10 Deaths In Stephen King Movies That Broke My Heart

This article contains mentions of death, murder (including child murder), and suicide.

When it comes to writing, Stephen King is a master of building up characters that readers and later viewers care about, only to brutally rip them away in what are often tragic and horrifying situations. Some of his most beloved characters die, both in the novels and their adaptations, leaving viewers bereft by the story’s end. While not all of his work is specifically horror, King still manages to instill a feeling of dread, even in narratives that vary across genres.

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These deaths are only punctuated by the actors’ incredible performances, with some of the best performances in Stephen King adaptations being the most impactful. This only makes the deaths that are sure to come that much more painful and the reactions that much more eviscerating. Some of the best horror movies of all time are Stephen King adaptations, and for good reason, taking the memorable narratives crafted by the iconic author and bringing them to a visual medium.

10

Jack Torrance

The Shining (1980)

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The Shining is not only one of the most recognizable Stephen King novel adaptations of all time, but it is one of the most recognizable horror movies period. Taking place in the Overlook Hotel over the winter months, Jack Torrance begins to spiral as isolation as well as the ghosts in the hotel begin to drive him mad. He eventually loses his mind completely, leading him to go on a deadly rampage throughout the hotel.

Although he eventually becomes the killer that the plot of The Shining surrounds, Jack Torrance’s death is tragic in its own way, especially in the novel. While the book follows Jack’s recovery and solid attempts to be a better man, the film focuses on a father and husband who falls into a delusion, forced to kill the very people he cares about. In the film, there is no redemption and no chance at healing, adding a layer of tragedy to the moment when Jack freezes to death in the maze.

9

Johnny Smith

The Dead Zone (1983)

A thoughtful science fiction mystery at its core, The Dead Zone details an alternate world in which the main character, a schoolteacher named Johnny Smith, has the ability to change the future. He does so by utilizing the “dead zone” of his brain, a part of his mind that has developed psychic powers. Johnny gained this power after a near-fatal car accident that put him into a coma, only to discover he has these new powers after he wakes up.

The Dead Zone was eventually made into a television series, which ran from 2002 to 2007.

Although he is the protagonist of the film, Johnny is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice by the time the credits roll. At a certain point, Johnny realizes that the only way to bring about a future in which the world is saved from a nuclear attack is to sacrifice his own life. Despite the horrible outcome, he dies a hero, having used his newfound ability to save as many lives as possible.

8

Tommy Williams

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

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The Shawshank Redemption is both a hopeful and tragic movie, offering a look at a group of prisoners and their subsequent attempt at escape. One of these characters is Tommy Williams, a man who has spent time in and out of prison ever since he was a child. As a character, he is one of the most hopeful, with a wife and baby back home and even learning to read as the film goes on.

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However, these little things build upon each other to inevitably create one of the most tragic figures in the film. After saying too much to the characters Andy and Red, the warden of the prison brings Tommy to talk to him, alone. This interaction quickly turns deadly, as the corrupt warden has Tommy killed, putting an end to a life that had so much potential.

7

Eddie Kaspbrak

IT: Chapter Two (2019)

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Watching the cast of It grow up going into IT: Chapter Two is enough to forge serious bonds with the characters involved. When the sequel begins, the viewer sees these beloved characters in different places since their childhoods, each with their own unique struggles that stem from the way their lives have developed since the first movie. Eddie is no different, dealing with a failed marriage and a general unhappiness with life.

In the final fight against the monstrous Pennywise, Eddie is killed in what is a brutally emotional scene. Not only has the viewer essentially watched this character grow up, but the grief experienced by the other members of the group, namely Richie, makes Eddie’s death that much harder to watch. There is heart in this scene, despite the otherworldly villain they face, making the scene one of the most memorable in the greater IT franchise.

6

Brooks Hatlen

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

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Tommy is not the only tragic character in The Shawshank Redemption, and another comes in the form of an old man named Brooks Hatlen. After having lived in Shawshank for decades, Brooks receives parole and is offered a chance at living as a free man. However, he has reservations about this, as he has lived in the prison for so long that he considers the prison to be more of a home than anywhere else.

The Shawshank Redemption has the most Academy Award nominations for a Stephen King adaptation, as it was nominated for seven different awards, though it did not win any.

In any other context, this might be considered a hopeful end for a character, given the opportunity to live freely after decades in captivity. However, Brooks cannot keep up with the pace of the world, which has changed so much since the time of his youth. In one of the most tragic scenes of the movie, Brooks hangs himself, leaving a note behind for everyone he met in prison and ending his life.

5

Katie Enslin

1408 (2007)

1408 is a unique psychological horror movie that follows the story of a man named Mike Enslin who, while exploring a haunted hotel as an inspiration for his next book, finds himself in a room that is said to have killed several people who entered. Supernatural events begin to occur, starting with small things like the eerie countdown of a clock starting when he enters. He eventually sees the ghost of his daughter, who died before he entered room 1408.

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Although she was dead previously, the haunting of Katie is something meant to break even the most seasoned Stephen King viewers and readers.

Although she was dead previously, the haunting of Katie is something meant to break even the most seasoned Stephen King viewers and readers. She is constantly used to taunt him, and in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the film, Mike is made to think that he has her back for a few moments. Even this moment is ripped away from him as Katie crumbles to dust in his arms, emphasizing the feeling of loss.

4

David & Billy Drayton

The Mist (2007)

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When a mysterious mist rolls into the town of Bridgton, Maine, it brings with it a litany of dangerous, otherworldly creatures. These creatures slowly begin to pick off the residents of the town, who then take shelter in a supermarket in the hopes of staying alive. As a cosmic horror movie, The Mist is filled to the brim with tension, leaving the viewer to wonder what is going to happen next.

This feeling of needing to know what happens next comes to a screeching halt with The Mist‘s brutal ending, which involves not only David’s death, but the deaths of the last of the survivors as well. Here, with no hope of escaping the titular mist and the monsters within, David uses the remaining bullets in his gun to kill the survivors, as if to save them from death at the monsters’ hands. This includes Billy, David’s eight-year-old son, making this scene truly horrible to sit through.

3

Gage Creed

Pet Sematary (1983)

Another horror story taking place in Maine, Pet Sematary details a cemetery that can revive anything that is buried within it, something that is discovered when the Creed family cat, Church, is brought back to life using the ancient burial ground. When Church is revived, the cat is different, almost zombie-like in appearance and action. After this, one of the most tragic things imaginable happens to another member of the family, Gage Creed.

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Pet Sematary

R

Horror

Fantasy

Thriller

Release Date

April 21, 1989

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Runtime

103 Minutes

Director

Mary Lambert

Writers

Stephen King

Cast

See All

• 

  Dale Midkiff

• 

  Denise Crosby

• 

  Fred Gwynne

• 

  Brad Greenquist

Eager to start afresh, the young doctor, Louis Creed, and his family–his wife, Rachel, their daughter, Ellie, and their two-year-old toddler, Gage–move to their new home in the small rural town of Ludlow, Maine, alarmingly close to a busy highway. However, after the inadvertent death of Rachel’s cherished tomcat in an awful accident, reluctantly, a desperate Louis will take his friendly neighbor’s advice to bury it in an ancient Micmac graveyard: a mystical burial ground imbued with alleged reanimating powers. Now, despite the terrible results and the insistent warnings from a recently deceased, tragedy-stricken Louis has no other choice but to go back to the Indian cemetery, in high hopes that, this time, things will be different. Nevertheless, can the dead truly return from the grave?

Main Genre

Horror

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After wandering into the middle of the road, young Gage is tragically struck and killed by an oncoming semi-truck. This leads to the rest of the movie, where a revived Gage begins to cause trouble for the rest of the family. Both shocking and tragic, Gage’s death is a shocking and horrifying way to jump into a story about a graveyard that brings both people and animals back to life.

2

Bradley Trevor

Doctor Sleep (2019)

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Acting both as a sequel to the legendary film The Shining and an adaptation in its own right, Doctor Sleep follows the story of Danny Torrance, now grown up and struggling with the trauma created by his childhood. In this film, he encounters an odd cult known as the True Knot, bent on consuming the energy of those with the ability to shine. This includes Danny, as well as a young girl named Abra Stone.

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There is one death in the film that is chilling, not just because this death comes to a child, but also because of the acting performance involved from Jacob Tremblay. Bradley Trevor, also known as The Baseball Boy, is a child who can shine who is kidnapped by the True Knot. As his life essence is stolen from him, he screams in what is one of the most frightening performances of any Stephen King adaptation, before being stabbed to death and buried by the cult.

1

John Coffey

The Green Mile (1999)

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The Green Mile is often considered to be one of the saddest movies ever made, following the story of a man who has been wrongfully convicted of a crime. This man, John Coffey, lives on death row while awaiting judgment on what many are convinced to be crimes that he committed, namely two young girls. However, it is discovered that John was not only distraught seeing the girls’ deaths, but he also possessed incredible healing abilities.

As the movie continues, John helps those around him, even healing the wife of the warden, who was terminally ill beforehand. Despite his good-hearted attitude and the fact the people around him are convinced he is innocent, John is executed anyway. The Green Mile brings this miscarriage of justice to the heights of the greatest possible tragedy, making the film and John Coffey himself some of Stephen King’s best work.

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