Summary
Stephen Kinghas brought so many eerie and emotional stories to life, andhis son Joe Hill wrote one particularly gripping book that should be made into a movie. While King’s son Owen King writes more realistic and true-to-life stories, Hill crafts tales that are as terrifying as his father’s. TheCarrieauthorpraised the 2025 movie adaptation of Hill’s 2007 short storyAbraham’s Boys, which tells a new story about Dracula.
King fans are excited about his upcoming adaptations, includinga fresh take onCarriefrom the talented Mike Flanaganand a remake ofThe Running Manstarring Glen Powell. But, while there is anupcoming movie adaptation ofThe Standdirected by Doug Liman, that feels like the wrong move. Sincethere are already twoThe Standminiseries from 1994 and 2020, why not make a movie of a great Hill book instead?
There may becountless post-apocalyptic movies, but Joe Hill’s 2016 novelThe Firemanis unique, and it deserves a movie adaptation. The story follows Harper Grayson, a nurse in New Hampshire who lives in a world wherepeople become infected with a fungus and experience what they call Dragonscale. After someone gets sick, their skin turns gold and black, and they then die a fiery death.
There are many similarities betweenThe StandandThe Fireman, including the grim and scary setting and the fact that likable, caring characters are helping each other and looking for a safe place to land. After the success of the HBO adaptation ofThe Last of Us, it seems like the perfect time to make a movie of Hill’s well-crafted book. While some of the characters inThe Last of Usare darker and more intense,The Firemandoes explore similar themes of life, death, grappling with the past and the future, and creating meaningful relationships along the way. Since so manyfans were disappointed byThe Last of Usseason 2, there’s definitely an audience ready and waiting to see a post-apocalyptic story.The Firemanfeels realistic, and that would help set it apart.
There have been attempts to bring this creepy yet uplifting story to the big and small screen. AlthoughDeadlinereported in 2016 that Fox bought the rights to the novel, the movie never got made. Then, in 2022,The Hollywood Reportershared that Hill and Walden Media were working on a TV adaptation. While that might still happen, there haven’t been any updates or details. Although a TV show would work since it would give the writers enough time to dive deep into Hill’s excellent characters,The Firemannovel tells a complete story and would be a satisfying movie.
Since the characters spontaneously combust,The Firemanis an incredibly haunting story, but it still manages to feel hopeful. LikeKing’sThe Life of Chuck, In a 2017 interview withThe Huffington Post, Hill mentioned the tone of the novel and said:
“I wanted to explore the sunny side of the apocalypse. “I don’t think there’s been enough fiction to look at the warmer, happier aspects of the end of the world.”
He added:
“you’re able to only have tragedy when you also recognize things that are good. When you see something wonderful that can’t be protected–that’s what stirs tragic feelings.”
Joe Hill’s Stories Horns, NOS4A2, And The Black Phone Have Been Adapted For Film And TV (Among Other Stories)
Joe Hill has had a few of his memorable stories turned into movies and TV shows. His 2010 novel,Horns, was adapted into a 2014 horror movie starring Daniel Radcliffeas a man named Ignatius “Ig” Perrish who grows horns one day and learns people are spilling secrets because of them.
NOS4A2, which was published in 2013, was turned into an AMC series that aired for two seasons in 2019 and 2020. The show is about Victoria “Vic” McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) who has a special connection to Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto), a paranormal being who eats children’s souls.
Some of Hill’s haunting stories have been adapted for Netflix. Hill and Stephen King co-wrote the short storyIn The Tall Grass, which resulted in a lackluster Netflix moviethat was released in 2019. He alsowrote the comic book seriesLocke & Key, which was made into amagical and fun Netflix series that has three seasons. Most notably, Hill wrote the short storyThe Black Phone, which became a Blumhouse horror movie in 2022.The Black Phone 2, which has a terrifying trailer, will be released on October 17th, 2025.
