10 Stephen King Stories That Haven't Been Adapted Yet (But Should)

Over the years, Stephen King has published a massive amount of novels and short stories that have eventually been adapted for the screen, including such popular hits as The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, Carrie, The Green Mile, Misery, and It.

There's something of a running joke throughout the literary world and Hollywood that adaptations of King's work are so frequent - of his 65 novels, a whopping 45 have been adapted for film or TV, and that's without counting his short fiction or projects currently in the works - that there surely can't be that many stories left to explore.

The truth is, though, there's quite a few great King tales rife with cinematic potential that have never made the leap to Hollywood, either passing studios by entirely or falling victim to doomed productions that left them dead on arrival.

Such is the case with the following ten Stephen King stories, both novels or shorter fiction of resounding power and creativity, all of which have somehow never been adapted for either film or TV despite the fact they probably should have by now...

Stephen King has always had an occupation with mortality, but rarely with such overt musings as his short story Afterlife, which follows a deceased investment banker who lands in purgatory and must face what comes next. 

If you could start your life over again, but knew you could never do anything differently, would you, or would you let yourself vanish from existence? That's the question that haunts William Andrews, who recalls the worst chapters of his life and ponders suffering through them again. 

Philosophical and ambiguous, Afterlife finds King at his most gloomy and atmospheric, forcing Andrews and the mysterious stranger responsible for his time in purgatory to connect, question their lives, and seek some kind of solace in their decisions. 

Granted, none of this would make for a particularly flashy film, but given the depth of its characters - as well as its haunting farewell and dense themes of faith and awakening - you can see two great actors squaring off to bring Afterlife alive on-screen, forcing audiences to question everything about themselves.