I know, “What’s a “put pilot”? It’s not a commonly known term, but it means that a network guarantees that a TV pilot will get air time, or else they’ll owe lots and lots of money. So that’s good news for Horrorstör, a novel written by Grady Hendrix about a haunted furniture super store that’s just been given a put pilot commitment from FOX. So, it’s pretty much guaranteed it will air on TV.

More on this below.

So what exactly is Horrorstör about? The 2014 novel from Quirk Books features a group of employees who have to spend the night in their IKEA-like store, because someone is wrecking the place during that time. But is the someone a something? The book mixes comedy and horror, and nothing works better than that combo on the big or small screen (hello? Shaun Of The Dead). And, it’s written in catalogue format, with the paperback edition looking like an IKEA catalogue. That’s a whole new literature genre!

The hour-long Horrorstör television pilot will have a mix of TV veteran producers Gail Berman and Josh Schwartz (The O.C.), Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter Stephanie Savage, author Grady Hendrix himself (who will also consult), and the CEO of Quirk Books David Borgenicht. Schwartz and Black List screenwriter Michael Vukadinovich will write the pilot, according to Deadline.

I am really excited to see how this turns out.

Horrorstör: A Novel is available now in Paperback and Kindle.

Quirk Books press release:

Fox has given a put pilot commitment for Quirk Books’ Fall 2014 title Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix.

Designed in the format of a furniture catalog, the book Horrorstör is a classic old-fashioned haunted house story””set in Orsk, a big-box Swedish-style furniture superstore.

The hour-long dramedy is being executive produced by Oscar Winner Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl), Gail Berman (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Quirk Books’ CEO David Borgenicht. Michael Vukadinovich of Black List will co-executive produce and author Grady Hendrix will act as a consultant on the project.

Horrorstor Synopsis:

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Columbus, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring wardrobes, shattered Brooka glassware, and vandalized Liripip sofa beds””clearly, someone or something is up to no good. To unravel the mystery, five young employees volunteer for a long dusk-till-dawn shift””and they encounter horrors that defy imagination. Along the way, author Grady Hendrix infuses sly social commentary on the nature of work in the new twenty-first century economy.

A traditional haunted house story in a contemporary setting (and full of current fears), Horrorstör comes conveniently packaged in the form of a retail catalog, complete with illustrations of ready-to-assemble furniture and other, more sinister accessories. We promise you’ve never seen anything quite like it!

GRADY HENDRIX is a writer and journalist and one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival. A former film critic for the New York Sun, Grady has written for Slate, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, Playboy, and Variety.