When our writer/director, Christian Kang Bachini, decided to publish Haunting Skies independently, he wasn’t making a consolation move. He was making a strategic one.
This week, the horror world took notice.
Variety broke the news of the film adaptation exclusively, reporting that Bachini — the novel’s author and an established filmmaker — will direct the feature through Via Mantra Productions. Natasha Halevi (Superman, Peacemaker), Emily Ashby (Teela and the Masters of the Universe), Christian Kang Bachini (Escalation), and Heather Brittain (Victim No. 6) are set to star. Legendary horror composer Christopher Young (Hellraiser, Sinister, Drag Me to Hell) will score the film.
Bloody Disgusting and Dread Central both picked up the story the same day — and Dread Central’s Brad Miska called it “the wildest premise I’ve ever read.”
We’ll take it.
The Story Behind the Story
Bachini had been working with literary agents on the novel. The rewrites kept coming — and each round moved further from the story he’d set out to tell. At a certain point, he made a decision.
“I realized I wasn’t improving the story anymore — I was negotiating away the reasons I had created it. So I said no and published it myself.”
He independently published Haunting Skies in July. It’s already charting among Amazon’s top occult and supernatural horror bestsellers. The sequel arrives in October.
The film begins as a 30-minute proof of concept — Bachini’s way of bringing the universe to life on his own terms before anyone else gets a vote.
“The novel is not merchandise for a movie that doesn’t exist yet,” he said. “It is the first complete version of the universe. Readers can enter it now — and instead of waiting for someone else to decide whether the film should exist, their response can help us make it our way.”
What’s Next
Production on the proof of concept is moving forward with a strong cast and one of horror’s most iconic composers behind the score. Christopher Young, who has scored some of the genre’s most enduring films, had this to say about the source material:
“Haunting Skies is so good, it haunts me. It’s wildly original and cinematic, with everything I love — exorcisms, alien abductions, the supernatural, and a wicked sense of humor. In all my years working in horror, I’ve never encountered anything quite like it.”
If you want to enter the universe before the film arrives, Book 1 is available on Amazon now. The sequel follows in October.
We’re just getting started.
