The "School of Rock" star could return to family fare by joining the spooky film, which is based on R L Stine's best-selling horror books aimed at children, reported Contactmusic.
Black would play an author, akin to Stine, whose creepy characters leap off the page and come to life, forcing him to hide from his own creations.
The movie would reunite the actor with his "Shark's Tale" and "Gulliver's Travels" director Rob Letterman.
"Fast & Furious" franchise producer Neal H Moritz is producing the film for Sony Pictures, along with Deborah Forte for Scholastic Entertainment, the publishers of the books.
The books spawned a successful children's TV show of the same name, which ran from 1995 to 1998.