Horror Movies That Were Books First

I used to participate in Top Ten Tuesday when I first started blogging and it was a wonderful way to meet fellow bloggers! I thought with coming back from a hiatus, and a bit of a lack of inspiration on my part, participating again would be a great idea. So, every Tuesday (if the topic interests me) I’ll be sharing a Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl! Make sure to check out her page explaining everything you need to know, including future topics. 

This weeks topic is actually a Halloween Freebie! I grew up watching horror movies. My mom is obsessed. Seriously, I don’t think there is a single horror film she hasn’t seen – even the low budget terrible ones. She’s seen them all. Which means I’ve seen a lot of movies too. You know what happens when you grow up watching all the horror films? You end up watching the movie before you’ve read the book! GASP! I know, it is a bookworm crime. Alas, here I am, having seen many horror films not even realizing they were first a book. That was the inspiration behind today’s Top Ten Tuesday – 10 horror movies that were books first (that I still haven’t read)!

Let’s start with…

EVERYTHING by STEPHEN KING (It, Carrie, The Shining, Misery, Pet Sematary, Children of the Corn, The Mist, etc.)
Goodreads

I wouldn’t even know which book/movie to choose to represent Stephen King because they turn everything he writes into a movie or tv show. Most I’ve watched. It – it was okay. Carrie – don’t fuck with her. The Shining – a masterpiece. Pet Sematary – just weird. The Mist – they need to renew the Netflix version. Read his books? Nope, never. I have only ever tried one of his books, Under the Dome, and it was a hard DNF for me. That book is over 1,000 pages. I was bored, I googled the plot, and I’m so glad I gave up because oh my god was it stupid. I digress…he writes a lot of horror and they turn them all into movies. Maybe I should read some someday.

THE EXORCIST
Goodreads
“Four decades after it first terrified the world, William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist is back! An extraordinary classic work of horror and dark paranormal suspense. In this stunning 40th Anniversary Edition, a desperate mother and two priests fight to free the soul of a little girl from a supernatural entity of pure malevolence.”

This is the one horror film my mom actually won’t watch. She saw it in theaters and walked out of the theater. She always says if I ever start spinning my head and throwing up green puke, she’s leaving my ass. 😆 Good to know, mom. I, on the other hand, have watched the movie in it’s entirety but I keep putting off reading the book. Will it be just as scary? Stories with possession genuinely creep me out.

I AM LEGEND
Goodreads
“Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth…but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville’s blood. By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?”

This is a bit different since it’s more of a vampire/zombie sort of story but I think it qualifies as a type of horror! The movie, oh gosh, the movie. I cry because of that scene with Abbey. I really enjoyed this movie, though. It is one of my favorites, I’ve watched it many times. I want to read the book, too! Apparently it was the inspiration behind Night of the Living Dead – which is a classic!

HANNIBAL SERIES
Goodreads
“Hannibal Lecter. The ultimate villain of modern fiction. Read the five-million-copy bestseller that scared the world silent. The Silence of the Lambs. A young FBI trainee. An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes. A plunge into the darkest chambers of a psychopath’s mind–in the deadly search for a serial killer.”

I chose book 2 for this since The Silence of the Lambs was actually the first movie they made. Though they did go back and make a Red Dragon movie. Anyways, I’ve seen this movie, more than once, yet I never remember anything about it. I think a rewatch is in order but I also should read the book seeing as there was a fairly successful tv show later made!

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Goodreads
“Last summer, four terrified friends made a desperate pact to conceal a shocking secret. But now, someone has learned the truth and is determined to get even.”

Alright, this classic, I don’t really know if I would say it is a horror film but more of a silly slasher film – but, again, it’s a classic! I mean, it has Buffy and Freddie Prinze Jr! And who knew it had a book?! I’m super curious if the book is as cheesy.

AMERICAN PSYCHO
Goodreads
“Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to head-on collision with America’s greatest dream—and its worst nightmare—American Psycho is bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognise but do not wish to confront.”

First off, I get this and Psycho (also a book) mixed up all the time. Why are they so similar (granted I haven’t read or watched Psycho so maybe they’re not?). Anyways, I watched this for the first time within the last two years and I really enjoyed it! I didn’t know it was a book (of course), so I am definitely interested in reading it. It would be interesting to read a book that, I would assume, gets even deeper into Patrick Bateman’s mind (considering it’s written in first person).

THE RING
Goodreads
“A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.”

I was 11 years old when this movie came out and just…y’all, it petrified me. I think we were on to DVD’s back then but I regularly used VHS tapes to record things on tv and we rented so many movies from Blockbuster that were VHS…and this movie solidified my preference for a good DVD. Also while we’re on the topic, who here used to record tv shows and movies with a VHS? I was all about recording the OG Disney channel movies lol

THE GRUDGE (Ju-On)
Goodreads
“When a senior citizen outreach volunteer goes to work in a house in a quiet residential area, she soon starts to hear odd noises. As the strange events get more and more ominous, she discovers that some acts of violence can attach themselves to a house and that some evils can reach out and touch you – even after death.”

How many times are they going to redo this one? Seriously? I feel like there have been several adaptions of it within the last 2 years. What is it with the Japanese and their love for little girls with hair covering their face crawling on the floor all weird in horror films? Seriously, that is one of the things that freak me out the most. I don’t know why, it just does, and The Grudge & The Ring check all those creepy boxes. Ugh. I don’t know if I would read either of these books because I am a baby.

HELLRAISER (The Hellbound Heart)
Goodreads
“A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body so he can escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their sadistic underworld.”

Hellraiser is one of my mom’s favorite movies…I’ve seen it, but also don’t remember it at all. I’m never interested in watching it because it just seems odd? I don’t know. What is it even about? Either way, did you know it’s based on a short story by Clive Barker? A whole franchise sprouted from a 160 page short story. Dang.

CANDYMAN (The Forbidden)
Goodreads
“The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster’s myth.”

I have seen this one but also do not remember it and look! It’s inspired by another short story by Clive Barker. They’re actually coming out with a sequel in 2021 (thanks to Covid delays) and one of the writers on it is Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out).

Have you read or watched any of these?
Do you have any to add to the list?

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