When people think of Stephen King, they often think of him as the King of Horror, and his books are among the scariest in the genre. His movies usually skew in that direction as well, from The Shining and Misery to Carrie and lesser releases like 1408. As for 2025, this was very close to being called the year of Stephen King, with four major movie releases and a pair of television shows. However, there has been an interesting trend for King movies and TV shows in 2025. These releases haven’t been scary, and honestly, they weren’t meant to be. Luckily, that trend is changing this month, and King horror fans are finally getting the scares they enjoy just in time for Halloween.
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October saw the release of the new horror series It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max, and it is delivering the scares that nothing else connected to Stephen King has in 2025.
Stephen King’s 2025 Releases Have Not Been About Horror, Until Now
There have been several Stephen King movies and TV shows that hit in 2025. However, none of these have been very scary. The closest any of them came was with The Monkey, which was a horror-comedy that was more gory and gross than scary. The other two theatrical releases were not scary horror at all. The Life of Chuck was a drama that offered an optimistic view of life, while The Long Walk was a horror story, but a more psychologically draining tale with a pessimistic outlook. All three movies were great, but none were meant to terrify audiences.
The next Stephen King theatrical release, and the fourth of the year, is The Running Man. This is also not a scary movie, as it is an action-adventure that looks more explosive than scary by any definition of the word. Finally, there was a TV series called The Institute, which is more of a sci-fi story about kids with unique powers held captive at an institute for examination and their desire to escape. It is a little more like Stranger Things without the monsters, and just with kids like Eleven. Once again, it had scary moments, but not horror-scary.
It: Welcome To Derry Finally Gives King Fans Scares
The trend finally stopped when It: Welcome to Derry released its first episode of the season. The terror is evident from the start, as the film opens with a young boy named Matty walking home, only to find that the family of four who pick him up aren’t taking him where he needs to go. When the mother suddenly goes into labor and a winged demon baby flies out of her body and attacks Matty, it is clear this HBO Max series is delivering the scares that nothing else connected to Stephen King has in 2025.
Based on Stephen King’s novel It and the two-part 2017 and 2019 movies, It: Welcome to Derry is a prequel to that story. As It fans know, the demon who became known as Pennywise the Clown returns every 27 years to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine. The original story for It took place in 1957 and 1984, but the movies updated the timeline for a new generation, set in 1988 and 2016. This HBO Max series is tied to that two-part movie franchise, with director Andy Muschietti and actor Bill Skarsgård (as Pennywise) both returning.
Following the original timeline, that means It: Welcome to Derry takes place in 1962, meaning this was the last time Pennywise terrorised Derry before the movie’s timeline, when he returned. For anyone worried it wouldn’t be scary, that is not an issue. While the first episode was a slower one with a lot of setup, that opening scene and the creepy vibes throughout ensure that this will deliver what Stephen King has mastered over the years, and it should definitely break the 2025 trend at the perfect time.
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