4. Joyland (2013)
Why It Should Be A Movie.... King's most recent novel is more
Adventureland than
Carnival of Tortured Nightmares, which might have surprised those who picked it up expecting a full-on gorefest, as hinted at by the tagline printed on the cover of the book: "Who dares enter the funhouse of fear?" But
Joyland, which chronicles a young man's summer job at a theme park as he confronts the legacy of a murder, is also concerned with themes of what it means to be young, how our experiences shape us, and what happens when we get older. It's a surprisingly sad and poignant novel, and it would no doubt make a great movie with a few cues from
Adventureland. Just with more blood.
Why It Never Will Be...Joyland is a mature work, no doubt, but it occasionally feels as though King is implementing the "dangerous murderer" storyline because he has to, and - although it ultimately works in novel form - it could clash awkwardly in a big screen adaptation, with the movie potentially failing to live up to all the aspects that make it great. Plot notions aside, this is set in the '70s and in an amusement park. It'd be a movie way out of sync with the audiences of today, and although I think a truly great flick could be made from
Joyland, it ain't gonna happen.