The first trailer for Rob Savage’s (Dashcam) adaptation of one of Stephen King’s scariest stories, The Boogeyman, has arrived. Twenty-First Century Fox originally had the film made for Hulu, but they decided to show it in theaters.

This is the original short story Cavalier magazine published the first version of “The Boogeyman” in 1973. The protagonist is a psychiatrist listening to a patient who is convinced that a supernatural being is stalking them. The man tells the doctor that he is at his wit’s end because the boogeyman has cursed his family and is systematically killing off his children. Baby suffocation is a perfectly plausible explanation for any child’s death, but the father is confident he has gathered enough proof to prove the boogeyman is real. The psychiatrist eventually writes off the man’s account as fantasy, but then he becomes the creature’s next victim.

The new teaser for The Boogeyman demonstrates that it deviates significantly from King’s source material. Instead, the film functions as a sequel by following the psychiatrist’s two daughters. The teenage protagonists of The Boogeyman, portrayed by Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) and Vivien Lyra Blair (Bird Box), are still processing the loss of their mother at the film’s outset. The girls’ father has brought the monster into their house, and now they must struggle to stay alive.

The premise of a creature lurking in closets may sound silly, but King made it into a chilling tale in 1973. The new trailer shows that the film adaptation will be faithful to King’s narrative by making the monster more terrifying than ever. We’re used to seeing new King adaptations every year, both in cinemas and on television, but the debut teaser for The Boogeyman suggests that it could be one of the most terrifying films ever based on King’s work.

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The film’s main characters are Chris Messina, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, and Madison Hu. The script is written by Mark Heyman, who worked from drafts written by A Quiet Place’s Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, as well as Malignant’s Akela Cooper. Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps are the showrunners, producers, and creators of The Boogeyman. Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Emily Morris are also involved in the project as executive producers.

Many films based on King’s works, including The Boogeyman, are scheduled for release in 2023 and beyond. A prequel to the 2019 film adaptation of Pet Sematary and a new version of the writer’s vampire classic Salem’s Lot are also in the works.