Stephen King Wasn’t Scared — He Was Stunned: Called 'Baby Reindeer' the Best Series He’s Ever Seen (And It’s Not Even Horror)
And to think — it all begins with an innocent cup of tea.
When Stephen King praises a film or TV show, fans pay attention. He’s the master of fear, after all — spotting horror where others see drama, sensing dread in things meant to comfort.
But with Baby Reindeer, his reaction wasn’t just positive — it was definitive.
"One of the best shows I’ve ever seen," he declared. Not one of the best thrillers. Not a solid drama. The best. Full stop.
Baby Reindeer isn’t horror. But it becomes horror — no fog, no ghosts, no blood. Just a cup of tea. A struggling stand-up comedian, Donny Dunn, offers a drink to a lost-looking woman at the bar where he works. He thinks it’s kindness. In truth, it’s the start of hell.
From that moment, she never leaves. She’s at his door, in his phone, in his mind. She insists he promised to care for her. She demands. She rewrites his past.
And the more he explains, the worse it gets. Because Baby Reindeer isn’t about "crazy people". It’s about how ordinary people become nightmares — without realising it.
The story is real. Richard Gadd, the show’s creator and star, lived through it. He turned his trauma into a one-man play. Then a Netflix phenomenon.
The result? Six Emmy nominations, critical acclaim, audience obsession — and a tweet from Stephen King.
Baby Reindeer frightens you not with monsters, but with pity. With the ache of not being able to say "no". It’s a deeply personal horror — one that doesn’t let you shrug it off with "this would never happen".
Because it does. And that’s what makes it worse.
