Auerbach does an excellent job of setting his reader ill at ease using a minimum of words. My favorite sections were “Footprints”, “Balloons,” and “Boxes”. And while individually the chapters are creepy and unsettling, the novel as a whole falls a little flat. The primary meat of the story is preceded by a strange, obviously tacked-on introduction where the narrator explains why there might be discrepancies. There are major discrepancies between some of the different chapters. The short-form horror format has limitations that make the transition to long-form narrative a difficult one. Unfortunately, this becomes the main problem with Penpal. I love them because you can generally finish one installment in about ten minutes. As an avid horror reader, I am well-acquainted with short-form scary stories on websites such as creepypasta. I stumbled upon this book last autumn while I was scouring the internet for scary novels in anticipation of Halloween, and was immediately intrigued by the creepy-ass cover art. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Auerbach was able to self-publish this novel under his reddit name 1000Vultures in 2012. The initial chapter became incredibly popular, and author Dathan Auerbach expanded his narrative to include additional chapters, eventually gathering enough to form a short novel. It was then picked up and recorded in audio form by the award-winning Nosleep podcast. It began as a series of installments on ’s Nosleep forum. And obviously a few different changes in the movie from the book.Penpal has a rather interesting origin story. The Stalker will be seen in a few scenes of the movie. Original Score by Colin Stetson (known for composing the A24 film Hereditary)Ĭhanges in movie: The narrator's name will be Dathan, named after the author of the novel. Rating: R for intense horror, disturbing imagery, violence, blood and language Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. Plot: A man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them.

Justin Rose (Super Dark Times) as Dathan (Adult) Mark Duplass (Creep & Creep 2) as The Stalker McMahon (Nightmare: Return To Elm Street) as Police Officer Based On: Penpal by Dathan Auerbach (originally posted as stories on subreddit NoSleep under the username 1000vultures)Īlicia Silverstone (Clueless) as Dathan's MomĪmiah Miller (War of the Planet of the Apes) as Veronicaĭavid E.

Penpal dathan auerbach movie