Exclusive: 'Fright Night's' Jonathan Stark on His Return to Horror!
by Joseph McCabe and Giaco Furino
Jonathan Stark's best known to horror fans as Billy Cole, the nefarious "roommate" of Chris Sarandon's Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night. But Stark's had his greatest success behind the camera, as an Emmy Award-winning screenwriter on TV's Ellen and the co-creator of the Jim Belushi sitcom According to Jim. Now, Stark's taking his screenwriting experience back to horror, as he prepares his dream project, a film adaptation of horror novelist Robert McCammon's Stinger. We spoke briefly with Stark at this month's Texas Fear Fest--his first-ever horror convention--about his return to our favorite genre...
Can you talk about what you?re working on now?
Well I?m writing a lot of things, but right now what I?m really excited about is... There are some people who know of a horror/science-fiction writer named Robert McCammon. I?m a huge fan of his. My brother turned me on to a book of his called Stinger, released in 1987, and I bought the rights to it and I?m finishing the screenplay of it, and hopefully we can sell it.
Can you talk a bit about the story?
It?s basically about an alien invasion. A person comes down to earth and crashes in a spaceship. He takes over the body of a little girl, and then a bounty hunter comes after him. It takes place in a small town named Inferno, Texas, and it?s just so wonderfully written. I love Steven King, but Robert McCammon is the man.
What?s your greatest fear?
Mean people. I don?t like mean people. And I?ve been in Hollywood for a while, so I?ve met quite a few!
