Stephen King loves ‘existential hell’ Netflix series binged for 81 million hours
Stephen King once endorsed a Netflix series he described as 'existential hell.'
The horror author often takes to social media to share his TV and movie recommendations, although he has recently hit the headlines for two very different reasons.
First was for his comments following the death of controversial conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on September 10.
King wrongly claimed in a now-deleted tweet that Kirk 'advocated stoning gays to death,' seemingly referring to a reply Kirk made after YouTuber Ms Rachel referred to Leviticus 18 in the Bible as a reminder to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’.
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In an episode of his podcast, the 31-year-old said: “By the way Ms. Rachel, you might want to crack open that Bible of yours, in a lesser referenced part in the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18 is that 'Thou shall lay with another man, shall be stoned to death.'
"Just saying... [This chapter] affirms God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matters."
King's post even prompted a response from Elon Musk.
King then corrected himself and issued an apology before removing the post, writing: "I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages."
He also made headlines with the release of his latest movie, The Long Walk, which premiered in theatres on September 12.
The adaptation stars Cooper Hoffman as one of 100 teenage boys competing in a deadly government-run endurance contest where they must keep walking without stopping until only one survives.
The film has received largely positive reviews and an 89 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, who praised Hoffman's performance.
Anyway, King also once recommended a Netflix show that should be on your to-be-watching list, if it isn't already. And better yet, the series features a subtle nod to King, as pointed out by eagle-eyed Reddit viewers.
The series in question is set in the Z Nation universe and follows a crack team of special forces as it fights for hope in the darkest hours of the zombie apocalypse.
More specifically, it follows Rose (Jaime King), a mother separated from her daughter in the early days of the zombie apocalypse, and Spears (Justin Chu Cary), an escaped prisoner who reluctantly becomes her ally.
They join forces with other desperate survivors, including Sun (Christine Lee), William (Sal Velez Jr.), and Lance (Kelsey Flower), as they struggle to navigate the chaos and reach safety.
In one scene, Lance crawls through a bookstore and briefly stops next to a copy of Cell, a 2006 King book about cell phones turning people into zombies.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, King said: "BLACK SUMMER (Netflix): Just when you think there's no more scare left in zombies, THIS comes along. Existential hell in the suburbs, stripped to the bone."
In another post, he added: "BLACK SUMMER: No long, fraught discussions. No endless flashbacks, because there's no back story. No grouchy teens. Dialogue is spare. Much shot with a single handheld camera, very fluid. Showrunners could learn a lot from this. If they could work, that is."
The series averages an 85 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score on Reddit, with its second season racking up a flawless 100 per cent from critics.
There are currently two seasons of Black Summer to stream on Netflix, but despite people's calls for another, there won't be a third.
John Hyams, the co-creator of the show alongside Karl Schaefer, confirmed last year that Black Summer had been cancelled.
A fan of the show tweeted him: "Season 3 of Black Summer or nah?"
"Sadly, nah," Hyams replied.
He further explained to a different Black Summer viewer that it 'certainly wasn’t [his] decision' to axe it and that he would have 'loved to do another'.
Black Summer is streaming now on Netflix.
Topics: Stephen King, Netflix, Horror, Streaming, Film and TV, US News
Ellie Kemp