The Monkey: Every difference between Stephen King's story and the latest comedy horror, explored

Stephen King’s short story The Monkey has been adapted by director Osgood Perkins as the horror film of the same name, which released on February 21, 2025. In the film, twin brothers Hal and Bill discover a cursed toy monkey that triggers death every time someone winds its key.

While trying to stay true to the creepy premise of King’s story, Perkins’ adaptation reveals a few key differences, from the toy’s skills to its origin and eventual fate.

Here’s how The Monkey movie deviates from the original bestseller story.

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1) The Monkey’s origin: A key difference in approach

Both Stephen King’s short story and Osgood Perkins’ adaptation for the screen titled The Monkey keep the origins of the cursed monkey unclear, but the way they deal with this obscurity varies.

In King’s story, the toy monkey’s origin story is never delved into. It merely exists as an ominous force, with no clarification of where it came from or why it murders. Hal gradually understands its pattern of killing but he never tries finding out where the monkey originated from. The horror stems from its certainty, as the deadly monkey keeps appearing in Hal’s life, in an inevitable manner.

The film, however, deals with this aspect in a straightforward way. The story begins with Hal and Bill’s father, Captain Petey Shelburn, trying to get rid of the horrifying toy at an antique shop. In the scene, Petey admits he does not know where the monkey came from, highlighting the mysterious nature of the wind-up toy. This short but important scene adds a layer to the film’s eeriness — implying that even those who have handled the toy have no actual knowledge of its origins. By incorporating a scene in the film where a character talks of where the toy came from, the film departs from King’s original story of The Monkey, where the toy’s origin existence is just an inescapable nightmare.

2) The Monkey’s musical intrument and hint before killing

An important difference in the film adaptation of The Monkey is how the toy monkey reveals its intention to kill. In King’s original version of the story, the toy monkey plays a pair of cymbals prior to each kill. Due to copyright issues, where Disney possesses rights to the cymbal-playing monkey from Toy Story 3, the filmmakers had to change this aspect. In the film, the toy beats a drum to an unusual tune before ushering death and chaos.

The way the characters in the film try to get rid of the monkey is also different. In King's short story, Hal and his son toss the toy into a lake and it stays down, but its menacing impact stays on as dead fish start to surface. In contrast, the film’s finale sees Hal and his son making a choice to carry the cursed toy with them, rather than risk other people's lives.

3) The Monkey and its fatal abilities

Both the short story and the film portray the toy monkey as an overpowering bearer of death, but the film alters how it strikes. In Perkins’ film, the toy doesn’t kill instantly after being wound up. Instead, it chooses when to attack, generating an added layer of anxiety.

The cause deaths caused by the eerie monkey can range from a brain aneurysm to outrageous accidents that include a tumbling air conditioner and someone getting fried in a swimming pool. Contrary to the short story, the film shows that the toy monkey cannot be manipulated. Even if a character winds the toy with the intention to kill another character, the toy selects its prey. This makes the fatalities seem more random and unavoidable, adding on to the scare factor of the film.

4) The Monkey’s mysterious intentions

Stephan King’s original story, The Monkey, at no time clearly asserts why the deadly monkey kills, and Perkins’ film follows a similar pattern, continuing an air of mystery. However, the movie hints that the toy relishes its role as a slaughterer. In one scene, Bill states that the toy “chose” him and Hal to observe its skill, implying it takes delight in making people suffer. This understanding adds a psychological horror component, as the monkey’s targets are people close to Hal and Bill, which compels them to feel the loss personally.

Furthermore, the film hints that the menacing toy is not merely a supernatural object — rather, it could be a being with its own awareness. At one point in the film, it declines to comply with Bill’s effort to influence a kill, highlighting its independent thought process. Later, when the toy beats its drum numerous times rapidly, it causes an earthquake that washes away many characters all at once. This level of annihilation exceeds everything in Stephen King’s short story, which makes the film’s monkey more petrifying.

5) The Monkey’s fate in the film’s end

King’s short story concludes with Hal tossing the toy monkey into a lake, and while it never re-emerges, there are indications that it is still active. However, Perkins’ film takes a different route. After the toy kills Bill and annihilates much of the town, Hal and his son Petey choose to keep the toy with them, knowing that dumping it somewhere won’t stop further deaths.

Nonetheless, the film’s concluding moments familiarise the viewers with a new and mysterious element: Hal spots a ghost-like figure on a pale horse, indicating that The Monkey is linked to Death. Whether this implies that the toy’s spirit has moved on or continues to stay on earth as an omen of tragedy is left unclear. However, an ending scene in which a bus full of cheerleaders are abruptly killed suggests that the curse of the dreadful toy monkey continues, emphasizing the thought that death is unpreventable.

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While the film version of The Monkey tries to stay true to the creepy crux of Stephen King’s short story, it makes several alterations that heighten its elements of horror.

Fans of King’s original writing will surely find recognisable ideas in the screen adaptation, but Perkins’ account certifies that the film version of the story stays slightly different and yet a similar frightening experience.