Something Is Killing the Children Lands Its Director — Erica Slaughter Is Coming to the Big Screen

You hear them before you see them. That’s the problem, fiends — you never see them. The kids in Archer’s Peak tried to warn everyone: the things in the woods, the things that take children in the night. But grown-ups can’t see the monsters. Only the kids can. And the grown-ups never believe the kids.

Until her. Blonde hair. Black mask. A giant stuffed octopus at her side and a blade that has ended things you can’t even picture. Her name is Erica Slaughter — and after years of development hell, she’s finally coming to the big screen.

Turn off the lights and pour something dark. This one’s been a long time coming.

THE FACTS

The news, straight: Craig Zobel has officially signed on to direct the live-action Something Is Killing the Children movie for Blumhouse. The announcement dropped during Blumhouse’s BlumFest presentation at New York Comic Con on October 9.

Quick Specs:

• Director: Craig Zobel (The Hunt, Compliance, Mare of Easttown)
• Studio: Blumhouse
• Source material: The BOOM! Studios horror comic by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (debuted 2019)
• Producers: James Tynion IV, Stephen Christy (BOOM! Studios/Penguin Random House), and Jason Blum; Dell’Edera co-produces
• Release date: Not yet announced. No cast yet either.

Zobel is a sneakily perfect pick. The Hunt was a savage little satire with real teeth, and Mare of Easttown proved he can wring dread out of small-town rot. Erica Slaughter’s story needs exactly that: kids disappearing, adults who literally cannot see the monsters, and the Order of St. George — a secret society of hunters — keeping the whole nightmare under wraps. (Parental horror with a conspiracy chaser. Harper’s favorite cocktail.)

THE VERDICT

Full disclosure, up front, because that’s how we do things here: this movie does not exist yet. No footage, no cast, no release date — just a director, a studio, and one of the best horror comics of the last decade. So this rating is for the announcement itself, not the film.

4 out of 5 skulls — Worth the scare. A great director, a great studio, and the source material is bulletproof. Now give Erica her sword.

TRIVIA & FACTS

• The comic has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and won the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.
• Issue #50 just hit comic shops on October 7 — the series is still going strong seven years in.
• The spin-off House of Slaughter #1 sold over 500,000 copies, making it the second highest-selling non-Marvel/DC debut in 25 years.
• The series has been translated into multiple languages in over 20 countries.
• A separate adult animated TV adaptation is also in development, overseen by Tynion — a different project, not the same movie.

HARPER’S EXTRAS

• Something Is Killing the Children Vol. 1: Archer’s Peak — start where Erica started.
• House of Slaughter — the spin-off, following the next generation of hunters.
• The Hunt (2020) — Zobel’s savage satire, to see what your new director does with teeth.
• The Nice House on the Lake — Tynion’s other horror masterpiece, for when you finish the comic and need more.

WHERE TO WATCH

Nothing to watch yet — but the comic is everywhere: comic shops, bookstores, and BOOM! Studios. Read it before Hollywood gets its hands on it.

FAQ

• When does the movie come out? No release date has been announced yet.
• Who is Erica Slaughter? A monster hunter of the secretive Order of St. George. The monsters she hunts are invisible to adults — only children (and Erica) can see them.
• Is this the same as the Netflix animated series? No — a separate adult animated TV adaptation is also in development. Different project, different medium.
• Do I need to read the comic first? You don’t need to. But you absolutely should.

Until the next nightmare, fiends.

Source: Stalk & Slash (via TheWrap’s reporting).