Fox commits to adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s Horrorstör

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

The Fox network has given a put pilot commitment to a TV series adaptation of author Grady Hendrix's 2014 novel HORRORSTÖR, virtually guaranteeing that at least the pilot episode will make it on air.

HORRORSTÖR's description:

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.
 
To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.
 
A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör comes packaged in the form of a glossy mail order catalog, complete with product illustrations, a home delivery order form, and a map of Orsk’s labyrinthine showroom. 

The book first came to the attention of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH / ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND writer Charlie Kaufman, who then recommended it to Fox's former entertainment president, Gail Berman. Seeing its series potential, Berman contacted Josh Schwartz, the creator of THE O.C., GOSSIP GIRL, and CHUCK. 

Schwartz has handled the adaptation of Hendrix's story with screenwriter Michael Vukadinovich. The series is being called an "hourlong dramedy" and has the following synopsis:

Horrorstör centers on 26-year-old Amy. Newly sober, she lands a job at ORSK, the U.S. Flagship of the European furniture superstore. It feels like just the opportunity she’s needed to get her life back on track, but as Amy comes to discover, the store actually preys upon its customers’ desires to a supernatural degree, selling products that make their wishes and fantasies come true in unexpected and insidious ways.

Sort of seems like the series might be playing down the horror aspect a bit, but with "horror" right in the title I wouldn't expect it to stray too far from the genre.

Schwartz, Berman, and Kaufman will serve as executive producers on HORRORSTÖR with Stephanie Savage and David Borgenicht, CEO of the novel's publisher Quirk Books. Vukadinovich is co-executive producing, and Hendrix is on board the project as a consultant.

THE O.C.'s Rachel Bilson