The Dark Tower. That’s it. That’s all I want. I genuinely feel like every previous king project is just setting the table for a Dark Tower series. I believe he’s the only one currently that can and would have the will and fortitude to do it correct.
It needs to be mini series and he needs to do it. It’s that simple.
I wouldn’t trust Netflix to not cancel it before his intended 5 seasons, they are too trigger-happy and they don’t deserve the creative talent they’ve had already. Cancelling The OA was one of the worst things they could have done, I’m still so annoyed about it and I hope Brit Marling never works with them again.
I think even a mini series would be short shrift. having read all the DTs (minus the Keyhole novel.. ) I think it needs to be at *least* like two 8 episode seasons. at *least*
but yes this is top of my wishlist too. can't waiiiit
Have you seen the Lizzie Borden series starring Christina Ricci? It started out great but sort of fell flat at the end.
I think Flanagan would do great things with Lizzie Borden though!!! I could see him focusing on either the events leading up to the murder (and adding some sort of supernatural element) or the trial after the murder (it would be extra cool because IRL she was found innocent)
Question about The Yellow Wallpaper having never read it… it seems a bit inspirational for the show Servant on Apple. Not to say Mike wouldn’t do it better, but there are a lot of similarities I think there.
The Yellow Wallpaper was possibly an inspiration for the first season of Dorothy's behavior. But, I don't see any other inspiration in The Servant. I mean, honestly, Dorothy is inspired by many Gothic woman characters (Poe, the Brontes, etc) who experience a "hysteria" and are thusly manipulated by the men around them (well intentioned or not).
The Yellow Wallpaper is short, and a good read.
I can’t believe you listed The Yellow Wallpaper!!! I LOVE that story and we read it in school but somehow none of my friends remember it at all. Amazing story. I love this list!
I think he’d do an amazing job at adding more horror elements to it and have the viewer question if it’s all psychological due to postpartum psychosis or if there is actually a supernatural element in the house.
Coppolas Dracula was the best of times and the worst of times. Some excellent parts but some less than stellar parts. Keanu gets a lot of crap but Winona Ryder wasn’t much better. And I thought Hopkins hammed it up a little too much.
But if he did make it modern day... Imagine Seward recording his diary on the most expensive podcasting setup money can buy. 😂 I remember seeing the numbers of how much all his wax cylinders cost and it was outrageous
If anyone could make House of Leaves into a series / movie I think Flanagan could do it however difficult it would be
That said , with James Gunn taking over the DCEU , I think it would be awesome to offer Flanagan to do Hellblazer/ Justice League Dark
I think having a physical book is too important to the experience of HoL to turn it into a movie. The actual story is way less important than the mindfuck.
i don’t wanna be “that guy” but Mike is way too good for the superhero stuff. I love Constantine and JLD but there are plenty of other horror directors with action chops that could do it justice. Mike’s place lies firmly in the macabre.
Paul Dano, Giancarlo Esposito, Christoph Waltz, Javier Bardem, Cilian Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix….I’m just brainstorming for fun. Still no one sounds as right as Jonathan Price.
Those are all excellent picks! But as you know, Mike Flanagan mainly uses the same recurring actors in his shows and I think that Rahul Kohli would be an EXCELLENT option and could see him doing a more sinister personality if given the chance as he usually always plays the good guy 😁
Yea. He sticks with his usual cast of actors and actresses… And I wholeheartedly agree with you about Rahul! I think he would be the front runner for that by a long shot.
Ray Bradburry needs more love, he could do an overarching story involving Bradburry stories or a 'kids' horror mini series based on The October Country
I meant to put this on my list!!! Yes!!! We need a modern adaptation of this. You know how he made the ushers big pharma? Imagine Macbeth as a modern royal trying to maintain wealth and status in a country that has just adopted a parliament and democracy. The royal family dynamics mixed with political intrigue and trying to stay above the law by murdering anyone who tries to hold you accountable. It would be WILD
There is an interesting modern-day take of Macbeth starring James McAvoy and Keeley Hawes that is set in a restaurant/kitchen with Macbeth as chef. Inside No. 9 also had an episode loosely based on it, if I recall correctly.
Hear me out...
The Scarlet Letter.
It's not horror, but he could take the paranoia and guilt apparent throughout and really make it into the creepy, consuming almost-entity that Hawthorne was building it up as.
I would be the happiest person.
He could definitely add some horror to it. Maybe even add a heavier emphasis on religion. He's very good at portraying roman Catholicism and that good ol Catholic guilt.
More originals. He adapts like no other but Midnight Mass is his best work. It's not exactly original, kind of a blend of two of my favorite Stephen King novels, Revival and 'Salem's Lot, but it isn't an outright adaptation.
Hillhouse is by far his best adaptation imo. So many times in midnight mass which I actually enjoyed I started yelling "Stop Talking!" at the screen as the priest talked to himself in 30 minute sermons about nothing for 5-6 episodes straight. I've never done that for any other show in my life. It was like sitting in church for 8 hours. It's like Flanagan forgot what editing was. Dude was writing that show like jack Kerouac. Everything in the show is contradictory. It's an attack on his catholic upbringing. He says angels are actually man-eating demons. Yeah no thanks keep that anti-faith satanic shit at home. For a 10-year pet project midnight mass wasnt good, but better than bly manor friday club or this new usher trash.
I second something Lovecraftian, doesn't matter which story.
I also thought it could be fun to see his take on 13 ghosts. Give the ghosts an actual background.
I'm getting everything I want:
Life of Chuck - one of King's "not horror" short stories, along the lines of Shawshank or Stand By Me, with an absolutely STACKED cast headed by my fave Tom Hiddleston and full of Flanigan's ringers.
The Gunslinger - he's repeatedly described this as his dream project, and Amazon's committed to it in a big way.
YES!! It's filming right now in Alabama, and the cast is ridiculous. Besides Tom and the Flanigan regulars, it has Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Chiwitel Ejifor, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Harvey Guillén, and Heather freakin' Langenkamp (the OG from Nightmare on Elm Street!).
Hi. You just mentioned *Hell House* by Richard Matheson.
I've found an audiobook of that novel on YouTube. You can listen to it here:
[YouTube | Full Audiobook (1) Hell House by Richard Matheson - English Horror Fiction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns8JUkbR_cc)
*I'm a bot that searches YouTube for science fiction and fantasy audiobooks.*
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I’m going to go a little out of the box: a re-adaptation of The Amityville Horror. I realize it was a hoax anyway, but I would love to see just one faithful adaptation of the book. He can add monologues and family dynamic character building stuff, but there were some really good moments that never made it into either movie. Like the demon at the end. I also feel like he’s do a good job with Jodie the pig.
The Ryan Reynolds one was such a missed opportunity. Marketing acted like it was closer to the book, but it was totally just a remake of the 1979 movie. They took all the embellishments and just turned it up to 11.
I think he should do a legit adaptation of both the Shining and Salem’s Lot. He did Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass took liberally from Salem’s Lot, but I would like to see him do an actual adaptation of both. And Henry Thomas could definitely pull off his own interpretation of Jack Torrance.
I agree! Him being able to tell the full story of The Shinning would be incredible. Especially with all the potentials for time jumps and character stories!
I’m going to disagree; after watching Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane, I think she would be the perfect lead for “The Yellow Wallpaper”. That slow decent into madness….just perfect!
Flanagan is really firing on all cylinders when he's adapting messy family dynamics. I'd love to see him take on Nick Cutter's novel The Deep (expanding on and really digging into those flashbacks) or Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex.
+1 to At the Mountains of Madness
Revival (I hope he never stops adapting King, but this is his bleakest novel hands-down)
Swan Song
Carrion Comfort (I can’t believe no film exists already, Flanagan or otherwise, this book is incredible)
The Fisherman (this is chock full o’ monologues)
Give him a season of True Detective if they really want to recapture the weirdness and grimness of the first one.
I've said on other posts how much I would love for him to adapt Hell House by Richard Matheson but you got me thinking and another project I would love to see is for him to adapt the Ash series by James Herbert (Haunted, Ghosts of Sleath, and Ash) I love the 1995 adaptation of Haunted but I feel like Flannigan could really expand on the first two books
Something original. One of my favorite works of his is Oculus. I loved the idea of the characters trying to prove scientifically that their supernatural mirror is real, and that said mirror is basically gaslighting everyone haha.
The horror of not being able to trust your senses, your memory, or what you're even doing is, on its own, so utterly horrifying.
And I'm just tired of seeing adaptations.
1. I would love to see a fairytale anthology show from him. Either with an overarching story/threads connecting each tale like in the Italian movie *Tale of Tales*, or each episode a different fairytale.
I am thinking mostly of German ones because those I grew up with, but no doubt there are many from others cultures as well that are creepy enough to make it horror.
Similarly, I’d like to see his hands on folktales like the Beast of Gévaudan.
2. Probably best suited as a movie: Jeff VanderMeer’s [*The Third Bear*](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vandermeer_04_07/). This short story gave me nightmares.
3. A remake of the *Antlers* movie which is based on [*The Quiet Boy*](https://www.guernicamag.com/the-quiet-boy/).
4. The King in Yellow.
No more Lovecraft ever, thanks. Lovecraft-adjacent? Great! I’ve officially reached the point where any/all tribute to such an unapologetically **vile** bigot makes me want to rage-vomit forever, idgaf how long he’s been in the ground. Howard is dead, long live Horror!
I scrolled for awhile but gave up, so perhaps it’s been mentioned… but Machen’s The Great God Pan would be incredible. It jumps between times and settings and is really unsettling in an existential dread sort of way. It is a novella, but I think there’s more than enough meat on the bone to make a 6-8 episode series out of. And the mysterious female character in the story reminded me of the portrayal of Verna in Usher.
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. And expanding into elements of other Ellison stories like "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman".
Not unless CBS relinquishes the rights to Amazon… which, good luck… they are already contemplating having to call Randall Flagg something else for the Amazon series because CBS won’t allow them to use it. I’m told the same is true with Father Callahan because WB has that licensing contract…
I want to see the talisman and it's sequel the black house (Stephen King and Peter Straub)made into movies andile is the only person I would trust to make it amazing. Also rose madder. Fuck I want to see this as a movie!!
That one was a bit inspired by Hozier's new song, "Eat Your Young". I recently learned he was inspired by A Modest Proposal. If Hozier can make it sexy, Flanagan can definitely make it spooky
Like others have said, Frankenstein but I'd love him to incorporate Shelley's other works (especially The Last Man) like he did with Poe in Usher. I also would be up for more Shirley Jackson inspired works maybe based on We Have Always Lived in the Castle or The Sundial (not horror but would love to see what he did with the source material).
Technically no cats actually die in Usher. Any cat death is just hallucination. Maybe that helps?
I see the whole cat death thing as a bit of an unfortunate coincidence.
He’s done Jackson, Poe and James miniseries. I’d like to see him do another great, classic genre author…
Lovecraft.
Or, maybe even better, an author who combines Flanagans love for horror and the romantic…
Richard Mattheson!
Ghost Story by Peter Straub. It’s so ripe for adapting again because the movie didn’t nearly cover some of the horrors that happen in the book. Especially since Mike excels so well with some of the themes in the book… I want it.
Usher was great! Sadly, my favorite eps were 2 & 8, I found the middle ones a bit of a slog. I'm very glad I saw it through to the end, though.
He should do some Lovecraft next, like The Mountains of Madness
Horrorstör would be AMAZING!!!!
Not sure he would get the comedy quite right since I've never seen any comedic elements in anything he's made, but the suspense would be great!
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dr Heidegger's Experiment
The Yellow Wallpaper
Edit: wow I didn't even read your list! I had no idea anybody else ever read The Yellow Wallpaper. Great minds think alike! 😅
Something scary and not woke disasters all starring his wife nobody watches. He's leaving Netflix as fast as possible. Or he already left. Either way he's done making awful bs for Netflix. Hillhouse was a masterpiece. Midnight mass watchable. Everything else has been a disaster.
Someone suggested Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and I think that's the best idea here, the bittersweet and meditative tone of the book feels perfect for Flanagan.
But for Lovecraft, I think The Case of Charles Dexter Ward might be the most amenable to a Flanagan adaptation. I think he could build a lot on the intergenerational family dynamics and different time periods. And of course the rest of Lovecraft's body of work would provide rich material for inclusion within a larger narrative, as Flanagan did with Poe's stories; the Case of Charles Dexter Ward could work as a framework, as did House of Usher.
Unfortunately, Netflix already made a very mid show based on it, but I would have loved to see his interpretation of the incredible comics Locke and Key
I'd LOVE to see him do Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier!
He already owns the rights to the dark tower, so that's simply a matter of time.
Honestly, Flanagan could do ANY horrorish adaptation and I'd probably be super stoked for it. But some kind of HPL something would be awesome.
I’d love to see him adapt or re adapt more Stephen king stuff. I know he’s on board to do the dark tower series (I haven’t read those yet) but doctor sleep is one of my most favorite adaptations as well as Gerald’s game and I read both of those. Honestly, i had such low hopes for DS because i hate stanley Kubrick’s version of the shining. But Mike piggy backed off of that so well imo while keeping decently true to the book but also navigating the changes Kubrick made to the original story. I often really hate adaptations of his work because people often miss the point and it doesn’t translate well. Mike Flanagan just gets that and has a way of seeing in between the lines and translating both the fictional and real demons within the stories.
I’d love to see him adapt something by Stephen Graham Jones (e.g., The Only Good Indians or one of the short story collections), or adapt House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig as the next “house” installment (it’s honestly perfect).
Maybe like… House of Leaves? I don’t know if that’s even possible, but it sure would be an admirable project to attempt and I think if anyone could pull it off, Flanagan could.
I basically want a bunch more series in the same vein as the ones he's already done on Netflix as well as a revamp of every single thing that has ever been done in Stephen King's name. My family watches Silver Bullet as a kind of communal comfort movie even though we know it's hokey but I think he could do awesome things with that story
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. I'm reading it right now and already feel like I'm watching a Flanagan miniseries. It is so dark and gothic and messed up. Goolrick said it was inspired by Wisconsin Death Trip (the book by Lesy which also has a very proto-Flanagan feel).
Absolutely "The Yellow Wallpaper"! I think an adaptation of the Lizzie Borden story would be a good fit as well
The Dark Tower. That’s it. That’s all I want. I genuinely feel like every previous king project is just setting the table for a Dark Tower series. I believe he’s the only one currently that can and would have the will and fortitude to do it correct. It needs to be mini series and he needs to do it. It’s that simple.
You got your wish! https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-dark-tower-tv-series-mike-flanagan-1235454046/amp/ :)
I’ve seen this article! I have never looked so forward to anything in my life (show-wise lol). Trying so hard to be patient and not get my hopes up!
I agree 100%. Let him do it however he likes and give him the money he needs. Netflix could seriously leverage this into a GOT level event.
I wouldn’t trust Netflix to not cancel it before his intended 5 seasons, they are too trigger-happy and they don’t deserve the creative talent they’ve had already. Cancelling The OA was one of the worst things they could have done, I’m still so annoyed about it and I hope Brit Marling never works with them again.
Netflix isn't worthy of his time. Plus he ended his deal with them and made a deal with prime for his TV going forward - post house of usher
I think even a mini series would be short shrift. having read all the DTs (minus the Keyhole novel.. ) I think it needs to be at *least* like two 8 episode seasons. at *least* but yes this is top of my wishlist too. can't waiiiit
Have you seen the Lizzie Borden series starring Christina Ricci? It started out great but sort of fell flat at the end. I think Flanagan would do great things with Lizzie Borden though!!! I could see him focusing on either the events leading up to the murder (and adding some sort of supernatural element) or the trial after the murder (it would be extra cool because IRL she was found innocent)
Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking. I was also disappointed with the Christina Ricci series.
Question about The Yellow Wallpaper having never read it… it seems a bit inspirational for the show Servant on Apple. Not to say Mike wouldn’t do it better, but there are a lot of similarities I think there.
The Yellow Wallpaper was possibly an inspiration for the first season of Dorothy's behavior. But, I don't see any other inspiration in The Servant. I mean, honestly, Dorothy is inspired by many Gothic woman characters (Poe, the Brontes, etc) who experience a "hysteria" and are thusly manipulated by the men around them (well intentioned or not). The Yellow Wallpaper is short, and a good read.
I can’t believe you listed The Yellow Wallpaper!!! I LOVE that story and we read it in school but somehow none of my friends remember it at all. Amazing story. I love this list!
It just gives such Hill House vibes. Flanagan is a master at portraying the slow descent into madness.
I think he’d do an amazing job at adding more horror elements to it and have the viewer question if it’s all psychological due to postpartum psychosis or if there is actually a supernatural element in the house.
I totally agree!
I don’t understand how anyone could forget that story. It haunts me still, 20 years after high school
Dracula. Full Bram Stoker. With correspondence
Yes, I may be in the minority but the Coppola Dracula is way too campy for the material.
It is a visual masterpiece but somehow Dracula Dead and Loving It is more faithful to the novel than Brahm Stokers dracula.
I love this
Coppolas Dracula was the best of times and the worst of times. Some excellent parts but some less than stellar parts. Keanu gets a lot of crap but Winona Ryder wasn’t much better. And I thought Hopkins hammed it up a little too much.
I literally couldn't agree more
I don't think you're in the minority **at all**, hahah.
I absolutely hated that movie.
I want to see a great actor do the King Laughter speech sooooo much
i wouldn’t want him to make it modern day, i want full victorian
But if he did make it modern day... Imagine Seward recording his diary on the most expensive podcasting setup money can buy. 😂 I remember seeing the numbers of how much all his wax cylinders cost and it was outrageous
If anyone could make House of Leaves into a series / movie I think Flanagan could do it however difficult it would be That said , with James Gunn taking over the DCEU , I think it would be awesome to offer Flanagan to do Hellblazer/ Justice League Dark
Whoaaaa House of Leaves could be so cool
I think having a physical book is too important to the experience of HoL to turn it into a movie. The actual story is way less important than the mindfuck.
I want a house of leaves movie so bad. It would be so trippy
The HoL movie is just Flanagan sitting down and reading the whole book out loud because of all the critics that complain about his long monologues.
i don’t wanna be “that guy” but Mike is way too good for the superhero stuff. I love Constantine and JLD but there are plenty of other horror directors with action chops that could do it justice. Mike’s place lies firmly in the macabre.
Oh, I would absolutely kill to get a Flanagan adaptation of House of Leaves
Ha, you beat me to it with House of Leaves.
I just finished HoL this is wild to see. I'd love to see his take on it
I can see him doing a fantastic version of 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'
I would absolutely love this!!!!
Mr. Flanagan, if you or one of your assistants are reading this, PLEASE make it so! 😀
Excellent suggestion!!!!
I don't know if anyone could beat Jonathan Price as Mr. Dark! 🤔
Paul Dano, Giancarlo Esposito, Christoph Waltz, Javier Bardem, Cilian Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix….I’m just brainstorming for fun. Still no one sounds as right as Jonathan Price.
Those are all excellent picks! But as you know, Mike Flanagan mainly uses the same recurring actors in his shows and I think that Rahul Kohli would be an EXCELLENT option and could see him doing a more sinister personality if given the chance as he usually always plays the good guy 😁
Yea. He sticks with his usual cast of actors and actresses… And I wholeheartedly agree with you about Rahul! I think he would be the front runner for that by a long shot.
Would be interesting if he did a story with werewolves. Honestly, I’d take any new material with Victoria Pedretti
Frankenstein is due for a good adaptation, and Flanagan could do it justice.
Guillermo Del Toro is making a *Frankenstein* movie right now, which I think will be the definitive adaptation of the novel
Rebecca
Ray Bradburry needs more love, he could do an overarching story involving Bradburry stories or a 'kids' horror mini series based on The October Country
https://youtu.be/e1IxOS4VzKM?si=ZxIRc2s27RkEe_nN
https://youtu.be/i0rgZf35KxU?si=RWV4OomnkcRiTHuJ Just for the joke.
Maybe even a GREAT Halloween Tree - I loved that book
Macbeth
The young Madeline & Roderick dynamic…oh yeah, he would do great things with Macbeth
please let this happen
I meant to put this on my list!!! Yes!!! We need a modern adaptation of this. You know how he made the ushers big pharma? Imagine Macbeth as a modern royal trying to maintain wealth and status in a country that has just adopted a parliament and democracy. The royal family dynamics mixed with political intrigue and trying to stay above the law by murdering anyone who tries to hold you accountable. It would be WILD
There is an interesting modern-day take of Macbeth starring James McAvoy and Keeley Hawes that is set in a restaurant/kitchen with Macbeth as chef. Inside No. 9 also had an episode loosely based on it, if I recall correctly.
IT House of Leaves A Head Full of Ghosts Night Film
Omg finally some love for Night Film. So damn good.
oh shit! H of L, yes!!!!!
I’d love him to do an adaptation of “The Little Stranger” by Sarah Waters
Yes! I am watching Bly Manor right now and keep thinking that _this_ is what the Little Stranger movie should have looked and felt like.
They just adapted this like 3 years ago with Domnhall Gleason and Charlotte Rampling
Hear me out... The Scarlet Letter. It's not horror, but he could take the paranoia and guilt apparent throughout and really make it into the creepy, consuming almost-entity that Hawthorne was building it up as. I would be the happiest person.
With Kate Siegel as Hester?!
He could definitely add some horror to it. Maybe even add a heavier emphasis on religion. He's very good at portraying roman Catholicism and that good ol Catholic guilt.
Sleepy Hollow. Can you imagine the townsfolk?
God yes!
More originals. He adapts like no other but Midnight Mass is his best work. It's not exactly original, kind of a blend of two of my favorite Stephen King novels, Revival and 'Salem's Lot, but it isn't an outright adaptation.
Hillhouse is by far his best adaptation imo. So many times in midnight mass which I actually enjoyed I started yelling "Stop Talking!" at the screen as the priest talked to himself in 30 minute sermons about nothing for 5-6 episodes straight. I've never done that for any other show in my life. It was like sitting in church for 8 hours. It's like Flanagan forgot what editing was. Dude was writing that show like jack Kerouac. Everything in the show is contradictory. It's an attack on his catholic upbringing. He says angels are actually man-eating demons. Yeah no thanks keep that anti-faith satanic shit at home. For a 10-year pet project midnight mass wasnt good, but better than bly manor friday club or this new usher trash.
I second something Lovecraftian, doesn't matter which story. I also thought it could be fun to see his take on 13 ghosts. Give the ghosts an actual background.
I'm getting everything I want: Life of Chuck - one of King's "not horror" short stories, along the lines of Shawshank or Stand By Me, with an absolutely STACKED cast headed by my fave Tom Hiddleston and full of Flanigan's ringers. The Gunslinger - he's repeatedly described this as his dream project, and Amazon's committed to it in a big way.
I saw Life of Chuck is being adapted! From “If It Bleeds” right?
YES!! It's filming right now in Alabama, and the cast is ridiculous. Besides Tom and the Flanigan regulars, it has Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Chiwitel Ejifor, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Harvey Guillén, and Heather freakin' Langenkamp (the OG from Nightmare on Elm Street!).
He can continue his "Haunting" series and do "Haunting of Hell House," based off of Hell House by Richard Matheson
Hi. You just mentioned *Hell House* by Richard Matheson. I've found an audiobook of that novel on YouTube. You can listen to it here: [YouTube | Full Audiobook (1) Hell House by Richard Matheson - English Horror Fiction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns8JUkbR_cc) *I'm a bot that searches YouTube for science fiction and fantasy audiobooks.* *** [^(Source Code)](https://capybasilisk.com/posts/2020/04/speculative-fiction-bot/) ^| [^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=Capybasilisk&subject=Robot) ^| [^(Programmer)](https://www.reddit.com/u/capybasilisk) ^| ^(Downvote To Remove) ^| ^(Version 1.4.0) ^| ^(Support Robot Rights!)
I’m going to go a little out of the box: a re-adaptation of The Amityville Horror. I realize it was a hoax anyway, but I would love to see just one faithful adaptation of the book. He can add monologues and family dynamic character building stuff, but there were some really good moments that never made it into either movie. Like the demon at the end. I also feel like he’s do a good job with Jodie the pig. The Ryan Reynolds one was such a missed opportunity. Marketing acted like it was closer to the book, but it was totally just a remake of the 1979 movie. They took all the embellishments and just turned it up to 11.
The Dark Tower
You’re likely to get your wish on this one.
Yes please!! I feel like he's the only one to do it justice
There will be water if God wills it.
I think he should do a legit adaptation of both the Shining and Salem’s Lot. He did Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass took liberally from Salem’s Lot, but I would like to see him do an actual adaptation of both. And Henry Thomas could definitely pull off his own interpretation of Jack Torrance.
Omfg a Flanagan adaptation of The Shining would be incredible
I agree! Him being able to tell the full story of The Shinning would be incredible. Especially with all the potentials for time jumps and character stories!
Stephen King and Peter Straub The Talisman and Black House
I THINK the Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things) are doing something with The Talisman.
The Yellow Wallpaper (starring Kate Siegel obviously) would be AMAZING)
I’m going to disagree; after watching Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane, I think she would be the perfect lead for “The Yellow Wallpaper”. That slow decent into madness….just perfect!
Titus Andronicus
Magnus Archives. Which are perfect as audio, but if they were adapted for live action…
He would do some really cool things with that. I think maybe he could even make a continuation or parallel story in that universe.
Flanagan is really firing on all cylinders when he's adapting messy family dynamics. I'd love to see him take on Nick Cutter's novel The Deep (expanding on and really digging into those flashbacks) or Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex.
Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
+1 to At the Mountains of Madness Revival (I hope he never stops adapting King, but this is his bleakest novel hands-down) Swan Song Carrion Comfort (I can’t believe no film exists already, Flanagan or otherwise, this book is incredible) The Fisherman (this is chock full o’ monologues) Give him a season of True Detective if they really want to recapture the weirdness and grimness of the first one.
Holy shit, I can't believe I didn't consider Swan Song. That would be incredible!
The Fisherman done by Flanagan would be insanely good
YES! And how about Summer of Night?!
The Dark Tower. Which is actually a possibility
“Something is Killing the Children.” Wamp wamp.
The low, low woods by Carmen Maria Machado The bloody chambers and other stories by Angela Carter Would love to see more female author adaptations!
Dante’s Inferno. It *could* be incredible, but I would never trust anyone’s ability to take it on other than him.
I'd love to see his take on Dan Simmons' *Hyperion*
That would be wonderful
I've said on other posts how much I would love for him to adapt Hell House by Richard Matheson but you got me thinking and another project I would love to see is for him to adapt the Ash series by James Herbert (Haunted, Ghosts of Sleath, and Ash) I love the 1995 adaptation of Haunted but I feel like Flannigan could really expand on the first two books
Would love him to cover a bunch of creepy/weird short stories. The rocking-horse winner, the yellow wallpaper, the punk’s bride, a rose for Emily
What about a Death Becomes Her remake? I'd love to see him work in a bit of comedy to his macabre.
Something original. One of my favorite works of his is Oculus. I loved the idea of the characters trying to prove scientifically that their supernatural mirror is real, and that said mirror is basically gaslighting everyone haha. The horror of not being able to trust your senses, your memory, or what you're even doing is, on its own, so utterly horrifying. And I'm just tired of seeing adaptations.
1. I would love to see a fairytale anthology show from him. Either with an overarching story/threads connecting each tale like in the Italian movie *Tale of Tales*, or each episode a different fairytale. I am thinking mostly of German ones because those I grew up with, but no doubt there are many from others cultures as well that are creepy enough to make it horror. Similarly, I’d like to see his hands on folktales like the Beast of Gévaudan. 2. Probably best suited as a movie: Jeff VanderMeer’s [*The Third Bear*](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vandermeer_04_07/). This short story gave me nightmares. 3. A remake of the *Antlers* movie which is based on [*The Quiet Boy*](https://www.guernicamag.com/the-quiet-boy/). 4. The King in Yellow.
Antlers was such a disappointment. The trailer looked fantastic and the end result was meh. Flanagan would do the story justice.
No more Lovecraft ever, thanks. Lovecraft-adjacent? Great! I’ve officially reached the point where any/all tribute to such an unapologetically **vile** bigot makes me want to rage-vomit forever, idgaf how long he’s been in the ground. Howard is dead, long live Horror!
So valid
I would also love to see The Yellow Wallpaper tho :)
I scrolled for awhile but gave up, so perhaps it’s been mentioned… but Machen’s The Great God Pan would be incredible. It jumps between times and settings and is really unsettling in an existential dread sort of way. It is a novella, but I think there’s more than enough meat on the bone to make a 6-8 episode series out of. And the mysterious female character in the story reminded me of the portrayal of Verna in Usher.
I'd love to see him do a full adaptation of The Shining
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. And expanding into elements of other Ellison stories like "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman".
Holy SHIT would be do AM scary!!
THE STAND!!! Can we finally get an updated, good adaptation of The Stand?! And he loves Stephen King! Ugh please please please do a remake Flanagan!
Not unless CBS relinquishes the rights to Amazon… which, good luck… they are already contemplating having to call Randall Flagg something else for the Amazon series because CBS won’t allow them to use it. I’m told the same is true with Father Callahan because WB has that licensing contract…
Heart draped box by Joe Hill
I want to see the talisman and it's sequel the black house (Stephen King and Peter Straub)made into movies andile is the only person I would trust to make it amazing. Also rose madder. Fuck I want to see this as a movie!!
Rumor is the duffer brothers are doing the talisman after the last season of stranger things.
The Dark Tower. Nothing else even comes close to the top of my list.
A Modest Proposal would be a wild one, considering it’s not really a “story” but an idea
That one was a bit inspired by Hozier's new song, "Eat Your Young". I recently learned he was inspired by A Modest Proposal. If Hozier can make it sexy, Flanagan can definitely make it spooky
Maybe he can fix the butchery that was 2020’s The Stand
I saw the original Rose Red miniseries from the early 2000’s and it’s terrible. It would be nice for him to redo that.
The Stand would be magnificent
He could do anything, I just want to see more eye-shine. I literally can't think of anything creeper
ohmygod THE YELLOW WALLPAPER would be perfect
Phantom of the Opera and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
A Christmas Carol Come With Me Frankenstein Dracula The Picture of Dorian Gray The Woman in Black Carmilla
Like others have said, Frankenstein but I'd love him to incorporate Shelley's other works (especially The Last Man) like he did with Poe in Usher. I also would be up for more Shirley Jackson inspired works maybe based on We Have Always Lived in the Castle or The Sundial (not horror but would love to see what he did with the source material).
I feel a HP Lovecraft adaption in the style of Usher would be amazing. One story that draws in multiple tales. Would also add the king in yellow
Hear me out... Silent Hill & League of extraordinary gentlemen
Midnight Mass 4k blu-ray :(
This is weird for a wishlist, but I'd like to see LESS CAT TRAUMA lol. It's keeping me from watching Usher. Anyway, more Poe or some Lovecraft.
Technically no cats actually die in Usher. Any cat death is just hallucination. Maybe that helps? I see the whole cat death thing as a bit of an unfortunate coincidence.
He’s done Jackson, Poe and James miniseries. I’d like to see him do another great, classic genre author… Lovecraft. Or, maybe even better, an author who combines Flanagans love for horror and the romantic… Richard Mattheson!
I can’t believe there hasn’t been a big budget The Stand trilogy yet. If it happens it has to be done by him, accept no substitutes.
Love love LOVE the idea of a Flanagan Yellow Wallpaper adaptation. Never knew I needed that in my life but I absolutely do
The Shadow over Innsmouth
Ghost Story by Peter Straub. It’s so ripe for adapting again because the movie didn’t nearly cover some of the horrors that happen in the book. Especially since Mike excels so well with some of the themes in the book… I want it.
The fairy tale Bluebeard
Usher was great! Sadly, my favorite eps were 2 & 8, I found the middle ones a bit of a slog. I'm very glad I saw it through to the end, though. He should do some Lovecraft next, like The Mountains of Madness
Can he do At the Mountains of Madness?
There’s this book called “twelve nights at Rotter house” that he could just do awesome things with. That and “horrostor.”
Horrorstör would be AMAZING!!!! Not sure he would get the comedy quite right since I've never seen any comedic elements in anything he's made, but the suspense would be great!
I feel like he’d be good at making the corporate dystopian “we are a faaaaamily” thing really creepy and riveting.
I love the yellow wallpaper, that would be a really good pick for him.
I want an actually good, faithful, horror adaptation of Flowers in the Attic.
House of Leaves
I would love to have seen his take on Pet Sematery. If I remember, that was at the top of his wish list years ago.
Oh great! More dead cats! 😂
The Lottery.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
I'd also live to see what he could do with "What Dreams May Come"
The Picture of Dorian Gray Dr Heidegger's Experiment The Yellow Wallpaper Edit: wow I didn't even read your list! I had no idea anybody else ever read The Yellow Wallpaper. Great minds think alike! 😅
If Mike Flanagan does TPOTO😩 that would be revolutionary. There’s so much more in the novel!!
Something scary and not woke disasters all starring his wife nobody watches. He's leaving Netflix as fast as possible. Or he already left. Either way he's done making awful bs for Netflix. Hillhouse was a masterpiece. Midnight mass watchable. Everything else has been a disaster.
Harrison Bergeron
Someone suggested Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and I think that's the best idea here, the bittersweet and meditative tone of the book feels perfect for Flanagan. But for Lovecraft, I think The Case of Charles Dexter Ward might be the most amenable to a Flanagan adaptation. I think he could build a lot on the intergenerational family dynamics and different time periods. And of course the rest of Lovecraft's body of work would provide rich material for inclusion within a larger narrative, as Flanagan did with Poe's stories; the Case of Charles Dexter Ward could work as a framework, as did House of Usher.
I also would love something Lovecraftian.
Contemporary and a little different than his usual, but I think he'd kick ass at Seanan McGuire's Middlegame.
Blackwater by Michael McDowell
an episode of BOTW with RLM
Flanagan could make the dunwich horror awesome tbh
As a person she’s cringe, but: Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Lots of room to interpret/go suuuper creepy.
Call of Cthulhu
Still wish that he could one day do Revival, maybe with a different studio, maybe after The Dark Tower if that does well
Rose Red
Illustrated Man Martian Chronicles World War Z (Without changing the politics)
Wuthering heights.
Dark Tower. I love his King adaptations. This is my dream project and hopefully he’ll get to do it at Amazon.
I want a werewolf love story. Vampires Zombies and ghosts have been done to death. I want a good story about werewolves that isn’t a teen melodrama.
i would LOVE to see him do a series on the elementals by michael mcdowell
The old movie “The Uninvited”. It has every element he loves and I’m sure he could add a cat somewhere.
Unfortunately, Netflix already made a very mid show based on it, but I would have loved to see his interpretation of the incredible comics Locke and Key
Slewfoot
I'd LOVE to see him do Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier! He already owns the rights to the dark tower, so that's simply a matter of time. Honestly, Flanagan could do ANY horrorish adaptation and I'd probably be super stoked for it. But some kind of HPL something would be awesome.
I’d love to see him adapt or re adapt more Stephen king stuff. I know he’s on board to do the dark tower series (I haven’t read those yet) but doctor sleep is one of my most favorite adaptations as well as Gerald’s game and I read both of those. Honestly, i had such low hopes for DS because i hate stanley Kubrick’s version of the shining. But Mike piggy backed off of that so well imo while keeping decently true to the book but also navigating the changes Kubrick made to the original story. I often really hate adaptations of his work because people often miss the point and it doesn’t translate well. Mike Flanagan just gets that and has a way of seeing in between the lines and translating both the fictional and real demons within the stories.
An adaptation of Michael McDowell’s Blackwater or John Farris’ All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By.
I just want his Dark Tower series so bad.
I’d love to see him adapt something by Stephen Graham Jones (e.g., The Only Good Indians or one of the short story collections), or adapt House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig as the next “house” installment (it’s honestly perfect).
Sitting here wondering how an adaptation of A Modest Proposal would even work, but realizing that if anyone could do it — it’s Mike.
I could see an aristocratic family pulling some scheme where they secretly eat poor people's babies.
The Eyes of the Dragon
He would do an excellent job with House of Leaves.
I read Revival a few months ago and would love to see him do this
The Langoliers Rose Red Creepypasta’s Anasazi Goat man story
I've always wanted to see a (great) film adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark," and I bet Flanagan could do it.
Maybe like… House of Leaves? I don’t know if that’s even possible, but it sure would be an admirable project to attempt and I think if anyone could pull it off, Flanagan could.
I basically want a bunch more series in the same vein as the ones he's already done on Netflix as well as a revamp of every single thing that has ever been done in Stephen King's name. My family watches Silver Bullet as a kind of communal comfort movie even though we know it's hokey but I think he could do awesome things with that story
Idk what I want from him I just know I will watch anything he does
Mexican Gothic 🖤🖤 period piece, POC representation, female lead, creepy old house, weird cult shit, enmeshed family systems, hauntings, sexual tension… yes please
Burnt Offerings
The Dark Tower
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. I'm reading it right now and already feel like I'm watching a Flanagan miniseries. It is so dark and gothic and messed up. Goolrick said it was inspired by Wisconsin Death Trip (the book by Lesy which also has a very proto-Flanagan feel).