American author Stephen King has entertained readers and audiences for years during his long and prolific career as a brilliant and vivid storyteller. Referred to as "The King of Horror," King has become responsible for some of the most iconic horror and fantasy stories in pop culture, with many of his works even being adapted for films and television.
With so many of his stories given the big and small screen treatment, King's smartly written and memorable antagonists have graced the spotlight. These dastardly foes have since become heralded as some of cinema's most iconic and scariest villains. Here are ten of the best villains from King's adapted stories who dominated the screen with their intimidating and frightening personalities.
10 Margret White - 'Carrie' (1976)
Margaret White (Piper Laurie) was an obsessive and domineering religious zealot who harbored a unique prudishness and hatred towards those she perceived as sinners. Her fanaticism and anger eventually led to her abusive relationship with her troubled telekinetic teenage daughter, Carrie (Sissy Spacek.)
As a God-fearing woman, Margaret strove to keep a strictly religious environment within the confines of her home. She became judgmental of everyone around her for not adhering to her old fashion worldviews. Her bad parenting towards her daughter ultimately led to her death after Carrie was forced to kill her mother in self-defense after Margaret attacked Carrie, claiming her telekinesis was the result of witchcraft.
9 Kurt Barlow - 'Salem's Lot' (1979)
The centuries-old vampire, Kurt Barlow (Reggie Nalder), was a force of pure evil who terrorized the small Maine town of Salem's Lot, determined to turn the town's residents into members of his undead army. Once Barlow's victims started to pile up, it was up to the writer Ben Mears (David Soul) and the horror fan Mark Petrie (Lance Kerwin) to end the vampire's bloody rampage.
With haunting yellow eyes, long fangs, and a sickly gaunt appearance, this terrifying bloodsucker was undoubtedly one of King's scariest characters as he dominated his brief screen time with his frightening and supernatural presence. Eventually, he was staked through the heart by Ben Mears, dying as he slowly faded into dust.
8 Christine - 'Christine' (1983)
This supernatural 1958 Plymouth Fury had a mind of her own and a desire to kill those who harmed her or her owner Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon.) Christine displayed actual feelings of anger and jealousy and showed a relentless pursuit against those she despised.
With the ability to take many blows of damage and even able to regenerate mechanical parts, Christine became one of King's most formidable antagonists. Although she was eventually destroyed in the end by Arnie's friend Dennis (John Stockwell), Christine still proved to be a cunning horror movie villain who stubbornly wasn't willing to go down without a fight.
7 Cujo - 'Cujo' (1983)
This murderous and iconic canine was certainly not man's best friend. After being bitten by a rabies-infested bat, this harmless St. Bernard started to terrorize his community and attack anyone he came across. Eventually he stalked and attacked a poor mother and her son after their car broke down on his owner's property.
Being an intimidating and nightmarish foe, Cujo was effective at scaring audiences due to himself being an antithesis to the sweet and lovable furry companions that dogs have become known for. With foam around his mouth and blood on his fur, he started a reign of terror before meeting his eventual demise before he could do more harm.
6 Randall Flagg - 'The Stand' (1994)
Arguably one of King's most essential antagonists from the novels, Randall Flagg (Jamey Sheridan), was an immortal and evil sorcerer who wanted to use his dark powers to bring down civilization. During the events of The Stand miniseries, he used his powers of influence to lead an evil cult of survivors after most of humanity was wiped out by a devastating apocalypse.
Often referred to as "The Dark Man," Flagg has become King's most reoccurring villain, appearing across several stories with many different names and different portrayals. Still, he always kept the same goals of spreading evil and wickedness. Matthew McConaughey even played him in the less-than-stellar The Dark Tower movie. However, within the miniseries, this incarnation of Flagg was eventually defeated by the power of God before he could rule the world.
5 Warden Samuel Norton - 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) appeared as the stern administrator of the Shawshank correctional facility, who ruled with discipline and the belief that every man could find redemption through the Lord. However, deep down, he harbored a corrupt and greedy dark side as he used his position and forced labor to become rich.
Norton was a criminal in charge of punishing criminals and did everything in his power to keep his deeds a secret. With the help of his equally malevolent second-in-command, Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), the two were willing to intimidate, imprison, and even murder anyone who could be a potential threat to their schemes. In the end, however, Norton's true crimes were revealed to the press, and he faced punishment after being outsmarted by the intelligent escaped convict Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins.)
4 Mrs. Carmody - 'The Mist' (2007)
When terrifying and strange-looking monsters from another dimension descended upon a small Maine town, a band of townsfolk hoped to escape the ordeal by sheltering in a supermarket. Unfortunately, some survivors soon realized the biggest threat to their survival was Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), a cult-like religious fanatic who was using the fear of the situation to take control and sacrifice anyone she deemed blasphemous.
Much like Margret White from Carrie, Mrs. Carmody, was a highly judgmental and paranoid woman. She believed the monsters outside the supermarket were sent by God as punishment for humanity's sins and convinced herself that she could be the only one who could save people from this punishment. As her power and influence grew, so did her ego until she was ultimately killed before she could sacrifice an innocent child.
3 Annie Wilkes - 'Misery' (1990)
Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) was a disturbed former nurse with murderous tendencies who possessed an intense obsession with the famed writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan.) After conveniently finding Sheldon injured and alone after a car accident, Annie cared for the bedridden writer in her home, but soon Sheldon realized Annie had no intentions of letting him leave.
Kathy Bates' Oscar-winning performance as Annie left a feeling of tension and suspense every time she appeared on-screen as she became a perfect example of a fan's obsession with a celebrity going way too far. Her torturing and imprisonment of Sheldon remain one of the most unsettling moments in King's stories.
2 Jack Torrance - 'The Shining' (1980)
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) was a struggling writer who brought his family out to an isolated mountain hotel to become its caretaker and find some quiet time to write his novel. However, over time, he experienced a psychological breakdown due to cabin fever and coercion from evil spirits, leading him to want to murder his wife and son.
Jack was not the best family man before he arrived at the hotel as he had a history of family abuse, and his pent-up anger and former alcoholism became a driving force that led him on his murderous path. He failed in the end in killing his family, as they managed to escape the hotel, leaving him to freeze to death in the cold.
1 Pennywise - 'It' (1990, 2017)
Pennywise the dancing clown was a shape-shifting and otherworldly monster who mainly disguised himself as a circus clown to unsettle and frighten his victims as he fed on their fear.
Played by the legendary Tim Curry in the 1990 miniseries and then again by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgard in the 2017 film adaptation, Pennywise has become a horror icon of the genre. The character has, over the years, instilled fear amongst fans of King's works and became instrumental in many people's fear of clowns. Overall, his memorability and evil nature make Pennywise one of Stephen King's greatest villains.