the buzz log

Word-of-mouth made the low-budget horror flick "Paranormal Activity" a hit. But fans of the "Blair Witch Project" style movie have also boosted the unknown Katie Featherston into breakout star status — onscreen and on the Web.

The Texas born-and-bred actress has a very short resume — she completed the 2006 direct-to-DVD "Mutation" before responding to an online ad on Craigslist for the role of Katie in "Paranormal Activity." The Southern Methodist University grad waited tables during the filming, and received $500 for her acting efforts.

Coming to the project as a relative unknown cemented the movie's quasi-real feel. Featherston plays a young woman terrorized by a demonic ghost. Her boyfriend (fellow newbie Micah Sloat, a computer programmer in pre-"Paranormal" life) videotapes the couple sleeping at night to capture, any, well, paranormal activity. Mayhem ensues.

With help from major kudos at LA Screamfest and Slamdance, the thriller went viral — and is now scary successful. The $11,000 indie has, um, killed at the box office, bringing in a whopping $62 million to date — and is well on its way to minting $100 million.

Web searches are just as huge. Fans of the fright fest want to know more about "katie featherston." Her searches have increased almost 100% in one-day Yahoo! searches alone. Viewers also are curious about "the cast from paranormal activity," "the real story of paranormal activity," and "was paranormal activity a real story."

Nobody is more surprised of the newfound fame than Featherston. The suddenly "somebody" learned firsthand that she needs to guard her privacy after she posted photos of her hotel suite on Twitter and fans quickly figured out its location. Featherston's meteoric rise is already doing wonders for her next project. Originally titled "Walking Distance," Entertainment Weekly reports that the moviemakers chose to re-dub the pic "Experimental Activity." Perhaps the scream queen can work her scare-tactic magic for her next movie, too.

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