Stephen King exchanged heated words with the screenwriter of Children Of The Corn

Stephen King’s short story “Children of the Corn” was first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse magazine, and later republished in the author’s 1978 anthology “Night Shift.” The story concerned a small Nebraska town overrun by a creepy cult of murderous children. They worship a demonic deity called He Who Walks Behind the Rows and regularly perform human sacrifices. A few traveling Californians come into conflict with the cult and are killed by their rituals.

As Stephen King stories go, “Corn” is straightforward and simple. It’s astonishing to think that it has spawned eleven feature films and one short. Fritz Kiersch’s 1984 horror film “Children of the Corn” was the second film adaptation, following the relatively obscure 1983 short “Disciples of the Crow.” Kiersch’s film would spawn eight direct sequels, as well as two remakes in 2009 and 2020. Most of the “Corn” films are weird and/or bad,…