Two-time Eisner award nominee Derf Backderf’s autobiographical graphic novel “My Friend Dahmer” is getting a big screen adaptation.

The story follows Jeffrey Dahmer from age 12 right up to the day he kills his first victim, two weeks after his high school graduation.

Ibid Filmworks partners Marc Meyers and Jody Girgenti will produce.

According to a press release about the film, the story is set in the bizarre world of 1970s suburbia.

From the release:

“Jeff Dahmer, a troubled teenager, descends into darkness as his divorcing parents, high school teachers and peers stand by and do nothing. Told through the eyes of his friend Derf, this is a touching, realistic look at some oddball teens trying to find their identities in the tumultuous 1970’s.”

There are macabre elements to the story, but the release states it will be more of a coming-of-age story of “teenagers teetering on the abyss” than a horror film.

The film is described as Welcome to the Dollhouse meets Dazed and Confused by way of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Indie publisher Abrams ComicArts released the critically acclaimed bestseller in March. The book recalls Dahmer’s “isolation, binge drinking, bizarre behavior to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with roadkill.”

Backderf and his friends created the Dahmer Fan Club and encouraged Dahmer to act out, including fake epileptic fits and his imitation of a cerebral palsy victim, according to the release.

No word has been released yet on who will portray Dahmer in the upcoming film, though the role carries potential star-making power.

The last actor to portray Dahmer in film was Jeremy Renner in 2002’s Dahmer, a role that won him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and helped launch his career.

Check back for more details as they are released.