Excited for ‘Clown in a Cornfield’? Here Are 6 Other Horror Movies You May Not Have Known are Also Based on Books!

Tales of masked killers and man-eating mutants are more associated with the world of film than literature, but if the success of horror writers like Stephen King and Clive Barker has taught us anything, it’s that a good story can transcend the limitations of a single medium. That’s why there are so many popular adaptations in the horror genre, with some of the most popular scary movies of all time having been based on existing short stories and novels.

With Eli Craig’s Clown in a Cornfield bringing Adam Cesare’s 2020 novel to the big screen this Friday, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six horror movies that you may not have known were also adapted from books!

For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on films with lesser-known literary origins, so you shouldn’t expect to see classics like Jaws, Psycho or even the Ringu franchise. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite horror adaptations if you think we missed a particularly surprising one.

With that out of the way, onto the list!

6. Valentine (2001)

The post-Scream world was a difficult time for Slasher flicks as it became much harder for new killers to stand out from the crowd once audiences were aware of the genre’s many recurring tropes. That’s why some producers turned to books in order to find original ideas that could translate well to the big screen. However, while films like I Know What You Did Last Summer found mainstream success through this approach, others were not so lucky. Case in point: Jamie Blanks’ underrated whodunnit, Valentine.

Based on a novel by Tom Savage, this unfairly maligned horror flick may not have re-invented the Slasher wheel, but its star-studded cast (which features the talents of David Boreanaz, Denise Richards and even Katherine Heigl) and retro approach to straightforward frights make it worth revisiting nearly a quarter-century later!

5. The Howling (1981)

An undeniable face on the Mount Rushmore of werewolf movies, Joe Dante’s The Howling is a classic for a reason, spawning a surprisingly long-lived franchise and inspiring monster designs to this very day. However, what a lot of fans don’t know is that this lycanthropic thriller was actually based on a book by Gary Brandner, with movie producer Steven Lane deciding to develop an adaptation after learning that Stephen King was a fan of Brandner’s work.

Of course, screenwriter John Sayles wasn’t so keen on the novel’s overly serious tone, which is why the writer added in a generous helping of satirical flair to this offbeat creature feature while also restructuring most of the plot. Disappointed with how the filmmakers treated his work, Brandner himself would later become directly involved with the Howling sequels, though the fourth entry is the only one that really captures the tone of his original werewolf trilogy.

4. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Dario Argento was such a master of the visual medium that it’s hard to imagine his stories in anything other than film, but it just so happens that his 1970 Giallo classic The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was originally developed as an unauthorized adaptation of Fredric Brown’s 1949 mystery novel The Screaming Mimi!

While Argento localized the tale by changing the setting to Rome instead of Chicago and adding in some Mario-Bava-inspired flair to the killer’s iconic outfit, the overall story remained largely untouched – meaning that we can trace back many of the Giallo genre’s most infamous tropes to a noir publication from the late 40s!

3. Audition (1999)

A J-horror classic, Takashi Miike’s Audition is likely the director’s most popular film in the west, with modern horror influencers continuing to recommend the movie to fans of disturbing cinema on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Telling the story of a widower who encounters a deceptively dangerous woman after deciding to hold a literal audition in order to find his next wife, this gnarly thriller happens to be based on a book by the eclectic author Ryū Murakami.

It would actually take a decade for the literary version of Audition to make its way overseas, but I’d argue that this long overdue translation was well worth the wait – especially if you’re a fan of the author’s previous work like 1980’s equally disturbing Coin Locker Babies.

2. The Ruins (2008)

New Jerseyan author Scott Smith may have only written two novels, but the first of these (A Simple Plan) earned him an Oscar nomination with its big screen adaptation back in ’98 while the other (The Ruins) resulted in one of the most underrated body horror flicks of the 2000s. Following a group of tourists who become trapped atop Mayan ruins and have to deal with man-eating plant-life, The Ruins’ gnarly visuals resulted in an experience that – ironically – felt tailor-made for cinema screens.

Of course, this might be explained by the fact that pre-production on the film began before Smith had even completed the novel, with Ben Stiller deciding to executive produce an adaptation based on a rough outline of the story. This led to Smith himself starting development on a screenplay while still finishing up the last third of the novel, something that may have motivated him to make the story extra cinematic.

1. Banshee Chapter (2013)

H.P. Lovecraft was one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century, so it makes sense that so many horror films flaunt their Lovecraftian inspirations in order to attract fans of cosmic terror. This wasn’t the case with Blair Erickson’s Banshee Chapter, however, as this eerie little indie flick didn’t even bother to promote the fact that it was actually a loose adaptation of Lovecraft’s classic short story, From Beyond.

This was probably for the best, as, unlike Stuart Gordon’s more recognizable 1986 adaptation of the same story, Banshee Chapter is actually a deeply disturbing exercise in cinematic paranoia, with the film diving into conspiracy theories and even body horror as it applies existential dread to what initially feels like a midnight monster movie.

Clown in a Cornfield slashes into theaters nationwide this Friday. Get your tickets now!

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