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Lesson 4
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Ken Wood’s Horror Plot
This lesson provided a sound horror plot outline for me to check my story against.
Concept: The longer an arachnologist keeps a newly-discovered, Amazonian spider alive, the more it kills and multiplies, and the question must be answered, where did this monster originate?
ACT 1- Set Up for Horror
Atmosphere of evil established:
A Brazilian-based Banana boat arrives in America with four dead CREWMEN and one CAPTAIN who has gone mad, trying not to be killed by the Spider that savagely attacked his Crew. The boat keeps driving into the dock and bumping off, until the Port Supervisor goes below to turn off the engine. The Spider kills him. We don’t see the Spider yet, just his rapidly decaying victims.
Connect with the Characters:
We feel pity for the Captain.The Crewmen were the Captain’s family. <div>
Arachnologist, DR. REXY LAMBERT, Dir. of Entomology at University, is asked by…
State Med. Examiner, KEATON MERCER to help with the toxicology tests to determine the type of spider.
Rexy and Keaton were an item until Rexy, with no explanation, opted to change colleges and moved away. They broke up, but she regrets having done so. Maybe this time things will work out. We find that Rexy felt responsible for her sister’s death by spider attack, when they were children. This is why she chose to pursue arachnology at another college to make anti-venoms.
Keaton is problem solver and one to take the risks. He still really likes Rexy.County SHERIFF MAUER, a common-sense, law and order guy, tasks Rexy and Keaton to help him catch the spider. He has to ride
Bob Crutchfield all the time. He’s got a Sam Elliot-type personality.
Brazilian-based ATTICUS XANDERMAN shows up unannounced to help, claiming he heard reports of the deaths before the boat reached America. He’s knowledgeable, but a crude joker, and he has a something to hide. He has a Jeff Goldblum personality.
Owner of the food company, Crutchfields, BOB CRUTCHFIELD whines about the money he has tied up in the banana shipment. We don’t know if he will abide by the quarantine that the Sheriff put on the bananas.
College lab assistants, REESE ROBBINS and CALI ANN NICHOLE, help Rexy extract venom from the various creatures in the lab. They like each other. Cali Ann is a little more reserved. Reese is a bit of a dare-devil. They like each other a lot.
We later meet Rexy’s Daughter, LILLY, and her dog, ROSCO, who will experience close encounters with the spider at the end of ACT 2
We later meet…CIA Operative, ANON and his ASSOCIATE. They are funding Atticus.
JACK is the animal caretaker of the Anti-Venom Horse Barn.
GEORGIE is the gentle horse that helps produce the anti-venoms.
The VENOMOUS CREATURES of the Lab. They don’t seem to be aggressive until the spider, Teras agitates them and seeks to destroy them.
The Characters are warned not to do things
Reese and Cali Ann are warned to keep the weight on Teras’s Terrarium.
Bob Crutchfield is told not to release the banana produce out to the local stores until given the green light by the Sheriff
Everyone is warned to take extreme caution, but even the warning are not enough. No spider has the intelligence, strength and viciousness as Teras.Denial of Horror
Thinking that Teras was no longer in the engine room, Keaton Mercer, doesn’t keep his protective mask on while trying to retrieve the Port Supervisor’s body out of the engine room. The spider was in the Supervisor’s pants.
Reese Robbins doesn’t take Rexy’s warnings seriously and exposes Cali Ann and himself to Teras’s attack.
Bob Crutchfield has seen hitchhiking spiders before, even venomous ones. He doesn’t take this one seriously either, even though the spider killed five people before he received the shipment. His mind was on staying afloat and meeting his customer’s demands.
CIA Operatives don’t heed the warnings of the Spiders’ dangers.
Safety Taken Away
Keaton takes off his mask, thinking the Spider is no longer in the engine room. As he is trying to get the Supervisor’s body up the ladder, the Supervisor’s heavy body falls on him, pinning him to the floor. The Spider crawls out of his pants and moves in to attack Keaton.
Removing Teras out of her terrarium for a venom extraction, without giving it enough CO2 to put it totally asleep proved to almost be fatal.
Reese leaves off the weight and Teras gets out and attacks him and Cali Ann.
No one heeded the broken glass on the boat.Teras has powerful pedipalps that she flicks so hard they can crack glass. She breaks out of her terrarium and knows how to get in every other creature’s to kill them.
Teras hides in Rexy’s purse where she can attack Rexy at any moment. Rexy does not know that she has brought the Spider home, endangering her daughter and dog.
Bob Crutchfield does not contain the egg sacs well and the CIA Operatives mishandle them as well. This elicits their mother, Teras’s, most vicious and deadly attacks.
Monster, Nature of the Beast
TERAS is a vicious, venomous hybrid Spider. Super venomous, highly aggressive, intelligent, calculating, and elusive.
ACT 2 The Point of No Return
Isolated, Trapped or Abducted:
Trapped and Isolated.
Rexy, Keaton and Atticus capture the Spider and take it to the University Anti-Venom Lab, a room already full of venomous creatures, including a large King Cobra.
One of us is killed.
Reese Robbins carelessness gets Cali Ann and himself killed. </div>
MIDPOINT – The monster is worse than we thought. Full pursuit. Terrorized.
Recaptured, the Spider breaks out of its enclosure, attacks and kills all of the venomous creatures in the lab.
There is a big dual between the King Cobra where Teras prevails. Moments later, the night janitor, CARLOS dies.
When Rexy, Keaton, Atticus arrive at the lab, the spider is no where to be found. It has slipped into Rexy’s purse and hitchhikes to Rexy’s house.There, the Spider climbs up on Rexy’s daughter’s sleeping body while Rexy is taking a shower. When Rexy finally hears her daughter’s pleas for help, she has the added fear of being not fully clothed. She gets the spider off her daughter, but the spider then jumps on her towel. The Dog attacks the Spider and they get in a wrestling match that causes them to fall down the stairs. The Dog gets bitten. Rexy remembers she has a vial of untested anti-venom she had received from Jack. She administers it to Rosco, the Dog, and he lives, but Teras escapes out the back door and disappears into the neighborhood.
<div>
ACT 3 Full Out Horror
Fight to the death
Hysteria
The thrilling escape from death
Death returns to take one or more.</div>The Sheriff notifies Rexy and Keaton that an egg sac from the Spider has been found in the bananas. This is alarming to Rexy. If one spider is this dangerous, imaging a thousand more.
They go to the warehouse and find Bob sent out half the banana shipment to the local stores. He told them he put the egg sac he found on those in a trash can.
They search the other half of the bananas and find yet another egg sac.
They decide to destroy them by incineration.
Atticus and the CIA Operatives intervene and seek to take the egg sacs for one of their covert operations—they want the quick acting venom Teras and her offspring produce. They restrain Keaton and keep the rest at gun point.The CIA Operatives are careless with the eggs. Secretly, Teras, the mother, has made it back to in time to try and protect her offspring.
The egg sacs split open on the floor and two thousand spiders swarm, Keaton, and the CIA Operatives. Teras attacks and kills the CIA operatives. Atticus and Keaton get bitten and will die. Rexy starts to administer the anti-venom to Keaton, but Atticus grabs it and injects it into himself. Keaton says, grab the ax from the fire extinguisher cabinet and cut off my hand. Rexy complies and saves him.The Sheriff and Bob work together to douse the spiders in flammable insecticide and set them on fire. Teras rages.
Rexy ponders: Was Teras just obeying her strong motherly instinct to get back to, protect, and eradicate all potential threats to her offspring?
Rexy makes the tough decision and instructs them to spray Teras in a climatic moment.She lights Teras on fire.
Resolution and/or set up for sequel
Teras escapes out the building on fire and limps to the banana boat where she goes down into the engine room and climbs up to yet another egg sac she laid there. She molts out of her damaged outer body which is mistaken for her whole dead body. But, she has emerged new. She has also taken her egg sac and hid it in another part of the boat.
Captain Andrade has a new crew and leaves the port.
Rexy, Keaton and Lilly are finally together. They are just leaving a restaurant and decide to go into a local grocery store. A small spider, an offspring of Teras’s, scampers across the bananas. Then another. We follow back to find an egg sac with a hole in it with a third spider just coming out.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Kenneth Wood.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Spike’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is breaking down the plot points which helped me structure with bullet points what I want to see happen with a loose pacing and gives me a chance to see the ending. I would have never done this and would have just tried to write full scenes which is what always slowed me down. Plus when writing full scenes I get caught up in “is it good enough” when you shouldn’t be thinking about that at this point.
ACT 1:
Atmosphere of evil:
Spooky botanica with old woman placing a watch in a glass cabinet that holds other personal type items like rings, lockets, watches, and other things. She goes to the back that leads to a door that opens to a dark descending stairway.
Connect with characters:
They do friend stuff together as kids do. Typical jokes. Small pranks here and there.
The characters are warned:
Deshon gets bad feelings about the lady and tells Kamal about an aunt he has.
Denial of Horror:
Chad blows off old spanish woman who says he has been marked by a priestess.
Karen mentions seeing things like flies gathered in her window alive and then they all die.
Logan mentions he has been dreaming of bugs digging into his skin.
Kamal mentions he feels something touch him at night.
Deshon doesn’t see or feel anything since he backed out of prank last second.
They all shrug it off for now until things get worse.
Safety taken away:
No matter where they go something happens to them.
Karen is at school and she sees herself on fire in the mirror with the priestess in the background.
Chad feels like everyone is staring at him no matter where he goes.
Logan can’t stop scratching himself. Skin starting to look like a wood type substance.
Kamal sees bugs in his food.
Deshon speaks with aunt and is warned he needs to stay away from his friends.
Monster – The nature of the beast:
The old priestess sends out a minion to gather items from each of the pranksters in order to cast evil spells on them.
She has a maze under the Botanica that leads to a voodoo alter.
ACT 2:
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted… One of us is killed:
The old spanish Bruha convinces Chad he is marked and tries to help him with her spells. The next day she turns up dead.
Deshon speaks with his aunt again and is warned again. She gives him a trinket for protection and a black/UV light.
Full pursuit by the killer/Terrorized:
The pranksters figure out what is going on and decide to do something about it so they go see the priestess. They bring stuff for protection they read about on a site. Deshon decides to go with them.
They venture down the stairs in the back of the Botanica into the maze. Each person gets lost and find their worst nightmares.
ACT 3:
Fight to the death/Hysteria:
Chad and Logan are lost together. Chad turns a corner and the minion is there naked with white paint spells all over him. Logan cowards around the corner hearing everything, he just lays there crying as the sounds of death echo out. Fingers start to come out of ground around him so he gets up and runs.
Karen’s hair gets caught in something making her lag behind. When she gets free she can’t find anyone until she hears the wimpering of a puppy. She follows the sound into an opening that has a gruesome scene.
Thrilling escape from death:
Kamal and Deshon hear Karen calling for them so they stop and turn around. When they turn back around Chad and Logan are gone. They both decide to get out of there and look for the stairs. Even though they are back-tracking they can’t find the exit. They can still hear Karen calling for them. They follow the voice. Deshon turns on the UV light and the walls illuminate with spells written all over them. In the darkness they see something glowing from the UV light. It morfs into a weird human-like creature and gives chase. When they turn to run their feet sink into the mud. They are scrambling over each other to get away but the creature is apon them. Deshon pulls out the amulet his aunt gave him which glows in the UV light and dispurses the creature just as it jumps to attack. The ground is solid again and they take off running.
Death returns:
Logan is running for his life in the maze and bumps into Kamal and Deshon. When the UV light hits him we can see what looks like maggots crawling under his skin. We can hear a muffled cicada sound. He is scratching intensely at this point. He tells them what happened and they look down the maze and can see a maggot trail so they follow it. It leads them into the alter room.
There sits the priestess in a throne like chair with cobwebs all over her seemingly in a trance eyes glazed over solid grey. Chad is being tortured by another minion. The cicada sound gets louder and louder and not so muffled anymore. Logan drops to the ground and the fingers come out again and grab him holding him down. Maggots spew out of him from everywhere until there is nothing left but bones covered in a gel like substance. The maggots crawl up the priestess’s legs. More stuff happens. Deshon’s aunt appears just when there is no hope and saves the day.
Resolution:
Kamal and Deshon are recovering somewhere. Deshon’s aunt is there tending to their wounds. She notices flies landing on Kamal but he doesn’t. She starts to pull out an amulet. Fade to black.
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Kris’ Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is… I’m debating whether or not to start in the past with the origin story. That was my initial instinct, and then I went away from it. I’m going back and forth on whether or not it works. The bigger point that I’m excited about is that I felt that I needed a “Death returns” moment but I didn’t have one – or so I thought – I actually did, I just had to switch a few beats around to make it happen. This feels better to me now.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established – The Quarterman’s origin. Fergus Brody is drawn and quartered by conspirators; punishment for atrocities that Brody’s father committed.
Connect with the characters – Present day, we meet the family; Pete, Liam, Henry, and Anne celebrating Liam’s 8th birthday at Anne’s pub.
The characters are warned not to do it. – Upon discovering the Quarterman’s human remains, one of Pete’s co-workers warns them to cover the remains back up, and leave them be.
Denial of Horror – Pete argues that the Quarterman isn’t real, just an old wives tale to keep children in line.
Safety taken away – Pete covers the Quarterman with a tarp, rather than rebury it.
Monster: The nature of the beast. – While no one is watching, the Quarterman awakens, disappears, and begins his killing spree, starting with Nurse O’Leary.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – Kieran, Liam’s schoolyard bully, is abducted, and later found murdered, one of his legs torn off.
One of us killed – During the search for Kieran, Charlie Drake is isolated, and he comes face to face with the Quarterman… he is killed, and one of HIS legs is torn off.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer – Having tracked the Quarterman back to his lair, Pete discovers that his family is the final link in the chain, and this his son Liam is the actual target.
Terrorized – An assault on Pete’s home, the Quarterman attempts to run off with Liam, but Pete fends him off for now, but not without a casualty; Dermot Lonergan, local folklorist (mentor) is killed by the monster.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death – Thinking that he has buried the Quarterman in his castle, Pete returns home to discover that the Quarterman has now taken not only his father’s (Henry) life, but also his head.
Hysteria – Pete is horrified that he now must go head to head with his father, who is now the Quarterman, who also dons several arms from his victims like a Shiva.
The thrilling escape from death – Pete sets the Quarterman ablaze, along with his father’s house.
Death returns to take one or more. – Pete returns into the home to save a precious gift that he promised to his son, but before he can make it out safely, the Quarterman wraps chain around Pete in a stranglehold, and he must escape not just the monster, but also the burning home.
Resolution – Pete severs the chain between himself and the Quarterman/Henry, traps the monster in the house as it burns up in smoke.
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Rachelle’s Horror Plot
I learned; follow the flow. The method works to draw the words to the page. Just go with it.
ACT 1 – SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of evil established: Open on an instance of the doctor performing surgery with his assistants. It is clear this is no tonsil ectomy. The human body is being grafted with animal parts.
Connect with the characters: Transients looking for a nice place to crash. We follow them on their journey through woods, etc.
The characters are warned: Witness a post op escapee? Have someone actually present to warn them? A sign posted?
Denial of Horror: Sure it’s a maze where they encounter mildly disturbing animals and they are getting lost, but it is a warm place to sleep.
Safety taken away: Separation into different areas of the compound.
Monster: The nature of the beast: Releases one of his creations with instructions to bring one of the intruders to him.
ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted: They realize they are not only separated, but being funneled towards a specific location. They regroup and some members are missing or can’t be found.
One of us killed: The group finds their friend on the operating table after their surgery ended in death.
MIDPOINT – THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT
Full pursuit by the killer: The doctor prefers to send his creations to work for him. We see him orchestrating the capture of each member of the transient group.
Terrorized: The doctor has set loose Harpies, Medusa, Cerberus, and Minotaur. There is no way out. The group must defend and develop an offense.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Members had regrouped to witness the gruesome dead body of their friend. They are separated again in their attempts to evade the mythological creations.
Hysteria: Individuals fight their own battles to save themselves.
The thrilling escape from death: Group members defeat their own monsters to find each other once again near a viable exit.
Death returns to take one or more: The doctor shows up to personally end this shit. He is able to take a couple lives, though not all.
Resolution: The survivor(s) stumble out, weak and bloody.
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Mike’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of outlining a plot before you start.
ACT 1: SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: We see Emily walking into a classroom that she has never been to. The students are taking a test, and the teacher tells her to sit down and join them. Emily wakes up from the dream.
Connect with Characters: Jacob texts Emily to invite her to hang out. After they pick her up they meet up with the rest, and Emily tells them about her dream. Heather tells them a legend about a scary abandoned classroom building and suggests they go visit it.
The Characters are warned not to do it: As they get to the entrance of the building, Jacob and Brad try to talk everyone out of it.
Safety Taken Away: Heather enters the building, and the rest follow. The door clicks, and they realize they are locked in.
Monster: The introduction of the beast: A voice comes on the intercom telling the students to get to class. There is a test in Room 313.
ACT 2: THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated/trapped/abducted: They split up, looking for a way out. There is none.
One of us is killed: Monitor screens come on showing David trapped with 2 cups, one of which he has to drink: one is water one is poison. They have to go to Room 313 to answer the question to determine which one he drinks. They answer incorrectly.
MIDPOINT: THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT: The notice that Madison is not in the room, and they blame her, but the monitor comes back on and she is the next victim. They get another question wrong.
Terrorized: They wonder who’s going to be next. The lights go off, and Jacob disappears.
ACT 3: FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: They realize they have to find a way to answer the person’s questions. Jacob is in the room whining and complaining, trying to bargain with the monster.
Hysteria: Emily gets the question right. Jacob is let go. Now they are told that the one who answers the question right is the next victim.
The thrilling escape from death: Before she is taken, Emily passes a note on to Brad. Brad asks the professor for an exam review.
Death returns to take one more: Jacob gets an extra credit question. If he answers correctly he’s released. He can also choose not to answer it and join the group. He takes the question and is incorrect.
Resolution: The professor teaches the class. Brad asks for a sample problem, and the professor sends him to the board to do it. Brad wrestles the professor and pushed him out the window. We see the professor’s body motionless on the asphalt below.
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ASSIGNMENT 4.
Doing this assignment I learned to follow a structure more suited to today’s horror films.
SECRET SANTA – By Jon Clark
ACT 1 – SETUP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established:
Savannah begins her high school day. As she exits her car she discovers a red envelope next to her on the seat. It wasn’t there a second before. There’s no one around. How did it even get here? She opens it. Reads. “You have a Secret Santa. But instead of giving, this one’s taking, one piece at a time. Then it will take all. You have five days.”
Connect with the characters:
We find our main characters gathering to go into school. They spot Savannah, Riley can see that something is wrong with her. Savannah tells of the letter. Samantha admits that she has one too. It was in her bookbag, and since she never does homework she didn’t discover it until today. Savannah ignores the note, rules the roost in this school, and wants revenge for whoever decided to play this prank on her. Instead of going to class, she goes after the “nerd” she thinks gave it to her. But as she follows him. She realizes he isn’t who she thought he was, her reality is twisted as the
We catch only glimpses of him/it. Shock scare.
Denial of Horror:
Later, in between bells, Riley discovers that she too has the same red Secret Santa letter. Riley is a bit freaked out. Samantha denies there’s anything to this, but as Riley leaves them…
Safety taken away:
It comes for Riley. There is no way for her to fight it. She thinks it’s going to kill her, and it wants to but all it seems to do is cut her, and only once. Then it’s gone and everything is back to normal only no one seems to recall or remember her being attacked.
Monster: The nature of the beast:
Riley begins an investigation of who gave her this letter, And why? Discovers to her surprise that there are a number of kids who not only don’t like her (she thought it was all just jealousy) but these kids actively seem to despise her and her friends.
ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated/trapped/abducted:
Another day. Another attack for each of the girls. There’s something more to this than just a curse. There’s something much more evil behind who, or what this Secret Santa thing is. It leaves them hints.
Riley goes to the police. They don’t believe her. Think it’s all a prank.
One of us killed:
Samantha is killed. It happens in broad daylight, at the police station, and in front of both girls. They are completely helpless to do anything to stop it. And worse, the police don’t notice it. It’s time to figure out who created this curse, and set it upon us.
MIDPOINT – THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT
Full pursuit by the killer:
The girls attempt to make amends meanwhile trying to uncover who is behind this as the clock ticks down on them. They have a long list of enemies, with very little time.
Terrorized:
It comes again for Riley. She escapes. But it kills and takes Savannah.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death:
Riley prepares to fight it. To gather weapons, a bible, a cross, holy water, anything. she sets traps.
Hysteria:
But they all fail her. Riley is freaking out. Tomorrow is her last day. If she can’t stop it, she will die. Riley goes to Natalie. Someone she barely even knew. Natalie confirms that it was her who placed the curse. She was jealous of Riley, angry at her former friends. But even Natalie thinks that this has gone too far. Natalie vows to help.
The thrilling escape from death:
Together, Riley and Natalie break the curse.
Death returns to take one more:
But the demon wants more. You can’t break this curse. Natalie is taken.
Resolution:
Riley has survived. She’s lost her friends. She’s going to be a decent person from now on. And she knows what’s living just outside her reality, waiting to be let back in, is this cruel demonic presence…
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Bill Anderson’s Horror Plot for MOTHERLAND
What I learned doing this assignment is that I just can’t think up plot independent of character and situation! But very happy to discard all or any of these elements in future assignments…
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established
The sparse leaves of an ancient, gnarled tree atop a rocky outcrop on an isolated farm shiver as the last sunlight of the day is crushed below the horizon by the menacing clouds of night: we follow the sugars of photosynthesis inside the tree down to its roots which will exude them into the darkness of the dirt. A twisted root swells and splits off a piece of the rock it’s penetrated – this snaps, falls to the bottom of the outcrop, and smashes into the skull of a fox that was eating the entrails of its prey. As the fox spasms in death, something we can’t quite make out in the darkness drags the fox to its underground lair, where it disappears just before a car headlights beam sweeps past, headed along the track to the isolated farmhouse…
Connect with the characters
… the car brings eldest daughter Jan and her husband Michael to her father Jeb’s birthday celebration joining Jan’s two sisters: (pregnant) Beth + partner Jack, and Leah. Lively family reunion, fun and old scores – the one member they can all easily relate to is Jeb’s wise old farm dog who is beyond happy to see them all together…
The characters are warned not to do it.… Jeb announces he’s going to sell the failing family farm and divide the proceeds. The family start to discuss why/if/how they’ll do this but, out of character, the dog begins to bark incessantly making talk impossible. Deaf veterinarian Leah senses something beyond the dog… Jeb hears prized pregnant cow in distress outside – through a night storm Jeb and Leah attend to complications with the birth of the calf, as the others lie awake. In the same moment, at the height of the storm: the gnarled tree is blown over, to reveal a skeleton rising up out of the ground entwined in the bolus of its roots, and permeated by a mycelial web; the two-headed hideously deformed calf is born as its mother dies horribly; Beth wakes everyone in the farm house screaming with Brackston Hicks contractions (Jan is jealous she’s not pregnant too)Denial of Horror
Daylight comes and the wind has subsided into heavy rain – a silent postman delivers a single letter: addressed to the Mother of the family – who died 30 years ago giving birth to Leah: it’s from a financial firm who have managed a nest-egg fund the Mother had secretly invested to mature now – on her 65<sup>th</sup> birthday – and over the years it’s grown into enough that means they won’t have to sell the farm. All they need to do is produce mum’s death certificate and will and the money’s theirs…
Safety taken away
…but Jeb violently, irrationally refuses, to produce any documents and storms out of the house into rain that has become biblical in its intensity – he’s terrified, running to escape this gauntlet from his past…
Monster: The nature of the beast.
… when a landslide suddenly opens up the ground in front of him and he slides into the crevasse but doesn’t fall to the bottom: his neck is abruptly caught by a noose-like root that starts to asphyxiate him – family rescue him before he dies, but Jeb’s unconscious body is limp as they drag him out of the crevasse – Jeb’s neck is broken, but he’s breathing.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted
Landslides have blocked/riven the track out of the farm – no escape by vehicle – and there’s no landline or mobile signal to call for help for injured Jeb. Rain stops. Beth gives nursing Leah a break as Jan and Jack search in Jeb’s office for Mother documents – barren Jan makes sexual advances to fertile Jack, but Beth is too close… Michael tries in vain to repair the landline, and Leah goes to see the extent of storm damage on farm – Leah discovers the uprooted skeleton and a distinctive ring on one of its fingers. Coming back from broken landline Michael discovers Jan and Jack secretly having sex in a barn – Michael backs away… Leah confirms the distinctive ring on a photo of her mother casually unearthed in Jeb’s bedroom by Jan and Jack.
One of us killed
Jeb’s breathing becomes more laboured – the family discover mould has mysteriously appeared in Jeb’s bedding – Jack discovers and closely examines distinctive, unfamiliar mushrooms are growing through the floorboards – family put it down to a leak in the roof caused by the storm, but it’s growth seems astonishingly rapid and Jeb is deteriorating so fast that they decide to send for help. Jack volunteers to walk miles to the nearest doctor, and Michael says he’ll accompany him. On their journey they pass the uprooted skeleton tree but don’t see the skeleton as they leave the farm. The skeleton sees them… Michael confronts Jack for having sex with Jan and threatens to reveal it and jeopardise Jack’s relationship to Beth and his share of the farm. Jack dismisses impotent Michael with contempt, and Michael attacks him. But bleeding Jack is only hurt enough to get mad and chases terrified Michael through a forest. Jack is overtaken by what looks like a root unearthing itself like a snake wriggling under fallen leaves to catch up with sprinting Michael: Jack sees the root surface to trip up Michael who flies though the air, smashes his head on a rock, and falls face down in a pool of storm water….
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer
Jack knows what he saw but can’t understand it – he lifts the root beside him from under the leaves and confirms it’s freshly uprooted itself. As he puts it down it seems to retighten itself to the ground. He hears Michael choking in the water, but as he goes to help him leaves of the forest floor start rippling as they move towards him from various directions. Jack abandons Michael (who drowns) as he runs for his life – he leaps over the tracks of the subterranean roots as they catch up with him, but they can swiftly change direction and there are more and more of them coming – a three way root pincer movement almost gets him as he propels himself out of the wood into a grassy field near the farmhouse – the grass moves towards him in waves as he sprints back to the house…
Terrorized
… Jack bursts into the farmhouse in terror and tells what’s happened – Beth is terrified, believes bleeding shaman Jack’s story, Jan is distraught and suspicious of Jack’s crazy explanation of Michael’s disappearance/demise. Leah is concerned for Jeb and looks again at the mushrooms near Jeb that Jack earlier cut to examine closely – sees Jack wide-eyed with fear of everything outside. She slips out the door with the dog and carefully heads towards Mother’s skeleton – nothing untoward is happening: grass and roots all normal, dog happy – Leah doesn’t see Jan watching her closely from a window. When Leah gets to skeleton she sees that the same mushrooms have now appeared in the ground beside her mother. Leah examines the mushrooms carefully – are they hallucinogenic? Did Jack absorb some of their active ingredient? Protecting her hand with a leaf she picks a mushroom and offers it to the dog – he sniffs it carefully: uninterested, no sign of danger. Leah looks closely at the ring on her mother’s finger She puts her hand inside the skeleton and gently touches a ball of roots where her mother’s womb would have been. Leah weeps. She’s startled by Jan who has followed her. Jan looks at the ring – recognises it’s her mother’s– Jan decides their mother has returned for vengeance – it was Leah that killed her in childbirth…
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death
Jan returns to the farmhouse with Leah. Jan conspiratorially explains to Beth why she now believes Jack’s horror story and that Michael is dead – their Mother has returned seeking vengeance and it must be because Leah was the one who killed her in childbirth: Beth asks why mother waited till now? Jan replies the nest egg that’s matured – it must be something to do with that, but whatever- if Mother wants to kill Leah they should save their skins by letting Leah be taken before anyone else gets hurt – with Beth’s tacit collusion, Jan sends Leah out into the scary wood to find Michael and get help for worsening Jeb… As Leah and the dog tread carefully through the threatening scary forest, Jan and Beth search for paperwork in Jeb’s office that might explain the nest egg’s arrival but eventually find the Mother’s death certificate – she didn’t die in childbirth, she was poisoned – who poisoned her? They hear rattling under the floorboards under Jeb…
Hysteria
… as the forest shimmers, hisses, creaks and groans with supernatural threat, Leah and the dog come upon the body of Michael, already being consumed by fungus and penetrated by roots… on the shock of seeing Michaels grotesquely decayed face the forest floor explodes in a tsunami of roots and leaves heading straight for Leah – she’s knocked to the ground, but the roots are all rushing past her – she’s hardly harmed – but she sees that all this malice is headed towards the farmhouse – she starts running back the way she came, following in the wake of the roots that are gathering power… back at the farmhouse, the rattling of the roots below the floorboards and the crawling of the creepers growing on the outside walls, breaking the glass in the windows jolts Jeb back into consciousness – he calls out his wife’s name, he feels her coming. Jack is using an axe to chop roots as they come inside but there are too many – Jan screams that it’s Jeb the mother wants, not them, and tells Jack to help her carry Jeb outside to stop the house and its occupants being attacked. But Beth won’t allow this to happen to her father – she struggles to protect him, and Jan attacks her pregnant sister. Jan barely notices the root wrapping itself around her ankle as she struggles with Beth – until the root abruptly pulls her off Beth and lifts her though the air as it suddenly pulls her outside, lethally smashing Jan against the walls as her body flies through the window. On the way, Jan’s flailing limbs knock over oil lamps which starts a fire inside. Beth and Jack immediately start to put out the fire, but as soon as Jack sees Beth has the fire almost under control, he seizes the opportunity of Beth’s distraction and picks up Jeb and carries him outside. Firefighting Beth roars in protest – but a contraction starts and she falls to her knees – now the fire instantly regains its strength …
The thrilling escape from death
… Leah arrives back at the farmhouse as Jack rushes out of the door carrying Jeb – Leah sees roots and creepers suddenly turn on Jack and Jeb – Jack is grabbed by the ankle, falls forwards and let’s go of Jeb – before they both hit the ground, a root reaches up, wraps around Jack’s neck and pulls his entire body upright and backwards – snapping Jack’s back and neck. Roots are converging on Jeb as he hits the ground, but a scream from Beth inside the house seems to give them pause. Leah rushes past Jack’s spasming body into the burning farmhouse – inside it’s ablaze and Beth is screaming with contractions, but she’s not being attacked by the roots, Leah sees that the roots seem to be trying to put the fire out, sap hissing as they’re burned in the attempt – she tries to help labouring Beth out of the fire, but structural timbers collapse onto Beth’s legs – she is trapped – in spite of the efforts of the roots the fire is out of control – Leah cannot move Beth and she cannot breathe – Leah grabs a knife, c-sections the baby out of her dying sister and manages to get out of the house alive with the dripping new-born…
Death returns to take one or more.
… Leah goes to Jeb who’s still just alive, lying on the ground that’s still rippling with menacing roots around him…
Resolution
… dying Jeb whispers to Leah – we hear him, but Leah can’t make sense – his lips hardly move: When mother was alive she and father farmed the land organically: they had two daughters and the land could sustain the family. The father wanted a son. The mother knew they couldn’t afford another child, but the father persuaded her that a son would be an investment in the farm, not a drain of resources – production could increase by more than what the son would consume. But they had another daughter, Leah Against mother’s wishes, the father unilaterally decided the only way forward was to borrow money and turn the farm into an intensive, agrochemical concern. This turned the mother’s postnatal depression into suicidal despair. She poisoned herself with the chemicals she believed her husband was poisoning their farm. Jeb asks for forgiveness – a root emerges from the ground and slides over his neck, before suddenly tightening and severing his head.
Leah, the baby and the dog watch the farmhouse burn. Even from a distance the flickering flames cast their light on the mother’s skeleton hanging in the roots of the tree.
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Chris’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is…I need to pick up the pace on the assignments
Create your plot.
1. Knowing your concept, fill in one or two sentences for each of the plot points.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: evil character doing unspeakable things to small animals and children.<div>
Connect with the characters: a snapshot into the lives of each of the 7 deadly sinners
The characters are warned not to do it: at the storage locker auction comes the warning.
Denial of Horror: he hesitates, walks away; only to get another call from a collection agency.
Safety taken away: the storage locker is purchased.
Monster: The nature of the beast. The beast awakens! To learn his storage locker has been sold.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted. The first sinner (lust) is spun through the roof at an indoor skydiving facility…And tossed a quarter mile to his death.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer. He picks up the first clue which leads to the second sinner</div><div>
Terrorized. And now Envy is dead.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death. Our hero gets caught during the final sinner death and narrowly escapes</div>
Hysteria. Now the killer knows his identity it’s cat & mouse to stay alive.
The thrilling escape from death. Our hero uses technology to trick the killer and buy some time.
Death returns to take one or more. The hero hides in a crowd and it’s full-on collateral damage.
Resolution. The killer barely avoids getting killed with his last storage locker prized possession and drags himself off into the woods.
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Andre’s Horror Plot.
What I learned doing this
assignment is… Note: Create structure/plot in the way being presented in
Lessons 4-8. After I filled in the outline, go back and make any changes I’d
like. By doing that, I will make sure my story works and delivers in a way that
works for producers and then I will add whatever creative flairs I like to an
already working outline.ACT1- Set Up for Horror
· Atmosphere of Evil established. 200,000 years ago, In a BODY and Sworn in publicly as the Officers of the Administration of the New Head of “the liberated worlds and systems”, the entire ADMINISTRATIVE CABINET of Lucifer ENTERS.
The Lucifer emblem was a banner of white with one red circle, in the center of which a black solid circle appeared.
· Connect with the Characters. Lucifer was #37 of his order, and when commissioned by the Melchizedek’s, he was designated as one of the One-Hundred most able and brilliant personalities in more than seven-hundred thousand of his kind.
They continued their deceptive and seductive efforts to confuse and mislead the minds of men and angels.
Caligastia (the devil), your apostate Planetary Prince, is still free on Urantia (earth), to Prosecute his nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the minds of men, neither can he draw near to their souls to tempt or corrupt them unless they really desire to be cursed with his wicked presence.
· The Characters are warned not to do it. And THIS “expanding revelation of Deity, that went on for more than 300k years, until suddenly being terminated by the planetary secession, and the disruption of the teaching regime of True Concept of the First Source and Center, first promulgated by the 100 corporeal members of prince Caligastia’s staff in his defense; they taught truth, but planetary secession disrupted the teaching regime of true concept of the first source and center (God).
· Denial of Horror. Satan proclaims that “worship could be accorded the universal forces—physical, intellectual, and spiritual—but that allegiance can be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler, Lucifer, the “friend of men and angels” and the “God of liberty.” Note: This is the deception and reason for his fall.
Self-assertion was the battle cry of the Lucifer rebellion. One of his chief arguments was that, if self-government was good and right for the Melchizedeks and other groups, it was equally good for all orders of intelligence.
He is both bold and persistent in the advocacy of the “equality of mind” and “the brotherhood of intelligence.”
(Cross reference with the Kybalion, All is mental.)
· Safety taken away. Satan was allowed to make periodic visits earth. He was able because there was no to the apostate princes on the fallen worlds until another Son of God should be accepted by such apostate worlds, or until such time as the courts should begin the adjudication of the case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer.
· Monster: The nature of the beast. Caligastia (the devil), our apostate Planetary Prince, is still free on Urantia (earth), to Prosecute his nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the minds of men, neither can he draw near to their souls to tempt or corrupt them unless they really desire to be cursed with his wicked presence.
Lucifer was #37 of his order, and when commissioned by the Melchizedek’s, he was designated as one of the One-Hundred most able and brilliant personalities in more than seven-hundred thousand of his kind.
ACT2- Point of No Return
· Isolated / Trapped / Abducted. Tours of pregnant women (of twins and triplets and more) counted as 1; leaving without.
· One of us killed. Which one…
MIDPOINT-The Monster is worse than we thought!
· Full pursuit by the killer. Lucifer was #37 of his order, and when commissioned by the Melchizedek’s, he was designated as one of the One-Hundred most able and brilliant personalities in more than seven-hundred thousand of his kind. Worse was Caligastia (the devil) and Daligastia his assistant.
·
Terrorized.
Underground, within the crooked halls beneath the city
streets, fabricated is another entrance, The Males of the fetuses…· What if light and love were removed from the world, permanently? Eternal death of the souls on earth. Every birth, is evil not corporeal and not exactly incorporeal.
Act3- Full out Horror.
· Fight to the death. But, the war in heaven was very terrible and very real. While displaying none of the barbarities so characteristic of physical warfare on the immature worlds, this conflict was far more deadly; material life is in jeopardy in material combat, but the war in heaven was fought in terms of life eternal. The Life Eternal mentioned in the Set-Up.
· Hysteria.
Caligastia (the devil), your apostate Planetary Prince, is still free on earth, to Prosecute his nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the minds of men, neither can he draw near to their souls to tempt or corrupt them unless they really desire to be cursed with his wicked presence.
The last act of Michael before leaving Urantia was to offer mercy to Caligastia and Daligastia, but they spurned his tender proffer.
· The thrilling escape from death. tba
· Death returns to take one or more. tba
· Resolution. Justice, Gabriel vs. Lucifer. An angel dies.
But not the one we think. —-Lucifer is acquitted of charges because he had authority, and no leader was present on earth—. Caligastia on the other hand, …
-Andre
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Rad White’s Horror Plot
What I learned:
The process we are working too is amazing and it’s really just a matter of submitting to the process and that then allows the thoughts and writing to flow.
<b data-pm-slice=”1 4 []” data-en-clipboard=”true”>ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established
While wholesome families visits the art gallery, the mother is sending instagram-esque images and videos to her followers, using her family as props for her stories but emotionally neglecting her family.
A strange painting depicting medieval violence on the wall sucks her entire family into the painting.
She receives a DM from her husband/daughter saying “Help!” Mom looks around and a text exchange ensues and she tells the Mom she has to confess her sins of the past, so they can be freed, which sh cant do and she has to watch as her family are mercilessly killed in the style of the violent painting.
After the family is killed, the mother is killed the same way..but in the gallery.
MAYBE JUST THE MUM, NOT THE FAMILY and THEY MUST CONFESS TO ESCAPE THE PAINTING.
Connect with the characters
Group of friends outside the gallery at a nearby cafe, taking pics of their food, gramming & messaging everyone, some laughter.
The characters are warned not to do it.
One of them suggests there is a really cool gallery exhibition of patriarchal violence paintings they can fight back and fuck up with by throwing tins of vegetable soup on them – “totally grammable & F the patriarchy!” Another says “there is a supermarket over there, let;s do it and fuck these wankers!”
One of them says, “I dont know, we shouldnt mess with other people’s art, I mean the times have changed, gotta respect the artist, the way the world was back then is different now. We dont know what the repercussions will be if we mess with it”
Denial of Horror
The leader of the social group tells the artist to stop being a wimp and they are either for or against the patriarchy.
They all end up going inside and do some viewing and scope for paintings to throw soup on.
Safety taken away
The lights go off
They hear strange noises.
Its dimly lit and they look around but no one is in the gallery, and it is like a parallel universe.
They fumble in the dark to the entrance. No one is there and the doors are locked, they run around trying to find an exit but there isnt and they cannot escape.
A couple of the friends raid the cafe, stealing buns, muffins and drinks
Monster: The nature of the beast.
The leader gets dramitically sucked into a painting of her worst nightmare screaming and completely terrorised and experiences long slow painful torture
She given the opportunity to confess
She cannot bring herself to confess, we see flashbacks of the deceit / damage she has been responsible for.
Friends look around and cant find her but the artist spots the friend, being tortured in the painting calling the friends over to see their friend pleading for her life.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted
One by one, each of the friends is sucked into different paintings. The only person not sucked into paintings is the artist.
One of us killed
One of the friends rips the painting off the wall and smashes and slashes the painting, disbelieving, however the torture continues of the leader and the others put the pieces together only to watch their leader friend get slaughtered.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer
Just then,one friend at a time feels a strange force pulling them into different paintings depicting violence of their worst kind of fears
The try and fight to not get sucked into the painting
They can each hear the confessions of their friends and some are directly implicated in the confessions creating moral outrage and “internal” pain while they are being tortured “externally”.
The artist seems to be spared
The other hear the confessions and start to understand about what terrible people their friends have turned out to be based on their confessions to save themselves
Terrorized
And they can see each other in the paintings and after they have confessed the torture stops but now they are forced to watch their friends be tortured.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death
But then the spirit starts dragging people back into the paintings
The Artist who has been untouched by all this is trying to keep his friends from being taken again
Hysteria
The friends are hysterical as they are betrayed by the painting spirit as it drags them back into the painting, even though they had confessed
The thrilling escape from death
Some are able to run to a different part of the gallery or within the painting hiding from the spirit
The Artist screams at the spirit to leave them alone and throws vegetable soup on each painting and it stops the scene from progressing.
He then realises he can stop the spirit by throwing the tinned soups on the painting
The remaining friends are so grateful and hug and grateful
But then they are suspicious of the Artist and dont know why the artist wasn’t included and start to suspect he had something to do with it and they start to turn on the Artist
Death returns to take one or more.
The spirit then recovers and sucks everyone into a panting, except the Artist and they are all killed quickly
The Artist is spared
Resolution
Turns out the Artist was the only one living their life in integrity, respect and courage
The gallery resets, everything is back to normal, except the paintings has changed and now include his friends as part of the canvas paintwork.
The Artist walks out of the gallery into the sunlight as wholesome families start to enter the gallery.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Radford White.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by
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<b data-pm-slice=”1 4 []” data-en-clipboard=”true”>This lesson helped me get the ideas out of my head but return to really get the essence of the story and remove all the flotsam and jetsam, so that I could just trust the process here!
<b data-pm-slice=”1 4 []” data-en-clipboard=”true” style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Concept:
A haunted supernatural painting terrorises people who are deceitful but offers redemption if they confess all sins and gain forgiveness from the people they’ve wronged.
<b data-pm-slice=”1 4 []” data-en-clipboard=”true” style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Rad White’s edited HORROR PLOT
<b data-pm-slice=”1 4 []” data-en-clipboard=”true”>ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established
Family goes to a modern art gallery and the mother and father are psychologically and physically tortured by a haunting painting and killed leaving behind two orphaned children
Connect with the characters
Group of friends outside the gallery at a nearby cafe, taking pics of their food, instagramming, TikTokking & messaging everyone, some laughter.
Denial of Horror
They all end up going inside and do some viewing and scope for paintings to throw soup on and that they wont get into any trouble. [DECEPTIVE: LURED INTO THE HORROR]
Safety taken away
The leader somehow disappears and they cant seem to find him and they panic a little stressed
The characters are warned not to do it.
One of the group, the artist warns the friends group that they should just get the hell out because he has a bad feeling about the place.
Monster: The nature of the beast.
The painting appears to look liquid, shimmering, attracting the attention of the group who go over to look and see the dead Mother and Father from the opening scene
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted
The leader is trapped in a paintingthe friends are trapped in the gallery
One of us killed
The Leader is killed and one of the friends at the same time for not forgiving
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought! <<The WOKE FRIENDS ARE THE MONSTERS>>
Full pursuit by the killer
The spirit starts to pull each person into the painting one at a time
Terrorized
Ultimatum given, confessions made, bonds and bridges destroyed bt friends
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death
Forced to watch their friends be physically & emotionally tortured
Hysteria
The friends are hysterical with physical pain and emotional pain
The thrilling escape from death
One friend “accidentally forgives” another
Theyre released from the painting
Death returns to take one or more.
The spirit places one of the friends in a “Force-like” chokehold and demands a confession but doesnt confess and dies
Resolution
The artist and the other friends see the lights change, people in the gallery – returned to normal and leave stunned and broken
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