Ever wanted to write a great horror script but haven’t got any good ideas? Well you will fit right in here in Hollywood so to help you out we present an entire episode on the art of Adaptation. No longer will you be held back by things like “thinking” and “creative inspiration”- our experts will instruct you on how to re-imagine someone else’s work and make it your own, best of all you don’t even have to read as our experts have already done that chore for you. So sit back and plug into our all horror adaptation episode, who knows by the and you may already have a film career without lifting a finger! Joining our hosts Matt Raub and Staci Layne Wilson is the creator of Masters of horror and adapter of more Stephen King novels then anyone, Mick Garris, who discusses how he approaches adapting the original master of horrors work. Joining in the discussion is best-selling Novelist and godfather of splatterpunk, zombie expert John Skipp who has some incredible books to recommend that have yet to be made for the silver screen but are begging to become classics for a new generation.

Check out more Gurus on trailers at:

JUST PLANTING SEEDS IN THE NEW HORROR FIRMAMENT
(MY TOP 10 PICKS FOR HORRIFIC FICTION THAT NEEDS TO BE
TURNED INTO FILM… PLUS A COUPLE OF MY OWN, JUST BECAUSE YOU
GUYS ASKED)

By John Skipp

To me, the place where most modern horror films fall short is in the writing. Which, to me, is really sad.

Certainly, most of ‘em have the technical end dialed: they look good, sound good, are cut well, have zesty fx and
such. And I think there are probably far more talented horror directors right now than there are great horror
films being made right now, which accurately reflect their potential.

It’s usually the writing. Which is to say, the story, and the handling thereof.

The stock characters (generally overpopulated with assholes). The predictable tropes (if it ain’t a sequel, it’s one of thirty wannabe copies of the sequel they all wish they’d made).

And most of all, the lack of actual human drama to go with the mayhem and scares. The lack of layers. The lack of depth. The lack of thoughtful originality.

Not saying there aren’t good screenwriters in horror. But by the time six poor screenwriters have been haplesslydragged through the often-derivative-to-begin-with a story finally okayed by the brass and battered development execs, whatever was original or distinctive has probably hit the cutting room floor long before it could even get shot.

What I’m saying is that stories, and scripts, and actual good wr i t i ng – by all accounts, the storytelling foundation on which all great films are built – is often one of the first things to go,

But books are different. They’re perceived as real wr i t i ng (as opposed to “disposable” screenwriting), and get more actual respect than the lip service accorded to scripts.

When you think about the classic horror films that stand the test of time, a healthy number of ‘em were derived from books. And not all bestsellers.

Here’s a sampling of examples, in rough historical order:

FRANKENSTEIN
DRACULA
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAM
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU)
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
I AM LEGEND (LAST MAN ON EARTH, OMEGA MAN, NIGHT OF THE
LIVING DEAD)
PSYCHO
THE EXORCIST and EXORCIST III (LEGION)
ROSEMARY’S BABY
JAWS
CARRIE
THE FURY
MAGIC
MANHUNTER/THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS/HANNIBAL
THE HELLBOUND HEART (HELLRAISER)

And then you have the occasional not-great book that became a great movie, like Gary Brandner’s THE HOWLING, which benefited immensely from Joe Dante, Rob Bottin, and screenwriter John Sayles.

Of course, then you have the flip-side: fiction that should have made a good film, but didn’t:

GHOST STORY
FIRESTARTER
RAWHEAD REX
ANIMALS (yowch!)

Along the way, some fiction writers have gotten play:

Lovecraft, Poe, Matheson, Levin, Blatty, King, Koontz, Barker, Rice. Lately, Jack Ketchum’s had some solid
adaptations (RED, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR), which I see as a very good sign.

But there’s a whole slew of modern horror writers who bring something fresh to the table. Some of them have a body of work that could and should be adapted: Robert R. McCammon, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, and my frequent collaborator Cody Goodfellow, for starters. Others with one singular work that just screams to show up on the screen.

In canvassing readers and writers in the field, I got dozens and dozens of recommendations. And I hope that readers, writers, and fans will submit their own suggestions to the Comments section below.

But here are my personal

TOP 10 PIECES OF FICTION (OTHER THAN MY OWN) THAT NEED TO BE FILMED:

THE LOVING DEAD – Amelia Beamer
THE RISING – Brian Keene
LIKE PAVLOV’S DOGS – Steven R. Boyett
NIGHT OF THE ASSHOLES – Kevin L. Donihe
AUDREY’S DOOR – Sarah Langan
THE DRIVE-IN – Joe R. Lansdale
APESHIT – Carlton Mellick III
PERFECT UNION – Cody Goodfellow
THE CIPHER – Kathe Koja
DARK HARVEST – Norman Partridge

And as for my own work: shit, just about everything I ever wrote might make a pretty good movie. But if you want me to winnow it down to a handful:

THE LONG LAST CALL
THE DAY BEFORE
JAKE’S WAKE
SPORE THE BRIDGE CONSCIENCE

And then, of course, ROSE, which didn’t start as a book, but which I’m now in the process of writing the novel for.

Sorry I didn’t include why I recommend those books. That’s what the interview was for!

Hope this is helpful, and helps steer both fans and industry stalwarts toward some really great reading, and stir the potential for cinematic horror advancement.

Yer pal,
Skipp