A Return to Salem’s Lot is an essentially forgotten sequel that would kick off one of the weirdest subgenres of Stephen King movies. Stephen King’s books have proven fertile ground for Hollywood, resulting in classics like The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption. Of course, there have been some middling to terrible films based on his work too, with the King-directed Maximum Overdrive being (arguably) the worst. One of the most adapted of his works is Salem’s Lot, a novel where a vampire slowly takes over a small American town and quite literally bleeds it dry.

It was first adapted as a miniseries by the late, great Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Mᴀssacre) in 1979, which gave younger viewers nightmares for years to come. The next Salem’s Lot adaptation came with a Rob Lowe-fronted miniseries from 2004, and the most recent version was the poorly received 2024 movie starring Lewis Pullman. Tucked between the 1979 and 2004 miniseries is A Return to Salem’s Lot, a sequel written and directed by B-movie legend Larry Cohen; it also marked the first Stephen King movie that he didn’t actually write.

A Return To Salem’s Lot Kicked Off A Run Of Stephen King Movies He Had No Hand In Writing

No, Stephen King did not pen the script for The Mangler: Reborn

Cohen had actually written a script for the Salem’s Lot miniseries that wasn’t used, and years later proposed a sequel to it as a straight-to-video project for Warner Bros. A Return to Salem’s Lot features no returning characters, and instead of being a horror movie, its more of a dark satire on America where any scary scenes feel perfunctory. King has never commented on the sequel, which had no issue promoting itself using his name. It received largely bad reviews and while there are interesting concepts in it, A Return to Salem’s Lot is obscure for good reason.

A movie King did comment on was The Lawnmower Man, which, despite using the тιтle of a short story the author penned, was virtually unrecognizable from his work. After a lawsuit, King’s name was taken off the 1992 cyber thriller, and that same year he did the same with Pet Sematary Two. This was another sequel that wasn’t based directly on any King book, even though it reused themes from his original novel. 1992 was a busy year for King movies he didn’t write, with the first Children of the Corn sequel The Final Sacrifice also hitting theaters that year.

In the years that pᴀssed, there has been a glut of these King-less movies. These include countless Children of the Corn sequels, The Rage: Carrie 2 and The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, a prequel to the author’s miniseries Rose Red. The common thread is that they are all prequels or sequels to previous King adaptations where producers saw franchise potential – even if there were no source books by the author to work with. Sadly, most of these follow-ups are pretty bad.

How Stephen King Feels About “Adaptations” He Didn’t Write

Like most of us, he could “live without” the Children of the Corn follow-ups

King has mellowed in his later years when it comes to sharing his thoughts on adaptations of his novels. Whereas in the past he slammed movies like Firestarter or Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, he’s not so forthright nowadays. For instance, he politely told ᴅᴇᴀᴅline in 2016 that “I could do without all of the Children of the Corn sequels,“ while admitting to liking the 1984 original. Conversely, he was even harsher on Pet Sematary Two when asked about the sequel by Fangoria in 1992.

I read the script – or as much of it as I could stand – and I read enough to realize that it was exactly like the first Pet Sematary with different characters. I don’t approve of [Pet Sematary 2] and I didn’t want it made. I hope the people who read FANGORIA, the people who read my books and anyone who likes my stuff will stay away from this picture. And this is one that I will not see myself.

The author goes on to explain he would never sell sequel rights to his books again, and if studios insisted on them, he just wouldn’t sell the book. He doesn’t appear to have commented on the likes of the Sometimes They Come Back sequels or Creepshow 3, but King was much kinder to the 2023 prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines when it arrived on Paramount+. King took to Twitter/X (via Variety) to write a mini review:

In the book, this is the story Jud Crandall tells Louis Creed to try and dissuade him from using the Pet Sematary. The screenplay takes a few liberties, but it’s a fine story. David Duchovny is excellent. The secret, as always, is caring about the characters.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines wasn’t very well received, but the reason King may have been nicer to it than other derivative sequels is that Bloodlines pulled from a pᴀssage featured in the original book. Still, there don’t appear to be any more Stephen King derivatives on the horizon, so this wild little subgenre may finally be ᴅᴇᴀᴅ – unless it’s buried in the Pet Sematary, that is.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Fangoria, Rotten Tomatoes, Variety

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  Stephen King

  Birthdate

  
  September 21, 1947
  

  Birthplace

  Portland, Maine, USA

  Height

  6 feet 4 inches

  Notable Projects

  The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower, Mr. Mercedes, Carrie

  Professions

  Author, Screenwriter, Producer, Director, Actor

  Discover the latest news and filmography for Stephen King, known for The Dark Tower series, The Stand, IT, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, the Bill Hodges trilogy, and more.

  
  

  
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