San Antonio author Celso Hurtado has gained acclaim for his horror novels The Ghost Tracks and The Devil’s Promise, both of which follow paranormal investigator Erasmo Cruz as he traverses the haunts of the Alamo City. His first novel, The Ghost Tracks, has been popular with San Antonio readers since it was published in 2021, and Hurtado tells MySA the novel is now being shopped for a possible TV adaptation.
“I’m always excited for an opportunity to shine a spotlight on San Antonio, whether that’s through books or a possible adaptation,” Hurtado said to MySA. “The Ghost Tracks legend is quintessentially San Antonio. Generations of people here grew up hearing some version of that story, and I wanted to take something that belonged to our city and build a compelling story around it.”
Word of a possible adaptation leaked last month when Xolo Maridueña, the star of Blue Beetle and Cobra Kai, said he was working on a “Ghost Tracks” film during a Hollywood Reporter interview about Practical Magic 2. Hurtado could not confirm details at the time but now tells MySA that a TV adaptation of both novels is being explored.
Nothing has been greenlit yet, but Hurtado says he is grateful that Maridueña and his team are interested in bringing Erasmo Cruz’s story to life.
“You spend years alone writing a book, never knowing if anyone is going to read it. Having someone like Xolo see something in the story and want to be part of bringing that world to the screen is pretty special,” Hurtado said to MySA.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the Ghost Tracks are a real place on the Southside near Villamain and Shane roads. Allegedly, the ghosts of children who died when their school bus was hit by a train are known to push cars stalled on the tracks to safety, leaving ghostly fingerprints on the rear of their cars.
Given the success of The Ghost Tracks, Hurtado’s publisher, Inkshares, and its CEO, Adam Gomolin, have been pushing for Hollywood to take interest in the story. Whether or not an adaptation happens, Hurtado is glad he can add a new wrinkle to Texas stories beyond the stereotypes.
“When people think about stories set in Texas, they tend to picture the same places and the same version of Texas,” Hurtado says to MySA. “San Antonio has its own identity, its own culture, and its own stories. I’d love for more people to see that.”