Collider writer Jeremy Urquhart has published a ranked list of the ten scariest villains ever created by author Stephen King. The piece deliberately focuses on antagonists from King's written works — novels, novellas and short stories — rather than their screen adaptations, and sets out clear criteria for inclusion.

The article excludes characters who are more menacing on screen than on the page, such as Warden Norton from The Shawshank Redemption, and leaves out the title figures of Carrie and Cujo on the grounds that they are tragic rather than truly villainous. The countdown emphasises villains who knowingly inflict terror. Entries revealed in the text include Greg Stillson from The Dead Zone (1979) at number ten — a ruthless would-be US president, portrayed by Martin Sheen in David Cronenberg's 1983 film — and the vampire Kurt Barlow from 'Salem's Lot (1975), King's Dracula-influenced second novel, at number nine.