Horror comics move to television


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While superhero comics are snatched up for the silver screen, it seems that independent horror comics are becoming treasures for the small screen. AMC’s adaptation of IDW Publishing’s The Walking Dead premieres on Halloween, and it was recently announced that another IDW series is being worked into a television series, as well: Locke & Key.

Created by writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key is a mix of H.P. Lovecraft-style horror and modern day gore films.

When their father is murdered, the three Locke children return to their family’s home in Lovecraft, Mass., to tend to the estate. Uncovering magical rooms and supernatural keys, the ongoing miniseries is both a character-driven piece exploring the siblings’ relationships with each other and a mystery surrounding the house and those trying to obtain the keys.

Steven Spielberg, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are involved in bringing the project to television. Spielberg, of course, is the director of the Indiana Jones franchise and dozens of other movies, and a USC trustee. Orci and Kurtzman teamed up in 2008 to create the universe-spanning series Fringe, wrote the most recent Star Trek film and, along with Spielberg, produced the Transformers films and 2007’s Eagle Eye.

While Orci and Kurtzman’s past collaborations with Spielberg were often more special effects-driven than plot-focused, the source material of Locke & Key should lend itself to a textured adaptation. With the duo’s talent at putting a good show together, it just might work.

Who knows, maybe this trend will continue and we’ll see adaptations of Sword of Dracula or possibly B.P.R.D.