The Boogeymandirected byRob Savageis out now in theaters. It is far from the first short story or novella byStephen Kingto be adapted as a feature film, the likes of which include acclaimed movies likeStand by MeandThe Shawshank Redemption.The Boogeymanjoins the ranks of manyStephen King adaptationsfrom the collectionNight Shift, one of the more famous beingChildren of the Corn. However, all of these King adaptations only skim the surface of his many, many short stories that have yet to be adapted into feature films. One horrifying foray into cosmic body horror is his short story “I Am the Doorway,” which needs to be adapted into a feature film.
RELATED:From ‘It’ to ‘The Shining’: The Strange World of 90s Stephen King TV Adaptations
What Is ‘I Am the Doorway’About?
First published in 1971, “I Am the Doorway” establishes Arthur, a disabled ex-astronaut, who encounters an intelligent alien mutagen. He recounts his space exploration experience to his friend Richard. Mysterious bandages are wrapped around Arthur’s hands, hiding the disturbing changes his body is going through. Blending body and cosmic horror, “I Am the Doorway” is one of King’s most harrowing and haunting tales, ripe for a big-screen adaptation.
Visually, “I Am the Doorway” could be stunning. The space sequences have the potential to be breathtaking, possibly rivaling the beauty ofInterstellar, but in a context that would make it horrifying. Venus, the theorized source of the alien intelligence, presents an otherworldly Eldritch horror that can be brought to the screen. Arthur, and maybe even more so, his body, is another example that could be fantastic with practical effects. Undergoing a truly disgusting change with alien eyes sprouting on his hands, Arthur becomes a doorway and puppet for these otherworldly beings. This is the majority of the story — Arthur is trying to stop them, no matter the cost. This short story is also a great stepping-off point for a film, similar to howThe Boogeymanuses the short story’s plot as the inciting incident. “I Am the Doorway” resolves itself with a final solution to Arthur’s problem, but that doesn’t mean the story has to be over. There is room to expand the story beyond Arthur — namely, the larger horror of NASA’s continued space missions, despite Arthur writing to the government to stop them. It is feasible that the short story can be used as an inciting incident, only to let new creatives take the story to bigger horrifying heights.
The ‘I Am the Doorway’ Short Film Shows Potential
There has already been a successful attempt at bringing this story to life. “I Am the Doorway” was adapted into a short film in 2018, directed bySimon Pearceand starringSimon MerrellsandGrant Masters. The film delivers its job of adapting the short story, but it also shows the potential for a feature film with a bigger budget. Its special effects on the eyes are stunningly gross, replicating the gory imagery King puts in reader’s minds as the eyes multiply. The effects here are great and disgusting, clearing the way for maybe an even more disturbing realization with more resources in a feature film. The short film even accomplishes space sequences. But with the short film being only 20 minutes long, it is a brisk pace through the story that could be expanded.
Many of Stephen King’s famous adaptationshave been adapted from King’s short stories— either allowing the film to adapt nearly everything, or allowing filmmakers to take the core of the original story, and use that world-building to widen it further. The “I Am the Doorway” short film adapts the story faithfully, with a few changes. It leaves out Cory, Arthur’s co-pilot, who seemingly brings the mutagen onto their ship after a spacewalk. It also changes the setting of Venus to Pluto, likely to play on the idea of deeper space, instead of a planet closer to the sun than our own. This is perhaps one of the best changes because the unknown vastness of space is what makes this story so terrifying. The mere implication of this is enough to warrant further exploration of the lore of the cosmic being of this tale. The unknown is an important part to keep, something that needs to be kept in mind, but there is more to be explored, and more questions to be had.
‘I Am the Doorway’ Would Bring Cosmic Horror to the Screen
Cosmic horror has always been a struggle to bring to the screen for many reasons. Ambiguity is one of them — sometimes even less than ambiguity. The audience will get no answers here most of the time. Cosmic horror hinges on making humanity feel inconsequential, not even a thought to the unknowable vastness of the cosmos and what lies in it. The openness of space, and our still limited understanding of its workings, is why this genre works well on the page. We can imagine it, whereas other people’s nightmarish interpretations on the screen do not always work. Another problem is Lovecraft, the man who is credited with pioneering this genre, and the clear prejudices that come through his work. Adapting cosmic horror must ensure they are not falling into any stereotypes that he emphasized in his work.
Because so much of the genre is left up to the imagination, there have not been too manycosmic horror moviesover the years. It is certainly not as common as the slasher.Annihilation,Event Horizon,The Empty Man, andThe Mistare a few modern films that tackle the genre.John Carpentercertainly brought to life an excellent cosmic horror trilogy, consisting ofThe Thing,Prince of Darkness, andIn the Mouth of Madness. There are more, but there is always room for new films too. Cosmic horror is still a very underrepresented genre of horror, and with new technologies, more will be able to be brought to the screen that wasn’t possible before. “I Am the Doorway"is the perfect Stephen King short story to adapt next. It’s a terror that deserves the big screen.
