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Horror comics are a hot topic in today’s entertainment world, so it makes sense that several series are being eyed for adaption. The ongoing series Something Is Killing The Children, created by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, Miquel Muerto, has been making a wave with horror fans.
As it grows more popular, the series joins a few dozen horror comics that fans demand to be adapted by Netflix for the live-action format. This list looks at the reasons the series should be adapted, as well as the drawbacks that an adaptation could have. If it doesn’t receive an adaption, then we, at the very least, won’t have to worry about receiving a bastardized rendition of the source material.
10 Adapted: James Tynion IV
If you are anywhere near the comic book world, the name James Tynion IV should bring a lot of weight. Mostly known in popular comics for his excellent runs on several Batman series, including The Batman Who Laughs, two of the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and the ongoing Batman run.
While he is known for Batman content, his writing skills are exemplified in teen stories and horror. His series Memetic, a horror comic based on a meme, has even been optioned for movie rights being produced by Seth Rogen, proving his works can translate to the screen.
9 Left Alone: Adaptations Aren’t Netflix’s Strong Suit
Netflix has had a rough history with adaptions of comics and anime series. The prime example would be the much-maligned Death Note movie released in 2017. The film was criticized for its whitewashing, poor acting, and overall poor story. While one situation could be overlooked, it has happened with multiple properties including Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist.
Stories like Something Is Killing The Children need to be backed by a production label that wants quality content. Sadly, Netflix has become known for producing quantity over quality.
8 Adapted: Open Story Avenues
While the five issues of the series were written to be a self-contained story, a sixth issue was released in March 2020 that set the ground for an open world to explore. The protagonist of the series, Erica Slaughter, has a wealth of history hunting and slaughtering monsters, which can be explored as a show or movie.
Much like how The Walking Dead managed to examine the world outside of the purview of the comics while still following the story, for the most part, an adaption of this series could do the same.
7 Left Alone: Explicit Child Murder
While rules about gore and blood have become more lax in streaming content, it has to be said that a large part of what makes Something Is Killing The Children such an impactful series is the absolute savagery depicted. The series relies heavily on the explicit deaths of children characters in a way that not many film companies want to show.
The series is about how bad and bloody the world is. Taking these deaths out takes away the impact of them, which would mean that the adaptation would suffer greatly.
6 Adapted: Need More Monster Horror
At a certain point in time, Hollywood stopped making horror movies based around monsters. Films like Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and shows like Stranger Things have done well to bring monsters back, but it isn’t enough. Movies and television shows rely too heavily on demons, zombies, and vampires, and have done away with the eldritch horrors that made movies like The Mist so enjoyable. Something Is Killing The Children presents an opportunity to reintroduce quality monsters to pop culture.
5 Left Alone: Constant Comparisons
It is hard to talk about Something Is Killing The Children without bringing up series like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Supernatural due to the content. Buffy has a higher claim to comparison since both current comic series are published by Boom Studios.
No new series is going to escape these types of comparisons, but the damage that can be done would prevent new viewers. All it would take is for someone to say the series is just “Supernatural, but with a woman and kids” for some people to immediately lose interest.
4 Adapted: Good With Child Casts
One major factor that Netflix—and, recently, popular horror movies—have proven is that there is space for child horror actors. The stunning success of the Stranger Things and IT (2017) casts are a shining example of that fact.
These casts regularly straddle the line between lovable and horrifying in a charming, yet effective, way. Not only does Something Is Killing The Children feature several prominent children, but these children are extremely well written and need to be portrayed as such.
3 Left Alone: Similar To Stranger Things
Much like the issue with comparisons to other series, the strongest issue would be having Something Is Killing The Children end up being unfairly compared to Stranger Things. To be fair, there are similarities. They are set in small towns, there is a monster taking children, there is a sheriff in disbelief who eventually comes around.
The issue with similarities is that there will always be people claiming that one was the original, even if they came out at the same time—just look at Pokémon and Digimon comparisons.
2 Adapted: Strong Female Character
Erica Slaughter is an incredibly well-written character because she isn’t like most female characters in horror series. She isn’t weak, constantly screaming, or actively useless in any situation. She is calm, cool, and collected. Most importantly, she isn’t written into the story as a love interest, nor does she need a man to lean on.
In fact, for most of the story, hyper-masculine characters just get in her way. She has a purpose to be a real monster killer, and she achieves that while being relatively normal. Rather than being a final girl—an unlikely hero of circumstance—she is the true hero.
1 Left Alone: Will End Up More Sexualized
One of the best parts about Something Is Killing The Children so far has been the lack of sexualization for the characters. Erica is there to fight monsters, and that’s all she does. James, the main child that helps Erica after his friends are all killed, is noted as being gay, but it is just a part of him and isn’t used as a major plot point. He is simply a character that exists as himself.
The worry, then, is having these two characters specifically written against their comic counterparts for the adaptation. Women in horror movies are highly sexualized, which is one of the most common criticisms of horror. Gay characters are also highly sexualized and brutalized when they exist in horror. These changes would take away a lot of the power that the comic gives to the characters.
