It’s been quite the year for unique Stephen King adaptations, and “The Long Walk” is only the latest to hit theaters in 2025. Adapted from his 1979 novel published under the pen name Richard Bachman, the story follows a group of teenage boys who participate in a deadly walking contest in hopes of earning a cash prize. They walk until there’s only one survivor left, accelerated by a speed requirement. Drop below the limit and they’re shot on sight. It’s a bleakly dystopian — and graphically violent — look at totalitarian capitalism, anchored by beautiful performances from Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, who become friends and brothers along the way.

It’s the third of four high-profile King adaptations this year, so if you need to get caught up with the rest, here’s where to stream them all (and a few more like “The Long Walk”).

Oz Perkins kicked off the year of King with his darkly delirious “The Monkey,” which is now streaming on Hulu. Based on a King short story, the film is an absurdly gory treatise on learning to live with the randomness of death, the things that you cannot control and generational trauma. Star Theo James turns in a gonzo-great dual performance as twin brothers Hal and Bill, who have spent their lives trying to evade and control the violent wrath of a wind-up monkey toy. Check it out on Hulu.

In a wildly different tonal register, though dealing with the same themes of existential terror and trying to wring the most out of life, horror impresario Mike Flanagan delivered “The Life of Chuck,” starring Tom Hiddleston and Jacob Tremblay. This curiously chaptered and nonlinear film follows, indeed, the life of Charles Krantz, in an adaptation of King’s 2020 novella from the collection “It Bleeds.” This life-affirming tale performs a slow sleight of hand narratively, and is ultimately about the power of dance to connect us all and help us celebrate the moment that we’re in, right now. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon today.

Coming Nov. 14 is Edgar Wright’s adaptation of King’s 1982 book “The Running Man,” which is narratively closer to “The Long Walk,” in that it tells the tale of a man trying to win a cash prize by evading hunts over a monthlong chase reality show (ironically, appropriately, the novel is set in 2025). The book was already adapted to the screen in 1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in a film by Paul Michael Glaser; Glen Powell takes the starring role in Wright’s film. Catch up with the original “The Running Man” on Netflix and Paramount+.

And if it’s more King classics you crave, “The Long Walk” has less to do with some of King’s more outright horror tales, and hews more in the direction of emotional friendship stories and coming of age fables like “Stand by Me” (1986), streaming on Netflix, “The Green Mile” (1999), streaming on AMC+ or available to rent, or “The Shawshank Redemption,” (1994), available on AMC+ or for rent.

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