8 Original Stephen King Movies Streaming for Free

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I said last time that I would have a list of horror films for your Halloween viewing and so I have that for you today. I wanted to do a list of horror movies based on books or short stories that are currently streaming for free. However, there are just too many of them out there to do in one post, and so I had to narrow it down to original movies that are either based on Stephen King’s fiction or that’s screenplays were written by him. I also have some of the latest progress made on my upcoming book of short fiction, “Bad Apps”. But let’s start with the list of movies. 

8 Original Stephen King Movies Online that are Free to Watch

Like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King is an author and filmmaker who has become an icon for Halloween. For years, people have gathered on or around October 31st to watch such classics as “Carrie” and “The Shining” at adult parties, college campus movie nights and, relatively more recently, virtual watch parties online. While you often have to pay to watch online the big classics such as the two above mentioned films, there are several others that are free to view.  Most of the platforms these free movies stream on do have commercials. (If they didn't, they wouldn't be free.) However, if you’re like me and can't stand the corporate brand propaganda, that’s a good time to take a break to do things like: catching up on your horror reading; if the movie is an adaptation of a book, in which most of the movies listed below are, flip through your copy to see the comparison; or grab a snack. But free is good for many of us at this time of year because by the time we buy all that candy for the trick-or-treaters, buy those costumes for the kids or ourselves, buy all those new decorations and run those strings of orange and black Halloween lights we hang in the front of our homes, the bill can get pretty high. So, why not save a few bucks? Here's a list of eight original Stephen King movies, and so not sequels or remakes, now streaming for free (as of the writing of this post) . . .  

(Note: highlighted movie titles link to Book-To-Movie reviews I did for those films.) 

1) “Christine” (1983); Streaming on Tubi and YouTube:  Set in the late 1970s, this movie involves bullied teen nerd Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham who buys a 1957 Plymouth Fury that's possessed by an evil spirit. He falls in love with the car and the two take vengeance out on his enemies. This movie gets a little exploitive with the language but it's still a fun thrill ride (pun is intended). 

2) “Children of the Corn” (1984); Streaming on Tubi, YouTube, and Sling TV: Married couple, Burt and Vicky, get stranded in a small Nebraska town. There they discover that all the adults of the town are missing, and the children have formed a religious fertility cult that worships a monstrous entity. 

3) “Maximum Overdrive” (1986); Streaming on Tubi, Freevee (may be only available on limited devices), Plex, and Pluto: My least favourite Stephen King movie. In fact, I hate it. But it's streaming for free and is based on a short story from his collection, “Nightshift”, in which I liked the short story a lot better. (I’ll do a Book-To-Movie on it someday, whenever I start doing those again which I hope to be soon.) This movie sacrifices too much of the story and characterisation for the gore, sex and the crude humour (if you can call it humour). Anyhow, the story is that a group of people are trapped inside a truck stop diner while surrounded by driverless trucks (keep in mind, this is before self-driving cars) and other machines that are too ready to kill them. The prisoners must find a way to defend themselves. 

4) “Pet Semetary” (1989); Streaming on Pluto: In spite of a dead person's warning, a doctor buries his wife's dead cat in a Native American cemetery believed to have powers to raise the dead. When the cat returns, dreadful consequences occur. Fred Gwynne of the ‘60s horror sitcom, "The Munsters", plays the doctor's elderly neighbour and friend. 

5) “Sleepwalkers” (1992); Streaming on Pluto: A mother and son, who are really supernatural monsters in disguise, move to a small town to feed off of the lifeforce of the young women there. This was the first movie Stephen King wrote a screenplay for that wasn't based on any of his novels or short stories.  

6) “The Dark Half” (1993); Streaming on Freevee, Pluto, Tubi, and YouTube: Directed by George A. Romero ("Night of the Living Dead") and written by him and Stephen King, this movie is about a best-selling author's fictional alter-ego that comes to life and murders people. 

7) “Riding the Bullet” (2004); Streaming on Freevee, Tubi, Plex and Pluto: A young artist hitch hiking back to his home town to visit his ill mom catches a ride from a stranger who holds a dreadful secret. The secret leads the artist to a dilemma of life and death. 

8) “The Mist” (2007); Streaming on Tubi: David Drayton, his young son Billy, and several other shoppers are trapped in a grocery store surrounded by a mist full of deadly forces. This probably sounds familiar, but here’s a hint: the deadly forces are not trucks. 

‘Bad Apps’ Book Progress

I'm about halfway through the typing in of grammar edits for the story, "Game Night". I also just finished noting the character revisions on the other story that I'm currently working on, "Virtual Voodoo" and am now typing those in. 

Newsletter Update

I really want to get out the next newsletter before the 31st of the month since it’s supposed to be the Halloween edition. However, a very close member of my family recently passed away (in which I won’t go into the details here), and so I can't guarantee that I'll be able to release it in time. I'll keep you updated on the progress of it here and at my Facebook page. If you haven't already done so, you can sign up here for my free author's newsletter. 

Will you be watching any of the above Stephen King movies? What other movies do you plan on watching this Halloween season? Are you reading anything for Halloween?

Until next time . . .