Author Joe Hill is no stranger to Hollywood, having lined up big-screen adaptations of his two novels Heart-Shaped Box and Horns, and a buzz-generating, but ultimately rejected, TV pilot based on his comic series Locke & Key. Now add to that list his short story "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead."

Heat Vision reports that Mandalay Pictures has acquired the rights to the story, and is negotiating for up-and-comer Todd Lincoln (The Apparition) to direct from a screenplay by Christopher Borrelli (Whisper).

Published last year in The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology, "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" follows a family on a cross-country trip that goes horribly wrong. According to Heat Vision, Mandalay plans "a few surprise changes" to the story, with the blessing of the author, who will be involved in development.

This is Mandalay's second project with Hill, having optioned the rights to his fantasy novel Horns even before its February 2010. Shia LaBeouf is attached to star in the adaptation, which is being written by Keith Bunin (In Treatment). A movie based on Hill's debut novel Heart-Shaped Box is in the works at Warner Bros., with Neil Jordan directing.