Stephen King Calls Mike Flanagan 'The Quentin Tarantino of Horror' After Watching The Fall of the House of Usher

Stephen King finally caught up with Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher, and he loved it. Like, capital-L loved it. If you needed a nudge to watch the Netflix series you skipped last October, the guy who wrote It just gave it.

What King said

"THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Netflix): I missed this when it bowed due to hip surgery, but this is a case of delayed gratification. Scary, involving, with writing that's witty and moves the plot. There's a case to be made for Mike Flanagan being the Quentin Tarantino of horror."

Why this hits different

Flanagan and King already have a long history. Flanagan has tackled King multiple times: Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game, and The Life of Chuck. He also has more King on the way, with Carrie and The Dark Tower adaptations in the works. Outside the King sandbox, Flanagan has been one of Netflix's go-to horror guys with The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass.

About Usher (and why it rules)

The Fall of the House of Usher dropped in October 2023 and riffs on a bunch of Edgar Allan Poe stories, including the short story that shares its name. It's not Hill House or Bly Manor 3.0, and that's the point: this one leans bloody and campy, like Poe by way of American Horror Story and Succession. It's a glossy, nasty family tragedy that knows exactly what it's doing and has fun doing it.

Critics were into it too: it's sitting at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. One review pegged it at 3.5 stars, basically calling it messy in spots but a good time.

What's next for King on screen

The next big Stephen King adaptation on the calendar is The Long Walk, directed by Hunger Games alum Francis Lawrence and based on King's 1979 novel. The premise is simple and brutal: 100 teenage boys enter a walking contest and keep moving until only one is left.

• Cooper Hoffman
• David Jonsson
• Ben Wang
• Judy Greer
• Mark Hamill

The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12.