Horror Novel 'Haunting Skies' Heads to Screen with Composer Christopher Young and Cast Set

An independently published horror novel that began life as a movie pitch is going back to screens. Variety reported on 19 August 2026 that Christian Kang Bachini's Haunting Skies — a 398-page supernatural sci-fi horror saga self-published in July — is being adapted into a film he will direct through his Via Mantra Productions banner, with a sequel novel already slated for October.

The film has assembled notable genre talent. Composer Christopher Young, whose credits include Hellraiser, Sinister, and Drag Me to Hell, will score the project. Actors Natasha Halevi (Superman, Peacemaker) and Emily Ashby (Teela and the Masters of the Universe) are set to star. Heather Brittain is on board as a producer. Bachini's previous directorial effort was the short film Escalation.

Rather than opening straight into a feature, the adaptation will begin as a 30-minute proof of concept — a short-form demonstration reel designed to show financiers and distributors what a full production would look like. IMDb currently lists the project under the title Haunting Skies: The First Encounter, categorised as in development.

The story itself is a genre collision. Earth has fallen to alien invaders who abduct survivors for grotesque experiments. Among the taken is a young girl named Elisa, who happens to be possessed by Satan. Father Kang, the last surviving exorcist, hatches a plan to get Elisa aboard the alien mothership and make a deal with the Devil — turning Hell's forces against the extraterrestrial conquerors. NetGalley's catalog listing pitches it as "The Exorcist meets Aliens," a darkly funny collision of demonic horror and alien-invasion science fiction.

Bachini's path to the deal was unconventional. He worked with literary agents on rewrites that he felt diluted his original vision, according to Variety, and ultimately chose to self-publish. The gamble paid off on the sales chart: the novel has ranked among Amazon's top occult and supernatural horror bestsellers. On his Instagram, Bachini noted on 17 August that Haunting Skies "began years ago as a movie" he conceived — making the adaptation a return to the project's original form.

For readers wanting the book before the film, the print edition is on the way. NetGalley lists a paperback and hardcover release for 13 October 2026, available for Kindle preorder now. Via Mantra Productions' website describes Haunting Skies as Book 1 of a planned saga.

What makes this stand out is the shape of the deal. A self-published novel landing a film adaptation with an established genre composer and recognisable cast is rare enough. That the author retained the director's chair — and is building the film through a proof of concept rather than waiting for a studio greenlight — signals a creator-controlled path through the financing pipeline, where short-form demonstration reels increasingly serve as the calling card for independent genre projects seeking full funding.