Originally published in 1980’s New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Stephen King’s short story Crouch End is getting a series adaptation at Prime Video, Variety reports this week.
The Lovecraftian tale was also featured in King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
“Crouch End” will be a six-part limited series at Prime Video.
“London never sleeps deeply, and its dreams are uneasy. When global movie star Doris Freeman bursts into a London police station claiming that strange phenomena are behind the disappearance of her husband, police inspector Ted Vetter must investigate whether she’s telling the truth, whether she could be a murderer, or whether there’s something even more chilling at play.”
Variety notes in today’s report that Prime Video’s “Crouch End” is being adapted by Paul Tomalin (“Bodies”) and directed by Tom Shankland (“Berlin Noir,” “The Serpent”).
“Stephen King is one of the defining storytellers of our time, and we’re thrilled to bring his Lovecraftian tale to life in London with Crouch End,” said Nicole Clemens, VP of International Originals at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “Paul Tomalin brings a singular, character-driven vision to the series and, paired with Tom Shankland at the helm, plus the first-class production teams at Mammoth Screen and Fifth Season, this show will grip audiences worldwide with its visceral crime thriller and supernatural mystery.”
Paul Tomalin said, “After reading Crouch End some years back, Stephen King’s vivid prose has haunted my nightmares ever since. Having the honour to adapt it with the incredible team at Mammoth, Fifth Season and Amazon alongside director Tom Shankland is a dream come true. I couldn’t be more excited to bring this thrilling tale to the screen.”
Director Tom Shankland adds, “I’ve been a Stephen King super-fan forever. The chance to work with this great team and bring his utterly brilliant London mystery to life is beyond exciting — Crouch End will be cinematic, original and thought-provoking in equal measure.”
This won’t be the first time Stephen King’s “Crouch End” has been adapted for the screen. Back in 2006, it was adapted for the small screen for the series Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
The late Tim Curry narrated the audio book version of King’s terror tale.
Bloody Disgusting’s Jenn Adams recently selected “Crouch End” as one of the 13 Stephen King short stories every fan should read. She wrote, “King ventures into Lovecraftian Lore with Crouch End, a deeply unsettling story of an American couple on a doomed trip to London. Having lost their way, they wander down the wrong street and possibly into another dimension filled with hideous monsters and sinister approximations of city life. Set in a real district of London, the story was inspired by King’s trip to the UK to visit collaborator and friend Peter Straub. King resists the urge to fully reveal Crouch End’s mysteries, creating another haunting example of less-is-more horror.”
