Harlan Ellison Wrote A Twilight Zone Episode Based On A Stephen King Story

Stephen King and Harlan Ellison are two of the most prolific writers of the late 20th century, and Ellison was given the challenging task of adapting one of King's short stories for CBS' 1985-89 revival of "The Twilight Zone." Season 1, Episode 18 begins with a segment called "Gramma" that Ellison based on King's short story of the same name. King's story was first published in the magazine Weirdbook in 1984 and was later included in his 1985 anthology "Skeleton Crew."

The "Twilight Zone" segment stars Barret Oliver as Georgie, an 11-year-old boy who is left home alone with his ailing — and very creepy — grandmother. He discovers a copy of the "Necronomicon" under the floorboards in her room, revealing her to be a witch moments before she dies. We won't spoil the rest; you can watch the episode on YouTube or read King's original story in "Skeleton Crew." Ellison's adaptation is fairly faithful to the original, although the short story largely unfolds through Georgie's internal monologue.

Oliver does a fine job conveying Georgie's fear as he navigates the dark house and tries to avoid contact with his bedridden grandmother. Georgie's uncertain movements and nervous speech make Ellison's use of a persistent voiceover mostly unnecessary, but the tactic is effective in bringing King's original work to the screen. King was thoroughly impressed by the "Twilight Zone" segment. In Ian Nathan's 2019 book, "Stephen King at the Movies: A Complete History of the Film and Television Adaptations from the Master of Horror," he dubbed it "the most terrifying 19 minutes ever put on television" (via /Film). Some of the circumstances were drawn from King's own childhood, likely adding to the segment's impact on him. 

King's family moved to Maine when he was 11 so his mother could care for her elderly parents, and Stephen found his grandmother dead in her bed three years later. He recalled that he held a mirror to her mouth to see if she was breathing, just like Georgie does in "Gramma," though there are no accounts of him discovering occult books beneath her bedroom floor. King's short story was more loosely adapted by writer Matt Greenberg for the 2014 Blumhouse film "Mercy," which never got a theatrical release but is available to rent or buy via Amazon Prime Video.