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While Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Stephen King series, Carrie, looks exciting, there is another novel from the master of horror that the writer/director should take on next. The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan and Stephen King have a long history of collaborations, although not all of their projects together have been unambiguous hits. Flanagan won critical acclaim for his unsparing adaptation of King’s infamous novel Gerald’s Game in 2017, but his 2019 sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, was a comparative disappointment.
After Doctor Sleep struggled at the box office and divided critics, Flanagan steered clear of King’s work until he adapted the novella The Life of Chuck in 2024. An anomaly in the canon of both horror legends, The Life of Chuck was an upbeat fantasy drama that won over critics but failed to recoup its modest $20 million budget upon release. Fortunately, Flanagan’s next King adaptation, a Carrie miniseries for Prime Video, is likely to fare better.
Over 50 years after its original publication, Carrie remains one of King’s most influential and popular novels. The tale of a telekinetic teen wreaking bloody vengeance on her school bullies and religious zealot mother has been adapted to the screen numerous times, most notably as director Brian De Palma’s 1976 smash hit of the same name. After the release of Flanagan’s Carrie in October 2026, the director has an even bigger King adaptation in the works as he takes on TheDark Towerseries for Prime Video.
Insomnia Is Among The Best Stephen King Books Not Yet Adapted
A sprawling, ambitious saga that blends dark fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and even metafiction, The Dark Tower series is arguably King’s most ambitious work to date. Thus, Flanagan has his work cut out for him, especially considering how badly 2017’s existing The Dark Tower movie adaptation failed with both critics and viewers upon release. Thus, it might seem strange to say that there’s another King book that needs the writer/director’s attention.
However, 1994’s Insomnia is no ordinary King novel. Clocking in at just under 800 pages, Insomnia isn’t Stephen King’s longest book ever, but it is a complex story that ties together many of the author’s most important stories. Set in IT's fictional town of Derry, Maine, Insomnia tells the story of Ralph, a retiree who begins to perceive people’s auras as a result of his persistent issues with the titular condition.
Mike Flanagan Is The Ideal Person To Adapt Insomnia
As Ralph’s insomnia worsens, he simultaneously becomes more aware of a secret world around him and an existential battle between Purpose and the Random that is taking place there. This blend of epic fantasy, everyday character drama, and elements of Lovecraftian horror would bamboozle many directors, but it is these same parts of the story that make Insomnia an even better match for Flanagan’s sensibilities as a writer and director than even The Life of Chuck.
Insomnia Could Tie Into Flanagan’s Adaptation Of The Dark Tower
The Life of Chuck didn’t allow Flanagan to flex his considerable skill as a horror filmmaker, since the movie was an upbeat if unconventional character study. Meanwhile, Doctor Sleep had its poignant moments, but its action-forward storytelling left little time for the intimate character drama that Flanagan famously excels at. In contrast, Insomnia’s story marries these two frequent King tropes perfectly.
Furthermore, since the plot of Insomnia ends up tying into many of the main characters of The Dark Tower series and a lot of the saga's biggest events overlap with the story of the 1994 novel, an adaptation from Flanagan would tie in perfectly with his upcoming Prime show based on the books. Thus, once Prime Video’s Carrie arrives, Mike Flanagan’s next Stephen King adaptation should be Insomnia.
