The story of how indie horror flick Paranormal Activity took over two years to build a reputation at film festivals before finally receiving a wide mainstream release at the end of 2009 is legendary. The story of the sequel will be quite a bit different.

Announced at the tail end of last year, the second film landed a locked-in release date of October 22 2010, even without a director attached. Well, thankfully, now they’ve got one. Oren Peli, who produced and directed the original, has announced that Kip Williams will be making the follow-up.

This means that Williams, whose previous pictures include The Adventures Of Sebastian Cole, Wings Over The Rockies and The Door In The Floor, will have just six months to prepare, shoot and edit the sequel. An insane schedule by any measure.

In recent weeks speculation over who would direct the film had reached a fever pitch, with names like Akiva Goldsman and Brian De Palma being bandied about after original choice Kevin Greutert left the project to shoot Saw VII — also scheduled for an October release.

The original Paranormal Activity was a spooky little story about a young married couple who realize they’re sharing their home with something supernatural. And scary. The picture, which was shot for just $15,000, earned over $100 million at the box office. No details yet as to the story of the sequel.