TV SERIES · 2002– · USA
Rose Red
33 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (33)
- #001
The series is broadly based on Sarah Winchester and the Winchester "Mystery" House. The story has visibly strong ties to Shirley Jackson's novel, which was adapted for film, and to The Haunting (1963), which Stephen King has said is one of his favorite novels.
- #002
After work on the script was delayed by Stephen King's traffic accident, he finished a revised script for "Rose Red" within a month and restructured it as a miniseries instead. The writing was highly therapeutic for King: "I was using the work as a drug, because it worked better than anything they gave me to ease the pain. Pushing the pen for 45 minutes a day was hard, but getting back to work was vital, because somehow you have to break the ice. Either I'm going to go on with my work or I'm not. And if I can do that, maybe I can walk or go on with some kind of human relationship. The work seemed like a logical place to start."
- #003
The budget rose from an original 3 million dollars to an estimated 35 million dollars to accommodate the lavish sets of Rose Red Mansion.
- #004
David Dukes died of a heart attack while playing tennis, on the night before he was to return to continue his scenes.
- #005
Stephen King loves the miniseries because it lets him tell his novels in a different format than film and reach a wider audience.
- #006
Stephen King named the character Annie Wheaton in memory of Anne Wheaton, the wife of Wil Wheaton. King had worked with Wil on Stand by Me (1986).
- #007
Actor Matt Ross had to gain weight for the role of Emery, and on top of that he also had to wear a thick suit.
- #008
Stephen King said he wanted the series to be the "Moby Dick" of haunted house films: something big, scary and hard to forget. He also wanted the mansion to look user-friendly and not forbidding, including cozy interiors with warm, inviting colors. More than 400 carpenters worked on the sets between May and October 2000. The sets were so large that some of the actors got lost on them.
- #009
Fans of Stephen King's books may notice numerous references to his first novel Carrie, which also concerns a telekinetic girl. The raining stones and the telekinetic girl named Annie are taken directly from the novel "Carrie."
- #010
According to Stephen King, he proposed to Steven Spielberg that they make the scariest "haunted house" film, with King writing the story and Spielberg directing, targeted for release in 1996. However, the two men could not agree on the film's tone and Spielberg moved on to other projects. The film was eventually rewritten as one of King's miniseries projects for the ABC television network.
- #011
Actors Jimmi Simpson (Kevin Bollinger) and Melanie Lynskey (Rachel Wheaton) met and fell in love on this film's set and married in 2007. They divorced five years later, in 2012.
- #012
Stunt coordinator Craig Baxley Jr. stood in for David Dukes in the "zombie" scenes and wore the flesh mask created for Dukes.
- #013
A week after Steven Spielberg left the project, Stephen King had a car accident. After several months of recovery, King began reworking the script. The finished draft was hardly revised at all during shooting.
- #014
ABC shot this original Stephen King miniseries film at Thornewood Castle in Tacoma, Washington. The film's restoration, construction and shooting took six months in 2000. The fictional Rose Red Mansion in the film was located at 9th and Madison in downtown Seattle — in reality that location is a bridge crossing the I-5 corridor toward St. James Cathedral. The road ends in a dead end.
- #015
Craig R. Baxley was amazed by the rock scene, but Stephen King's favorite effect shot was the face emerging from the statue in the courtyard. They wanted to keep the effects solid, but in total 350 visual effects were actually used. The library floor effect was achieved by having the actress pass through a hidden pool while wearing a whiskey protection so she would not get wet. The temperature was reported to be 30 degrees.
- #016
Matt Ross strongly believes in the supernatural, ever since his mother apparently saw a ghost.
- #017
Craig R. Baxley claimed that working on this series was one of his greatest experiences to date.
- #018
The salon was converted from a hangar. It was the most decorative set, since it was used more than the others.
- #019
It is one of the first acting roles of Emily Deschanel, who later became famous as Dr. Temperance Brennan in the series Bones (2005).
- #020
In the second episode, the camera pans across a wall of gold-framed portraits. In the row below, directly beneath a painting of a young woman seated beside one of two men (one of whom is probably Teddy Roosevelt), the group photograph from The Shining can be seen.
- #021
At the end of the second episode, as Joyce walks through the ballroom, you can see the change in Nancy Travis's weight because she was pregnant during filming.
- #022
Filming took four months, but post-production lasted another six months.
- #023
Although the story was originally set in California, it was moved to Seattle to take advantage of the locations.
- #024
Stephen King compared the cameos to "Where's Waldo?" (also known as "Where's Wally?").
- #025
Craig R. Baxley not only directed the series but also directed some of the stunt work. Before becoming a director, he was a stunt coordinator.
- #026
Rose Red shares many features with Stephen King's early novel The Shining. Both concern a large, haunted building with a rich history that draws on the powers of those who enter it.
- #027
While Stephen King and Steven Spielberg were still considering making Rose Red (2002) as a feature film, the two had many creative disagreements over the film's tone. Spielberg wanted more excitement and action scenes, while King was entirely focused on psychological fears. They ultimately could not reach an agreement, and the project was shelved when King bought back the rights to his script. Spielberg's later film Monster House (2006) gives you an idea of the kind of horror film he wanted to make.
- #028
Joyce claims the group are candles, but Annie is a projector; Stephen King writes a similar line in Doctor Sleep, his sequel to The Shining, in which Danny Torrance claims to be a flashlight while a psychic friend is a lighthouse.
- #029
The cast took dance lessons at Blue Skies Studios in Seattle.
- #030
The Volvo station wagon the mother drives looks particularly similar to the car driven by Julie Harris's Hillman in The Haunting.
- #031
During Joyce's Rose Red training, one member of the group is about to type "bullshit" on a keypad. But the shot cuts before they can finish the word, because network censors would never allow such a strong curse word even if it were written.
- #032
The horrifying arm that comes out of Emery's refrigerator belonged to production assistant Aidan Kennedy.
- #033
As of June 2026, this film is streaming on Hulu.
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