Stephen King raves that Netflix's horror The Haunting of Hill House is 'close to a work of genius'

The 10-part horror series from Mike Flanagan premiered last week on Netflix. Photo / Supplied

It's a high compliment from an icon of the genre.

Stephen King took to Twitter on Tuesday to praise The Haunting of Hill House, a horror series that premiered last week on Netflix, the Daily Mail reports.

The 71-year-old author behind horror staples such as It, Misery and The Shining wrote: "THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, revised and remodeled by Mike Flanagan. I don't usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really."

The Maine native referenced Shirley Jackson, the late author of the The Haunting of Hill House, published in 1959.

"I think Shirley Jackson would approve," King said, "but who knows for sure."

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, revised and remodeled by Mike Flanagan. I don't usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 17, 2018

The novel by Jackson, who died in 1965, has been adapted into two motion pictures titled The Haunting: one in 1963 featuring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn; and a 1999 version with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor.

The new Netflix show stars Carla Gugino, Michiel Huisman, Timothy Hutton, Mckenna Grace and Victoria Pedretti, with Flanagan, the filmmaker behind Gerald's Game, Oculus and Hush, directing all 10 episodes.

Flanagan is set to apply his talents to King's work, at the helm of Doctor Sleep, The Shining sequel from King's 2013 book that stars Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson.

The 10-part horror series from Mike Flanagan premiered last week on Netflix. Photo / Supplied

Many viewers of the series took to Twitter following the debut of the series, echoing sentiments that it was so horrifying, they would have a tough time getting to sleep after watching.

User @babyjanequeen described the remake as "one of the most terrifying, nail biting, hide behind the couch, don't even breath, I'm going to pass out from fear things I have ever watched".

Another under the handle @boy_vomit said the series was "going to give me a f***ing anxiety attack".