Horror short story ‘The Occupant’ scares torrent of movie rights bid: The Dish
Exclusive: A 39-page haunted house short story by first-time author Victor Sweetser has created a frenzy, with five bids for film rights and more to come, including some of the biggest names in the genre game.
Occupier Went to the market yesterday, and the response was quick. This is the story of a 100-year-old Victorian house that was given away for free, with the caveat that the new owner had to put it on a flatbed and move it out of the occupied space. The story cleverly begins with the writing between a husband and wife who can’t seem to get their fortunes choosing to take home. Naturally, we learn that there is no such thing as a free house.
The narrator is a teenage girl named Chloe, who lives in the town where the house is being moved. She and her boyfriend Mason are dismayed to find it being plopped into The Shoal, their nickname for the shithole empty space where the neighborhood kids go to drink, smoke and lose their virginity. Before the homeowners move in, they decide to explore the structure.
A part of that in a yarn Poltergeist Teaming up with Stephen King, they learn that the house is haunted, and its supernatural occupant begins to let himself loose with terrifying results on members of his new neighborhood. It turns into a full blown scare fest.
No one involved is commenting, but here’s what I heard. Points are running at Verve Auctions, with Scott Glasgold producing. I hear that Zach Cregger, Lindsay Beer, Neal Moritz, Gary Dauberman, Walter Hamada and Point Grey’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are also circling bids as producers. There may be as many as nine bids before it is settled. Stay tuned.
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