The Hollywood Reporter dropped today that Gold Circle Films has locked down supposed true story A HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT from scripters Tim Metcalfe and Adam Simon. The story has already served as the basis of a book called IN A DARK PLACE and a Discovery Channel documentary.
The movie will recount the true story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic where their teenage son was being treated for cancer. The family begins experiencing violent, supernatural events that the parents first blame on stress from the illness, but they later discover that their new home is a former mortuary with a dark past.
What? No indian burial ground? How disappointing. I’m sure it’ll be a fine tale of a haunted house, but take the claims of it being a true tale with a grain of salt. The mother involved in the occurrences has a website here, that admits there were embellishments in both the book and the documentary. And she’s trying to build a lecture career on the basis of the story.
Even more damning to the claims of truthfulness are statements from Ray Garton, author of IN A DARK PLACE, in which he debunks most of the book’s assertions. You can click here to read more about what he felt wasn’t kosher, and why he would write a non-fiction book that he knew was peddling crap.
But hey, if the flick is scary it’s scary, and being based on a true story or not shouldn’t impact that. Based on this description of the events, I think it has the potential to be a winner.