Horror western novel Devils Unto Dust getting the film treatment

True Grit Jeff Bridges

I'm always glad to see the announcement of a project that combines the horror and western genres, and the latest such announcement is the news that New Regency has acquired the film rights to the upcoming young adult novel DEVILS UNTO DUST.

Author Emma Berquist's debut novel, DEVILS UNTO DUST is described as being like "TRUE GRIT meets 28 DAYS LATER". That's a hell of a mixture, and the idea of Rooster Cogburn taking on a horde of zombies / infected people is quite appealing to me.

The plot: 

Set in 1870s West Texas, DEVILS UNTO DUST follows 17-year-old Daisy Wilcox, who journeys through a Reconstruction period plagued by a deadly virus infecting thousands with a rabies-like disease that turns people into murderous “Shakes.” When Daisy’s father disappears, she hires two Shake-hunters who specialize in killing the infected and sets off into the frontier to find him. 

HarperCollins will be publishing DEVILS UNTO DUST through their Greenwillow imprint on April 10, 2018. The feature adaptation is set to be produced by Arnon Milchan of New Regency and Nira Park of Big Talk Pictures, with Big Talk's Rachel Prior executive producing.

Berquist's novel can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Source: THR

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.