Over the years, Stephen King has sold an estimated 350 million copies of his books and has become one of the most adapted authors in Hollywood. With Halloween around the corner, let's look back at some of King's finest silver screen adaptations.

Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures, Everett CollectionTHE SHINING (1980)

Unlike a lot of authors, King has been relatively sanguine about creative liberties some filmmakers might make turning his work into a movie. The only exception is "The Shining." King has publicly complained that the 1980 horror masterpiece is much more of Kubrick movie than anything he penned. In 1997, he produced and wrote "Stephen King's The Shining," a television miniseries that was indeed much closer to the original novel.

Photo by Castlerock/The Kobal Collection, WireImageTHE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

And in contrast, Frank Darabont's version of King's short story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" is the author's favorite adaptation of his work. Originally, Morgan Freeman's character Red was written as a Irishman. In the movie, they left in the line, "Maybe it's 'cause I'm Irish," but played it off as a joke.

Photo by Columbia Pictures, Everett CollectionMISERY (1990)

The role of Paul Sheldon, the waylaid author, was offered to William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, and Warren Beatty -- all of whom turned it down before it was offered to James Caan. Many stars complained that male lead was overshadowed by Annie Wilkes, Shelton's deranged fan. And they might have been right: Kathy Bates, who played Wilkes, went on to win an Oscar for the role.

Photo by Columbia Pictures, Everett CollectionSTAND BY ME (1986)

Three out of the four short stories in Stephen King's collection "Different Seasons" have been adapted into movies. "Rita Hayward and the Shawshank Redemption" became "Shawshank," "Apted Pupil" became a 1998 movie of the same name, and "The Body" became "Stand By Me."

Photo by United Artists Film, Everett CollectionCARRIE (1976)

Stephen King's first novel was also his first to be turned into a movie. During the shoot, Sissy Spacek refused to wash off the stage blood she was covered in for fear of messing up continuity. She remained in the fake blood, made mostly of corn syrup, for three days.

Everett CollectionTHE DEAD ZONE (1983)

David Cronenberg's first and thus far only foray into the realm of King is about a normal school teacher who after an accident develops psychic powers. The main character of both book (also called "The Dead Zone") and movie is based off of famed TV physic, Peter Hurkos, who reportedly gained paranormal abilities after falling from a ladder.

Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures, Everett CollectionTHE GREEN MILE (1999)

Frank Darabont's follow up on "Shawshank" was another adaptation of everyone's favorite horror author. "The Green Mile" is to date the highest grossing King flick to hit the silver screen.

Photo by Weinstein CompanyTHE MIST (2007)

For his third big screen adaptation of Stephen King, Frank Darabont picked one the author's straight ahead horror tales. King stated that this was one of the few movie versions of his work that actually managed to scare him.

Photo by David Appleby/Dimension1408

This short was originally just supposed to be a single page example story for his non-fiction book "On Writing." But he was captivated by the premise and eventually fleshed it out into a finished draft, making it King's second haunted hotel movie to make it to the big screen.

Photo by Paramount Pictures, Everett CollectionPET SEMATARY (1989)

This movie was the first made from a script that King penned himself. The author was also reportedly on the set for much of the shoot, which was easy for him because the production was 20 minutes from his house in Maine.