Into the Mind of Stephen King: Why 'Lisey’s Story' Is His Most Personal Tale on Screen
Born from a near-death vision and a love that lingers.
Interest in Stephen King’s screen adaptations often means chasing the big, splashy titles — The Shining, It, Misery. Yet, while following that well-trodden path, one can easily overlook a quieter, more intimate gem.
And that’s how I found myself diving into Lisey’s Story, Apple TV+’s 2021 miniseries that King himself calls his favourite of his own works. It is, to put it mildly, not your standard Stephen King fright-fest.
The story’s roots are deeply personal. After a serious bout of pneumonia in the early 2000s, King came home to find his wife had cleared out his office to redecorate. It looked, to him, like life after his death. "I’ve died, I’m a ghost," he thought — and Lisey’s Story began.
Julianne Moore stars as Lisey, widow of novelist Scott Landon (Clive Owen). Still grieving, she faces a fractured family, a dangerously obsessed fan, and a scavenger hunt her late husband left behind — one leading to Boo’ya Moon, a magical realm that may heal or destroy.
King wrote all eight episodes himself, with Pablo Larraín directing in a style that drifts between reality, memory, and fantasy. The result is a darkly beautiful blend of romance, mystery, and psychological tension — less about monsters, more about the love that lingers beyond death.
