Mike Flanagan Confirms ‘The Dark Tower’ Easter Eggs in Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ Series

Mike Flanagan has confirmed that his adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie includes subtle connections to The Dark Tower, giving fans of the author’s interconnected fictional universe another detail to look out for in the Prime Video series.

Flanagan, who previously adapted King’s Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, is also developing a television adaptation of The Dark Tower. Speaking with Gold Derby, the filmmaker revealed that the first season of Carrie contains a deliberate reference to the sprawling fantasy saga, although he wanted to keep the connection in the background rather than make it a major part of the story.

“Dark Tower fans are going to love the signage at the place where Ralph White works,” Flanagan explained. “But we tried to keep that kind of stuff in the background.”

How ‘Carrie’ Connects to ‘The Dark Tower’

The reference appears at LaMerk Industries, the company where Carrie’s father, Ralph White, works as a construction worker before his death. The fictional corporation has connections to the Crimson King, one of the major antagonistic forces in King’s Dark Tower mythology.

Although the connection is subtle, it gives longtime readers another link between Carrie and the larger universe that King has developed throughout his career. Beginning with the original Carrie novel in 1974, King’s fiction has repeatedly incorporated shared characters, locations, and supernatural elements. The Dark Tower serves as a central thread connecting many of those stories.

Flanagan’s approach appears designed to reward dedicated fans without distracting viewers who are experiencing Carrie’s story for the first time.

In the series, Ralph’s death sets off a chain of events that forces his widow, Margaret White, to re-enter the workforce and sends Carrie into public school for the first time. There, the teenager faces relentless bullying that escalates in the age of social media.

As Carrie discovers and begins to understand her telekinetic abilities, the story builds toward the infamous prom-night massacre, when Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan dump pig’s blood on Carrie after she is crowned prom queen.

The series also takes a different approach to the original story’s conclusion. Unlike Stephen King’s novel, the first season ends with Carrie surviving and leaving town with Emaline West, potentially opening the door to further developments in future installments.

Mike Flanagan Wants to Adapt ‘Hearts in Atlantis’

The Dark Tower is not the only Stephen King work Flanagan hopes to bring to the screen. During the same interview, the filmmaker expressed interest in adapting Hearts in Atlantis, King’s 1999 collection of interconnected stories.

The book has a significant connection to The Dark Tower through its novella Low Men in Yellow Coats, which features characters and mythology tied to the larger saga.

“That’s one of my favorite books of his,” Flanagan said. “I would love to take a crack at adapting it, because the other movie only did one-fifth of it.”

He also praised how the collection’s stories connect with one another, adding that its relationship to The Dark Tower makes the material even more appealing to him.

Although Hearts in Atlantis has not been announced as Flanagan’s next project, his comments make clear that it is a story he would like to explore.

Could ‘Carrie’ Season 2 Include More Stephen King Connections?

With Flanagan continuing to develop his Dark Tower adaptation, fans have plenty of reasons to look for additional references throughout his Stephen King projects.

The first season of Carrie keeps its Dark Tower connection subtle, and Flanagan has not confirmed which other King stories might be incorporated into a potential second season.

One fan theory speculates that the fate of Chris Hargensen could connect the series to King’s 1983 novel Christine, which centers on a murderous, supernatural car. However, that remains speculation rather than a confirmed direction for the show.

For now, the LaMerk Industries reference offers a glimpse of how Flanagan may approach King’s interconnected universe: preserving the central story while leaving carefully placed details for longtime readers to discover.