7 Stephen King Shows to Watch Before ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ 

Stephen King’s upcoming It: Welcome to Derry will dig into the twisted history of horror’s most notorious town. Getting familiar with King’s TV adaptations beforehand means you’ll catch more of the subtle connections and recurring nightmares that make his work so addictive. These seven shows reveal different sides of King’s storytelling – some lean hard into supernatural terror while others find horror in purely human darkness. Each one adds another piece to understanding why Derry has become such a perfect breeding ground for ancient evil.

The Outsider (HBO Max)

HBO nailed this adaptation by taking its time with the mystery. Detective Ralph Anderson thinks he’s got an open-and-shut case when beloved coach Terry Maitland gets fingered for a child’s brutal murder. Problem is, the evidence doesn’t just contradict itself – it suggests something impossible is happening. The real killer turns out to be “El Cuco,” a shapeshifting creature that literally wears the faces of others while feeding off family trauma. What makes this show work is how it treats the supernatural elements seriously without rushing to explain them away. The monster’s method of destroying communities from within by turning neighbors against each other feels like a blueprint for how Pennywise operates, just with less clown makeup and more police procedural.

The Stand (Paramount+)

King’s pandemic epic got the miniseries treatment right as the real world was dealing with its own plague, which made watching it feel particularly unsettling. After Captain Trips wipes out most of humanity, survivors get pulled toward two camps: Mother Abagail’s peaceful community in Boulder or Randall Flagg’s hedonistic empire in Vegas. Flagg remains one of King’s most compelling villains – a supernatural trickster who embodies pure chaos and temptation. The show stumbles in places with pacing issues, but when it hits, it demonstrates King’s talent for mixing intimate human drama with cosmic-scale horror. Understanding Flagg’s brand of evil helps contextualize the kind of ancient, shape-shifting malevolence that calls Derry home.

Chapelwaite (MGM+)

This prequel to Salem’s Lot trades vampires for something even nastier – the Promised, a cult devoted to bringing about eternal darkness. Captain Charles Boone inherits his family’s cursed Maine estate and quickly discovers that previous generations made some very bad deals with very old powers. Through a gothic 1850s setting, the story unveils an evil force taking root in a small community via religious fanaticism and family secrets. 

Castle Rock (Hulu)

Two seasons, two completely different approaches to King’s fictional Maine town. Season one brings back Henry Deaver, the kid who vanished and returned with no memory of where he’d been. His homecoming unleashes something that might be the devil himself, trapped in Castle Rock’s prison for decades. Season two relocates Annie Wilkes to the town with her daughter, setting up a Misery prequel that actually works.

What makes Castle Rock special is how it treats King’s various stories as historical events that shaped the town. References to other King works pop up naturally rather than feeling forced. The Shawshank Penitentiary looms over everything, a reminder that some places just attract darkness.

Under the Dome (Paramount+)

Chester’s Mill gets cut off from the world by an invisible barrier, and things go sideways fast. The dome itself is weird enough, but watching neighbors turn into enemies proves way more disturbing.  Big Jim Rennie emerges as the kind of human monster King excels at writing – a politician who uses crisis to grab power while convincing himself he’s saving everyone. The show ran too long and got increasingly ridiculous, but its early episodes nail the claustrophobic paranoia of being trapped with people whose true natures emerge under pressure. Derry residents have lived with their own kind of invisible prison for generations, unable to escape the cycle of violence that returns every 27 years.

11.22.63 (Hulu)

High school teacher Jake Epping gets the chance to prevent JFK’s assassination by traveling back in time through a diner’s pantry. Sounds simple enough, except the past fights back against every change, and success comes at increasingly devastating personal cost. James Franco actually works here, showing Jake’s determination slowly curdling into obsession as he realizes how much he’s willing to sacrifice for his mission.

The real payoff for King fans comes from the Derry connections (which are not explicitly detailed in the series, but referenced in the book). Jake visits the town during the late 1950s and witnesses events that tie directly into the It timeline. Seeing Derry through fresh eyes during Pennywise’s previous cycle adds context that book readers will appreciate. The show proves that King’s horror works just as well when filtered through other genres.

Mr. Mercedes (Peacock)

No supernatural elements here – just good old-fashioned psychological horror. Retired detective Bill Hodges gets pulled back into action when the Mercedes Killer starts sending him letters, launching a deadly game of cat and mouse. Brady Hartsfield represents King’s most terrifying monster: the ordinary-looking guy next door whose brain has been rewired by isolation and resentment.

Brendan Gleeson makes Hodges feel lived-in rather than heroic, a worn-down cop who finds purpose in hunting monsters. Harry Treadaway’s Brady shifts between pathetic loser and genuinely dangerous predator, sometimes within the same scene.