MAY 16, 2025
Was blown away by the response today to the announcement for FAIL SAFE, a short story of mine that is being adapted into a feature film, starring Brie Larson, produced by JJ Abrams, with a screenplay by Brian Duffield, and directed by JT Mollner.
DEADLINE was the first to break the news.
“Fail Safe”, the short story, has had an interesting life.
Way back in 2016, I wrote a story about a little kid living with a loving father and mother, both of them scientists of an undefined discipline. The entire story is told from the perspective of the 12-year-old boy, who has a birthday approaching and is excited about the idea of “becoming a man.”
As the story progresses, the reader realizes that something is decidedly off about this family. For one, there’s a massive room being built in the basement. A room that has a chair with straps, a steel door, a communication relay, and, most disturbingly, a “fail safe” that will kill anything inside that room if, well, things go bad.
The next thing the reader discovers is that the thing that can go bad… is Mom.
I won’t spoil anything for those reading this. If you’d like to read the story in it’s entirety, it’s available in my debut collection, BEHOLD THE VOID, which you can buy wherever you buy books (audio, ebook, paperback). This collection, I should note, also contains the story “Altar”, which has been made into a feature film by A24 and is due for theatrical release in 2026.
The one thing about “Fail Safe”, the story, that I think might be of interest to writers out there, is that nobody wanted to buy this story. Meaning, I submitted it to dozens of magazines and websites and got turned down by every… single… one.
When it came time to assemble stories for my debut collection, I knew I wanted the story to be in there. Why? Everyone rejected it! Why put a stinker in your book? Well, because I loved the story. I believed in the story, and so I decided to put it in the book with other stories that had been published and had been well received.
“Fail Safe” went on to be selected for the prestigious Best Horror of the Year series (Volume Ten), and was reprinted numerous times in numerous languages. Next to my story “Altar”, it was definitely a fan favorite for those who read the book.
A couple years later, it was optioned for a feature film by a major studio. How, you ask? Dumb luck, is the answer. I had no film / tv agent at the time. My literary agent fielded requests for my stories, and I navigated those waters the best I could, essentially dumping option money into lawyer fees. That’s how ALTAR happened (they came to us after reading the story) and it’s essentially how FAIL SAFE happened. I’d submitted a story for a magazine, the publisher of which also worked in film (Assemble Media), and when they read my other stories they asked about “Fail Safe”. They then did some shopping of the story, attached a screenwriter, got it to Bad Robot, and optioned it to a studio. When that studio option expired, it was optioned again by FilmNation / Infrared, who worked with the original production team of Assemble Media and Bad Robot, attached Brie Larson and JT Mollner, kept the script by Brian Duffield, and here we are. Convoluted, right? Bottom line, though, is I wrote the story, got it out there, and hoped.
The point, of course, is to believe in your work, even if it seems that no one else does. Don’t chase trends even if it’s what publishers are asking for. Be true to yourself and your voice, work hard, and good things will happen.
Over the last decade, I’ve published over 60 short stories, published 3 standalone collections, 4 novellas, and 6 novels. Each and every one of those stories is an opportunity, but you have to write the stories, you have to put in the hours, and deal with the solitude and be okay with missing huge chunks of what’s going on “out there” while you punch your dreams into a keyboard and give them life. You have to work to find homes—anywhere—for those stories, so readers can find them, so your characters and your monsters and your insane, beautiful ideas can be out there in the world for people to discover.
I’m so thrilled that some of my crazy ideas are going to be reimagined for a new medium by brilliant, creative people like Egor Abramenko and Will Soodik, the director and writer of the A24 film, ALTAR, and by Brian Duffield and JT Mollner and Brie Larson, who are going to take what I created for FAIL SAFE and do something original and unique and incredible.
I love the idea of creativity spawning creativity. I love the idea of seeing these stories evolve and grow and transform. And I hope that all the writers out there reading this will have the opportunity to experience the same thing, and I hope you’ll keep grinding, and chasing, and working, and hustling, because if you believe in yourself, and your stories, and put in the hours and persevere, I know you’ll succeed.
Now, go write something.
PF