Stephen King’s ‘The Body’ Returns as Audiobook With ‘Stand By Me’ Star

Nearly four decades after Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me turned a small-town summer into one of cinema’s most beloved coming-of-age stories, Stephen King’s original novella The Body is getting a fresh audio life—with a voice fans already know.

A new audiobook edition of The Body is on the way, narrated by Wil Wheaton, the actor who played young writer Gordie Lachance in the 1986 film adaptation. The project gives King readers—and ’80s movie fans—a rare chance to hear the story told by the character who lived it on screen.

Wil Wheaton Returns to Castle Rock

The Body first appeared in King’s 1982 collection Different Seasons, which also produced adaptation heavyweights like The Shawshank Redemption and Apt Pupil. But it was Stand By Me that cemented the novella’s place in pop culture, helped along by Wheaton’s introspective, quietly aching Gordie.

Bringing Wheaton back as narrator adds a meta layer to the new audiobook. Gordie’s adult voice frames the entire story on the page; now, the actor most closely associated with the character will literally give that voice to King’s prose. It’s the kind of casting choice that feels perfectly in step with the way King’s universe folds back on itself, from Castle Rock to Derry.

The release also extends a busy run of King projects. Recent and upcoming books include crime novel Never Flinch, featuring fan-favorite investigator Holly Gibney, and a dark reimagining of Hansel and Gretel due in September 2025. On screen, King’s presence is everywhere, from the brutal dystopian adaptation The Long Walk to the upcoming reboot of The Running Man.

King, Audiobooks and a Booming Market

The timing of The Body’s new audio edition couldn’t be better. Audiobooks have been one of publishing’s fastest-growing sectors for years, approaching the $1 billion mark in sales by late 2025. King has quietly become a staple of that boom, with much of his backlist now available in audio and new productions arriving alongside every wave of adaptations.

For fans tracking King’s ever-expanding screen and audio footprint, Wheaton’s casting fits neatly alongside projects like the recent surge of interest in The Long Walk and the renewed spotlight on King’s TV work. It also follows a string of nostalgia-inflected King reissues, from new anniversary editions of classics to fresh spotlights on under-sung adaptations like Under the Dome.

For longtime Constant Readers, the audiobook promises a return to one of King’s most grounded, human stories—a tale about grief, memory and the friends you never quite leave behind. For newer fans arriving through adaptations, it’s a chance to hear the real Castle Rock as King wrote it, guided by the same voice that first led them down the tracks to find a body in the woods.

With King juggling new novels, TV adaptations like The Institute and IT: Welcome to Derry, and now a high-profile return to one of his most beloved novellas in audio form, 2026 is shaping up to be another peak year for readers who like their horror—and their nostalgia—in surround sound.

Part of our full guide: Stephen King Adaptations in 2026: What Is Filming, What Was Cancelled and What Is Next