Have you been interested in reading horror books that have been turned into a movie? I know I have. Most of these I have actually already seen the movie for and had never realized that they were based on books. In most cases, the book is always better than the movie so make you check out these horror movies based on books.
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I decided to do a post on horror movies based on books. Why? I say that I love horror but I really feel like I slack off with the genre. There are so many very popular horror books that I haven’t read and a part of me feels like I’m missing out on them. For the longest time I have been more of a horror movie girl. So, that means a lot of these horror movies are based on books I have actually seen the movie but haven’t read the books at all.
I definitely need to bring up my horror game!
Why am I not adding Stephen King?
So, I hope you weren’t planning on coming to this post in hopes of finding Stephen King adaptations. Stephen King is so popular and I’m sure there are many resources you can find through google that have everything Stephen King movie adaptation related. I want this post to focus on other authors and other books.
I wanted this post to have a bit more variety. For me, I feel like the whole horror movies based on books is kind of overrun by Stephen King. It’s the same way with Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) as well. But I do feel like we get more from Stephen King.
Horror Movies Based on Books
Some of these movies I already knew were based on books while there are a few others that I never heard of. I know there are some of you who probably know about most of these horror movies based on books. Hopefully, there are a few on here as well that you may not have known about. Let me know in the comments if there are any I missed.
Hopefully, these are some scary movies based on books that you can get to soon!
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a book I actually just purchased not that long ago in hopes to get to it soon. I don’t really remember if I enjoyed the movie as much as everyone else did (I know I know). By the time I had actually watched it, I was already desensitized to some aspects of horror. On top of that, I was kind of used to updated graphics/CGI so it was kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around this movie. I know that’s going to make some of you mad at me! But we all like what we like!
However, I’m really excited about reading the book. I love any type of paranormal book and that includes obsession. Even though the movie didn’t really scare me I have a feeling that the book probably will.
I can’t wait to get started on this one though. I hope that it scares me more than the movie did!
Hellraiser
So I was a little late to the party when it comes to watching Hellraiser even though I had known about it when I was younger. Even though I was a little weird when it came to older movies but I loved Hellraiser. At least I loved the first few of them. After that, I think I stopped really caring. But I actually didn’t know anything about the books until a few weeks ago.
I know some of you horror fans will probably be shocked by this but I didn’t really know anything about Clive Baker. Because I didn’t know anything about him I didn’t really know that some of these popular horror movies were based on his books. I know he’s a pretty popular horror author but most of our bookstores were full of Stephen King and I had to find what I could find.
I know I’ll have to read the books soon since I loved the movies so much. Have you read them yet?
The woman in Black
So I knew The Woman in Black was based on a book but I figured some of you may not know. Even though I knew about the book I don’t think I ever knew who the author was. For some reason, for the longest time, I assumed that the book was actually by Joe Hill. I know completely wrong but my mind was completely stuck on Joe Hill writing this book.
Unfortunately, I haven’t really decided if I want to read this book or not. I really enjoyed the movie version but most of the time the movie is completely different from the book. For some reason, I have always struggled with older books, and with some of the reviews, I’m a little skeptical about reading it. Maybe one day I will grab the book.
The Ring
I had absolutely NO IDEA that The Ring had a book. If I had known I would have gotten the book a long time ago. If you are not sure what exactly The Ring is about then it’s about a group of people getting a phone after watching a video. On the phone call, they get a warning that they will die in seven days.
I was twelve when this movie first came out and remember going to see it with friends. It is such a fond memory of mine and I still love the movie to this day. So I can’t wait until I get the chance to read this one. I just hope that book holds up when I actually decide to read it.
At the time the movie came out I thought it was so creepy and such a cool movie. However, I didn’t realize that it steamed from Asian culture! Hopefully, I’m not the only one who didn’t know!
Candyman
I’m a little late to the party when it comes to Candyman. To be honest I didn’t really watch the original Candyman until maybe a few years ago even though I have heard of it before. I had even attempted to watch it a couple of times before watching it fully. I didn’t even know that it was based on a book! It’s one I’ll definitely have to check out.
I know a lot of readers are probably going to be surprised that I had never heard of Clive Baker up until maybe a year ago. I’m not really sure why it has taken me so long to find out about him considering he has been around for a long time. To be honest I didn’t really become a huge reader until my teens that’s probably part of the reason I had never heard of him.
Make sure to check out the book if you haven’t yet!
The Wicker Man
It has been a long time since I have seen The Wicker Man. I can’t really remember much about it but I do remember that I really enjoyed it. This was another that I didn’t know was based on a book. But the movie came out when I was a teenager and I didn’t exactly pay attention to that sort of thing when I was around that age. It is definitely one that I have to check out.
The only one I have seen is the one with Nicolas Cage though! The story follows a sheriff who is investing a missing girls case in a small town. The further he gets into the investigation the more he realizes that there’s a bigger picture in this small town.
Hopefully this The Wicker Man is one I can get to soon. Then I’ll hopefully get the chance to watch the movie again since I completely forgot about it.
30 Days of Night
I read 30 Days of Night long before the movie ever came out and I absolutely loved it. I get that vampires are obviously fake, but I do remember this whole thing freaking me out a little bit. It had made me a little leary about ever wanting to go to Alaska, especially with how things are there. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then I’m referencing the whole day and night thing.
30 Days of Night follows a group of people in Alaska when it gets to the time that it stays dark there for a long period of time. When the dark comes so do the vampires. And these vampires aren’t your sparkly friendly vampires either.
I love both the book and the movie based on it. For me, that’s pretty rare because half of the time I don’t like the movies based on the book at all!
The Ritual
I have been hearing a lot about Adam’s books lately. The Ritual is no different. I don’t know what has held me back on his books but I hope I can get to the book at least soon. The story follows four old university friends. They meet up one day and go hiking but they wind up getting lost. As they figure out their way out they find an old abandoned house. Inside they find things that have been used for rituals and they quickly realize that they probably shouldn’t be there.
I’ve heard from a lot of people that Adam Nevill’s books are super good and creepy at the same time. If you want to watch the movie then you can find it on Netflix. I hate to admit that I’ve seen the movie on there but thought it was completely unrelated to the book!
My Best Friends Exorcism
My Best Friends Exorcism is one I believe is coming out in 2022 unless it gets pushed back. This book has become pretty popular over the past couple of years and for good reason. It’s one that I have bought but I still need to get to it. I’m so looking forward to it as well. I just hope this one is a better book by Grady Hendrix because I didn’t really like The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.
Whether I like the book or not I’m still really excited to see the movie.
I do think it’s about time that Grady Hendrix finally got a movie deal considering how popular he is in the horror community. Granted his books do get mixed reviews!
There’s Someone Inside Your House
There’s Someone Inside Your House is probably one of the few book-to-movie adaptations where I actually enjoy the movie more than the book. That’s just me though. I know plenty of readers who actually really enjoyed the book. It just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.
Just be aware that this is a young adult movie/book so if you don’t like those types of books then you may just want to pass on it.
I think the main reason I wasn’t a huge fan of the book is that I found it really boring. It was one I just couldn’t get into and felt like the movie changed it up quite a bit.
Stir of Echoes
Stir of Echoes is a movie that stars Kevin Bacon! I don’t think I realized that this was based on a book until years after I watched the movie. The story follows a man who gets hypnotized. He thought it was just going to make him more open-minded. Instead, it literally opens his mind to other things. When I first watched Stir of Echoes I really loved it! If I loved the movie I have a feeling I will probably really enjoy the book as well.
The idea of this kind of this movie and book kind of freaked me out a little bit. I get that it’s fiction but there are times when I wonder if things like this could potentially happen. It would be creepy if it could!
The Resurrectionist (Come Back to me)
I would be a little bit cautious about reading The Resurrectionist. If you can handle gore and detailed rape then you might be able to handle this one. This is one of the few books that I have added to my most disturbing books and for some reason pushed myself through to the ending. However, on a different note I actually really enjoyed the movie. I feel like the movie isn’t as graphic as the book and it’s how I first found out about the book in the first place. So I couldn’t help but be excited about it.
The Resurrectionist (the movie is called Come Back to Me) has a really great concept. One of the main characters has the power to bring the dead back to life by simply giving them a kiss. But the way he uses it isn’t exactly for good.
Have you read any of these books? After seeing this I hope you’re able to get to some of these. Make sure to bookmark this post so you can tell me what you think of them when you’re done!
What horror movies based on books did I miss?
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