Roll out the red carpet — Pupkin’s here and ready to play. HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, the latest and greatest by JABberwocky client Grady Hendrix, is being adapted for film!

Variety shared the news today that Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind Dune (2022), acquired the film/tv rights for the novel. Also attached to the movie are executive producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Grudge, The Evil Dead), director James Ashcroft (Coming Home in the Dark, Black Sheep), and Grady himself writing the screenplay.

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE published only a few months ago in January, and received instant critical acclaim. It debuted #5 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction chart, and stayed in the top 10 at #6 during its second week on sale. The book was also a #4 Indie Bestseller and the #1 Indie Next Pick for February 2023. NPR called Grady “a contemporary horror master” while The Times itself raved about the book, saying how “Hendrix has created a wholly original creature in Pupkin, one as iconic as Chuckie or Pennywise….By weaving violence, family trauma and humor, Hendrix creates a texture that engages the reader emotionally and viscerally.”

The book follows Louise, a young woman who finds out her parents have died in an unexpected and terrible accident. After leaving her young daughter in the care of her ex, she flies back to her childhood home in Charleston to sort out her parents’ belongings — most notably, her mother’s lifelong collection of puppets and dolls. While there, Louise has a tense reunion with her younger brother, Mark, who never left their hometown and can’t keep a job for longer than a few months.

But as they argue about how to sell the house, Louise and Mark realize that childhood memories aren’t the only thing haunting their old home. Something (or rather, someone) has other plans for the siblings… HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE weaves together themes of loss and family trauma with the signature Hendrix homage to horror and all of its campy glory.

We can’t wait to see Louise, Mark, and Pupkin on the silver screen — congratulations Grady!