CLEVELAND, Ohio - You may have noticed that it's shaping up to be a boom year for Stephen King adaptations. Among the high-profile films on the way are "The Dark Tower," which hits theaters on Aug. 4, and the first half of "It" ("Part 1 - The Losers' Club"), which has a release date of Sept. 8.

A fantastical mix of horror, action, Western and science fiction, "The Dark Tower" stars Idris Elba ("Luther") and Matthew McConaughey ("American Detective"). The "It" film is the second adaptation of King's novel, following the 1990 miniseries.

Morgan Spector stars as Kevin Copeland in Spike TV's "The Mist," based on a story by Stephen King.

Before we climb "The Dark Tower" and confront the terror that is "It," however, we must face "The Mist." This series adaptation of King's 1980 novella premieres at 10 p.m. Thursday, June 22, on Spike TV.

The horror series explores what happens to the residents of Bridgeville, Maine, when they find themselves shrouded in a frightening, foreboding, unnatural mist. And there's definitely something out there in the mist. Horrific threats? Fear? Panic? The end of civilization? The unknown?

This cable drama reverses the Hollywood path of King's "It," which first went to television, then the movies. Before landing at Spike TV, "The Mist" was turned into a 2007 movie by director, writer and leading King interpreter Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Green Mile").

The task of taking the novella and developing it into a cable show fell to writer-executive producer Christian Torpe. As if to signify that the series would be its own beast, the name of the town was changed from Bridgton (in the story) to Bridgeville.

"The novella is about 200 pages and takes place over a couple of days," Torpe said during a telephone interview. "It's a masterpiece, but it's not enough for a series. So I took the liberty of taking the heart of the novella - the story of what people do when they are confronted by a threat and fear - and expanded on that notion and that world."

The goal is to reimagine the cultural microcosm crafted by King while staying faithful to the story's themes.

"You want to be respectful of the work and stay true to the spirit of the work," Torpe said. "But with a series, you have to depart from the source material. So you're walking a line. You have to tell the story, but you also have to tell a story that moves beyond the source material."

For a stellar example of this, he points, not to another King film or TV adaptation, but to FX's series version of "Fargo."

"That's very much what we're trying to do with this," Torpe said. "I love how the 'Fargo' series stays true to the original movie but is very different season to season. It references the original from time to time, but it builds on it, as well."

Torpe, whose breakthrough project was the acclaimed Danish comedy series "Rita," isn't a writer known for his credits in the horror field. Nor does he think of himself as "a horror guy." Yet he's thrilled to be associated with a series based on a Stephen King story.

"I grew up in a small town in Denmark in the countryside, and my weekly highlight was biking off to the local library to get books," he said. "And I just worshiped Stephen King. I read everything of his into my 20s. I'm attracted to good writing, no matter what the genre might be. The genre doesn't interest me that much. The journey of the characters is what interests me."

In "The Mist," the journey of the characters is a dark one.

"In doing research for this, I found this sociological notion that we're all nine meals away from anarchy," Torpe said. "You take away food and water for nine meals, and that's the point where people start doing bad things to protect themselves, and they start searching for answers that might be completely irrational.

"I really wanted to be in the crosshairs of watching what happens at that point."

As the fear of "The Mist" grows, we see the effects on the individual and civilization. King's story is very much a study of how individuals and society respond to something that threatens the very fabric of that society.

Morgan Spector ("Boardwalk Empire") has the lead role in "The Mist." He plays Kevin Copeland, who believes himself to be a liberal and civilized man. Like the other residents of Bridgeville, his high morals are about to be challenged under the sternest conditions. What will he do to assure his family's survival? His survival?

"When this thing is over, we'll all have done things we won't be proud of," says local mall manager Gus Redman (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). "But for now, we need to just get to the 'when.' "

Also playing characters having their humanity put to the test are Alyssa Sutherland, Frances Conroy, Okezie Morro, Danica Curcic, Luke Cosgrove, Darren Pettie, Dan Butler, Gus Birney and Russel Posner.

"The story was first published in 1980, but it seems even more relevant to what's going in today's world," Torpe said. "There's a lot fear in the world right now. We're all concerned about things. And horror helps us tap into a fear, something deep in the psyche that we might not be able to otherwise reach.

"This is about a search for answers, and it seems to be a powerful metaphor for what the world is experiencing at this moment."

PREVIEW

The Mist

What: A series version of the Stephen King story.

When: Premieres at 10 p.m. Thursday, June 22.

Where: Spike TV