How a Midwest Teacher Went From Posting Scary Stories on Reddit to a Film Deal for His Debut Novel

variety.com:

William Earl Jimmy Juliano’s debut novel, “Dead Eleven,” has an unusual backstory. The book, out Tuesday, is a spooky tale of a remote island where inhabitants are obsessed with ’90s nostalgia, which earned a coveted jacket blurb from “Goosebumps” guru R.

L. Stine and already has a film development deal with A+E Studios. But Juliano is the first to admit that his path into publishing and Hollywood “feels like a back door into the industry.” Juliano, an educator who works at Lake Forest High School in suburban Chicago, first made a name for himself as u/Red_Grin, a Reddit user posting scary stories to the NoSleep subreddit.

The community, with over 17 million members, is “a place for redditors to share their scary personal experiences” — and while the stories (probably) aren’t real, “treat everything as though it is a true recount of events.” With a love of authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz and a penchant for eye-catching titles, Juliano launched his first story in the subreddit in 2013 with the four-part “So, yeah…I’ve been intimate with a ghost.” Over the five years he posted regularly, 10 of his stories were voted to the No.

1 spot, including much-discussed selections like “Why I didn’t shower for 21 years” and “Uncle Gerry’s Family Fun Zone.” “Shower” ended up being the first post which made an impact for him outside of Reddit. “That story did really well, and I got a Reddit message from some producers out in Hollywood who were trying to put together this TV show,” he said.