15 Stephen King Stories Made into Films, 8-11

8. Stand By Me (1986)

A King collection entitled Different Seasons included a story called "Fall from Innocence: The Body." Stand By Me, one of King's greatest movie successes, was based on this story. A group of preteens go on an adventure to find the body of a classmate who is missing and presumed dead. They are tailed by bullies and must make very grown-up decisions throughout the course of the film, which garnered an Oscar nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. A critical and box-office success, Stand By Me starred teen heartthrobs River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, and Corey Feldman, and is one of the most widely enjoyed King films to date, perhaps due to the focus on tension among humans rather than killer clowns or deadly cars.

9. The Running Man (1987)

What other Stephen King screen adaptation can boast a cast that included not one but two future U.S. governors? Only The Running Man, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead and Jesse Ventura in a smaller role. The story, based on the novel of the same name written under King's nom de plume Richard Bachman, is set in the year 2017. America is a police state where criminals have the opportunity to run for their freedom on a weirdly ahead-of-its-time reality show. The movie did well when it was released, earning almost $40 million, and reviews were decent, especially for a story that King reportedly penned in less than three days.

10. Pet Cemetery (1989)

When the Creed family's cat gets smooshed on the highway, an elderly neighbor instructs Mr. Creed to bury the cat in the "pet cemetery" and watch what happens. The cat comes back, but he's a little different this time around. When Mr. Creed's son dies, guess what bright idea daddy has? Watch for a King cameo in the funeral scene. This campy, but intensely creepy movie did well at the box office and got decent reviews for a horror movie. It also generated a sequel three years later, but it didn't do as well as the original.

11. Misery (1990)

King often centers his stories on a protagonist who bears a striking resemblance to himself. Misery is one of these. Novelist Paul Sheldon finds himself being nursed back to health by Annie Wilkes after crashing his car in the Colorado mountains. Annie is Paul's self-proclaimed number-one fan and relishes the opportunity to help her favorite author. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role as Annie -- she's terrifyingly good as the obsessed, isolated woman. If you're paying attention, you'll catch a reference to another King adaptation, The Shining. At one point, the odd couple discusses the "guy who went mad in a hotel nearby."

The next segment of our list includes the final four Stephen King adaptations.