Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story Pushed Stephen King to Adapt Lisey's Story

Stephen King, widely regarded as the King of Horror, has seen many of his novels adapted for film and television. One book he long resisted letting go of was Lisey’s Story, published in 2006 and only adapted for television in 2021; King has repeatedly said it is his personal favorite of his novels.

What changed, he has said, was watching the second season of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Noting that Tom Rob Smith had written the entire season — “all eight or nine episodes” — King felt the format could work for Lisey, so he began writing scripts and showed them to Ben Stephenson at Bad Robot, who encouraged him.

The scripts got done, and everything else followed. King also pointed to the freedoms of streaming television as a factor. “You have a chance to do more,” he said, citing the ability to be “a little more graphic with language and with sexual situations and with length,” and to achieve greater spread, texture and nuance.

stephen king, lisey's story, ryan murphy, gianni versace, american crime, assassination, bad robot, ben stephenson, streaming tv, television adaptation