Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Media company, has acquired the rights to Shaun Hamill’s debut novel A Cosmology of Monsters as the prodco continues to build its scripted slate.

Canadian screenwriter Caitlin D. Fryers is attached as the creator and one of the executive producers of a 8 x 60-minute scripted drama series adaptation, according to a news release.

Other executive producers are Hamill, Melissa Williamson, Saloon Media’s SVP of scripted content, and Saloon Media’s founder and CEO Michael Kot.

The novel follows the Turner family members as they run a haunted house business and navigate their everyday lives surrounded by supernatural forces.

Williamson said in a statement that Fryers “has an incredible ability to build on established worlds while keeping characters grounded and relatable, so we jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with her on this.”

She added that the prodco has been looking for an “elevated family drama, and the fact that this one has a horror twist was a major plus. This adaptation is a great representation of the type of noisy, bold dramatic series we’re looking for.”

Fryers, who is best known for writing on all four seasons of Syfy’s Wynonna Earp, has also written for other networks and streamers, including Lifetime, Global, CBC, Hulu and Hallmark. She was the first Canadian to win the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award from the International Emmys, according to a news release. Fryers is represented by Meridian Artists.

Hamill, a Texas-based author, published his first novel A Cosmology of Monsters in 2019, which has since received critical acclaim. He is currently working on his second novel, The Dissonance, which will be published by Pantheon Books. Hamill is represented by Echo Lake on behalf of Kent Wolf of Neon Literary.

Saloon Media, best known as a factual producer, expanded into the scripted space in 2020 when it hired Williamson, the former president of Pier 21 Films. Its scripted projects include Ghost Walk and the series adaptation of Adam Greydon Reid’s Hospital Show. It recently promoted Steve Gamester to creative director of feature docs, copros and limited series.

Image courtesy of Saloon Media