Stephen King has made a cozy home for himself on whatever we’re calling Twitter these days, combatting trolls and political figures with a deftness that he’s historically had trouble fitting into a limited number of characters. He’s also become a vocal advocate for Netflix streaming series, with supportive shout-outs popping up on his account with heartwarming regularity. Here are 10 series that were beloved by the guy who, with a grain of salt, hated the Kubrick version of The Shining but vouched for the one with Steven Weber.
Dracula
Not to be confused with the 1931 film Dracula, the other 1931 film Dracula, the 2000 film Dracula 2000, or the 1979 film Dracula, the 2020 series Dracula tells the story of Dracula in three feature-length parts. Reimagined through the minds of Doctor Who alums Steven Moffatt and Gatiss and returning viewers to the duo’s particular fascination with people being cremated alive, it manages to breathe new life into a preposterously well-known story – this time with an uncharacteristic lack of weird vampire horniness, which may have come as a shock to the writer of Skinwalkers.
The Night Agent
One of the more recent additions to the list, 2023’s The Night Agent, has a little bit of everything that a Netflix subscriber could want: the FBI, conspiracy theories, and runtimes that come in at under an hour regularly. King called it “farfetched, but ridiculously entertaining,” he’s sort of the authority, having once written a book about a very angry car for adults.
Painkiller
There is a bleak but real possibility that King just got confused and thought he was reviewing actual painkillers, seeing as he described having loved the series “almost to death” and considering the fact that the show has yet to crack 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mindhunter
It would have been weird if Stephen King hadn’t liked Mindhunter. Everybody liked Mindhunter. Some Quakers found Ed Kemper’s motivations for killing in season one compelling. Still, you don’t kick a rave review from America’s most popular author out of bed for eating crackers, and it must have been nice for David Fincher to see that King called the show “highly recommended.”
Money Heist
Stephen King loved Money Heist, marking another in a series of statements best responded to with something like “Who didn’t?” Also, do you guys worry at all that he’s maybe watching too much Netflix? Like, a concerning amount of Netflix? I didn’t write the most successful horror novels of the last 50 years, so it’s not really my place to say what he should be doing, but man.
Anyway, he said that the first episode of part four of Money Heist had “More excitement and pure daffy fun than in the whole season of most shows,” and he would know since apparently “most shows” is exactly what he’s watched.
Kleo
“What a breath of fresh air! Suspenseful and also very funny.” Those were the words of praise heaped on the spy thriller Kleo when it hit Netflix in 2022. The German language series received praise when it debuted in 2022, even achieving the highest of Netflix honors: Not being canceled immediately.
Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass turned a lot of heads thanks to its eerie presentation, crackerjack writing by Gerald’s Game director Mike Flanagan, and stellar performances from never-not-good actors like Hamish Linklater. Stephen King had nothing but nice things to say about it when rank got him the privilege of seeing the series early, and he helped hype audiences up for it with a praise-heavy tweet.
DARK
Another acclaimed German series, described by King, and this is true, as “German.” Say what you will. The guy knows how to use language evocatively. Also, he loved the show and even offered fans advice on where to go if and when they got irretrievably confused.
The Stranger
It’s safe to say that Stephen King knows mysteries, and he knows addiction, so you’d do well to listen when he calls 2020’s The Stranger “an excellent mystery” and “addictive.” The British miniseries based on the book of the same name by Harlan Coben was praised by critics for its solid cast and tense atmosphere.
Fauda
It wasn’t a series that got a ton of watercooler attention stateside, but the Israeli drama series Fauda was popular enough to warrant four seasons and an Indian remake. King called it “all killer, no filler,” a statement that made anyone who read It get really sad about the number of lives they lost learning about space turtles.
10 Netflix shows exclusively approved by Stephen King
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