"For Stephen King, 2025 has been one of the most prolific years to date in TV and movie adaptations of his works. But one has to ask themselves, why? If you dig past the darkness and gore, the spirits and horror of it all, you can see stories that offer cultural commentary and political parallels to this angry age. King offers anger and darkness, yes, but also hope in every one of these stories."
"NEON Osgood Perkins's adaptation of The Monkey is a silly gorefest about brotherly hatred and revenge that brings a whole community to ruin, and introduces a literal figure of the Reaper on horseback. Mike Flanagan's take on The Life of Chuck opens with an entire universe blinking out of existence, and both The Long Walk and The Running Man give us a picture of alternate Americas where the power is no longer with the people and instead wielded by giant corporations or authoritarian bureaucracies."
"The Long Walk in particular is the work of an angry college student so fed up with the authorities forcing the nation's youth to go fight in Vietnam that he wrote up a story about a militaristic ruler literally murdering young boys in the name of some kind of patriotic competition. King published both The Long Walk and The Running Man under his pen name, Richard Bachman"
2025 includes four feature films (The Monkey, The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, The Running Man), two television series (The Institute, It: Welcome to Derry), and a new novel (Never Flinch). The projects use horror tropes to deliver cultural commentary and political parallels that resonate with contemporary anger while retaining hope. Most source stories originate over thirty years ago, yet their retellings feel fresh and morally pointed. The Monkey depicts brotherly hatred, revenge, community ruin, and a reaper figure. The Life of Chuck begins with a universe blinking out. The Long Walk and The Running Man portray alternate Americas dominated by corporations or authoritarian bureaucracies; both first appeared under the pen name Richard Bachman.
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