Joe Hill, famous horror author, and son of legendary horror writer Stephen King, has been making quite a name for himself in cinema and television. Author of novels such as Heart Shaped Box, The Fireman, and NOS4A2, alongside writing the popular IDW comic, Locke and Key, Hill has a lot of popular works to his name. Quite a few of his writings have been adapted into live-action, with a mix of both television series and movies making their way to screens everywhere the past few years, and many more coming in the near future.
The latest edition to the Joe Hill Universe of literary adaptations is the new movie The Black Phone, starring Ethan Hawke, which is doing well, critically and box office wise (84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). But, that's just one of a few of Hill's successful franchises. Locke and Key, Hill's horror comic, has been a successful-running drama series on Netflix for roughly two seasons now (75% on Rotten Tomatoes). Here is every movie and show based on Joe Hill's stories, ranked.
6
In the Tall Grass (2019)
Based on one of the few stories that Joe Hill collaborated on with his father, Stephen King, In the Tall Grass is a supernatural horror film that deals with paranoia, insanity, claustrophobia, and terrifying monsters. Debuting on Netflix, In the Tall Grass struggled to get off the ground in 2015, but thanks to Netflix, was able to make it to screens without further development chaos. The film received mixed reviews (36% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 46/100 on Metacritic), but did receive an award nomination for Best Streaming Premiere at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.
5
Horns (2013)
Starring Daniel Radcliffe in one of his first few roles after the end of the original Harry Potter franchise, Horns is a horror movie in which a man named Ignatius Perrish must clear his name after his girlfriend was sexually assaulted and murdered, using his paranormal abilities to uncover the real criminal. As for the "horns", Perrish can use them to have people tell him their deepest, darkest secrets. A truly disturbing film, Horns has some of the better reviews of any Joe Hill adaptation (6/10 on Rotten Tomatoes and 46/100 on Metacritic). Hill himself even praised Radcliffe, saying he was a wonderful Ignatius Perrish.
4 CREEPSHOW Series (2021)
CREEPSHOW is a 2021 horror anthology series available to watch on Shudder, AMC, and AMC+. The show (based on the original idea by Stephen King and George Romero) adapts horror short stories from a variety of authors, along with writing original episodes. Two Joe Hill stories were adapted for the anthology: "By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain" and "Twitterings from the Circus of the Dead". "By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain" is the more well-received of the two (7/10 on IMDb), with the story following a young girl who finds the sea monster her father searched for, for most of his life. A sad tale of a broken family and keeping dreams alive. "Twitterings from the Circus of the Dead" (6.4/10) tells the story of a girl who, during a circus of the dead, live tweets on Twitter as the terrifying zombie performers of the circus perform horrendous acts. Twas a fascinating story for a new age of horror.
3 N0S4A2
A classic staple of the King family when it comes to writing is the horror genre, and Joe Hill manages to keep that legacy upheld with N0S4A2. A supernatural horror series, N0S4A2 follows an artist named Victoria McQueen, who has the ability to track down infamous antagonist Charlie Manx. Manx is an evil character, who steals the souls of children to put them in his twisted village of "Christmas Land", where Christmas is celebrated every day, and being unhappy is against the law. A fascinating and unique concept, N0S4A2 ran for two seasons on AMC before getting canceled by the network. It did receive good reviews (roughly around 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, 6/10 IMDB), and it was nominated for a Saturn Award for best television horror series.
2 The Black Phone (2022)
The newest adaptation of Joe Hill's work, is the horror-thriller film starring Ethan Hawke, The Black Phone based on Hill's short story from 2004. The film follows a young boy named Finney, who is kidnapped by a serial kidnapper known as the Grabber. Finney wakes up in a random room of the Grabber's, and sees the mysterious black phone. The black phone calls multiple times, all from the Grabber's previous victims, all giving Finney advice on how to escape or how to deal with him. Along the way, cops and friends (and a little girl with psychic powers) are trying to track down Finney and rescue him. The film is currently a fantastic success, both critically and at the box office. Critics praised it as a great book-to-film adaptation, along with being well-paced and having eerily good scares.
1 Locke and Key (2017-Present)
The most successful, and arguably best, of Joe Hill adaptations is the adaptation of Hill's phenomenal IDW comic book series Locke and Key. After husband and father Rendell Locke is killed by one of his students, his now-widowed wife and her kids move to his old family home in Massachusetts. To much surprise to the family, the house is full of mysterious and magical keys that can open doors to more magical and mysterious places and things. The only problem with the keys is that there is a villainous, demonic entity who is trying to track them down for his own nefarious purposes. With the first two seasons already logged on Netflix, and the final third season set to premiere later this year (as planned by the producers of the show), Locke and Key has the most consistent and most positive reviews of any Joe Hill adaptation, coming in regularly above 70% across multiple review aggregator sites. Locke and Key has been nominated for many awards, such as Best Fantasy/Horror series, Best Comic Book Adaptation, and Outstanding Sound Editing. All the reviews, rewards, and watches have brought Hill's Locke and Key story to new heights, and the most successful of his literary works.
Though with not as many adaptations, and critically acclaimed adaptations as his father, Joe Hill has ways to go before he reaches those levels of fame and status. But, the adaptations Hill's work have received has been some of the better modern literary adaptations in recent memory from an author.