Jeremy C. Shipp’s 2018 Gothic haunted house novella The Atrocities is en route to the big screen. Fangoria announced that new production company Squirrel Park is developing an adaptation of Shipp’s book, which was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award.
Squirrel Park is a new project from Brea Grant (12 Hour Shift, Best Friends Forever) and Ed Dougherty (Paint it Black, 7 Witches), who are both multi-hyphenate filmmakers: writers, producers, directors, and actors. The duo will co-write the script and co-produce the film, and Grant will direct.
“Turn left at the screaming woman with a collapsing face. Turn right at the kneeling man with bleeding sores the size of teacups. If you come across a big-breasted bear with a child’s head in her jaws, you’re going the wrong way,” begins an excerpt of The Atrocities that you can read here. It’s a good teaser for Shipp’s atmospheric tale, which Publishers Weekly called “beautifully executed.”
The novella’s summary is short and to the point:
When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer.
But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor.
Or is there…?
There’s no news yet on production timeline, casting, or release for the adaptation.
