Fiction to Features / June 2024
The tenth issue?! Featuring time travel, apartment applications, and disturbing Zoom calls
Happy June and happy summer! Can you believe we’re already on the tenth issue of Fiction to Features? It feels like just yesterday when I got the random idea to start this newsletter after being terribly bored during the dark double strike times of last summer. So many talented authors and so much fantastic writing all these months later…here we are!
I read some fantastic short fiction this month, some of which made me quite emotional. As always, the rights to all these stories are available. Please reach out at fictiontofeatures@gmail.com should you wish to inquire further.
Happy reading!
THIS MONTH’S READS:
“Bye Bye Baby” by Natalie Warther Dols, found on Wigleaf
Logline: After being forced back in time before their infant daughter was born, a couple tries to conceive her in the exact same manner to get her back.
Why it would work as a feature: Although it is exceptionally short, this piece of flash made me feel deeply emotional. Perhaps because it is similar to the beautiful film ABOUT TIME that I’m still feeling the aftereffects of after viewing it last week. I really adored this premise; it would be such a strong connection for an audience to watch as a feature. What would you do if you woke up one day without your daughter before you ever conceived her? The messages and the bittersweet heartbreak are endearing and relatable. There is also such great potential for conflict in this couple’s relationship that would make for a dynamic film! I love a good, grounded science fiction that makes us question the philosophy of being a human and our relationships with others. This story certainly fits the bill.
“The Board” by Elif Batuman, found on Electric Literature
Logline: When she finds an apartment that she wants to apply for, a woman must stand before a scrupulous board who will decide whether or not she is suitable to live there.
Why it would work as a feature: I’ve been a fan of Elif Batuman’s since 2020 when I read The Idiot, which is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. It really charmed me when our protagonist jokingly asked if she should hang herself with an ethernet cable. Batuman has an idiosyncratic voice that would suit a left-of-center filmmaker well, especially in this short story. I loved the imagery of the basement and of the board itself; this story reminded me of the scenes in Harry Potter when we must sit before the ministry. Additionally, it speaks on the difficulties of applying for an apartment, even one as seemingly crummy as the one featured in this story (no windows?!). The production design and costume design could both really shine here.
“The Boo Hag” by Veronica Byrd & Craig Dominey, found on The Moonlit Road
Logline: When his new wife begins mysteriously disappearing from his bed every night, a man learns that she is a “boo hag,” or an evil spirit who sucks the blood out of living things for survival.
Why it would work as a feature: As discussed in last month’s issue, I am always on the hunt for good middle-grade or young adult fiction. This story would be perfect to be taught in a classroom of grade schoolers, so I am especially excited to be including it here. I adored the world these characters live in. The rights to this particular story are available, but it is based on a traditional African-American folktale; all the more reason to be sharing it with younger audiences, so that they can hear some traditional folklore! A film adaptation could be taken much darker to be a traditional horror film (a filmmaker like Parker Finn would be quite exciting), or I’d love to see something tonally similar to HOLES with the various folktales at play here. This story very much captures the grand scope of a feature, and this town as a setting feels like a character itself. The revelation that Emmet’s wife is a boo hag is the PERFECT midpoint, as it would entirely alter the story moving forward! This could be great as a magical realism animation, or with some fun practical effects should it be live-action. I love the potential for character development here as Emmet adjusts to the truth about his wife. Helloooo Jennifer Check alert!
“The Help Hotline” by Dominica Phetteplace, found in Lightspeed Magazine
Logline: After her husband sees strange images on a work Zoom and divorces her, a woman tries to understand the technology his company developed that caused him to change.
Why it would work as a feature: A fantastic piece of flash with a bite! This could very much be a BLACK MIRROR episode, as I love how it comments on technology and the way in which it can have such a profound effect on us. So many of my favorite films have an interpersonal relationship or some kind of interpersonal drama at their centers; this story, despite its focus on the science fiction, is about a relationship between these two spouses at its core. I’d love to see who else this technology impacts. How does it aid with the physical ailments it discusses being originally designed for? And, what manifests to it leading to people’s downfall? We can really see how the world adapts to this technology, and how our protagonist must deal with her divorce in this new and odd world.
“Laughter Among the Trees” by Suzan Palumbo, found in The Dark Magazine
Logline: When her younger sister goes missing during an encounter with a ghost on a family camping trip, Ana goes on a quest throughout her life to keep her sister’s spirit alive and to get closure after losing her.
Why it would work as a feature: A very emotional and touching story, yet a horrifying one nonetheless. The scariest stories often mirror our real life fears, such as grief and losing a loved one. This story preys on that innate terror within all of us and tears this poor family apart. I’d love to see the horror amplified in a feature. Perhaps we could see hints of Greg, the ghost or the jumbie, throughout the story, even during Ana’s adulthood. The ending was darkly beautiful and brought full closure to Ana’s grief and guilt over losing Sab. There is so much in the dynamic between Ana and her mother that would make for a strong and haunting feature film. I had previously featured Suzan Palumbo’s short story “Douen” in my October issue, and this story reminds me once again how much I admire her use of West Indian dialect and culture in her writing.
“Utopia, LOL?” by Jamie Wahls, found in Strange Horizons
Logline: An energetic Tour Guide to the Future aids an ordinary man in exploring this new universe after being cryogenically frozen for years, all with the help of an advanced AI called Allocator.
Why it would work as a feature: If Neo erupting from his chamber in THE MATRIX met the dynamic of Doug and Carl in UP, that would be an appropriate description of this short story. I especially loved the voice of Kit as our narrator; she is earnest yet speaks in a casual way (using slang and a frequent use of the word “like”) that makes this feel like a fresh entry in the science fiction genre. I’d love to see this as a buddy comedy on the big screen. Additionally, the ending is heartfelt, earnest, and shows character development in Kit as she has a true attachment and care for Charlie that she did not feel at the beginning of the story. This could be a fun animation, as we could use different animation styles for the different universes the characters find themselves in.
“Ghost Story” by Ananda Lima, found on Electric Literature
Logline: A Brazilian writer returns to her home for vacation while her mother faces the stress of interacting with her daughter’s ghost.
Why it would work as a feature: I love the family tensions here, and I especially love the commentary this story offers on violence in Brazil. This feels like a darker version of a film like PROBLEMISTA, which also deals with immigration and magical realism. A feature would benefit from having this story focused on Miguel’s wedding, and how our protagonist must return home to attend that. This event of her brother leaving their childhood home, coupled with our narrator returning, would create great stakes and conflict — perhaps a sort of RACHEL’S GETTING MARRIED situation. Additionally, the idea of our narrator’s mother seeing her daughter’s ghost is haunting and comments wisely on the experience of immigrating from one culture to another.
“In Thin Air” by Phoenix Alexander, found in The Dark Magazine
Logline: While stuck between life and death, a ghost witnesses a hate crime and fights to help its victim stay alive after he’s been left for dead.
Why it would work as a feature: This story is graphic and incredibly violent, yet still respectful and handles the hate crime in a mature way. I especially loved seeing how our ghost found closure and was able to move onto the afterlife once she helped this victim. This would work well with character development in a feature, especially if we got some flashes to our ghost’s life when she was alive, or even to when she was dying from cancer. I also love the opportunities for horror; there could be something very entertaining and fun about seeing the way in which our ghost haunts the perpetrators of the hate crime from their perspective, where they don’t actually see her presence. Perhaps our ghost haunts people because she’s bored, until she realizes that she can use her ghostly powers for good and this is what allows her to move on to a peaceful afterlife.
“An Open Letter to All Survivors” by Mat Johnson, found on Electric Literature
Logline: After an apocalypse caused by deadly monsters that can detect and attack anything that exhales carbon dioxide, an employee of the NIH writes a letter to its survivors.
Why it would work as a feature: Short piece of flash that I particularly enjoyed — DON’T LOOK UP meets A QUIET PLACE. I never thought I would bring those two films together as comps for a potential feature, but here we are! This feels reminiscent of a writer like Andy Weir or a filmmaker like Adam McKay. There is a sharp sense of humor and wit here that would make for amazing dialogue and comedy in a feature adaptation. Additionally, it provides some fresh commentary on how the mass media responds to events (COVID in particular comes to mind as a comparison to the response to the killer insects in this story). We have an unlikely hero in our narrator, who is not even a medical doctor, but has a degree in sociology that qualified him to be on the board of the NIH. The nihilism and black humor would make for a fun monster flick.
“Nettle Tea” by Camilla Grudova, found on Granta
Logline: In order to properly move on from a breakup, a woman moves into a facility with other dumpees to undergo a procedure that will expel the physical manifestation of the relationship from her body: an unhealthy formation of yeast.
Why it would work as a feature: I adore Camilla Grudova’s writing — metaphorical yet incredibly odd and absurd, her voice is one to watch out for. I previously featured her story “Waxy” in my October issue, and that has remained one of my favorites I’ve read for the newsletter thus far. Think of this story as ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND if it dealt with breakups in a more communal way while also showcasing how disgusting the human body can be. And with that, I’m sold! This story can be rather graphic at times, so it won’t be for everyone. But I really appreciate the visuals here and the way this story dives into how you have to expel something from yourself to move on from a former relationship. Really well done and emotional in a distinct way that would do well for a really special filmmaker, such as the Daniels for example.
Thanks for reading my tenth issue! Wow I feel old now. But more importantly, thank you for all the support in the newsletter over the past several months. It’s been a joy to see this little community we’ve built here, and I’m excited to see it continue to grow.
All my best,
Meg x