David Oppegaard's "And the Hills Opened Up"

David Oppegaard is the author of the Bram Stoker-nominated The Suicide Collectors, Wormwood, Nevada, The Ragged Mountains and And the Hills Opened Up. Oppegaard’s work is a blend of science fiction, literary fiction, horror, and fantasy. He lives in St. Paul, MN.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of And the Hills Opened Up:

I think And the Hills Opened Up would make a great movie. A horror-western crossover, I sometimes pitch the novel as HBO’s Deadwood meets a classic Stephen King town under siege novel. A large cast of characters do battle with an unearthed demon in an 1890’s mining town.

That said, I’d love to see what Deadwood’s creator/producer David Milch would do with it. Music would be produced by T-Bone Burnett, who recently did such a great job with True Detective. Bryan Cranston would make a kickass Hank Chambers, the mining company foreman. The outlaw Elwood Hayes could be played by an unknown hero in the making. Jake Gyllenhaal would be a good Milo Atkins, the inexperienced town sheriff. Charlize Theron would make a fantastic Ingrid Blomvik, the widowed whore hailing from Minnesota. Her blue eyes cut right through you. Christoph Waltz (the evil Nazi in Inglourious Basterds) would be a glorious Revis Cooke, the murderous weirdo who represents the interests of the Dennison Mining Company. Finally I’d love to sneak Bill Murray into a minor role, simply because I love him so much. Let’s give him Leg Jameson, who owns the camp store.

Damn. This would be great! Somebody make some calls already.

Visit David Oppegaard's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Suicide Collectors.

The Page 69 Test: Wormwood, Nevada.

The Page 69 Test: And the Hills Opened Up.

--Marshal Zeringue