Stephen King’s Lovecraftian Horror Tale CROUCH END is Getting a Prime Video Series Adaptation

Another Stephen King nightmare is headed to television, and this one is taking us into a very strange corner of London.

Prime Video has officially greenlit a six-episode limited series adaptation of Stephen King’s short story Crouch End, bringing the author’s Lovecraftian supernatural mystery to the screen with a crime thriller twist.

The series will be produced in the UK, with Bodies creator Paul Tomalin adapting King’s story and Tom Shankland directing.

Crouch End follows Doris Freeman, a famous movie star who arrives at a London police station with one crazy story. Her husband has vanished, and she believes something far stranger than an ordinary disappearance is responsible.

Here’s the official synopsis: “London never sleeps deeply, and its dreams are uneasy. When global movie star Doris Freeman bursts into a London police station claiming that strange phenomena are behind the disappearance of her husband, police inspector Ted Vetter must investigate whether she’s telling the truth, whether she could be a murderer, or whether there’s something even more chilling at play…”

That gives Crouch End a fun mix of police procedural, psychological mystery, and supernatural horror. Vetter has to figure out whether Freeman is a frightened wife caught up in something impossible, a killer trying to sell him a wild story, or the unfortunate witness to something much more disturbing.

Tomalin shared his excitement about adapting King’s London-set story: “The chance to work with this great team and bring his utterly brilliant London mystery to life is beyond exciting – Crouch End will be cinematic, original and thought-provoking in equal measure.”

Mammoth Screen, the production company behind Hercule and The Serpent, is producing alongside Fifth Season, whose credits include East of Eden and Severance. Tomalin and Shankland will executive produce with Damien Timmer, Rebecca Keane, and Ben Irving.

Nicole Clemens, VP of International Originals at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, also talked about what audiences can expect from the Stephen King adaptation:

“Stephen King is one of the defining storytellers of our time, and we’re thrilled to bring his Lovecraftian tale to life in London with Crouch End.

“Paul Tomalin brings a singular, character-driven vision to the series and, paired with Tom Shankland at the helm, plus the first-class production teams at Mammoth Screen and Fifth Season, this show will grip audiences worldwide with its visceral crime thriller and supernatural mystery.”

King’s work has been adapted countless times, but Crouch End has some particularly cool material to play with. Its blend of London crime mystery and Lovecraftian horror gives the Prime Video series room to create something creepy and strange without simply retreading the territory of King’s more famous stories.

Expanding the story into six episodes should also give Tomalin and Shankland plenty of space to build the mystery surrounding Freeman’s missing husband while gradually pulling Vetter further into whatever nightmare is waiting for him.

There’s no casting or release date announced yet, but Crouch End sounds like another Stephen King adaptation worth keeping an eye on.