A new TV adaptation is coming from Blumhouse, and it’s not your typical haunted house story. Darkly, the upcoming thriller based on Marisha Pessl’s novel, is tapping into the high-stakes world of games, teenage obsessions, and psychological horror.
With Jamie Lee Curtis executive producing and the story centered around a mysterious video game company, Darkly is set to ride the wave of gaming culture screen adaptations that have been on the rise in the past few years, and it couldn’t be better timed.
Darkly merges psychological thrills with the mystique of legacy, obsessions, and a dark side of genius.
Darkly’s central mystery is tantalizing; it’s sure to entice readers who love a puzzle and will reward their efforts with a delicious twist. – BookPage
What Is Darkly? A Game Empire Shrouded In Shadows
Darkly is a novel by Marisha Pessl, published in November of 2024. It follows the story of Arcadia “Gia” Gannon, an outcast teenager who runs an antique store with her mother and an elderly assistant. She learns that the legendary game-maker, Louisiana Veda, the creator of the cult-following Darkly Games company, is searching for interns.
Gia, like many millions of people worldwide, has played the immersive and haunting games produced by Darkly Games over the years. However, Darkly Games, a once legendary company, now lies dormant after Veda’s mysterious death.
Gia is shocked when she, along with six other teenagers from around the world, is chosen for the coveted internship. Shrouded in mystery, Dia joins the six other interns only to discover that not everything is as it seems…
She and her fellow interns now must unravel the mystery of Darkly, why they have been brought there, what their connection is, and what secrets each of them keeps. Through a web of mystery, buried clues, and a web of intrigue, they find themselves playing an all-too-real game. Could this be Veda’s final masterpiece?
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The Dark Appeal Of Analog Horror
In an entertainment world dominated by screens, there’s something unsettling about physical and old objects that once seemed harmless; a board game that knows too much, a toy that never stops watching, or a puzzle with no clear end… Darkly taps into this exact fear, that kind that lives in creaky toy chests, dusty attics, and antique game boxes.
Analog horror is nothing new, but it is seeing a resurgence. Rather than relying on jump scares or CGI monsters, the subgenre builds dread through subtle, often nostalgic unease. We all have old VHS tapes, dolls, or old board games. They were once seen as something mundane and fun, but after being left alone for a long time in creepy places, they become something nostalgic but at times scary.
In Darkly, the setting is a once-revered game company whose creations have become cult objects, now being sold for millions of dollars. These aren’t video games, they are physical and terrifying toys and games that are now obsessed over as relics of the genius Veda, the creator of the company, whose mysterious death only gives those toys and the company another level of mystery.
This approach echoes to the appeal of internet horror from days past, such as Candle Cove (a haunted children’s show probably remembered by a few adults), the Local 58 YouTube series, or even the lo-fi dread of analog horror ARGs (a form of storytelling that uses interactive media like social and videos to tell a story).
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletterIn all cases, the horror aspect does not come from what’s added, but rather from what is left behind: the silence, the uncertainty, and the unfinished instructions. Darkly fits perfectly within this niche, promising a story where old games, strange clues, and forgotten rooms feel more dangerous than any monster.
And this kind of horror lingers…
It invites interpretation, wild theories, and fandom obsessions. Fans don’t just watch, they investigate. They freeze-frame, they decode. The very idea of a haunted or manipulative board game company, filled with symbols and legacy puzzles, creates the kind of layered storytelling that drives subreddit sleuthing and viral speculation.
In a time where we are constantly surrounded by the digital, analog horror allows us to return to something tactile, and reminds us that what’s physical can be far more haunting than anything on a screen.
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The Myth Of The Mastermind: Louisiana Veda And The Cult Of Genius
Louisiana Veda isn’t just a character, she is a legend. The founder of Darkly Games, Veda created intricate, unsettling games and toys that became cult sensations. After her mysterious death, her legacy only grew, with fans treating her work like artifacts. Now, her name carries the weight of both brilliance and unease.
Darkly taps into the allure of reclusive genius. Think of characters like Willy Wonka or Severance’s Kier Eagan. A trope where their vision outlives the characters, and their intentions are never fully understood. Veda’s presence haunts the story: the games she left behind, the secrets she encoded in them, and the creepy feeling that her final creation is still at play.
It is a testament to the endurance of Louisiana… how relentlessly she holds our attention even in death
A Perfect Pairing: Why Blumhouse And Jamie Lee Curtis Are The Right Team For Darkly
The adaptation of Darkly brings together two genre powerhouses: Blumhouse and Jamie Lee Curtis, who will executive produce through her company, Comet Pictures. This collaboration is definitely intentional, for the type of eerie and psychological storytelling the project requires.
Blumhouse has built a reputation of horror that goes beyond cheap thrills. With titles like Get Out, The Invisible Man, and The Bondsman, they specialize in tension-driven narratives that explore deeper themes.
Their production often focuses on mood, character, and slow-building dread, which aligns perfectly with the world of Darkly, a place filled with secrets and mystery.
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Jamie Lee Curtis and her company, Comet Pictures, bring both industry clout and genre credibility. Known for her iconic roles in horror, she has most recently taken on the role of producer and advocate for complex storytelling, usually around societal issues. Through Comet Pictures, she has been working on titles such as;
- The Lost Bus with America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey
- The Sticky with Margo Martindale
- Return To Sender and others
Her involvement in Darkly signals a commitment to character-driven suspense, especially with a female protagonist like Dia at its core.
Together, Blumhouse and Curtis can create a series that blends prestige drama with genre storytelling. The best part is that Marisha Pessl told on her Instagram, back in January 2025, that “you Did it. i am so so thrilled and gratEful to announce #darkly is going to have a sequel!!“. This gives hope for an extended book to TV adaptation with several seasons or spinoffs for the characters and story.
In the end, Dakrly is not about the games you play, but about the people who made the names, and the dangers they’ve left behind. By blending the obsessions with the lost genius and the hauntingly intimate setting, this upcoming series could be a slow-burn phenomenon. With Jamie Lee Curtis and Blumhouse bringing it to life, Darkly might just do for creepy toys and games what Stranger Things did for Dungeons & Dragons.
