The Invited TV Series Inspired By Wendy Webb Books In Works

EXCLUSIVE: Impossible Dream Entertainment, the production company behind Oscar winners Get Out and BlacKkKlansman, is teaming with the UK’s Wall to Wall to develop and exec produce The Invited, a supernatural mystery thriller series inspired by the ghost story novels of bestselling author Wendy Webb.

To be clear, the series won’t draw on any one novel in particular; there is no Webb novel by the name of The Invited. Rather, the series will weave her collective works into one interconnected haunted world that expands season after season. The books are based in the fictional, haunted, historic lakeside town of Wharton; Season 1 of the series will adapt Webb’s book The End of Temperance Dare. Further adaptation details are being kept under wraps.

Helen Black, writer of the BAFTA- and International Emmy-nominated Life and Death in the Warehouse, is adapting in collaboration with Jeff Howard, a frequent collaborator of Mike Flanagan’s across film & TV projects like The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and Gerald’s Game.

Partnering with wife Yvette Yates Redick to secure rights to Webb’s novels, Shaun Redick told us, “Wendy Webb’s novels have it all—drama, romance, tension and scares—with rich characters and haunting mysteries made for series television.”

Yvette Yates Redick added, “The best ghost stories don’t just scare you. They follow you home. Wendy’s stories do exactly that, and we can’t wait to invite audiences in.”

A Minnesota native, Webb’s most recently published novel is 2024’s The Witches of Santo Stefano. Other past works include The Stroke of Winter, The Keepers of Metsan Valo, The Haunting of Brynn Wilder, Daughters of the Lake, The Vanishing, The Fate of Mercy Alban and The Tale of Halcyon Crane.

The author — repped by Jennifer Weltz of Jen V. Naggar Literacy Agency— told us, “When Shaun Redick, one of the producers of the stunning Get Out— which I saw three times in the theater — contacted me about adapting my work into a series, I had to sit, staring into space, for a good long while. When he told me Jeff Howard, a writer and producer of Midnight Mass and Haunting of Hill House — which I have binged-watched more times than I care to admit — was involved, life got a little surreal. Then, I met the brilliant Helen Black, and I started bragging to whoever would listen. I am honored and privileged beyond measure to be working with these geniuses of the genre to bring my books to life.”

Co-writer Black’s other credits include co-writing the second season of BBC’s crime drama anthology Time with Jimmy McGovern, plus creating and co-writing Channel 5’s The Wives. She’s also worked on Joan (Snowed-In Productions/ITV), Grantchester (Kudos/ITV) and Death in Paradise (Red Planet/BBC) and is repped by Frances Arnold at Rochelle Stevens.

Howard co-wrote Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Gerald’s Game with Flanagan, was a writer and supervising producer on his Netflix show The Haunting of Hill House, and executive produced his follow-up series Midnight Mass. He is repped by Industry Entertainment, CAA and Joel Vanderkloot of Vanderkloot Law.

In addition to Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Impossible Dream Entertainment is known for producing Netflix’s worldwide No. 1 hit Day Shift, a vampire action comedy starring Jamie Foxx. The company’s upcoming feature slate includes Free Agent, a true-life dramatic thriller starring Michael Peña and Anthony Ramos, as well as a reimagining of cult classic The Boondock Saints. They are repped by Gary Raskin and Dustin Sloan of Raskin Gorham Anderson Law.

Wall to Wall is part of the Warner Bros. International Television Production Group, a Skydance Company. Select credits include BBC One’s Waterloo Road, the BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated The Girl, The Windermere Children, The Scandalous Lady W and New Tricks.