Stephen King’s Underrated Sci-Fi Horror Series Called The Shining

If you’re looking for a high-concept sci-fi mystery show in the vein of Under the Dome, From, or The Manifesto, Stephen King has you covered. The horror master has always loved sharing recommendations for spooky genre offerings on social media, and this week he took to Threads (he left the cesspool formerly known as Twitter in November) to highlight British series The Midwich Cuckoos.

“THE CUCKOOS OF MIDWICH (Amazon): surprised this isn’t talked about more,” King recently Posted in Topics. “This is a brilliant reimagining of John Wyndham’s classic science fiction/horror novel.” The title of one of Wyndham’s most famous novels may sound unfamiliar to you, but the title of his earlier film adaptation might: “Midvitsky Cuckoos” became “Village of the Damned” when Wolf Rilla adapted it in 1960. This version of the story is widely regarded as the greatest horror film of all time, and has been alternately dubbed “a great chiller thriller” (from The Boston Globe), “one of the truly fascinating screen stories of that time” (according to Evening star), as well as “the ultimate horror tale” and “a sticky little masterpiece” (trans The Washington Post).

The plot of “The Cuckoos of Midwick” begins with a disturbingly inspiring incident: an entire town suddenly faints, and when they wake up, all the women are pregnant. The story is disturbing and strange, with elements such as mind control, otherworldly beings and military intervention. The iteration championed by King was created by Royal Shakespeare Company Associate Director David Farr and stars BAFTA-nominated actor Keeley Hawes (It’s a Sin, Death at a Funeral, Tomb Raider video game) and actor-writer Max Beasley (The Kidnapping, The Outsider).

King made some strong recommendations for new and returning horror movies this year from the latest season of Wicked (for which he inspired an entire social media update campaign), to the Netflix adaptation of “3 Body Problem” to Produced by James Wan, Peacock’s “Teacup” series. “The Midwich Cuckoos” stands out a bit in that it’s not actually a new release; the series was produced by UK streamer Sky Max, and its only season to date aired in 2022.

If you’ve watched television at least once this century, you’ve probably come across some conceptual sci-fi/mystery slow-motion series, most of which followed ABC’s game-changing hit “Lost.” From “The Returned” to “Dark” to “The OA” (not to mention a slew of now-forgotten one-season shows like “Revolution,” “The Event” and “Flashforward”), TV’s mystery box is a formula that seems , continues to move, whether successful or not. The Cuckoos of Midwich at least has the advantage of finality, having been conceived as a limited series. The under-the-radar show also has some decent reviews from non-Stephen King folks, with Irish Independent calling it “effective, engaging and full of ideas” and “a fascinating thesis about bodily autonomy and the crippling anxieties of young parenthood”.

The show is available to US viewers on AMC+, Acorn TV and the Sundance Now platform, although King says he watched it on Amazon Prime (which has the additional options of AMC+ and Acorn TV).