25 Years Later, The Best Stephen King Miniseries Finally Lands on Hulu
This series was not based on the books but was written by King himself.
Summary
- King's novels are often adapted for television, but there is one series for which he personally wrote the script.
- The story is about a remote community living on an island that is visited by a mysterious stranger.
- King considers the series to be his best television work, and it even inspired Mike Flanagan to create Midnight Mass.
Stephen King 's books have been adapted into numerous films, many of which remain iconic to this day, such as Kubrick's The Shining. However, the big screen is not the only medium that has dealt with the work of the great King of Horror, as many of his books have also been adapted for television.
Furthermore, King himself has been involved in many TV projects. For example, there is a show that the author has repeatedly called his favorite. Besides, the series has recently become available on Hulu, and so we recommend all fans of King's oeuvre to familiarize themselves with it.
King's 'Novel for Television'
This article is about the three-episode horror miniseries Storm of the Century, which aired on ABC from February 14-18, 1999. Fans of Stephen King's literary work may not be aware of the project, as King wrote an original screenplay for it, although a novelization of Storm of the Century was published shortly before the series aired.
The show, like most of the author's work, is set in his home state of Maine, in a semi-isolated community, located on Little Tall Island. The plot is driven by a mysterious stranger who arrives in a local community. His name is Andre Linoge, and we should be grateful to Colm Feore for the terrific portrayal of one of the most memorable villains in King's repertoire.
Linoge is capable of manipulating people's psyches, finding out their deepest secrets, driving them crazy, pitting against each other, and forcing them to commit suicide. Things get even worse when a massive snowstorm hits Little Tall Island, forcing the inhabitants to hide in the local supermarket.
As if the people of Little Tall Island weren't miserable enough, Linoge has claimed to be an ancient sorcerer who will only leave the townspeople if they give him what he wants. If they do not, the community will suffer the same fate as the Roanoke Colony. But what could that be?
The TV Project That Inspired Mike Flanagan
Even though we know from the beginning that something terrible could happen on Little Tall Island, the fact that it is a semi-isolated community sets off alarm bells. However, there is no denying that the town has its own charm. But the sense of unease grows by the minute, and it's not just the fact that the townspeople have been left alone with Linoge — they are just as much a cause for horror as the evil sorcerer who has terrorized humanity for many millennia.
They are far from examples of people of high morals, steeped in adultery, domestic violence, abuse, and a selfishness that destroys any notion of tight-knitted community. The culmination of the moral conflict between Linoge and the inhabitants of Little Tall Island is the former's ultimatum: either the inhabitants give them a child as his future apprentice, or each of them commits suicide. As a result, without a shred of doubt, they give the four-year-old boy to Linoge. Later, the burden of guilt weighs on many even after the wizard's disappearance, leading to more suicides, the destruction of the community, and the resulting senselessness of the sacrifice.
Horror aficionados will see parallels to Mike Flanagh's Midnight Mass: the same rapidly declining community, confronted by an enigmatic yet charismatic newcomer who pits them against a terrifying danger. Flanagan actually cited Storm of the Century as a source of inspiration, creating homages such as the sheriff's office in the grocery store and a gathering of the townspeople in the middle of a terrible storm, which is undoubtedly a prime example of horror with an eerie sense of inevitability.