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When someone who's read hundreds of horror novels says something like "Jack Ketchum is one of the best authors out there," you might want to bring up a few titles on Amazon and maybe snag a tome or two. (That's if you're looking for horror fiction in the first place, obviously.) Over the last few years, we've (finally!) seen several of the author's works transformed into indie flicks, and I'd say those filmmakers are presently three-for-three! (Those films would be The Lost, The Girl Next Door, and Red.)

So it's with no small amount of nerdly excitement that I read the following over at Dread Central: Looks like the guys behind the harrowing Girl Next Door are about to tackle Offspring, a 1991 Ketchum "crazy cannibal" novel that is actually the follow-up to the truly disturbing Off Season. (And I mean "disturbing" as a compliment.) But why would producer Andrew van den Houten start with Part 2 instead of Part 1? I assume it has something to do with rights issues -- as in "someone else probably owns the rights to Part 1" -- but Shock's Ryan Rotten very astutely makes the same point that I was going to make: That if someone did Off Season straight from the book, it'd look a whole LOT like Wrong Turn or yet another rendition of The Hills Have Eyes. Kind of a shame, really, but you can always read the book.

For more on the brutally memorable work of Jack Ketchum, check out his official site right here.

And by "failed," I mean box-office-wise, although the filmmaker might disagree with that assessment. My opinion that I Know Who Killed Me is a fairly laughable film is just that: one guy's opinion. (Jette didn't care much for it either, but she's not a guy.) But director Chris Sivertson doesn't seem to be stewing in his juices regarding the box office numbers, his leading lady's tabloid appearances, the scathing reviews or his future projects. And since his previous film (The Lost) debuted at SXSW, festival producer Matt Dentler thought it might be a cool idea to ask Mr. Sivertson a few questions regarding his latest flick's fate.

Here's what Chris had to say about I Know: "Well, what can you do? We try to get well-known people in our movies to get some awareness going and to get attention, and then I guess you can't really complain when the attention takes an unwanted turn. The only thing that bums me out about the entire experience is that it didn't make more money. I don't mind being hated by the critics. It's interesting to see how the press covers it. After the opening weekend, they were happy to proclaim that we had "tanked." Bratz and Hot Rod came out the next weekend and when you look at the amount of screens they were on, they basically had the same box office results we did. But come Monday morning, those films "had difficulty finding an audience in a crowded marketplace." Well, at least they didn't tank! But whatever, you know, press and publicity is so fleeting that it's hard to take seriously whether it's positive or negative. The only thing to do is ignore it and make more movies." (For more between Dentler and Sivertson, click here.)

Well said, Chris. While I was definitely not a fan of your new movie, I'll certainly look forward to what you have coming next. Regarding The Lost, which is an adaptation of the horrific Jack Ketchum novel, it looks like Anchor Bay has come to the rescue. According to the director, AB will deliver the flick in a limited theatrical release (and uncut DVD release) some time in the near-yet-undisclosed future. Regarding I Know Who Killed Me, Sivertson seems more than happy to chalk it up to a learning experience and move on to some more indie-style flicks -- which will undoubtedly play at SXSW whenever they're ready.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, being a lifelong fan of horror cinema & fiction, but I only just recently discovered the dark awesomeness of Mr. Jack Ketchum. While strolling through a massive discount store that won't stock NC-17 movies, I noticed the "uncut, uncensored, unexpurgated" version of Mr. Ketchum's debut novel, Off Season, sitting on a shelf next to Cosmo. I bought the book, read it in four days, and then thought it was deliciously ironic that such an stunningly disturbing novel would be sold at the same store that won't carry Requiem for a Dream.

I'm rambling.

No, there's not a movie of Off Season on the way, but Ketchum fans assure me that the author's The Girl Next Door is just as good as Off Season ... if not better. And that's the book that someone's making into a movie. That "someone" will be Gregory Wilson, sophomore-stage director whose first flick was the little-seen Home Invaders. Mae Whitman (Ann Veal from Arrested Development) and Blanche Baker (the drugged-out bride from Sixteen Candles) are among the cast members.

I'd be happy to give you a plot recap on The Girl Next Door ... but that's the next Ketchum book I'll be buying, and I don't want the thing spoiled for me. (In other Ketchum-related news, the movie version of his The Lost has been bouncing around the festival circuit, but has thus far eluded my own eyeballs.)

And as far as Off Season goes... Yowch. I doubt anyone could make it into a movie without gutting the thing.