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Paramount Pictures has scared up "Aleister Arcane," purchasing feature rights to Steve Niles' horror comicbook and setting up the project with Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris to produce at their Penn Station shingle.

Studio has tapped the scripting team of Dan Milano and Matthew Huffman to adapt the tale of local TV horror host Aleister Arcane, who's forced off the air due to the wishes of parents in an Oklahoma community. In the wake of Arcane's unplanned retirement, unexplained terror and horror beset the town.

Niles and IDW Publishing prexy Ted Adams will exec produce. Paramount VP Marc Evans is shepherding for the studio while Katy Lim will oversee at Penn Station.

Milano and Huffman have teamed on "A House Called Awful End" for Warner Bros. and "Me and My Monster" for Sony.

Niles has been active in setting up projects, including "Wake the Dead" and "Hyde" at Dimension, "30 Days of Night" at Columbia and a project based on his film noir/horror character Cal McDonald at MGM. He also formed horror-themed Creep Entertainment last year with rocker Rob Zombie.

Penn Station signed a first-look deal with Par last year. Its projects include a remake of "The Crazies"; sci-fier "The Girl Who Could Fly"; comedy "The User," which Guy Walks Into a Bar is co-producing; and an adaptation of Michael Marshall Smith's sci-fi novel "Spares," with Vertigo Entertainment partners Roy Lee and Doug Davison.