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Day 4 Assignments
Reply to post your assignments.
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24 Replies
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Alex’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is a new way to think of plot sequences (or tracks) that are specific to the horror genre.
ACT 1
Atmosphere of Evil: We see the last victim in 1972 (Carol). Cut to present day where teens are just as cruel to each other but without the blood and magic.
Connect with Characters: Homecoming week festivities show us who each character is, their status, relationships, wants & fears.
The characters are warned not to do it: Kids are warned not to mess with history in a variety of ways but can’t resist looking cool.
Denial of Horror: Even after finding their principal’s body they don’t assume it’s a paranormal myth–they accuse each other.
Safety taken away: They can’t find the principal’s keys or the phones he confiscated. After three failed attempts to disarm the security system, an advanced lockdown is triggered.
Monster/Nature of the Beast: They split up looking for a way out and mean girl Amanda meets the monster face to face for the first–and last–time.
ACT 2
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted: Split up they’re even easier to isolate and trap. Meanwhile Sam starts a fire to trigger smoke alarms and rescue.
One of Us Killed: While they don’t know Amanda’s fate, Homecoming Queen Megan blames firestarter loser Sam and ultimately get her killed.
MIDPOINT – The Monster is worse than we thought: The Monster revealed to all. They realize he’s taken human form, but possesses superhuman strength and bloodthirst.
Full pursuit by the killer: Kids chased from one end to end of school in pursuit of the library.
Terrorized: They barricade in the school library while monster looks for a way in. Eventually they have to fight him off and escape through the vents, while Megan sacrifices herself.
ACT 3
Fight to the death: Through reading more of their town’s history, the kids discover a way to kill the monster with the help of Jim the Janitor. Then they watch him mutilated but use Jim’s last words to decode security and sprint across campus toward the homecoming dance where Ms Hill will help them uncover the missing relic.
Hysteria: Chased across campus, they run into the bodies of their fallen friends, lose a critical history book along the way, and Ty is axed.
The thrilling escape from death: They’ve almost made it to the big dance when… Ms. Hill appears. Just in time to save the day–or knock them out.
Death returns to take one or more: The kids must take down Ms. Hill and end the curse using her own history lesson, narrowly escaping The Monster.
Resolution: Our final three make it to the dance expecting a gym full of carnage to discover everyone else oblivious. Piercing screams echo and everyone races out to see Ms Hill’s Body tied to the flag pole… But our survivors stay behind for one last dance.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Alex Chew.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Alex Chew.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
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Quincy (Quinn)’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is how much you have to lean into the genre at first. With fiction you are allowed some time before anything really gnarly happens. With film, it’s crank-it-up-to-11 from the get-go. Film is almost like the anti-fiction: state the theme and then establish the characters.
1. Knowing your concept, fill in one or two sentences for each of the plot points.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR<div>
- Atmosphere of Evil established – Meteorite hits and affects the livestock.
- Connect with the characters – Colleen visits the site with the sheriff; Becket treats Mandi, etc…we see them in their normal world
- The characters are warned not to do it. – Colleen talks to people at the grange about the livestock quarantine
- Denial of Horror – no one takes the quarantine seriously; the mayor gives an interview with a nearby news station
- Safety taken away – pets become infected; quarantine was broken
- Monster: The nature of the beast. – First human infected
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
- Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – Cell tower has interference; a barrier has been erected; no one can escape or call out
- One of us killed – Rancher succumbs to the spores
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
- Full pursuit by the killer – Colleen and Becket discover the spores and their source.
- Terrorized – more people are becoming infected and Reverend Paul and his fanatics are starting to take others to be infected, amping up the process; Becket is taken by Reverend Paul’s followers
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
- Fight to the death – The troupe decide (against Colleen’s warnings and Carter’s pleadings) to try to destroy the hive and the infected with it. The Mayor and the sheriff are killed here.
- Hysteria – Becket appears and tells them some people are being converted into a new life form, an alien race. This is how they proliferate throughout the cosmos. The hive has selected Mandi as its queen.
- The thrilling escape from death – Colleen, Mandi, the sheriff, and Carter escape the hive and discover a way through the barrier.
- Death returns to take one or more. – Reverend Paul and his followers appear. They grab Mandi. Colleen holds the zealots off to allow time for Carter to escape. She uses the last bullet to commit suicide.
- Resolution – Carter punches through the barrier only to thousands of more barriers as far as the eye can see. Mandi awakes as the new queen.
</div>
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What I learned is this needs to be fleshed out – character names etc – how I do certain things, but its a start at least.
Act 1
Establish evil
Girl, member of shadow dance troupe and karate black belt, walks home from a party, steps into the shadows is brutally murdered.
Connect With The Characters
Rehearsal for the gig, the girl that died doesn’t show up. Far from being devastated by her death, the producer Is pissed because she’s not at rehearsal. He demands they all continue with the gig or be fired.
The Characters Are Warned Not To Do It
The gig is for a Halloween TV special (maybe ) at an old Victorian theatre. The theatre is meant to be haunted after an actor was killed some years ago. But they go regardless.
Denial Of Horror
The producer assures the cast that they will be totally safe. The first sign of trouble he will stop the production.
Safety Taken Away
None of the cell phones work in the theatre.
Monster: The Nature Of The Beast.
We see glimpses of shadows on walls. Different forms – animals, weapons, etc as though someone is manipulating them. One of the cast steps on s spike. It’s passed off as a natural hazard in an old theatre be the audience know different.
ACT 2
Isolation/ Trapped
Tempers fray and one of the cast quits. But he can’t exit the theatre . All doors are locked. The others are getting exasperated.
One Of Us Is Killed
One of the cast is mutilated.
Mid point- the cast realises they have been purposefully trapped and are about to die
Full pursuit by the killer
The killer takes another life, during a staged position, we see the showdown of an axe tear into a cast member
Terrorised
The lights go out. The killer who we realize is a shadow, cant be seen.
ACT 3
Fight To The Death
The producer and love interest are nearly killed. We learn the love interest was once the killers love interest.
Hysteria
There’s killings in the costume department, the props room, the auditorium, back stage.
The thrilling escape from death
Two of the cast make it out through the fly system and loft onto the roof. Manage to scale the building.
Death returns to take one more
But the killer returns to take one of them out.
Resolution
The remaining cast member puts the shadow in a spotlight? But it’s cloak drops to the ground and there’s nothing there. The cast member has a nervous breakdown. Then a shadow appears.
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Carolyn’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is…I have a few points I need to think about and develop, especially the “denial of horror” and “safety taken away” in the first act. Also, do the plot points in each act need to be in the exact order given to us? Any comments from anyone on that question? Do they need to occur in the exact order in the lesson or can they appear anywhere in that particular act?
Concept: An over anxious reporter checks into a wellness spa and discovers it is being run by cannibals who plump up and eat their clients.
Act 1 – Set up for Horror
Atmosphere of Evil established – Smooth offers a choice to a pair of orphans he has taken in. Eat or be eaten.
Connect with characters – Jess and Nataly Jenkins celebrate Nataly’s 18th birthday.
The characters are warned not to do it – Jess is warned by Dale Kobe not to pursue his sister’s path to Heartly Farm.
Denial of Horror – Jess drinks to numb the news of the coroner’s death while the bartender tells stories of bear attacks.
Safety taken away – Nataly falls in with a suspicious stranger, Gisele, leaving Jess alone.
Monster: The nature of the beast – Wally Bovine is dismembered in his backyard and partially eaten.
Act 2 – The Point of No Return
Isolated / Trapped /Abducted – Jess checks into the wellness retreat which is isolated in the mountains and surrounded by wild ferocious animals. Jess must wear an ankle bracelet to track her movements – for her own safety.
One of us is killed – The Burly Man is seen being chased by a spa employee with a syringe. Jess later finds blood in his room.
One of us is killed – Paisley is knocked out and sent to the slaughterhouse to be hung upside down and drained of her blood.
Midpoint: The Monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer – Jess learns the truth about Heartly farm after looking for Paisley. She is captured and thrown into the dungeon with a rabid cannibal who wants to eat her. She escapes.
Terrorized – Jess escapes, is captured and then released so she can be hunted. She escapes from Smooth only to be pursued by the sheriff who reveals he is also a cannibal working for Smooth.
Act 3 – Full Out Horror
Fight to Death: Jess causes a melee in the main dining room and fights Smooth, searing his face on a Korean BBQ table.
Hysteria: Jess is forced to eat the cooked flesh of her lover, Paisley in order to save her sister, Nataly.
The thrilling escape of death: She escapes again, but then sees Nataly entering the wellness retreat with the suspicious stranger, Gisele, who is really a cannibal. Nataly thinks she’s attending a fancy party when in fact she is the main course. Jess has to return to save her sister.
Death returns to take one or more: Piker and Olga both die at the Deadly Feast. Smooth dies as well. At least we think he does.
Resolution: Gisele takes over the cannibal operation and offers Jess a partnership. Jess is horrified to learn she is now a cannibal and will fight insatiable cravings for human flesh for the rest of her life. She refuses Gisele’s offer, but starts to look at Nataly in a different, more savory way.
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John Garofolo’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that in making a successful horror script, following the conventions of the genre are necessary and helpful in plotting the story.
Act I – Set up for Horror
Atmosphere of Evil: A brutal murder of a young man and woman takes place in Oak Park, Illinois. The murderer escapes. Dissolve to detectives at the crime scene saying they couple was caught having sex and probably killed by a boyfriend (maybe on Halloween)
Connect with the Characters: Oak Park, California, Five years later. A group of young women are getting ready for a nice suburban party. We learn about the characters through their discussion and are aware that there going to a bridal shower and will come back to the house for an after-party.
The characters are warned: We meet the fiancé and learn more about the characters. An old boyfriend shows up and corners the bride-to-be to tell her not to get married. He tells her there’s something off with him.
Denial of Horror: After the Maid of Honor and several of the bridesmaids intervene, the bride-to-be tells him that it’s pretty despicable for him to trash talk her fiancé like that and she tells him to leave.
Safety taken away: The old boyfriend leaves. But before he gets in his car, he sees the groom-to-be glaring at him in a way that gives him the chills. As he drives off, the groom chases after the car, then abruptly stops and goes back to the restaurant and joins his fiancé.
Monster–Nature of the beast: A little later, the old boyfriend has returned to his apartment. There’s a knock at the door. He opens it, recognizes whomever is there and looks surprise/afraid, “ what the hell are you doing here?” The visitor pushes the old boyfriend, steps in the apartment. The sounds of a scuffle are apparent…then silence.
Act 2 – The Point of No Return
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted: The bridal party goes back to the suburban house for the real party to open up the presents not suitable for family to see. We learn more about the dynamics between the characters (of particular importance is the discussion that the groom-to-be was adamant about no sex before marriage). Also, the mother (step-mother) collects all the cell phones to make sure that no evidence of the party gets out and car keys to make sure no one drive while intoxicated.
The groom-to-be shows a up a little later, but brings an expensive bottle of champagne. Everybody’s happy. Probably a little too much drinking. While they’re coherent, they’re definitely impaired. Except for the groom-to-be who is perfectly sober and the mother (step mother) of the bride-to-be who is an obnoxious drunk. The girls convince her it’s finally time for her to go to bed and when she gets into the master bedroom, the groom-to-be comes out of the master bathroom, apologizing profusely.
One of us killed: The mother (step-mother) tells him to stay, then starts seducing the groom-to-be, who tries to politely escape, but she persists and eventually, they end up on the bed, with the groom-to-be on top of her. When she reaches down and comments on his erection, she literally flips a switch and the seduction turns deadly, first he tears at he clothes, paws her and then strangles her to death. The monster is now unleashed.
MIDPOINT
From this point on the monster engages in a cat and mouse game with the victims, who still aren’t aware that anything is wrong. The second victim is killed and hidden and the rest of the partiers are still not aware they’re in danger.
A third victim is killed and they survivors finally realize what’s going on. They go through the house looking for the groom-to-be and, at first, assume he’s dead as well.
They can’t find their cell phones and can’t call 911, the landline doesn’t seem to be working, either. And they find the dead body of the mother (step-mother). They finally know they’re in big trouble.
Act III- Full out Horror
Fight to the death: One of them runs outside to a neighbor’s house. There’s no answer, as she screams and knocks on the door. She knocks again, pleading for help. She’s grabbed from behind and strangled to death. He carries her body across the shared driveway toward the house.
Hysteria: They can’t get out the front door and head toward the slider in the family room, but before they get there, the killer is standing there with the body of the girl he just killed. The four remaining survivors hide inside the house, since they think he can’t get in.
But, he can. And does, finding and killing two bridesmaids. Now, just the bride-to-be and the Maid of Honor are still alive.
The thrilling escape from death: The killer turns off all lights in the house and stalks the remaining two. He finds them and they fight like hell, both taking one hell of a pounding, but finally they get an advantage and one hits him whatever heavy objects they have and the killer goes down.
Death returns to take one or more: They think they’ve won. They limp through the house and take stock the toll. They look for their phones and go back up to the second floor bedroom and continue looking. But, the killer comes from behind and round two of the fight continues. Another one bites the dust. This time the maid of honor and the groom-to-be appear to be dead.
The bride-to-be sobs heavily as she caresses her best friend’s body, holding her tight to her chest.
Resolution: But, then, the groom-to-be, the man she almost married, comes back, grabs her from behind and starts choking her, lifting her off her feet. She struggles to break the hold, throwing elbows, reaching around to grab anything. She’s almost out of air and with one final effort, pokes him in the eye and he releases his grip. She rushes to the side of the bed and reaches for a baseball bat. She grabs it, but he grabs her and pulls her away, and she swings away at him and finally strikes a killing blow.
But, everyone knows that somehow the killer’s not really dead…at least not yet.
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What I learned doing this assignment is: if you follow these basic steps for a horror plot you will be well on your way to a successful horror script.
Mark Hammond: Horror Plot
ACT 1 – – SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of evil established:
It is a rainy Halloween night. A group of thrill seeking young adults are egged on by one of the group to break into the funeral home for some fun.
Connect with the characters:
The group is outside of a gated funeral home. It is suggested that they get in out of the rain. ( CARRIER ) recommends the funeral home.
The characters are warned not to do it:
( The Moral One ) the Nerd… warned them that they would be breaking and entering. ( The Innocent One ) agrees and adds that they would be disturbing the dead.
Denial of horror:
Inside they see a room labeled keep out. (The Carrier) tells the group he’s never going beyond this point. (The Out of Control One) and the Rebel entice the leader to go forward.
Safety taken away:
Once the group enters that door, all of the doors in the funeral home automatically lock, and steel riot shutters cover the windows.
Monster — the nature of the beast:
They hear noise and screaming coming from another room.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted
Realizing that the doors are locked they hesitantly go towards the sound of the screen, hoping someone there can help them.
One of us killed:
The leader tells the group to stay put while he goes to investigate the screams. He never returns!
The monster is worse than we thought:
The group enters a room filled with caskets. One opens and their leader sits up with a large hole in his chest.
Terrorized:
They see the shadow of the monster on the wall coming towards them.
The monster is now after the intruders that are in his house.
ACT 3 FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death:
The rescuer tells everyone to form a circle pick up any kind of instrument they can find to fight off the monster.
Hysteria:
( OUT OF CONTROL / OBNOXIOUS ) and THE ( REBEL / RULE BREAKER ) disagree and run to find an escape.
They run into a room lock the door behind them only to find that the monster is in that room. ( The OUT OF CONTROL / OBNOXIOUS ) CHARACTER PUSHES HER BOYFRIEND INTO THE ARMS OF THE MONSTER, AND HE IS KILLED.
The thrilling escape from death:
( OUT OF CONTROL / OBNOXIOUS ) She finds the group.
( THE CARRIER ) and the remaining are hid in the crematory. Ready to fight off the monster. The ( CARRIER ) charges the monster with a knife stabbing the monster, and allowing the others an scape.
Death returns to take one more:
The ( OUT OF CONTROL / OBNOXIOUS ) character wants out, and tells the rest the monster is dead and it’s safe to leave.
When she comes out the monster kills her. ( in the crematory )
Resolution:
The 24 hours is up and the monster leaves. Only the (MORAL ONE AND THE RESCUER ) SURVIVE.
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Larry Fraller’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that there’s a structure that’s specific to horror conventions. Should hopefully make it easier to draft a script. It gave me an overview to see if I had the right characters and enough of them, and to fill out their roles.
ACT 1 SET UP FOR HORROR
atmosphere of evil established
small chalet near gothic castleconnect with the characters
outdoor dinner welcoming the new couple to the neighborhoodcharacters are warned not to do not ignore the traditions of the neighborhood
represented by the old woman who lives in the castledenial of horror
the couple are skeptical about the old woman’s sanity, and think the others are playing a
trick on them to see how gullible they are because the prince and vineyard keeper are
sophisticated men, as it turns out, so is the old woman who
may or may not be the prince’s grandmother, or even the grand dame of the castle for
which the prince is only a regentThe vegetarian wife is tempted to taste lamb, so as to honor the traditions
Traditions may be old, but that doesn’t make them right.
Safety taken away
the new couple learn that they have to submit all their purchases for the old woman’s
approval to make sure they are not violating any traditions, about which the couple only
gradually learn, which makes them beholden to the old woman and the traditions, even for
water, which they need to take from the creek because the creek runs dry at certain times
of day, with the ebb and flow of the tides that reach all the way up the stream from the
oceanParasites fill the well, it can no longer be used
ACT 2 THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted
Stream overflows and washes out the roads, as it does every year when the snow melts
on the higher mountains, bringing more parasites, larger and more exotic and dangerous,
mysteriously not native to the regionAt nights while her husband sleeps, the wife is called to the castle as nurse to the old
woman (just now made her a nurse so she can also tend to any others and give diagnosis
for the parasites, etc.One of us killed
old woman dies of parasitic invasion and destruction of her flesh because her immune
system is compromised by the new woman’s perfume (old woman kept complaining about
the smell and that no cosmetics were allowed because everything has to be natural…Except she’s not dead, just transformed into her old self as one of the Eumenides,
of whom another comes to this old woman’s funeral which is not a funeral with a casket
but an urn with her ashes, burned to release her spirit without corruption of the flesh by
earthly worms and parasites other parasites.The young couple are held as witnesses until the urn can be interred when the river
retreats and tides return bringing salt water back to the wellPrince falls sick with sorrow from his grandmother’s death, which requires the new wife to
spend more time with him away from her husband while husband sleeps.Wife and prince develop a fondness for each other. He’s appreciative of her kindness,
she’s enamored of his tales of adventure. She has a terrific imagination which her
husband thinks she makes up about the old woman, about whom the wife was suspicious
and even more suspicious of the old woman’s sister who comes to visit for the “funeral”<sub></sub>
MIDPOINT – THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT
Full pursuit by the killer
Larger, more dangerous predators attack or threaten everyone except the vineyard wife
and the sister of the old woman who diedTerrorized
Everyone blames the husband because he does not assimilate and remains skeptical so
he is attacked physically and verbally by the others, including his wife who turns against
him when he accuses her of having an affair with the princeMore predators come after husband, but stop attacking the others because old woman
has potion which even the wife/nurse believes because she’s into homeopathic alternative
herbs and the likeHusband blamed for breaking the traditions
Old woman from the village brings him gift of a tiny exotic fish she claims is to keep the
evil spirits away.Prince and vineyard supervisor are killed by a wolf when they’re tending to the sheep
Wife comes home with the bad news about the prince
ACT 3 FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death
spiders and bees and snakes and vultures are everywhere in the house when husband
wakes upHusband is in danger of death. Wife administers first aid and potions she got from old
woman in the village earlierBut potion causes the river to rise, flooding the house.
Hysteria
They are trapped in the house as water rises, they have to go up to the loft but can’t open
the dormer windows that are sealed shutThrilling escape from death
He’s trapped in the last gasp of air. She drowns.
The waters begin to recede
Death returns to take one or more
water stops receding when the wife’s body floats into a space that blocks the
water’s retreat.Piranhas (the exotic fish) get free and are about to attack him. He has to use his wife’s
body as food for the piranhas to keep them from getting at him.Resolution
The water recedes. Piranhas die.
Eumenides reunited and are satisfied…for now.
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Wayne’s Horror plot.
I learned to put the bones of an idea onto a framework.
ACT 1
Atmosphere of Evil established: Surveillance footage of agent death. <div>
Connect with characters: Task force is watching. Sizing up the team.
Denial of Horror: Ollie reads from CIA manual. “Exude confidence.” I will delegate that if anybody is feeling confidant. No? Didn’t think so. Good news. She took the bait. Bad news. She seems to have eaten him.
Safety taken away: An army couldn’t save him and kill the bad guy. It’s our turn to try.
The characters are warned not to do it: I hereby warn each of you not to take this mission. You have this opportunity to resign.
Monster – The nature of the beast: How did the Monster get in, get out, where is the body? We are not safe. After some arguing they are in.
ACT 2
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: A frightened task force challenges the Monster by building a trap, sealing it with them and their arsenal inside. </div><div>
One of us killed: Brad and Ollie slip away and spark lust. Abby’s instruments detect the presence of the Monster. Ollie’s Monster kills Michael.
MIDPOINT – The monster is worse than we thought: Ollie wants to abort the mission. Jack pulls rank.
Abby declares she can kill the monster, she knows what it is. They all can sense the presence, especially Ollie. Some suspect Ollie as having info not shared.
ACT 3
Full pursuit by the killer: Monster attack. </div>
Fight to the death: Abby detects, then tracks, disempowers, then kills the Monster.
The thrilling escape from death: Whew. We’re safe.
Hysteria: Ollie is becoming the Monster.
Death returns to take one or more: She kills Jack.
Resolution: Is it attacking Ollie? Abby finishes killing Ollie. The Monster is Ollie!
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Jennifer’s Horror Plot
I learned that we have excellent tools and a framework to use to create a horror film that will delight and terrify my audience.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
*Atmosphere
of Evil established – A killing takes place in the
desert and killers say that the desert’s predators will dispose of the
body
*Connect
with the characters – Family packs up the RV for
camping trip, Leya packing books, kids’ bedtime, Mom (Kendria) prepping
food, watching news
*The
characters are warned not to do it. – Weather forecast
shows severe storms
*Denial
of Horror – Husband (Richard) says storms will
be miles away
*Safety
taken away – Once out in the desert the RV
breaks down
*Monster:
The nature of the beast – Vultures are circling, diving, and devouring a
bodyACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
<div>*Isolated
/ Trapped / Abducted – The killers show up at the
family’s campsite, shoot rattler, hysterical screams from Frank from the
darkness
</div><div>*One
of us killed – A pack of coyotes run through and
snatch the family’s little dog</div>
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
<div>*Full
pursuit by the killer – Deadly desert creatures (in
seemingly orchestrated gangs) terrorize the family: Tarantulas, scorpions,
bats, rattlesnakes, bobcats, coyotes, etc.
</div><div>*Terrorized
– As soon as one enemy moves on, another takes its place</div>
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
<div>*Fight
to the death – Family is separated, scattered –
all left alone to face their attackers
Hysteria
– Each family member can hear the terrified screams of the others
</div><div>*The
thrilling escape from death – Frank falls down
into an abandoned mine shaft, Kendria takes refuge in a creepy,
dilapidated old shack, Richard finds Leya back at the RV</div>
*Death
returns to take one or more – Leya turns on Richard.
He runs, loses shoe in quicksand, steps in cactus, Leya and her army of
predators destroy him
*Resolution
– As dawn breaks a rescue crew arrives to find innocent
Leya miraculously unharmed, Kendria emerges from the shack, Frank is found
and retrieved from the mine shaft-
This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Jennifer Snodgrass.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
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Douglas’ Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment was that I might have too many characters doing too many things and an edit is in need.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: Dr Xeno is awoken at 1AM with a knock at his door, it’s the sheriff with a bloodied man holding a rag over his eye. The eye is dislodged and Xeno has to amputate it, he asks to keep the eye for studying purposes the man agrees, and thanks the Dr. After they leave he puts the eye in a jar and stares at it.
Connect with the characters: The sleepy mountain town of Big Bear is disconnected from the major city that borders it. The sheriff drives up to a group of teens hanging out near the town square, she beckons two of them over to her, her son and Xeno’s son Stuart, she is looking for Daniella the local troublemaker and current foster kid of the local bleeding heart. Daniella is at the coffee shop watching a little boy use his glasses to try and burn ants.
The characters are warned not to do it: She tells him it doesn’t work that way and he’s gonna mess up his glasses. He ignores her and drops the glasses scratching them. Dr. Xeno sees this and stands over the boy creating a shadow, he tells him to take better care of his eyesore, the boy is flippant. Xeno says he should take care of the eyes he has or he could lose them. Daniella finds his tone scary and off putting, he turns to her and tells her she needs to come by for an exam and to tell her guardian to make an appointment. Xeno stares at her eyes for an uncomfortably long time.Denial of Horror: Daniella tells the sheriff that Xeno is a creep and was threatening the boy. The sheriff tells her to stop causing trouble and that Xeno is a respected member of the community and that she is a delinquent that should just run away when the time comes. The son of the sheriff and Stuart make their way to Daniella, it’s obvious the boys like her but she is uninterested. She asks Stuart about his dad and why he is so creepy, he shies away and says his dad has been that way since his mom’s accident.
Safety taken away: Stuart heads home, he says hi to his mom that is silent and is staring off into space. Stuart heads to see his dad and finds that he is with a patient. He sees the eye in the container and looks concerned, Xeno tells him it was a donation and to put it with the others. Stuart picks up the eye and takes it to a room in the back that contains a wall of eyes in containers. Daniella heads home and she is met with a smack by her foster mother and quoted bible verses. Her foster father comes in and escorts Daniella away to a her room and told to read the Bible before doing homework. He apologizes for his wife’s discretion and asks for her not to tell. She agrees and waits until he leaves to throw the Bible on the ground and do her homework.
Monster: The nature of the beast: Dr. Xeno is at the free clinic he runs in the city, Dr Johnson meets him as he walks in, there are many people there for eye exams. Xeno is all smiles, he sees a child and smiles until his eye shakes and they child is frightened, he blinks and says everything is alright that it was the result of an accident when he was young. In the middle of seeing patients a pair of detectives walks in, they ask questions of Dr. Johnson and if Xeno would mind looking at some photos. He does and the photos are of some people with their eyes missing, “surgically removed.” He tells the detectives he is not an eye surgeon but a basic optometrist. They thought he was one he says no that was his wife but she doesn’t practice any longer and that she is no use as she is catatonic. The dead people all had visited his clinic in the past year. The detectives don’t like his demeanor Marcus thinks it doesn’t add up, Smith says to leave it alone and that it’s more like a coincidence.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Back in Big Bear Daniella is brought to get her eyes checked, the boy from earlier is there as well. During the boys exam he freaks out about Xeno’s eye shake, Xeno turns up the pressure on the air puff machine and ends up damaging the boys’ eye. He tells the mom that her son messed with the machine, she doesn’t question it, Daniella witnessed the whole thing but is dismissed by the mother when she sticks up for the kid. During her exam Xeno notices that Daniella has perfect eye shape, and 20/20 vision. He asks if she is alone, luckily her foster mom is there and makes a scene. The Detectives investigate Xeno.
One of us killed: He sees the foster mom’s thick glasses and asks her to come back for an exam, free of charge, she agrees. She comes back that night and brings Daniella, who is creeped out but Stuart shows up and takes her upstairs. She meets his mom, who just sits and stares out a window, she can’t see her eyes. Stuart professes his love but she ignores him and then she finds the eye room. Xeno tells the foster mom that she did not take care of her glasses correctly and has neglected her eye health for years. Daniella is so creeped out she leaves, Stuart follows. Xeno knowing that he is alone with her, straps her to the chair and proceeds to dilate her eyes to the point of blindness. He turns on an old tutorial of how to remove an eye and proceeds to remove both her eyes and plop them into jars. They are still dilated, he finishes her off and sits in silence.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: When the foster mom doesn’t show up at home the next day, Daniella tells the foster dad where they were and they call the sheriff. Daniella tells them about the eye room the sheriff does not care and Xeno tells the sheriff that the foster mom left in a state and does’t know where she went. They ask to see the security footage but none exists. Xeno explains the eye room and how it’s for research.
Terrorized: Xeno goes to the city and brings home a vagrant with two colored eyes. Danellia gets the sheriff’s son to come with her to spy on Xeno. They see him bring the vagrant down to the cellar through a different door than the practice. They follow, and watch as he kills the vagrant. They run away and tell the sheriff, she goes to check it out. Xeno takes her to the body and kills the sheriff in front of her son.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Xeno knocks out the son and straps Daniella in to the chair. Stuart comes downstairs and sees what is going on. He helps Daniella escape but is too late for the sheriff’s son. They run to her foster house and tell the foster dad what is up. He tells them to stay there and that he is going to have a word with the Dr Xeno. Dr Johnson calls the detectives and tells them that Xeno’s wife was a great eye surgeon but hasn’t practiced since a career ending accident. She also says he hasn’t been at the clinic in a week and hasn’t heard from the sheriff.
Hysteria: The kids watch in abject horror as Dr. Xeno appears at the end of the street under a light. They plead and cry for him not to meet Xeno. Xeno calmly explains to the foster dad that his son is delusional and Daniella has eyes that he needs for his wife and to let him have them. Xeno quickly kills the foster dad and makes his way to his son.
The thrilling escape from death: Stuart runs up to his dad and punches him, he tells Daniella that they have to rescue his mom, so they head back to his house.
Death returns to take one or more: Xeno rushes back to the house, and runs into the detective, they fight and detective is left for dead. The kids can’t get out of the house Stuart fights with his dad stabbing him. Xeno in reaction throws Stuart down the stairs to the cellar breaking his neck. Daniella is forced to head to the cellar only to find Stuart dead. Xeno heads down slowly, while Daniella finds his wife. She pulls back the wife’s hair only to see two grey cloudy eyes. She is blind, she grabs Daniella and forces her into the chair and straps her in.Resolution: With Daniella in the chair they prep her for surgery and the wife tells her husband to get the surgery done fast. Daniella screams as she falls asleep. Gunshots are heard and a thud. Daniella hears the wife say, never mind his eyes will do. She wakes up in the hospital three weeks later and Detective Smith is there and asks what happened. Daniella says Xeno and his wife are responsible. Smith says the house was burned up and they believe both were inside the house and she was the only one outside the house with minor injuries. Smith leaves barely making eye contact with the nurse that has an eye patch. Daniella sees the nurse’s face but it’s too late, she screams as the nurse is Xeno’s wife, she puts her to sleep saying, “only one took, so we still need another.”
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Anthony Ward Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is the different plot points to a horror film. I had no idea what they were but now I have a better understanding.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: We get a since that something’s quite not right when the young adults read newspaper articles about the deceased owner of the house they are in.
Connect with the characters: The characters are just young adults looking to have a good time at a Memorial Day party.
The characters are warned not to do it.:Before they get in the boat they are warned to come in early because a big storm is coming.
Denial of Horror: Joey convinces the group they can spend the night at the mansion so the storm will not be an issue.
Safety taken away: They are no longer safe when they ignore the storm warning and when they summon the ghost.
Monster: The nature of the beast.:Katie bring horror to the group when she summons the spirit.ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted : The party goers are not trapped in the house but are trapped in the island due to the storm. They try to hide in the house and find ways to defend themselves but the monster is made of burnt ashes.
One of us killed: One by one they are hunted and killed.MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: They are told by Katie that she can reverse the spell but this does not prove to be true. Just when they think the spell is reversed they find out they the monster can divide himself and attack multiple ways.
Terrorized: It now becomes a game of survival. The question comes do they work together to stay alive or is it every person for themself?ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Not only is the group fighting the monster they end up fighting with each other. They have to try to come up with a way to beat it.
Hysteria: They think the solution is to run outside in the rain but they quickly find out that the remains of the buried dogs and cats have come back to life to attack and they are not made of ash.
The thrilling escape from death: The realize when Katie died that the new spell refills the cats and dogs. Now the only threat is the ghost of Errol Brennon.
Death returns to take one or more. Matt and Jessica are the last two alive. They shake hands and agree to help each other. Matt tricks her and decides to sacrifice himself so she can make it to safety. The storm has passed but she needs to learn how to drive the boat because the monster has used the ones he killed to assist him and hunting Jessica.
Resolution: Jessica must return to the house and burn it down and all the ashes will be lost in the fire and all spells will be broken. -
Carmen’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that my plot revealed through the characters and their actions made this assignment not as daunting as I first thought. I liked figuring out how it would play out and came up with an ending I had not anticipated! It was exciting to get this first outline completed.
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: The first scene – Don Bruno Salvatore is making a pact with the Devil. The former Don and his family are wiped out to make room for the new Don. Urban Legend of sorts in Italian Lore
Connect with the characters: Don Salvatore is shown as a loving husband and father. He puts family first, his nephew, Fredo is his right-hand man
The characters are warned not to do it: Fredo’s cousin on his mother’s side, Luca Costa – tells him after Fredo shoots the Don not to disturb the grave – it is bad juju. Tells him a story his mother told him about the Devil and the Mob
Denial of Horror: Bianca doesn’t believe the Don can come back, she convinces Fredo to continue running the family.
Safety taken away: The Don comes back, he is supernatural – he has no boundaries.
Monster: The nature of the beast: – The Don kills Fredo’s oldest son – showing no one is off-limits. But it takes time in between kills to regenerate again.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Leonardo discovers who and why the Don is after the bloodline. He is drawn into the scenario – he was not part of the “family business”
One of us killed: Cecilia is killed – gruesome and personal
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: The ghost Don kills women and children – anyone in the bloodline.
Terrorized: He stalks and plays with his victims – until he delivers the final blow! Always gruesome
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Fredo tries to go up against the Don – and he loses. Leonardo tries to appeal to his human side.
Hysteria: Leonardo and Bianca discover that the Don killed children in the family
The thrilling escape from death – Leonardo makes a deal with the Don to continue his work for the Devil. To let him Rest in Peace.
Death returns to take one or more – Luca thinks he is safe because he is not part of the Salvatore bloodline – but he is wrong – he is a conspirator and the Don executes the knarly kill!
Resolution – Leonardo takes over for the Don, making his own deal with the Devil and continuing as the next Don with his own power and money with Bianca at his side.
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Toby Watts’ Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that there are very useful structural beats to hit in an intelligent high concept horror screenplay and that there very high stakes and levels of terror throughout.
Concept for BELOW GROUND: A wealthy family retreat into their half-built underground bunker after a surprise vigilante attack on them in the night, only to find they have no way back out again and worse: someone — or something — is down there already.
ACT 1 – SETUP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of evil established: The sleeping family are mobbed by vigilantes trying to break in in the middle of the night. Flaming torches, bricks through windows, angry people in face masks threaten them outside the house.
Connect with the characters: The father runs around the house waking everyone up and we meet his family. Their reactions reveal something about who they are as they all rush towards the underground bunker for safety.
The characters are warned not to do it: Just before they lock the door to the bunker, the father and mother argue about whether to do this. There are barely any supplies down there, it’s unfinished, they could be trapped for days, weeks. But they decide to do it.
Denial of horror: Once inside, the family begin to relax and think they’ll be okay. They’re safe. The father has done well to create this bunker to protect them.
Safety taken away: A disfigured stranger collapses through a vent into their bunker, terrifying them all. This strange unconscious man is trapped in there with them!
Monster: the nature of the beast: The stranger animates to life and attacks them when they get within a metre of him. It’s a close call with some grappling and struggling, but they’re all okay…
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Except the daughter is not okay. She starts having an asthma attack caused by all the struggle and shock, and her only inhaler is back above ground in the house. They plan to force the maid to go and get it, but the son finally decides to bravely go in her place.
One of us killed: The son returns with the inhaler but gets captured and beaten — possibly killed — just outside the bunker door. The family inside the bunker watch him get dragged away, covered in his own blood.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: They try to move the stranger’s body but keep waking him up by coming too close to him and he nearly kills one of them.
Terrorized: They unwittingly chain him to a radiator where he absorbs the heat, which brings him to life (due to a human-machine hybrid modification), and he gains strength, breaks away and chases them all down, trying to get to the father.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: The father grapples and fights with the stranger, until eventually he remains up close to him, keeping the stranger alive long enough to talk with the father. He explains he is like this because of the father’s heat exchange technology that has been put in him. He wants the father to fix him so he doesn’t work like this.
Hysteria: The family see the son tied up outside the bunker door. The vigilantes are beginning to torture him until they open the door. The father changes the stranger’s code via a terminal in the back of his head, and the stranger can live without the heat from humans or elsewhere now. In return the stranger vows to help save the father’s son. The vigilantes begin to break in via the vent above the bunker too.
The thrilling escape from death: The stranger kills all the vigilantes in the corridor outside the bunker and rescues the son. The family fight off the vigilantes in the bunker. It looks like they’ll all escape safely.
Death returns to take one or more: But the father secretly programmed the stranger to melt down again, not knowing he’d save his son. The stranger begins to realise what’s happening to him, and comes back for revenge on the father once more, with the family all trapped in the bunker. After a tense cat and mouse game in the bunker, the son finally shoots the stranger and kills him.
Resolution: The family emerge into their trashed house. Somehow, they’re all still alive and in one piece. But there’s a banging on the bunker door. Is the stranger still alive??
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George’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is the structure is very satisfying!
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil Established: Alien landing craft sets down on mountain.
Connect with the characters: scientists and support staff interact; mountain climbers<div>Denial of Horror: a. mountain climbers hear something and deny</div><div>Safety taken away: they are ruthlessly attacked at night: girl falls and escapes; worker finds her on road; another attack: total dismemberment</div><div> characters are warned not to do it: Police tell them to leave observatory</div><div>
· Monster: The nature of the beast: police officers in search killed
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted:
Scientists, workers, two cops, a fireman, a police dog. Only road blocked.
One of us killed: analyst
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: he fights them and starts breaking into observatoryTerrorized:
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death:he breaks in and kills them one by one<div>Hysteria: one falls off mountain thrilling escape from death: mountain climber girl helps leader<div><div>Death returns to take one or more. The complainer<div>Resolution: leader sacrifices himself to stop monster
</div></div></div></div></div> -
Paige’s Horror Plot
What I’ve learned: Good to learn the conventions, but right now it’s feeling really cliché. Looking forward to adding more layers and making this better.
ACT 1
Atmosphere of evil: We see an alleged 36-year-old man withering away like a living mummified corpse in an overflowing ER of an Atlanta hospital. Cause: unknown. In fear and anger, he bites off one of the nurse’s ears.
Connect with characters: Both Dr. Sela Ford and Joshua Ford, a CDC contact tracer, are no strangers to loss or death, but it’s the loss of their 8-year-old daughter that has taken a toll on their relationship. Despite that, Sela reaches out to Joshua about a half dozen unusual cases from around the state that share the same odd symptoms, and deaths. Ask Joshua to connect their origins. All seem to have originated from a remote southern town/region.
The characters are warned not to do it: Neither have the time or resources to properly investigate, but the death of the original patient and his death utterance give a clue and warn of the danger. (Scene of the overflowing refrigerator units storing dead bodies.)
Denial of horror: It’s everyone else who denies there is anything to this “pattern.” Sela and Joshua decide to investigate on their own over a weekend. (All the above should be done in first 10 pages.)
Safety taken away: We see a delivery man in a big rig suddenly take ill from the mystery illness and visibly start to wither as he drives up the main town road. He passes out and the truck goes up the sidewalk and crashes into Sela’s and Joshua’s car, destroying it. Sela and Joshua try to pull the driver out, but the truck explodes. (The delivery man was delivering furniture to the renovations of the plantation.)
Monster / The nature of the beast: The trail/clues lead to the plantation that is being renovated to be a Finishing School for Fine Young Girls, where Sela and Joshua pose as a happy couple with a growing young girl who may be a right fit for their school. We get a glimpse of a victim in the plantation’s underground. The women convince Sela and Joshua to stay for the night. They are at Ground Zero.
ACT 2
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: The “seducer” lures Joshua away leaving Sela alone with the “matron”. But where the “seducer” fails to keep Joshua’s interest, it is the “caretaker” who lures Joshua into an altered state.
One of us is killed: The black contractor, the moral one, is killed here.
MIDPOINT — The monster is worse than we thought: Sela witnesses the killing and the creature in full glory. She wants to get the heck out of there, but she can’t leave without her husband.
Full pursuit by the killer: The “seducer” chases her.
Terrorized: The monsters terrorize her and Joshua. We see the monsters’ powers. (Example: regeneration after hit with nails from a nail gun). Scaffolding pins monster. Decapitates her with fire axe.
ACT 3 – Sela comes across the nest eggs in basement and realizes there is even more to this. Comes to grips that these are creatures and not humans.
Fight to the death: Sela and Joshua are nearly killed.
Hysteria: Sela thinks she sees her deceased daughter.
The thrilling escape from death: Need a ticking clock? Face-off with “caretaker”.
Death returns to take one or more: Final face-off with “matron” and Joshua attempts to destroy the nest of eggs, but Sela “sees” something different: her daughter in jeopardy and she fights off Joshua and he gets killed – accidently or deliberately?
Resolution: Sela drives away with three of the spawn, one of whom looks like her deceased daughter. But we see in the final moment when she looks at her own daughter, she really sees the alien child and that Sela has been glamoured. Takes her daughter’s hand and says, “This is going to be fun,” as they drive back towards downtown Atlanta.
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Jason Lassen Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is… the importance of the kills, when they come and who they are.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: Drone shot over a vast forest. A storage unit facility is revealed to be in the middle of nowhere.
Connect with the characters: All the characters are standing outside waiting to get into the facility. This is where they realize they all have things in common.
The characters are warned not to do it: The Toy Keeper warns them to be out by 6 pm and a reminder to turn on the lights in the halls every 30 minutes.
Denial of Horror: They all just shrug off the warning. Safety taken away: The lights go out and one character scares another.
Monster: The nature of the beast: Toby hears the voices of the children.<div>
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: It passes 6 pm, the lights go out once again, they all hear the sound of the main metal spooling door closing. They are now trapped in the facility.
One of us killed: The lead singer of Sloppy Joe stops mid-song because he can’t concentrate due to the voices of the children in his ears. He proceeds to kill the drummer with a bunch of drumsticks and makes him look like a pincushion. The other band members run.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer: Toby kills her two employees.
Terrorized: Some of our characters are now hearing the voices of children louder and more frequently making them act more violent.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: The deaths start to pile up.
Hysteria: The people who don’t hear children are running from their aggressors and trying to find a way out.
The thrilling escape from death: Some of the people start defending themselves and attacking the aggressors.
Death returns to take one or more: Heather has to kill Toby, who we thought was killed by the rockstar.
Resolution: Heather runs out the main door, thinking she’s safe and as she looks up into the blue sky only to see a harpoon come out of her chest, open up, and pull her back into the facility. The door closes and we hear the Toy Keeper laughing.
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Charles Ferrell’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is some of the rhythm hidden within plot that is not so random.
Act 1 – Set Up for Horror
Atmosphere of Evil established – emergency radio announcement of active serial killer
Connect with the characters – character names, connections amongst them, personalities and tension are revealed through interactions.
The characters are warned not to do it. – radio broadcast warning and tension within the group, literal blood in the water near the ship ignored.
Denial of Horror – ignored public warning, denial of odd circumstances surrounding the cargo ship and its largely missing crew.
Safety taken away – beyond cell connectivity, lost within an enormous ship, out to sea in international waters
Monster: The nature of the beast – slowly clues and evidence of demise of previous victims are discovered.
Act 2 – The Point Of No Return
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – Boat which is the only means of escape is lost, trapped and pursued inside a giant maze of a ship.
One of us killed – Jimmy the group leader and risk taker is killed
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought
Full pursuit by the killer – Weary of the runaways inadequate killing skills Scribbles directly engages in the fight, due to violent contact, sweat her makeup gives way along with her desire to maintain a façade and the monster is revealed.
Terrorized – the full chase ensues, amid spilled cargo, giant containers shifting with the ship moving and listing to one side.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death – Eric is able to turn one runaway,
Hysteria – ship has struck an oil rig and is taking on water, with a killer engaged they fight death from two fronts drowning or murder.
The thrilling escape from death: Eric and aurie make their way top side and begin to climb across cargo and up the oil rig off of the ship. The crew of the oil rig has assembled above and begins efforts to help.
Death returns to take one or more. Chris close behind Eric, turns the face the monster head on, giving Eric and Aurie a chance and dies before their eyes as the ships sinks
Resolution eric and aurie make it to safety, the ship sinks and apparently the monster with it. Leaving eric with a irony of being the sole survivor of his friends, the one who has a reason to die now has a reason to live.
Final scene is partial sunlight inside a shipping container, striking the tattooed head of the monster and the door quickly closes on the container. Camera pans out to a moving cargo ship headed out to sea.
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Mark Dotz
Horror Plot
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established – Opening Scene has the Vanderlip mother kill the boys girlfriends by poisoning them. She claims all they wanted was her money.
Connect with the characters <div>– The 5 kids are in the car
driving crazy. The driver says I got the door code to the mansion gates and I’m taking us to
the top of the hill to the haunted Vanderlip home.
The characters are warned not to do it.– Sarah warns/mumbles that they shouldn’t go.
Denial of Horror – Mitch acts like nothing is going to
hurt them and pretends to be electrocuted by the fence.
Safety taken away– The gate is locked behind them when
they sneak in.
Monster: The nature of the beast.– They see the “ghost” in the windows and then Mitch runs back and is shocked and killed by the
electric fence.<div>
ACT 2 — THE
POINT OF NO RETURNIsolated / Trapped / Abducted
– The gate is locked
around them and now they know it is electrified. Sarah thinks they should go to house and ask for help or for them to open the fence.One of us killed– Mitch is killed by the electric fence
Then they enter the house and have to solve the piano
puzzle, they must play the song perfectly according to a note left in the house, but Brad plays it wrong and his head is
sliced off.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>MIDPOINT:
The monster is worse than we thought!Full pursuit by the killer – Trapped in the house they
are hunted by the boys who hide in the walls.Terrorized – They laugh from behind the walls and give
them more life or death puzzles to do.ACT 3 —
FULL OUT HORRORHysteria – Shannon has had enough and grabs one of the boys using hi to draw out the old lady. The three girls are left fighting. Sarah is killed when she opens a wrong door and is crushed. Cameron sacrifices herself by getting in the way of the mother’s dogs who all fall into the pit.
Fight to the death – The old lady reveals she has an electric shocking device that could kill Shannon. Surprisingly, Sarah is still Alive and cuts the power/ Shannon then attacks the old lady and stabs her.
The thrilling escape from death – Shannon and Sarah escape with
her life as the boys stay in the mansion. </div>Death returns to take one or more. – When we think the
mom is dead she is not and she grabs the injured Sarah who pulls both of them off the house and to their death.Resolution – Sun rises and the house returns to an old
dilapidated home where Shannon walks away.</div>
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Jeff Hall’s Horror Plot
LESSON 4
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established – Old damaged house with dead body inside.
Connect with the characters – Family moves into house, hard work, kids at play.
The characters are warned not to do it. – Neighbor warns around paranormal activity.
Denial of Horror – Parents, Ada and Rob reassure that there are no such things as ghosts
Safety taken away – something is in there new home
Monster: The nature of the beast. An entity is disturbing them and destroying their home.. and something has scratching/injuring the kids.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – new home, no money, can not move or stay elsewhere.
One of us killed. Rod is serious injured.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer – Feral woman crashes out of the ceiling.
Terrorized – A Paranormal Investigater is found dead.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death – She attacks Rob and several Paranormal Investigaters.
Hysteria – Blood, screams, back door blocked by debri, She blocks front. Kids hide in bedroom.
The thrilling escape from death – Rob and other PI’s is left gravely injured.
Death returns to take one or more. She grabs another PI and drags him into the attic. Lynn disappears.
Resolution – Zoey gets through to the Feral Woman’s layer and saves Lynn.
2. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
The victims need to be isolated. Or do they?? Other “haunted” movies do not have isolated houses.
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Larry Fraller’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that there’s a structure that’s specific to horror conventions. Should hopefully make it easier to draft a script. It gave me an overview to see if I had the right characters and enough of them, and to fill out their roles. Still rather unsure of the outline.
SET UP FOR HORROR
PROLOGUE
ATMOSPHERE OF EVIL ESTABLISHED
Three Eumenides stir the water of a pond (like McBeth’s three witches, and Aeschylus’ Eumenides)
Alecto, (ALESSA)
Megaera, (MEGARETTA)
Tisiphone (STEPHATTA)
Torture and foul consequences of guilty conscience
Wolf drags dead lamb to the Three Eumenides
They eat the lamb raw (lamb as soul of vegetarian with a taste for meat)
ACT 1 CONNECT WITH THE CHARACTERS
LORETTE paints a romantic picture. Talks to herself, her Disney like fantasy (I’ve considered her painting comes to life, but too weird even for me)
CHAMBERS hoes garden, answers her as if she’s talking to him.
ALESSA welcomes them with a gift, warns they can smell but not touch the roses. Follow traditions, but doesn’t say how, one has to experience them. He’s already picked a rose for Lorette. Neither tell this to Alessa, but she seems to know without saying. It’s in her eyes, the way she looks at Lorette, not at how she looks at Chambers.
Denial of Terror
Chambers says Alessa makes no sense.
Lorette’s seen lots of witches (Disney), but prince always wins with good over evil.
INCITING INCIDENT
Safety taken away
VINTNER invites them to outdoor feast. Warns to taste everything, but finish none.
Chambers doesn’t understand that it’s a warning. Lorette says watch what others do.
LORETTE is vegetarian. She smell of lamb, she tastes it and likes it, but it makes her sick..
Monster: The nature of the beast.
Lorette first refuses lamb, but sees darkness in MEGARETTA and feels cold draft.
Lorette develops high fever she attributes to cold draft.
Chambers says her imagination is overactive about Megaretta, He didn’t feel cold draft.
Chambers attacked by swarms of gnats that irritate his eyes and his nerves.
Alessa brings herb to alleviate the fever
ACT 1 TURNING POINT AND TWIST
Herb puts Lorette to sleep
She dreams Chambers is evil, keeps her in dungeon so he can keep her to himself. In dream, he’s a demon, same darkness in Megaretta, eyes try to poison her soul
ACT 2 POINT OF NO RETURN (HORROR EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES)
Their well water turns foul with parasites. So they take water from the creek
One of the servant girls offers to carry water for them because has secrets she wants to tell them and warn them about, but when she doesn’t return, they find her body at edge of creek, rotting with worms consuming her.
The river is now contaminated downstream from her death so they have to get their water from upstream which is contained by cliffs and sharp rocks.
MEGARETTA determines the girl died from terror that stole her soul.
ALESSA blames LORETTE and CHAMBERS for not retrieving their own water from the river. The young couple explain that it was the Vintner who sent the girl as a gift from him to save them the labor and as a gift for secretly purchasing his wine (SUBTEXT)
Bees take over the vines while the VINTNER’s wife is picking grapes. She’s stung mercilessly but survives by a potion which her husband keeps on hand for that very reason.
When a barrel is tapped for MEGARETTA, it has bees in it and they sting her from the inside.
Isolated/Trapped/Abducted
Creek overflows and washes out the roads, bringing more parasites, larger and more
exotic and dangerous, mysteriously not native to the region
One of us killed
Megaretta dies of from bee stings and destruction of her flesh because her
immune system is compromised by CHAMBERS’ hair gel (Megaretta kept
complaining about the smell and that no cosmetics were allowed because
everything has to be natural…)
ACT 2 MIDPONT – MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT
Full pursuit by the killer
Megaretta’s younger sister STEPHATTA comes to replace her. She’s elegant and done up heavily with cosmetics so she’s seen as a regal beauty, ageless, but LORETTE sees her as ugly for being entirely unnatural.
Stephatta wants revenge for her sister’s death (secretly SUBTEXT for Lorette acquiring a taste for meat) and lets everyone know it, blaming LORETTE and CHAMBERS as outsiders.
But they claim STEPHATTA is also an outsider, which brings out another SUBTEXT that she is the rightful heir to the domain, and had been passed over by her father because of her wanton ways in the city.
ACT 2 CONTINUED
Terrorized
Stephatta has a rather large entourage of exotic gypsy type singers and dancers who entertain into the wee hours of the morning.
They beat PRINCE OSSIMON, and we learn that as his SUBTEXT, he likes S&M, which had been forbidden by MEGARETTA.
Orgies of pain and torture of the younger servants. They are forced to whip OSSIMON and one another.
STEPHATTA insists that one of them die every night until the person guilty of killing MEGARETTA is revealed.
Servants are tortured with spiders and snakes, which kill them slowly.
Larger, more dangerous predators from the river attack Chambers and Lorette
Alessa brings them a tiny exotic fish she claims is to keep the evil spirits away.
LORETTE is drawn to the orgies of sex, as a liberated woman unsatisfied by CHAMBERS. To save his marriage (and her inheritance) he agrees to let her go, though it tortures him to hear from her what she experiences. She enjoys torturing him with his sexual failures as less than a man.
ALESSA hears of his troubles and brings him a remedy. When she leaves, he’s pinned inside his house by wolves. The smell of rotten meat fills the air, choking him.
When he opens a window, wolves come in, which he kills with kitchen knives until there are too many of them, and he takes down an ancient sword from the mantle which he’s never to touch because it belongs to the house, and the people from whom they bought the house.
With the sword he disembowels several wolves.
At dawn, the wolves leave when LORETTE returns from her night at the orgies.
She describes OSSIMON’s sexual endowment and her having to watch, but not touch.
The gypsy women bathe her in rose petals, caressing her to near orgasm, then leave her to OSSIMON who ties her to a post and pours freezing water over her in the tub.
Lorette almost drowns.
Prince lets her escape as the sun’s coming up.
She hears screams as she looks for her clothing. Goes back into the bathroom, sees a naked woman in the tub being pecked to death by ravens in boiling water.
Torrential rains turn the path home to mud. Weird animal cries all around her. She almost drowns in the mud. Vultures circle overhead.
ACT 2 END TWIST
She tells CHAMBERS only about her excitement in the tub. They make passionate love. And fall asleep around midmorning, with the flood rising<sub></sub>
ACT 3 FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death
River rises to a flood.
Bodies float by. Some still alive and pulled underwater, blood spewing into the flood around them. Vultures pick at the corpses.
Hysteria
Vultures watch LORETTE with knowing eyes. She says they’re trying to hypnotize her. She takes up the sword CHAMBERS had used to slaughter the wolves, swings it wildly at demons only she can see. Almost chops off his foot. CHAMBERS thinks she’s going crazy and opens the basement to lock her in.
Rats escape from the basement.
Flood seeps into the house.
Thrilling escape from death
Large fish consume the rats, which squeal and roar as they die.
The water turns bloody.
The herbs that ALESSA gave to CHAMBERS warms the waters to bath temperature, then warmer. CHAMBERS and LORETTE flee up the stairs as the water chases them higher.
Death returns to take one or more
Worms and snakes and rats attack them. LORETTE goes mad. Tries to swim.
Chambers can’t catch her. He goes higher. High as he can go to the rafter in the loft.
LORETTE’S body floats to him. Her eyes open, peer into him as if she’s alive. He feels himself start to faint from the hot water. Hallucinates visions of piranhas swimming towards him.
Resolution
Chambers uses LORETTE’s body to fend off the piranhas. They attack and devour her while he’s holding her.
Soon as there’s nothing left but her skeleton, the water cools, recedes. He’s left holding her skeleton, her eye sockets still piercing into him.
ALESSA and STEPHATTA and all the others gather around as he digs her grave.
When he opens the box into which he had placed her bones, there’s only dust.
ALESSA describes how LORETTE had violated her own vow to never eat animals. It’s a tradition that anyone who breaks a sacred vow is punished according to the manner of the vow they broke, unleashing forces of vengeance and retribution.
Stephatta instructs Chambers to spread LORETTE’s dust amongst the roses, which Lorette so loved.
But Chambers can’t help touching a rose.
It’s ambiguous whether he’s pushed into the roses or the roses grab him. Either way Chambers is caught in the roses and the more he struggles to free himself, the deeper he plunge into the roses, completely torn to pieces by the thorrns.
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Chris’s Horror Plot
What I learned from doing this assignment is that my initial concept needs to be overhauled.
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 The killers POV images of the family dog being chased and killed are projected onto a wall as the mother screams in terror.
Connect with the characters The son is home alone all day, immersed in his phone and is agitated that the family Android is cleaning his room. The father gets home and immediately gets on his computer for more work. The mother tries to replicate a dinner recipe from social media. They’re all busy and interact sparingly.
The characters are warned not to do it. The grandfather warns the parents that giving the grandson full access to the internet and social media could be damaging to him.
Denial of Horror The father thinks that he’s over reacting. He’s made a pretty good living in the robotics world.
Safety taken away The vehicles are disabled. All cells are confiscated.
Monster: The nature of the beast. Shocking images of torture, death and the Dark Web are seen.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted The house is locked down.
One of us killed A cousin is killed, but the family thinks that she just wandered off for a walk.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer To his disgust, Grandpa observes his grandson engaged sexually with the android. Grandpa is murdered.
Terrorized It is now known that the son has hacked the android and turned it into a murderous accomplice. The mother gains access to her father’s homing pigeons and sends a message for help.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death They try to destroy the android.
Hysteria the Aunt and Uncle believe that they’re going to die. They do.
The thrilling escape from death The android is seemingly destroyed by the mother and father. A huge sigh of relief.
Death returns to take one or more. The android, badly damaged, re activates and kills the father.
Resolution The mother is forced to watch all the murders which are being projected by the android onto the wall. She’s in agony as she hears her son giving commands to kill in the video. She begins having a nervous breakdown. Flashing lights and sirens are heard in the distance. The android quickly approaches her and snaps her neck.
Cut to the hospital where she springs up from bed screaming. She’s alive but severely traumatized.
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Halloween’s Horror Plot
What I learned doing this assignment is that multiple pressure vectors give a break from a singular source of tension.
ACT 1: setup for horror
-Atmosphere of evil established:
Saint Lucifer closes another deal on a group of failed teens who are dragged to hell by demons.
-Connect with the characters:
An offrenda with friends and family for a bride who was killed in a drive by, just as she was taking her vows.
-the characters are warned not to do it:
The broken hearted husband to be threatens a resurection spell. He is warned off by the elderly nanna who knows that this is a bad idea. Don’t disturb the dead. They bring with them hell if they are. Theme: Freedom is a bitch
-Denial of horror: The husband to be shrugs her off and casts the spell. He misses her too much. The spell can’t go wrong. The nanna is insistent. She tries to stop him.
-Safety is taken away: The spell is cast incorrectly and everyone is knocked out. There is a break in reality and the shadows come alive.
-Monster: The nature of the beast.
Demons materialize and chain themselves to various guests; including the priest who is there to oversee the remembrance.
ACT 2: The point of no return.
-Isolated/trapped/abducted:
The group scatter as the demons give chase. Ghost gangsters appear and shoot anyone trying to escape, in a recreation of the bride’s death. The gang of ghosts surround the church and prevent anyone from escaping; just as they did in life. All cellular service is cut off. there is no outside help as they learn that whatever demon they hurt in turn hurts the person they are a personification of.
-One of us is killed: The priest fails to overcome the demon chaisng him and leaves a message telling others what he thinks the demons are about. Solve the riddle of what the demon exemplifies in another person. Free them and free yourself.
MIDPOINT: The Monster is worse than we imagined.
-The bride, before just a shade and a ghost, materializes in the flesh and becomes corporeal. She can touch the family who came to remember her…and she commands the ghost gangsters to kill them.
-Full pursuit: the bride gives full chase to everyone and seems to be everywhere at once.
-Terrorized: On the run and trying to regroup, the family is hunted by the ghost gangsters and the demons. Under pressure they try to solve the riddle of the demons and try to dodge the ghost gangsters who seem to be banished with holy water and rosaries.
ACT 3: FULL OUT HORROR
-Fight to the Death: Lovers are torn apart as, under pressure they solve each other’s demons and secrets are revealed. Relationships are torn asunder and those that have not surrendered to love become demons themselves.
-Hysteria. As friends become demons and other seem to become angels they realize the awful truth of what happened.
-Death returns to take one more.
The priest returns to life and validates what they think happened then tells them how to defeat the murdered bride: Someone has to sacrifice themselves and become the bride’s demon.
-Resolution. The murdered bride faces her own demon and her power is gone. The ghost gang vanishes and what’s left of the family parts ways as they accept the truth.
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Subject line: Karyn L. — Horror Plot
Lesson 4—Assignment 4
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” I feel like I’m starting to put the meat on the bones of the story. Like building a house-it must have “good bones” – foundation to develop the concept.
Create your plot.
CONCEPT-A team of four explorers/researchers enter a cave looking for an ancient civilization and to recover the body of the twin sister of the lead explorer only to discover perfectly preserved remains of an ancient human and alien civilization and the wrath of the alien guardians.ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
• Atmosphere of Evil established: Team leader (Jean) watches the last video sent by her twin sister terrorized by something in the cave causing Jean to run from her tent gasping to breathe having a panic attack.
• Connect with the characters: Other team members (Cam, Maggie, Brett) are casually drinking coffee and talking around the campfire while looking at maps of the cave.
• The characters are warned not to do it: A thunderstorm is upon them as they quickly secure the gear they can’t take into the cave. The rain motivates them to run to the cave entrance. They are met with “DO NOT ENTER” signs posted and a feeble wooden gate to deter them. Maggie remarks “And why are we doing this?” as the leader opens the gate to proceed.
• Denial of Horror: All are thankful to enter the cave just to get out of the torrents of rain, lightning and thunder. They checked their instruments and were relieved that all is working.
• Safety taken away: Deeper into the cave, their compass and GPS instruments go berserk and their flashlights go dark. They feel an eerie presence. Their trail splits into three tunnels. The cave seems to be breathing-the walls are moving with sections illuminated and shadows of beings running; then a seismic event knocks them down, the area they are in begins to collapse, forcing them to run into a different tunnel. Their escape route is sealed. As the air clears, they discover well preserved human and alien remains within the walls of the cave. They excavate some of the remains to identify what the species is.
• Monster: The nature of the beast; There is an ominous presence stalking the team, casting shadows on the dimly lit walls. The team finds a safe alcove to rest. Each takes a “watch shift” to make sure there are no intruders. They are awakened by the growl of three wolves, baring their teeth. Cam takes out a pistol and is about to shoot when the wolves attack, pinning him and ripping his flesh. Maggie fires a crossbow hitting one of the wolves and poof-they disappear into the walls of the cave. These were shapeshifters.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
• Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Maggie and Cam are trapped in one of the tunnels; Maggie is tending to Cam’s wounds. Jean and Brett are separated and trapped in two different tunnels. Alone in the darkness of a monster cave.
• One of us killed: Brett continues to explore his tunnel to find a treasure trove of gold artifacts. He empties his pack of his gear to fill it with the artifacts. One item in particular pique his interest-it is an orb. Pleased with his findings, he casually tosses it up to catch it, but it flies up and attaches to the ceiling of the tunnel. The cave starts to pulsate and the alien monster appears, killing Brett, sucking out his brain matter. Brett’s tormented screams resound through the cave. It reminds Jean of her sister’s tortured screams.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
• Full pursuit by the killer: Jean, Maggie and Cam reunite. They cautiously proceed in the direction of Brett’s screams and find his mutilated body with his skull imploded. He was still clutching one of the artifacts that he was going to steal. There are continuous sounds, ticking, shrieks, bellows, growls, with shadowy figures, and seismic events that push the group deeper into the tunnel. They collapse from exhaustion and hunger.
• Terrorized: Jean, semi-conscious, hears footsteps and sees an apparition of her twin sister with a warning to “GET OUT!” Maggie and Cam felt the breath of an alien creature. In full view, they watch as the alien guardian stalks Jean.• ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
• Fight to the death: Maggie and Cam us some of the artifacts to distract the alien and warn Jean. The team is using the found technology to elude the guardians.
• Hysteria: The three are trembling and must contain their fear. They were on the brink of such an incredible discovery and are now trapped, moments away from being devoured by the guardians.
• The thrilling escape from death: Just as the guardians are bout to kill the explorers, the twin sister appears to direct them to another tunnel. Jean contains her elation and confusion at her sister’s presence. They are running through the tunnel, dodging falling rocks, the aliens give chase. Jean is the last to follow—too late.
• Death returns to take one or more. The others turn to try to save her but she directs them to go without her. Jean fights with every ounce of her being to escape the clutches of the alien. She goes limp as the long tongue enters her ear to suck the brain matter from her skull.
• Resolution: Maggie, Cam and Carly evade the aliens by going for the light and the exit of the cave. They collapse from exhaustion and are silent. They are different. -
Bobby’s Horror Track:
What I learned doing this assignment: some of the answers to questions I had, and some questions I identified, that will help move this nascent idea along…
RROR PLOT TRACK
TITLE/CONCEPT: SHADOWS/Hannah is murdered by a deranged killer the night of her senior prom, and wakes to find herself in a shadowy version of her small hometown, populated by the dozen or so inhabitants that died on the same day – including her killer, who is out to finish the job and destroy her soul forever, before she can be spun out into a new life.
ACT 1: SET-UP
ATMOSPHERE OF EVIL ESTABLISHED:
Hannah is killed? ONE way to start right from go – we miss “day in the life”
OR: Killer murders someone else in neighboring town – reveals killer’s face, or a key detail. Then we see him enter Hannah’s town – we know who he is, no one in town does.CONNECT W/CHARACTERS:
“Day in the life of Hannah” – set up key relationships for her:
DAD: love there, and he feels helpless (mom died)
BROTHER: Hannah feels like she’s failing as big sister..
MR. & MRS. GRAVES: Mrs. Graves as wise old woman, urging Hannah to take a risk (Hannah won’t go to prom) – Mr. Graves doesn’t take much seriously, but very kind
KILLER: Hannah has brief, passing interaction – WE know who he is…
Later in day – ambulance outside Graves home – Mr. G has died; Mrs. G sees strangely at peaceWARNED NOT TO DO IT:
Hannah is warned not to walk home alone?
Hannah is warned NOT to go to prom? Both kinda weak…DENIAL OF HORROR:
Hannah walks home fearlessly – does she “help” killer (a la, “Silence of the Lambs”?)SAFETY TAKEN AWAY:
Hannah is killed; wakes in her own house – no lights, no people, no sound anywhere. Where is this place?MONSTER: NATURE OF THE BEAST:
Hannah encounters Mrs. Graves, who also died that day – everyone in town who died the same day is here, awaiting rebirth. Hannah killed her killer… so he’s here too!ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
ISOLATED/TRAPPED/ABDUCTED:
Characters exist in pockets of light around their houses. Can’t escape town.ONE OF US IS KILLED:
“Body” is found, hollowed out. This “man” Hannah killed wasn’t a man at all. A Leech from the “Between”, he exists to devour souls, and Hannah has brought him here.MIDPOINT: THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT!!
ACT 3:
FULL PURSUIT BY THE KILLER:
Killer can manipulate darkness. As other souls are consumed, the town darkens. They are running out of places to hide.TERRORIZED:
MR. GRAVES’ soul is devoured. Mrs. Graves – Hannah’s source of wisdom – becomes like a child again (maybe literally; here, souls take the form they see themselves as), and Hannah has to protect HER (2nd chance to be the older sister she never was?)ACT 4 – FULL OUT HORROR:
FIGHT TO THE DEATH:
Hannah lured into the “Between” – or has to go there, to save Mrs. Graves? Creatures of nightmares inhabit the dark, more SOUND and SHADOW than formHYSTERIA:
Killer/Leech traps Hannah and Mrs. Graves in ITS lair in the darkness (which is what?)THRILLING ESCAPE FROM DEATH:
Hannah somehow kills the Leech – no clue how… She and Mrs. Graves escape back to the town, and Hannah has learned the lesson she needed to learn (taking risks? Seems lame. Need something more profound), and is reborn, along with Mrs. Graves, who had to learn to let go of her “wisdom” mask, something Mr. G had teased her aboutDEATH RETURNS TO TAKE ONE OR MORE/RESOLUTION:
Hannah and Mrs. G – new bodies, encounter each other on a playground as 5 year olds (need some distinguishing birth mark or something. Better a line of dialogue). Another boy on the playground… is obviously the Leech, trailing them.
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