There’s very little in this world that’s as exciting as seeing your favorite book come to life before your very eyes as a movie or a TV series. Will the characters look the way you imagined them in your head? How will the events of the story play out in this new format? What new directions will the adaptation take the material. What new releases would you be excited to see adapted into movies or television series? Here are our picks!
Fantasy series have made for great series adaptations in the past. Think Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone, The Wheel of Time, and so many more! It would be so fun to add Josiah Bancroft’s The Hexologists to that list. When there’s a magical mystery to be solved, you reach out to Iz and Warren Wilby, the Hexologists. When the Wilbys are approached by the royal secretary and told the king is asking to be baked into a cake, the two find themselves embarking on a case that will turn the country on its head and expose royal secrets, an anti-royalist gang, hellish alchemists, and more.
Emma Donoghue’s Room was adapted into an award-winning film. And Donoghue’s The Wonder was adapted into a movie starring Florence Pugh in 2022. Donoghue’s latest novel, Learned by Heart, is sapphic historical fiction based on a true story that would also make a great movie. Eliza Raine was an heiress who was orphaned and sent to England from India when she was only 6 years old. At the age of 14 in the year 1805, Eliza is sent to Manor School for young ladies. There she meets Anne Lister, a brilliant tomboy who is always getting herself into trouble. This book is their love story, full of passion and heartbreak.
How to Be Eaten is a compelling mix of horror, fantasy, and fairy tale that would mesmerize viewers everywhere. So hopefully someone is paying attention and adapts this as a film or a series soon! In New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to talk about their past traumas. As you read their stories, you will notice similarities to familiar fairytales, including “Bluebeard,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” As the women talk with one another, they realize they have more in common with each other than they first thought.
The Apology is such an epic historical fiction story and family drama that would make the perfect series adaptation. Jeonga Cha sent her daughter-in-law off to America years ago to cover up an illegitimate birth. Now, decades have passed, and at 105 years old, Jeonga’s decisions have come back to haunt her. Spanning several decades, this novel takes readers through Japanese colonialism and the Korean War to examine every single family secret and devastating mistake that led Jeonga to where she is today.
Netflix released a series adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, created by Mike Flanagan. Maybe Mike Flanagan would appreciate a return to the world of Hill House for a new series. Struggling playwright Holly Sherwin has come to Hill House along with her girlfriend Nisa and a group of actors in the hopes of developing a new play. But every single person who enters Hill House has ghosts to be reckoned with, and the house will not stay quiet for long. This book is the first-ever authorized return to Shirley Jackson’s infamous haunted house.
Emily Martin has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. She’s a contributing editor at Book Riot and blogs/podcasts at Book Squad Goals.
