Producer Rob Heydon of Ecstasy Film has optioned the rights to The Hellfire Club, a thriller novel from American author Peter Straub.

Heydon and Ecstasy Films are currently working to adapt the novel into a TV limited-run event series. The Hellfire Club follows the story of Nora and Davey Chancel, and what happens to their lives after several women in their affluent Connecticut suburb are murdered. Heydon said he is a long-time fan of Straub’s work, and thought The Hellfire Club was particularly well-suited for adaptation.

“The Hellfire Club is one of the purest examples of the writer’s fascination with the complex interrelationship between narrative and life; and it approaches its subject from a couple of directions,” Heydon told Playback Daily. “The journey through the flames and down the depths of darkness give the story much of it’s capacity to enlighten and move the audience. A world is created in which stories – independent, internal narratives – reflect and intersect with the lives of the characters.”

The deal for The Hellfire Club option was negotiated by Rob Heydon for Ecstasy Film and Ben Straub for Seafront Entertainment, a rights management and production company.

Heydon previously optioned and adapted the rights to Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy, which was released as a feature film in 2011.

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