?

King himself has admitted that “Stand By Me” made him incredibly emotional when he first heard it and that the song still moves him today. He puts it simply: “And I love the Rob Reiner thing, ‘Stand By Me.'”