Stephen King Thinks the Under the Dome TV Series "Went Off the Rails"

Few creators are as supportive of their works being adapted for new mediums as author Stephen King, who often encourages creatives to take as many liberties as they want with his material, but certain choices made in the Under the Dome TV series left him confounded about what the filmmakers had in mind with such decisions. Ahead of the release of any given adaptation, however, King always champions those projects and encourages his fans to check them out, though having concluded in 2015, King can get a bit more candid about his real reactions to the ways in which he grew distracted by key components.

"Under the Dome was one I felt like went entirely off the rails, because the people are doing things that don't seem realistic," King shared with The Washington Post. "One thing that killed me was you never hear the sound of a generator anywhere. The electric power is fine. Everything looks clean. Everything is great, except that they're cut off from the world. And that isn't what would happen."

He added, "If you ask people to accept those ideas, there has to be a sense of realism that goes with it, that pulls you along."

Almost as long as King has been a powerhouse in the literary world, works inspired by his tales of terror have been hits, dating back to the film Carrie in 1976, based on his debut novel of the same name from 1974. The author did note that, in recent years, he's seen improvements among these adaptations for what they're able to capture in ways that projects from previous decades couldn't.

"In terms of the culture, there's a lot more freedom," the author pointed out of more recent adaptations. "There's a lot more ability to go where things didn't used to go. When I think back to some of the miniseries that I did for ABC in the '70s and the '80s, even the early '90s, things have changed considerably. There's a lot more freedom and room to spread, thanks to streaming. You can actually tell a novel now. Mr. Mercedes, is a good example of that. The three seasons adapt all three books of the trilogy, which is an amazing thing."

The first two seasons of Mr. Mercedes are currently streaming on Peacock. HBO debuted an adaptation of The Outsider earlier this year, which is reported to be getting another season at some point.

What do you think of the author's reaction? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!