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'Haunting Melissa': a horror series for your iPad and iPhone
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Tablet screen shot of "Haunting Melissa"-- the horror story by "The Ring" producer Neal Edelstein is now available exclusively on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch at the App Store.
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The producer of the horror movie "The Ring" has a new ghost story out — but this one's tailored to a much smaller screen.
It's called "Haunting Melissa," a horror show for the iPad and iPhone and iPod touch. The Los Angeles-based studio Hooked Digital Media is behind the app — and it's billing it as a first-of-its-kind effort.
Director and producer Neal Edelstein told us the project is horror show following a teenage girl named Melissa who mysteriously vanishes and is being haunted.
“It’s kind of a blend of a film, television, and a novel in a way,” said Edelstein. “It’s a ghost story told through an application. "
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Here's the trailer:
Changing how stories are told
With this project, Edelsten says he's aiming to re-invent how movies are consumed and stories told in the digital age.
“I was inspired the first time I turned on my iPad,” Edelsten said. “And as a film producer, I'm always looking at new avenues to tell stories. I was never really inspired by webisodes. It felt kind of like a cluttered environment.”
An individual experience
The series is now available at the App Store. The first chapter is free; the rest is pay-as-you-go.
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“When you watch that chapter and finish it, there’s a trigger in the software that we’ve designed that starts counting to when you’ll get the next piece … with some surprises along the way," Edelsten says.
Will viewers stick with the series?
"I’m not confident in anything… I feel confident that that app is fantastic,” said Edelstein about whether the project will ultimately be a success, “but it’s a new model. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Edelstein is confident fans will follow through.
“We all love reading—I hope. And you put that book down because you’re not going to watch it in one sitting. And the power-- the feeder of the mind-- and what you think about during the course of a day, or days, thinking about that book hopefully works on you – what’s coming next, what have I read? And I think our story structure works that way as well. “
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