The Monkey is the latest brutal horror/comedy from Oz Perkins, director of 2024’s hugely popular thriller Longlegs. The film is inspired by a Stephen King short story of the same name, which follows a supernatural wind-up monkey that causes a string of outrageous deaths and disrupts the idyllic family life of two brothers. Many years later, the monkey begins to kill again, and the brothers are forced to come together to stop its murderous rampage. The Monkey features several funny deaths, but it’s also a very serious movie about family and togetherness.

While The Monkey is a very original and outlandish story that paves its own path within the horror genre, there are many movies that preceded it which borrow certain elements from King’s original story. The American horror writer is responsible for some of the genre’s most twisted creations throughout the years, whether that’s It’s Pennywise the Clown or The Shining’s haunted Overlook H๏τel – so it’s not totally surprising that his works have been referenced so frequently. There are some very similar movies to The Monkey, but one film in particular made a very direct reference to King’s creation.

The Conjuring Seemingly Referenced Stephen King’s The Monkey

James Wan’s Franchise Draws Inspiration From King’s Short Story

Although it was never mentioned by name, there’s a character in James Wan’s The Conjuring franchise that closely resembles King’s iconic villain. The Toy Monkey appears in both The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 in a pair of very brief scenes in which Ed and Lorraine Warren are exploring their occult museum. The room houses plenty of supernatural artifacts (this is where audiences get their first glimpse of Annabelle), and the Toy Monkey can be seen lurking in the background.

However, it’s not until the spin-off movie Annabelle Comes Home that Ed and Lorraine’s Toy Monkey actually gets directly involved in the story. In this film, a young girl named Daniela unknowingly enters the occult museum and encounters several of the Warrens’ most dangerous artifacts, including the Toy Monkey. The creature begins to chitter and laugh when Daniela accidentally turns on a haunted television that seemingly allows her to see briefly into the future. Although Ed and Lorraine return before Daniela ventures too deep into the museum, it was satisfying to see this Toy Monkey Easter egg pay off.

The Conjuring’s Toy Monkey Is Different From Stephen King’s The Monkey

These Are Not Two Versions Of The Same Character

While the Warrens’ Toy Monkey certainly appears to be a reference to Stephen King’s antagonist, it’s very unlikely to be the same character. As proven in the ending of Oz Perkins’ The Monkey, King’s villain has much stronger and more direct powers than the version seen in the Conjuring universe. This cursed toy has the ability to directly cause other people to die by banging on its drum, bending reality to its own dark wishes and seemingly wielding complete control over life and death. This is infinitely more powerful than anything the Toy Monkey does.

Instead, the Warrens’ monkey is more likely to be a regular children’s toy that’s been possessed by some kind of dark spirit. This is essentially how things work in the Conjuring universe; most of the artifacts in the occult museum started out as regular objects until they were taken over by demons and used as some kind of link to the physical world. These two movies have very different backstories, and it’s probably not accurate to say that something as purely evil and chaotically powerful as Perkins’ The Monkey could exist in Ed and Lorraine’s house.

The Monkey Finally Gave Stephen King’s Creation Its Due

King’s Freaky Creation Is Finally Getting Credit

The Monkey is one of Stephen King’s scariest short stories, so it’s very surprising that it’s taken so long for somebody to adapt this narrative for the big screen. Given the sheer quanтιтy of Stephen King adaptations out there, the fact that The Monkey was never made before now is probably the most surprising thing about the entire film. This also meant that many audiences remained unaware of this brilliant story, as they’d never delved far enough into King’s back catalog. This has never been a problem for stories like The Shining and Salem’s Lot, for example.

Thankfully, Perkins’ stylish horror film has seemingly given King’s short story the popularity that it always deserved. Even those who didn’t love The Monkey can admit just how creative and innovative the storytelling is, and hopefully that’s inspired plenty of audiences to actually read the story it was based upon.