Stephen King says that he was genuinely frightened by this adaption of his novella. Frank Darabont described that as the happiest moment of his career.
During an action scene in the film, a man runs into a wire rotating-book shelf in the grocery store. If you look carefully, you can clearly see that all the books on the shelf are written by Stephen King.
Frank Darabont agreed to make the film with Dimension Films only under the condition that no matter what, they wouldn't change the scripted ending. They agreed.
This is the third film that Frank Darabont has adapted from Stephen King's work. The other two are Die Verurteilten (1994) and The Green Mile (1999).
Stephen King got the idea for the source novel when he was in a Maine market. When he noticed the front window was made of plate glass, he wondered what would happen if giant insects flew into it.