The Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Paperbacks From Hell, a non-fiction book exploring the history of 70s and 80s horror fiction, Grady Hendrix is obsessed with all things spooky and scary, and this not only bleeds into his outrageously-fun fiction books but his excursions into screenwriting too.
Hendrix has written many horror stories, including the bestsellers Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA-esque store, and The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires, described as Steel Magnolias meets Dracula. He wears his cinematic inspirations on his sleeve with My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Final Girl Support Group — the former's cover even resembles an 80s VHS tape — and now his books are about to become movies (and series) themselves. Like general audiences, it seems big studios can't get enough of the author, greenlighting many Hendrix book-to-screen adaptations that can be enjoyed as soon as the end of the month. From Horrorstör to BadAsstronauts, here's a list of them all.
Horrorstör (2014)
Horrorstör is a horror comedy novel about an IKEA-esque store named ORSK in Cleveland, Ohio that appears to be haunted. Each day, the employees of ORSK come to work to find the big-box furniture store trashed. To investigate the matter, five young employees volunteer to work an overnight shift and soon encounter strange paranormal activity.
The book, described by critics as laugh-out-loud funny, inventive, and disarming, was originally intended to be a Fox (then AMC) TV series, executive produced by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Josh Schwartz. That plan, however, fell through, and now Horrorstör is being made into a feature-length film developed by New Republic Pictures. Hendrix himself will write the screenplay. Little else is known yet.
My Best Friend's Exorcism (2016)
Described as an "unholy hybrid" between Beaches and The Exorcist, My Best Friend's Exorcism is set during the satanic panic of the 1980s and follows highschoolers Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang whose friendship is threatened by a demonic force. After a wild, drug-fuelled night, Gretchen goes missing, and when she returns, she isn't herself; she's evil, and Abby must do everything in her power to bring the old Gretchen back.
Fans of this brilliantly campy book will be pleased to know My Best Friend's Exorcism, the movie, is coming to Amazon Prime very soon (September 30). Directed by Damon Thomas from a screenplay by Jenna Lamia, the horror comedy stars Elsie Fisher and Amiah Miller in the lead roles and looks to be a faithful and fun adaptation.
The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires (2020)
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is a New York Times bestseller about a group of like-minded Southern housewives who run a true crime book club. Bored of their humdrum existences, the women get more excitement than they bargained for when the handsome and mysterious James Harris, who may or may not be a vampire, comes to town.
This 90s-set supernatural thriller is also being developed by Amazon Studios, but adapted into a TV series. Patrick Moran’s PKM Productions owns the television rights to the book, and Hendrix will serve as executive producer alongside Brett Cohen of Quirk Books (the publishers of Southern Book Club's Guide). Casting announcements and such are yet to be made.
The Final Girl Support Group (2021)
Inspired by slasher movies and the staple final girl trope, The Final Girl Support Group follows a group of "real-life" final girls, each with their own horror story and distinct personality, who attend therapy together. When a fellow member is found murdered, the women find themselves in danger once again. Who is hunting them? Protagonist Lynette Tarkington thinks she knows.
The Final Girl Support Group was destined for the screen, and HBO Max agrees, developing the book's limited series adaptation. According to Deadline, the project will be brought to viewers by actress Charlize Theron's Denver & Delilah Films, It filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti's Double Dream, and Adam Goldworm's Aperture Entertainment. Hendrix will executive produce the series. Again, not much else is known so far.
BadAsstronauts (2022)
Hendrix's most recent book, BadAsstronauts, takes a detour from horror to dive deep into sci-fi. Set in the fictional town of Melville, South Carolina, it follows an astronaut stuck on the abandoned International Space Station and left to be forgotten by everyone but his cousin, Walter Reddie. An out-of-work astronaut, Walter knows a thing or two about rockets and isn't about to let his relative die out in space.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Kinetic Content landed the rights to BadAsstronauts and will develop the sci-fi novella into a TV series with Aperture Entertainment. Hendrix will executive produce the series alongside Aperture Entertainment founder Adam Goldworm, who, if you recall, is also producing The Final Girl Support Group adaptation. With this being a new announcement, it might be a while before we see BadAsstronauts come to the screen.