The Scariest Comic of All-Time to Get Movie Adaptation

Scott Hampton's classic horror comic book story, "The Upturned Stone," which was voted by CBR readers in 2011 as the scariest comic book of all-time, is being adapted into a film by director/producer, Anky Cyriaque (whose debut feature length film, Seasons, is due out next year). Hampton's 1993 story had been optioned back in 2005 by David Foster Productions, but that didn't result in a movie being made. Hampton came close with another production company in 2017 in the wake of the success of It and Stranger Things, but now he's moving forward with Story is King Pictures.

This new Story is King Pictures production of The Upturned Stone will include a screenplay by Hampton himself, who has been doing some film work of his own, including the 2006 short film, The Tontine.

What is "The Upturned Stone" about?

Scott Hampton (the younger brother of the acclaimed comic book artist Bo Hampton) wrote and painted "The Upturned Stone" initially for the comic book magazine, Heavy Metal, in 1993, before being released as a standalone graphic novella by Kitchen Sink Press later that same year (1993 was a busy year for Hampton, as he also won a special Harvey Award that year, as well, for his 1992 Batman: Night Cries graphic novel with writer Archie Goodwin).

The story is about a group of four friends in 1969, who are given two dollars by the mother of one of the boys to go out and buy a pumpkin for Halloween. The twelve-year-olds, though, preferred to keep the $2 to buy comic books, so they instead cut down a large pumpkin that was growing out of the grave of an anonymous teenager in the local graveyard.

Later, after the boy's mother made pumpkin pie with the pumpkin, the boys began to having dreams of the murdered teenager. Each boy had different sections of the dream, and only one boy had the horrific ending. Driven by the dreams, the boys seek out revenge on the man who murdered the teenager.

It's a mixture of Stephen King's "The Body" (adapted into a film as Stand By Me) with a little It and a little Stranger Things.

What do Anky Cyriaque and Scott Hampton have to say about the project?

The acclaimed story has long been referenced by comic book fans as a story they'd like to see made into a movie (Hampton's wonderfully realistic painted style shows just how easily the comic would translate into a film), and now it appears as thought that will finally become a reality.

In a press release from Story is King Pictures, Anky Cyriaque noted that, “Scott’s work has always been hauntingly beautiful," and Scott Hampton added, “Anky and I have known each other for years, and I’ve always admired his cinematic vision and it feels like the right time to join creative forces."

Interestingly, Hampton recently went the other direction, adaptation-wise, adapting Gregory Maguire's novel, Wicked (currently a huge film blockbuster), into a two-part graphic novel. The first part came out earlier this year, with the second part set to be released next year.

Source: Story is King Pictures