Lesson 15

[Kevin Lobo]

Kevin Lobo’s Finishing Horror Outlines Powerfully

What I learned… See a full outline with the focus just on the horror scenes systematically broken up into definite heading gives the reader a clear and full picture of the script from a pure horror perspective. It retains the essence and flow of the story without distracting away from the horror elements.

ACT 1

1-EXT. RURAL DAVISVILLE, current day – NIGHT

Setting the scene for Davisville, the town for our story.

2-EXT. bush logging CO. OFFICE – NIGHT

Setting the scene for where the teen party begins.

3-INT. A SECRET PARTY ROOM, bush logging CO. – NIGHT

Six teens, Bradley, Sarah, Ruth, Jason, Glen and Kimberly are finishing a wild pre-Birthday party and decide to go reveling around town to ring in Bradley’s 19th birthday at midnight.

4-exT. bush logging CO. parking lot – continuous

The top-down Impala screeches out of the office – six teens crammed inside, whooping and screaming. Bradley drives, Sarah snuggled into him – next to them is Kimberly, eyes glued to the road ensuring they get to the cemetery.

5-EXT – THE CEMETERY gate – NIGHT

When the Beer guzzled Bradley decides he needs to take a leak, Jason and Glen follow their idol.

Kimberly dares them to go in. When they hesitate, Ruth goes ahead and they follow.

6-EXT – THE CEMETERY – NIGHT

Slugline: The partying teens enter the cemetery.

Essence of the scene: Kimberly deftly guides the rest to the grave of JH, while some begin to get wary of where they are.

Horror Situation: A little storm picks up. Kimberly’s spell begins to drone in the wind.

Horror emotions: Some try to escape, some get emotional, weep and want to get back on the road and continue their party.

Scares: Something weird is happening and they feel the jitters.

Releases: Everything dies down as they swig a strong Cognac in celebration and find a bit of quiet.

Monster reveals: The chant, the spell, the droning voice resurface, the grave erupts, Bradley, the birthday boy gets possessed and is physically assaulted by an unseen force. He is shortly killed, crucified upside down on a tree.

Apprehension/Anxiety – Surprise – Shock.

7-INT – AN FBI MEETING ROOM, NEW YORK – DAY

Julia Langley, an FBI agent leads an all-male highly successful FBI team that has just returned from another successful raid busting a drug gang.

8-INT – THE FBI BOSS’S OFFICE – DAY

Julia is called into the Boss’s office and asked to head to Davisville. In the fierce resistance that follows, we learn of Julia’s revulsion and anxiety.

When she is asked to work with the old priest and a retired, reclusive detective, she asks rather to be sent directly to a mental asylum where she thinks she will land up eventually due to this assignment. She has no choice.

9-EXT – THE TOWN SQUARE – DAY

The town folk gather to begin a manhunt for the missing Bradley.

10-EXT – THE CEMETERY – DAY

The Sheriff and a search party find Bradley’s headless, upside down crucified body, they also discover a ruptured grave with no cross, just marked JH.

Knowing glances, and whispers of ‘he’s back’ among the elders leads to the mystery that they know something but remain secretive about.

A secret silent fear spreads through the village elders protecting themselves with religious objects without divulging the details to the horrified village but warning the village parents to lock in their teens.

The Sheriff dismisses it as the work of serial killer who he will find.

10-INT – the secret hideout room – DAY

The remaining five teens secretly and fearfully find their way back to the party room to reconnect. We learn of Sarah’s deep loss being Bradley’s girlfriend; Ruth’s resolve to keep living wild as a tribute to Bradley, and Kimberly’s refusal to accept that the spell was anything more than a silly game.

Only Jason and Glen fear that the spirit was real and will seek revenge for disturbing it.

11-INT – THE VILLAGE PUB – NIGHT

As the details of Bradley’s heinous murder emerge, Tom Monaghan, a secretive, old, rich man, generally ignored by the regulars, makes a quick escape from the pub as tempers rise.

12-EXT – THE VILLAGE STREET – day

Julia arrives to a very hostile reception in Davisville. The town elders openly mock her as powerless against an evil spirit which she dismisses instantly, promising to catch the killer.

Eli Mizrachi, Ruth’s grandfather and the town registrar, warns Sarah’s parents to lock her up as she is the next to turn 19. They are baffled, as is Julia.

13-EXT – giovanni pegulia’s house – DAY

Giovanni Pegulia, the retired FBI detective refuses to engage with her. His depression, and mention of her father whom he knew, takes her back to her own father’s suicide as a failed FBI agent. It is something she dreaded all her life but has to face now.

Giovanni advises her to arrest Tom to stop the carnage to follow. He asks her to kick the evil parish priest out of the village further putting doubts in Julia’s mind on top of her own childhood fears of an abusive priest. Julia questions if Tom is the killer, why is the priest evil?

14-EXT – the village church – DAY

Julia’s meeting with Fr. Augustus McConaughey is surprising pleasant against some secret fears she carries. He is amiable, helpful but just as secretive.

He dismisses the notion of an evil spirit and encourages her to search for the killer.

However, she snoops on an open email on his computer with an urgent petition seeking permission to conduct an exorcism.

15-EXT – sarah’s house- DAY

Julia is further baffled when Sarah’s parents will not allow her to talk to Sarah. Julia hears screams from Sarah’s room but her terrified parents explain it away as a symptom of Sarah missing Bradley whom she was in love with. The spirit has begun manifesting itself and tormenting Sarah.

The news of a spirit begins to spread through the village.

16-EXT – the village street – DAY

The teens defiantly decide to ring in Sarah’s birthday at a deserted mine that belonged to the rich Bradley, another of their hangouts. Julia tries to follow the secretive teens around town as they load up for the party.

The Sheriff promises to help when Julia refers to the investigation by Giovanni and refers to the ancient warehouse unvisited for decades about having to hunt down that file in some dusty old storage.

17-EXT –SARAH’S HOUSE – night

Julia, who is staking out Sarah’s house, discovers from the upheaval at Sarah’s that she has given them the slip.

She hunts around and follows the distant music sounds, that turn to deadly screams and eventually finds the abandoned mine.

18-ext – the abandoned mine – night

The teens arrive at the abandoned mine to ring in Sarah’s birthday.

18A-int – the abandoned mine office – continuous

Slugline: The partying teens fight their depressing and mournful emotions of Bradley’s killing and get into a party mode.

Essence of the scene: Sarah experiences the spirit manifesting itself but is unable to convince the rest that it is there.

Horror Situation: The spirit begins to surface in Sarah manifesting itself in a male voice.

Horror emotions: The rest hear the voice but are unaware of what is happening.

Scares: The rest flee to the side of the room as Sarah screams and shrieks at the physical torture the spirit is putting her through.

Releases: Sarah explains away the strange sounds to the storm outside and her weird behaviour to her missing her boyfriends Bradley desperately.

Monster reveals: The evil spirit fully possesses Sarah at midnight. It locks the teens in and physically assaults them as they try to help Sarah.

Julia finds them but is powerless against the spirit.

The spirit kills Sarah, battered against the concrete walls and finally crucified upside down in front of them.

It moves to Ruth and she is flung far.

Julia sees the suspicious Tom in the shadows and the Sheriff arrives as soon as Sarah is killed.

19-INT – the sheriff’s office – day

The villagers who initially frowned on the disruptive teen gang of 6 that were turning 19, now begin to empathize and fully try to protect the teens.

The parents are angry and fearful, and demand results. Julia goes along with the Sheriff’s story of a serial killer at work, confused at what she can do, despite having seen Sarah’s killing live by an invisible ghost.

The entire village rally around Ruth’s family knowing her 19^th birthday is coming up. The four remaining teens are warned not to meet up anymore.

Julia gets the usual procrastination from the Sheriff for the file, the usual flak from Giovanni for not arresting Tom, and Fr. Augustus’s belief that Tom has nothing to do with these events.

20-EXT – the rectory – night

Julia, begins to work on her own. She maintains a lookout on Tom, and sees him come to meet Fr. Augustus secretly at night. She begins to believe in Giovanni’s theory, still dismissive of the evil spirit theory.

21-EXT – the crime scene – day

Julia investigates the crime scene and discovers that despite the gory beheading, upside down crucifixion, there is no blood and no other clue. She begins to believe it is a spirit at work.

22-INT – ruth’s home – day

Ruth’s family come up with a plan, hatched by her fearful grandfather. They trick Ruth into believing that they have won a vacation to Vegas and the family can celebrate her birthday there in big style.

23-INT – julia’s room – night

Jason and Glen begin to reach out to Julia to help but are kept away by the their parents in a bid to protect them. Secretly, Julia, Jason and Glen begin to fight the spirit in Ruth but are powerless.

24-INT – the rectory – day

Julia tries to warn Fr. Augustus about her findings but he dismisses them all the while trying to take on the battle himself. Julia is convinced that Fr. Augustus is practicing for an exorcism.

ACT 2

25-EXT – the forest road – day

Slugline: The Mizrachi family, begin their drive away from the town headed for Vegas to celebrate Ruth’s birthday.

Essence of the scene: The spirit begins to surface in Ruth in a bid to get the family to lose their way in the forest.

Horror Situation: Ruth displays her full blown possession.

Horror emotions: The family are terrified. Her father tries to physically subdue her but is powerless against the brutal strength of the possessed teen.

Scares: The family has never seen this before and are terrified, and helpless to see their daughter in this state.

Releases: Ruth returns to her normal self and explains away the possession as a passing occurence. They begin to find their way back to the road.

Monster reveals: The evil spirit fully possesses Ruth, attacks her father at the wheel, crashes their RV and kills the rest of the family.

26-EXT – the village main road – day

The village is shell shocked as a dazed and shocked Ruth innocently drives her dead family back. The villagers know that their safety has been taken away, they are trapped, isolated and locked in the village until the spirit gets what it wants.

The spirit begins to torment Julia through Ruth in secret asking her to bring it back and that it will exact its full revenge. Julia does not know what or where but decides to go looking for Tom’s file.

Julia talks to Ruth and finds flaws in her story of the killing of her family. She is unable to bring Ruth to Fr. Augustus, in the faint hope of an exorcism and an end to the killings.

27-exT – the cemetery – day

Slugline: Jason, Glen and Kimberly go back to the cemetery secretly in a bid to find a way to undo the evil.

Essence of the scene: Kimberly, tries to undo the spell believing that writing it backwards could put the spirit back.

Horror Situation: Ruth arrives.

Horror emotions: Kimberly, Jason and Glen try to flee from Ruth since they know she carries the evil spirit in her.

Scares: Frozen, shivering and fearing for their physical safety.

Releases: Ruth talks normally, her usual self, even gets them to share a group hug. The teens begin to relax believing that Ruth is fine.

Monster reveals: The evil spirit fully possesses Ruth when Kimberly tries to reverse the spell. It attacks them physically, cutting off their escape.

Julia’s arrival saves them.

The possessed Ruth flees as the Sheriff arrives having heard Julia’s warning shot. Julia is surprised at that occurrence.

FEAR – SUSPENSE – DREAD

28-INT – tom’s house – day

After the killing of Ruth’s entire family, the villagers growing anger and Giovanni’s nagging, Julia decides to arrest Tom.

In the raid on Tom’s house, Julia finds nothing suspicious but does chance on a bunch of hand written envelopes that Tom has received and a picture of a younger Tom, a youth and a mysterious large third figure. The frame is back titled with the names Tom, JH and a blank for the third name. It is Julia’s first direct clue to JH and a possible third mysterious person.

29-INT – the village church – night

The villagers gather together in a show of strength to protect Ruth as she heads into her birthday at midnight. They suspect the pattern the evil spirit has followed and are determined to protect Ruth that night.

30-EXT – outside the village church – night

Slugline: Ruth escapes her grandfather as he drives her to the Church. The spirit in her fears the Church.

Essence of the scene: Jason and Glen, the next to turn 19, are fiercely guarded by their parents angering Ruth who can’t get them to join her in to ring in her birthday. They anger the spirit as well as they stay protected in the Church.

Ruth however tricks Kimberly into joining her, assaults her in her possessed state and her fearful screams end up drawing out the villagers and the twins to protect her.

Horror emotions: The town folk fear that the spirit is there but are unable to see it as the spirit let’s Ruth be normal.

Scares: Mass panic, screaming, fleeing and hysteria in the town folk many of whom are seeing the possessed behavior for the first time.

Releases: Ruth talks normally, fooling the town folk into believing she is normal. She gets them all to join her in the town square to ring in her birthday, thus getting the next victims, Jason and Glen out as well.

Monster reveals: Ruth is viciously possessed, assaulted and killed by the spirit. It openly declares who it is, seeks revenge and wants something returned back to its grave. The horror of what they face comes full face to the villagers.

Horror emotions: The town folk turn their anger on Julia who is taken into the priest’s protection helped by Giovanni who is defeated himself knowing that Tom’s arrest did not stop Ruth’s killing.

Julia realizes she is at her lowest point having made no progress to stop the killing and the action she took failed. She finally embraces the evil spirit theory.

31-INT – the village church – night

Julia, Giovanni and Fr. Augustus finally come to terms and decide to work together. Julia fully discloses her fears, Fr. Augustus breaks his religious confessional vows and discloses why he protects Tom.

They decide that the only way forward is for Julia to find the police file herself and exhume the JH grave to find the hidden answers.

Fr. Augustus gives Julia a religious object to protect herself.

32-EXT – the village street – night

Julia finds the Sheriff at night, following her, protecting her. She gets him to share the location of the police file warehouse.

33-INT – jason and Glen’s home – night

Slugline: With Jason and Glen both having been exposed to Ruth’s killing and their birthdays coming up next, they are in full terror along with their family and the villagers.

Essence of the scene: The town takes a decision to keep the inseparable teens apart but it becomes an impossible task as the spirit drives the possessed teen to the other brother. It becomes a vicious battle with full possessed behavior by the teens.

Horror emotions: Desperation, tears, fleeing to a different location and physical breakdown.

Scares: The evil spirit openly surfaces in Glen and Jason alternately and assaults them and those around them with brute force.

Releases: Small victories for the town folk as they realize they have successfully kept the teens apart preventing the evil spirit from possessing them both.

Monster reveals: It is now a full fight between the spirit and the town. The villagers live in abject terror, knowing that they have no weapons or defenses of any sort against a belligerent evil spirit hell bent on its next killing.

34-EXT – the police warehouse – day

Julia goes alone to search for the missing file. An exhaustive search with a nagging suspicion that she is being shadowed finally leads to her finding the file, but escaping just in time as a deadly fire ravages the warehouse.

Julia decides to keep the file a secret and declares it has been probably lost in the fire.

The religious object does not protect Julia and she begins to suspect a human at work with the spirit.

35-EXT – the cemetery – day

Julia faces a huge backlash as she proceeds to exhume JH’s grave secretly. She is surprised at the fear expressed by the Sheriff himself in further disturbing the spirit of JH, and has to bring in external help for the strenuous task, least of which is living her own demons of having run away from the burial of her own father after his suicide.

Julia discovers the headless body of JH, a big buckled belt from the picture that helps her identify him and strangely a few strands of blonde hair. The picture in Tom’s house showed Tom and JH as dark haired. The cemetery caretaker who did the burial swears that JH had his head on when buried.

Julia also finds the discarded envelope addressed to Kimberly and finds the same handwriting as the envelopes in Tom’s house.

The blonde hair, the fact that Tom is physically disabled, the similar hand writing on the same envelopes and the mysterious figure in the picture all lead Julia to believe another figure is at work.

Julia figures out that the spirit is after its head, and that she also has to find the missing heads of the teens killed by JH’s evil spirit.

ACT 3

36-INT – jason and glen’s home – day

The evil spirit shifts from Jason to Glen alternately trying to bring them together and there are many fights as each possessed teen tries to get to his brother.

37-EXT – the village street – day

With the angry spirit unleashing mayhem through the possessed teens, Jason and Glen alternately, and others becoming collateral victims, hysteria sweeps the town. The paranoid villagers turn on each other as factions form in the best way to protect the teens.

Paranoia grips the village knowing what the JH’s evil spirit wants and that it may continue its killings until it gets what it wants. They resolve to fight to the death and support Julia however possible.

The villagers reluctantly begin to rally around Julia after her discoveries and progress in the case. Julia also goes secretive as she realizes from the warehouse fire, the villagers attack at exhumation and the feeling of being constantly shadowed that someone who knows her plans is thwarting her.

Julia discovers more details from the secret police file she has. She finds that Giovanni’s raid on Tom’s house revealed the findings of secret black masses and upside-down crosses, Fr. Augustine’s word that saved Tom, the identity of JH as Jason Hugh as the teen who carried out the killings for Tom, and that he faced vigilante justice – a single shot to his head on his 19^th birthday when he walked free due to circumstantial evidence. She begins to understand Giovanni.

Giovanni exhorts Julia to raid Tom’s house but she is denied permission as Tom is already jailed and his arrest did not stop the killings.

38-INT – the village jail – day

The beginning of strange occurrences at the jail where Tom is housed, his constant loud reading of his bible, and a similar droning chant that accompanies the spirit’s killings. Tom strangely appears fearful and decides to accept responsibility for the killings. It confuses Julia, leading her to believe that Tom may not be guilty after all or just an accessory.

39-INT – jason and glen’s house – day

Jason and Glen get together and are joined by Kimberly in defiance on the eve of their birthday as a tribute to the 3 friends they have lost. Secretly, the ever-brave Jason and Glen are wanting to defeat the spirit and end the killings with their own deaths. They leave notes for each other in their normal state.

The normally brave Jason and Glen lose control of themselves. Their screaming and helplessness, gets to Kimberly who knows she is nEXT.

She still refuses to accept responsibility and help Julia but helps Jason flee from the possessed Glen. They revel in the thrilling escape that they beat the spirit and may yet be able to turn things around.

40-EXT – the cemetery – night

Slugline: Jason and Kimberly, buoyed by their small victory decide to go back to the cemetery at midnight to put things back in order. Jason and Glen are tricked into meeting up. The teens believe that they will trap the spirit back in its grave. They play right into the hands of the spirit and are killed by it.

Essence of the scene: Kimberly tries to reverse the spell but her lack of knowledge of what it is ends up attracting Glen and the possessed spirit back there.

Horror emotions: Fear, anxiety, desperation and Dread.

Scares: The evil spirit openly surfaces in Glen and Jason alternately and assaults them and those around them with brute force.

Releases: Jason and Glen appear normal as they head to the cemetery fooling them into believing that they are winning.

Monster reveals: The spirit kills both Jason and Glen, crucified upside down in the cemetery just as it wanted. Julia manages to spirit Kimberly away but in a vicious attack that follows, the spirit finds her, the last teen. Kimberly has survived but know that it is just 24 hours to her birthday and death lies around the corner.

Julia finally sees the spell torn from a book that may be something she may have seen at Tom’s house and the refusal of the Sheriff to let her raid Tom’s house, and with the final deadline looming she decides to secretly raid Tom’s house that night to save Kimberly, and stop the killings in a bid to find answers. She believes therein lies the resolution.

41-EXT – THE VILLAGE COFFEE HOUSE – NIGHT

Julia asks Kimberly, through whom the spirit has been stalking her to drive her car away as a false lead and takes on her deadliest fear and challenge.

Fr. Augustus and Giovanni, suspect Julia’s plan and follow her to help her.

42-int./ext. in julia’s car – night

Julia switches places in the car and bails out.

43-EXT – tom’s house yard – continuous

In a final deadly night, venturing alone, secretly into Tom’s yard, Julia has to battle deadly killer dogs, spirits and traps of all sorts.

44-INT – tom’s house – night

Slugline: Julia battles her away into the house but is brutally assaulted.

Essence of the scene: Julia is attacked by a killer dog, a storm and the possessed Kimberly. As she falls deeper and deeper into the house, the basement and crypts below, viciously attacked by the possessed Kimberly, Julia ends up finding a secret black Mass chamber from where Tom has continued his evil activities. She finds Jason Hughs head, identified from the bullet hole on the forehead and his signature crooked jaw – details she finds in the file. She also finds the missing heads of the teens killed thus far.

Horror emotions: Extreme fear, reluctance to go ahead with her mission, weeping, shivers, jitters, vomit, bile are all the extreme emotions that Julia goes through as she battles the evil place all by herself in the dark.

Scares: The evil spirit in full possession in Kimberly viciously assaults Julia.

Releases: In a final victory, Julia realizes that the evil spirit may have assisted and helped her in finding the secret crypt with all evidence of the black masses and its own head along with those of the teens.

Monster reveals: A fully possessed Kimberly at close hand in a brutal physical assault on Julia.

As Kimberly goes away, the spirit sings a rhyme, “Time will silver your golden hair…” leading to the growing doubt in her mind who might be the mysterious third.

Julia takes the skull and dashes to the cemetery in a bid to save Kimberly from being killed at the fast-approaching midnight deadline.

47-EXT – the cemetery – night

Julia’s arrival at the cemetery is instantly seemingly thwarted by Tom who has broken from the jail. Tom tries to declare his innocence and help her but they are accosted by the droned chants.

As Julia tries to restore the head, the Sheriff arrives and is revealed as the mysterious third figure, and it all clicks in Julia’s head.

Julia becomes aware that all of her moves have been foreseen and the only one privy to those is the silver haired village sheriff who may have been blonde as the spirit sang. Tom himself displays an inexplainable dread of the Sheriff during his interrogation taking on all the blame himself. In that moment of realization, she clicks on to the fact that the Sheriff is the third, who may also have shot Jason Hughs on his release to protect his identity and removed the head from the grave for further evil acts.

In a vicious battle that follows, the possessed Kimberly arrives and the spirit storms from her into Tom, to exact revenge on the Sheriff. Julia is assaulted by both sides. Fr. Augustus arrives and tries to exorcise JH’s spirit to save Tom. The ill-equipped Fr. Augustus is fatally attacked by the possessed Tom. The Sheriff tries to kill them all by awakening other spirits.

Giovanni arrives and shoots the sheriff to prevent further slaughter and also shoots Tom to try and save Fr. Augustus but it is too late. Giovanni finds his redemption in both the killings as it was the Sheriff who sabotaged Giovanni’s investigation in the first place and took over from him.

In helping Fr. Augustus sign himself, repeat an Act of Contrition and die in peace, Julia finds her own redemption in not having helped her own father in his dying moments.

Kimberly escapes the killings and is the only teen that survives.

Or an alternate ending

The Sheriff escapes as Giovanni battles the possessed Tom to save Fr. Augustus thus setting up the seed for a sequel.

[Michael Jones]

M. Morgan’s Horror Outline Version 1

Considering where I was at the start, with only a vague concept and jumbled ideas and not much idea how to write horror, I learned to focus on the horror situations including all the moments, reveals, and emotions and see how it plays out and connects with the story. It needs more work and detail, afterwards, but it’s so much better with an outline than having to rewrite from scratch with the chance of losing the momentum of the story, and/or ideas.

“AMONG US, WITHIN” – HORROR SITUATION TRACK

EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – DAY

A young SAM strays into a mysterious part of the forest while playing Hide’n Seek, loving every second of it.

2. INT. STONE RUINS – DAY

The young Sam hides in the ruins of a stone cottage. He hears a branch break but thinks that’s his friend coming to find him. He’s delighted with himself.

NOTE: OPENING SCENE

Horror Situation: The young Sam hears something and terror grips him when he sees it.

ANXIETY: He hears a tree branch break but it doesn’t sound natural.
SUSPENSE: He investigates, hearing something large, maybe a bear.
HORROR: He sees a head of a young Sasquatch looking at him, then it is whisked up and carried away by a huge one—the look of it makes him SCREAM and he bolts.

3. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – DAY

SUPER: 12 YEARS LATER

Friends: MEGAN, NATE, KATIE, DANNY, MADDY, led along a trail by SAM who tells them why he’s been so afraid of the woods and why he never went in them through while in school, but wants to face his fears and do it with those closest to him as one final ‘hurrah’ before they go on with their lives.

He’s leading them to the stone ruins where he had his sighting as a kid.

Horror Situation: They hear strange sounds and meet a solo hiker.

ANXIETY: Eerie sounds of tree knocks and ‘whoop’ calls. <div>

SURPRISE: They see an unnatural tree break pointing towards the part of the forest known locally as, “The Whispering Thicket.”

RELEASE: A solo hiker warns them of some suspicious and unusual activity; tells them to stay away, that’s why she’s heading down.

APPREHENSION/ANXIETY: Nate shows trepidation, so does Sam but he’s determined to power ahead (this is all part of facing his fears); Danny puts on a calm, humorous demeanour; Megan and Katie both curious.

4. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – PARKING LOT – DAY

Sasquatch Research Team: Declan Caldwell, a Sasquatch lore expert; Flint Maddox, a trophy hunter; and Dr. Julian Grimm, a scientist wanting to get Sasquatch DNA. They set out on the trail (an excuse for starting late but positive they can make it by nightfall).

5. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – DAY (LATER)

Sam and friends stand at the edge of ‘The Whispering Thicket,’ in a small open meadow. Sam pauses, facing his fear, then leads the way into the forest.

6. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Sam and friends see the dilapidated ruins of a stone cottage in the distance. It doesn’t have much of a roof, windows or doors.

Horror Situation: Animal sounds send them sprinting to the stone ruins and taking refuge in them.

SURPRISE: A branch breaks by something large. </div><div>

APPREHENSION: They look for the source of the disturbance.

FEAR: A rock flies past them and they sprint for the stone ruins.

7. INT. STONE RUINS

The friends hide in the stone ruins.

Horror Situation: Anticipation of seeing something dangerous but see what’s inside.

APPREHENSION: They lookout trying to see what’s out there. They hear two whoops: one animal-like, one different (as if human). They argue about it.

8. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – DAY

While hiking up the trail, Declan hears the ‘whoops,’ and tells Dr. Julian that’s a Sasquatch still in the area.

9. INT. STONE RUINS – DAY (EVENING)

Sam, Danny, Megan and Katie check through the openings while Nate and Maddy ask for updates.

Horror Situation: Evidence of occult rituals and hiker gear unsettle them.

MONSTER REVEAL: Sam tells them what he saw as a kid and a lot of the sounds are similar to that event.</div><div>

RELEASE: The noise stops and they think it’s just an animal, like a bear or cougar but still uncertain.

CREEPY MOMENT: Occult symbol on the floor with markings on the wall, evidence of a fire.
FEAR: Where are they? Is anyone else there? Is the thing outside what did this?

SUSPENSE: Danny finds something in another room of the ruin.

APPREHENSION: Hiker gear stacked in a corner.

The friends argue about what to do next and Danny decides to be the brave one and check outside because they need to get down before it gets too dark.

10. EXT./INT. STONE RUINS

Danny feigns a reaction to something terrifying and mocks his friends.

The others chide him from within but then, Katie and Megan spot something.

Horror Situation: Danny dies from a fall.

SHOCK: A figure wearing a Sasquatch Mask and holding a hunting knife stares at Danny.
FEAR/ANGUISH: Danny shouts in fear and runs off. The others see the Figure, herein known as, THE MASKED STRANGER run past the stone ruins chasing Danny with a hunting knife.
DREAD: Sam and Megan go outside to help Danny.
SURPRISE: The sound of something charging unseen after Danny sends Sam and Megan back inside.
MONSTER REVEAL: More than one threat; easier to hear than see.
PANIC: Danny sees what else follows. He loses control and slips.

11. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST

Flint and Declan searching the upper ledge for the source of the commotion.

Horror Situation: Danny tumbles down the hill above the research team and dies.

HORROR: Danny tumbles with such force he impales himself on a fallen log with a sharp, weathered limb. He dies. </div><div>

SHOCK: Dr. Julian and Declan debate notifying authorities.

Flint convinces them to carry on, and call the death in later. Too close to lose the trail. Besides, Flint thinks he sees something up there. He fires at it while it retreats, but doesn’t hit it.

12. INT. STONE RUINS – NIGHT

Sam and friends bicker over what to do and the Research Team arrives.

Horror Situation: The monster attacks the stone ruins.

FEAR: Rocks pelt the stone ruins. Beast-like animal sounds invade. </div><div>

DREAD: Flint slowly checks with his gun ready.

RELEASE: Nothing. It’s gone.

MONSTER REVEAL: It’s a Sasquatch and it’s speeding away into the trees.

Flint grabs his gear and heads out for the Sasquatch. The others refuse to remain behind but Nate goes with Flint because he has the gun.

Dr. Julian readies his supplies. Declan prepares tools to see and track the Sasquatch. Fearing Sam and his friends phoning someone, they make them join them.

13. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET – NIGHT

To find the monster and source of all their troubles.

Horror Situation: While searching for a Sasquatch, a moment of panic sparked by the Masked Stranger causes the group to separate.

DREAD: Whispers put the group into a panic. </div><div>

SURPRISE: They see tree breaks that are hard to explain. Rocks thrown at them.

FEAR: Sam and the girls run back towards the stone ruins but get lost.

RELEASE: Sam reassures them they’ll be okay if they stay together.

MONSTER REVEAL: The Masked Stranger charges them with the hunting knife.

PANIC: The Masked Stranger separates Sam from the girls.

14. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Dr. Julian and Declan find markings, like runes, in a tree. Declan photographs them. They need to set a trap. Declan heads off to find the others and regroup at the stone ruins.

15. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

The Masked Stranger warns Sam to leave and that there are greater threats than Sasquatches.

16. INT. CAVE – NIGHT

Megan, Katie, and Maddy sense being tracked and choose to take refuge in a cave.

Horror Situation: Megan, Katie, and Maddy hide in a cave but they’re not alone.

ANXIETY: Katie, Maddy, and Megan enter cave to hide from something following them.
APPREHENSION: A horrible smell, but they make their way along in the dark. </div><div>

RELEASE: Whatever’s following them goes past the cave.

SURPRISE: A GROWL from further in indicates something coming. A sound of SNIFFING as something enters the cave.

SUSPENSE: Trapped, they follow the wall and hit a dead end.

RELEASE: No noises, nothing seems to be following them.

ANGUISH: Bones! Megan identifies them as human.
HORROR: Light captures eye-shine of an aggressive Sasquatch approaching.

SURPRISE: Something drives the Sasquatch away from their exit. They rush out and see two Sasquatches fighting behind them as they run to the exit.

MONSTER REVEAL: Two Sasquatches, not just one. Both appear territorial.

HYSTERIA: Sight of the Sasquatches causes Maddy to freak.

RELEASE: They exit the cave and get away with the battle sounds still coming from the cave.

17. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Declan finds Sam, alone.

MONSTER REVEAL: The Masked Stranger isn’t trying to kill them and didn’t kill Danny.</div><div>

18. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Flint examines a couple of tracks and sees a small clump of hair on a tree. Nate completely spooked, acting paranoid.

19. INT. STONE RUINS

Dr. Julian sets up for making the trap.

20. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Megan, Katie, and Maddy meet up with Sam and Declan. Declan shows Katie the markings he photographed. She recognizes them from a paper by a ridiculed anthropologist, Dr. Eleanor Sable.

21. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Flint captures the Masked Stranger. It’s a woman. Flint reveals his plan. The Sasquatch appears and Flint goes to shoot when attacked by the Masked Stranger.

Horror Situation: A situation out of hand has consequences.

SUSPENSE: The Sasquatch shows itself. </div><div>

ANGUISH: Flint attempts to kill the Sasquatch.

HYSTERIA: The Masked Stranger attacks Flint.

HORROR: The Masked Stranger beats Flint to death with a tree branch.

FEAR: The Sasquatch whisks the Masked Stranger away.

MONSTER REVEAL: The Masked Stranger and the Sasquatch are together.

Nate trembles at what takes place before him.

22. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET – CONTINUOUS

Nate picks up Flint’s gun.

Horror Situation: Nate shoots his friend, then himself.

PANIC: Nate poorly fires the gun and he misses the Sasquatch. </div><div>

ANGUISH: Nates friends appear close by. Nate misses the Sasquatch and hits Katie.

HORROR: Katie dies; Nate still trembling with the gun.

HYSTERIA: Nate weeping and laughing, asking who he hit.
HORROR: Nate shoots himself.

23. INT. STONE RUINS (LATER)

Sam and Declan put Katie’s body carefully down. Flint and Nate are covered. Sam attempts to phone, but they have to get the Sasquatch or everyone died for no reason at all.

24. EXT. STONE RUINS

Declan finishes the trap, consisting of thick ropes tied to trees. (When Sasquatch is distracted, Dr. Julian will tranquilize it). The same plan is for the Masked Stranger.

25. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Maddy and Megan are bait. They agree since it helped them and they don’t think it’s trying to hurt them. Dr. Julian with them but hidden.

Declan and Sam take a different way to force the Sasquatch toward the trap.

26. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET/EXT. STONE RUINS – CONTINUOUS

Horror Situation: The trap goes awry.

SURPRISE: An aggressive Sasquatch appears to the girls. </div><div>

MONSTER REVEAL: This is the Sasquatch threatening them.

FEAR: This is not the same Sasquatch.

Sam runs towards the girls. Declan heads for the trap.

DREAD: Declan approaches the trap. </div><div>

SHOCK: The Sasquatch appears behind Declan.

PANIC: Declan bolts and ends up caught in the trap.

FEAR: Declan trapped. The Masked Stranger appears

RELEASE: The Masked Stranger questions him. He says he knows her and that he never meant any harm to come to the creature.

The Masked Stranger tells him what happened.

27. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST (FLASHBACK)

Dr. Eleanor Sable studies Sasquatch family, making notes and interacting.

Horror Situation: Sasquatch family murdered by the military, and bodies taken.

SURPRISE: Sound of helicopters puts the group on alert. </div><div>

ANXIETY: Black helicopters appear.

FEAR: Chaos ensues as gunfire sprays down. Soldiers repel from some helicopters while others land pouring out soldiers.

ANGUISH: Dr. Sable tries to get the Sasquatches flee but two Sasquatch adolescents are surrounded.

HORROR: Sasquatches shot. Only one escapes with Dr. Sable.

END FLASHBACK

28. EXT. STONE RUINS

Sasquatches aren’t the monsters, people are in Dr. Sable’s eyes. The girls SCREAM again. Dr. Sable cuts Declan down. The Sasquatch and Dr. Sable take off.

29. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Dr. Julian tells them to lead it towards him and he’ll put it to sleep. It’s a fierce looking Sasquatch. Sam arrives.

Horror Situation: An aggressive Sasquatch charges and kills Maddy.

FEAR: Maddy can’t move, paralyzed by fear of this Sasquatch. </div><div>

SHOCK: It has scars on its face and body.

PANIC: Sam arrives and it charges the girls.

RELEASE: It stops.

SUSPENSE: Dr. Julian sneaks up on it.

HORROR: This Sasquatch tears Julian apart, literally.

MONSTER REVEAL: It’s a dangerous creature.

ANGUISH: Sam, Megan, and Maddy have no chance of escape. They await the inevitable.
SURPRISE: A ‘whooping call’ and tree knock stop Sasquatch. It sees the other one running at it.
SUSPENSE: Sam leads the girls away but the Sasquatch changes course and goes for them.
SHOCK/HORROR: It catches Maddy and dashes her against a tree; the other Sasquatch fights it from the others. Dr. Sable leads Sam and Megan out of the way.

HYSTERIA: Sam breaks free, takes the needle injector from the body parts of Dr. Julian, runs in and stabs it into the aggressive Sasquatch. A few more beatings and it falls asleep.

RELEASE: The threat is over.

30. EXT. THE WHISPERING THICKET

Declan takes a DNA sample from the sleeping brute but is willing to let it go. He gets to touch the Sasquatch with Dr. Sable.

Sam faces his fear but at what cost?

The Sasquatch and Dr. Sable disappear into the forest.

31. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST – MORNING

Military and park authorities scour doing their work. The bodies of the deceased recovered and laid out with blankets over them.

Sam and Megan have one final exchange.

32. EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST

The aggressive Sasquatch stands up from a crouching position, bares its teeth and retreats into the forest.

</div>

[Deleted User]

ACT 1

OUTLINE OF: “KILLING TIME” Screenplay by Karen Crider

KILLING TIME-HORROR SITUATION TRACK

1.EXT. ECKON, MT. – NIGHT

A range of mountains and valleys coffin a tiny village among two bars, a convenience store and a decrepit church.

2.EXT. DECREPIT CHURCH – NIGHT

A bereft church, with a broken belfry creaks in the wind testifying that when faith decays, everything decays with it.

A bent-over shadow, BARNABY puddles the rain, merging insise the ominous darkness, plodding up pitted church steps, seeking answers.

The almost hinge-less door sways in the wind as if planning its escape. Lightning flashes. Thunder crashes.

3. FOYER:

Rain drizzles indoors CLOYING the air with mildew and decay.

4. ALTAR

Barnaby’s boots crunch broken glass, as he ambles over beer cans, spent shell casings and debris.

DREAD/APPREHENSION: A cauldron of bats greets any intruder. Barnaby is no exception.

Moans and dirges shape-shift bats into filmy vampires and back again to bats.

A litany of voices drone with the wind, like spirits from the past condemning sin.

A ray of light penetrates the darkness as a caretaker intrudes.

NEIGHBOR

Whoever’s in here, better get out!

I don’t carry this gun for looks.

Only the flutter of bat wings greet his ears. He shines his flashlight inspecting it for teenagers. Sensing danger, he hastens his step exiting the property jumping at every sound.

5. EXT. DECREPIT CHURCH

DREAD: Barnaby leaves. He skulks back alleys searching for Hawk, another vampire, who sentries a clock under a time-lock, set to release the souls of a thousand vampires, three days after the clock is activated. Their release is imminent.

It’s vampire suicide. Humans are too smart, and a greater spirit protects this planet. They must find a safer planet.

6. INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – NIGHT

Hawk wisps inside a dusty shop morphing in disarray. Tools and clock parts splay shelves gonging and chiming together.

DREAD: The owner, Chron Chronson, and wife, Mabel, are fretting over bankruptcy and upcoming homelessness.

7.EXT. CHRON’S SHOP – DAY

Chron’s nephew: Allen, sneaks off to go treasure hunting with his metal detector. Treasure that may save their home.

FEAR: He drags his brother, slow Benny along. He resists going. Allen chides him.

8. EXT. OLD FARM – DAY

They explore, and find junk.

9. EXT. CORNFIELD – DAY

SURPRISE: Metal detector pings non-stop. Allen snores. Benny shovels.

10.EXT. CORNFIELD – NIGHT

APPREHENSION: A gibbous moon. Lightning flashes. Coyotes howl.

DREAD: Benny exhumes a grave. His flashlight illumines a skeleton.

SHOCK: Benny screams. Allen wakes up. He displaces a stake off a skeleton’s breast bone with his shovel, next to what appears as an archaic clock.

FEAR: A cloud murks the moon. The temperature drops. Benny’s breath fogs.

DREAD: An apparition rises.

Allen carries both the stake and clock to truck.

TERROR: Benny screams for help.

TERROR: Benny cannot move. The monster SCREECHES, GROWLS and GNASHES bone. A torn arm, slung with force belts Benny’s face. Blood splatters his hair, eyes and body.

TERROR/ PANIC: Benny wipes his eyes; SCREAMS: repeats a line from the Lord’s Prayer: Deliver me from evil…Deliver me from evil…Deliver me from evil.

TERROR: Allen dies. Benny escapes. Doesn’t know how to drive.

11.INT. CAR – NIGHT

Careens home cross-country plowing yards, and pastures.

12.EXT. BARN – NIGHT

FEAR: Benny runs over livestock.

EXT. CORN CRIB NIGHT

Throws Hawk into a corncrib.

13.INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – NIGHT

HORROR: Benny’s almost catatonic when he balances an archaic clock and a wooden stake on the counter.

14. INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – DAY

Allen’s gone. Benny’s questioned. He’s in shock;

ANGUISH: An ambulance arrives. Benny’s hospitalized. Dies.

DREAD: Mabel-religious woman- believes clock and stake are evil.

Chron wants to sell them.

15.EXT. LAKE – NIGHT

HORROR: Mabel slings them in lake and almost drowns. Hawk returns clock/ stake to Chron’s shop before she does. Clock demands care. She pours bleach on it. She dies.

16. INT. THE OASIS BAR – NIGHT

Barnaby enters. Two drunks barely notice him. He sits alone, trying to listen to two others and tries to eavesdrop.

He orders a beer that he ignores. Humans drift in and out. He tires of their boisterous chatter. He leaves.

ACT 2

17. INT. CAR – DAY

Chron’s Shop crime scene. He decides to lives in his car.

18. EXT. BEREFT STREET – NIGHT

Barnaby peers into Chron’s car. Chron awakens. He spies Barnaby. Chron turns over the engine and speeds away. Barnaby spends the night in the church, still hoping to find Hawk.

19. EXT. CORNFIELD – DAY

HORROR: A skull full of maggots is found. An eye stares askance at any inspecting it, as if wanting to ask a question.

20.INT. MONTANA STATE MORTICIAN’S LAB, FBI – DAY

The skull is sent to mortician, DORIAN SIMMS. He i.d’s the skull using dental x-rays sent to local dentists state-side.

21.EXT. CHRON’S FARMHOUSE – DAY

SHOCK: Two policemen inform Chron they have found Allen’s skull.

22.. INT. FUNERAL HOME – DAY

Barnaby attends, dressed in his usual dark cloak. He drifts nearby pausing for any input he can use in finding Hawk.

He eyes Chron. A man who seems as alone as he is.

He watches Dorian introduce himself to Chron.

SURPRISE: Dorian hints that Chron may have something to do with Mabel’s death and perhaps Allen’s.

Chron backs away, resenting Dorian’s subtle jabs. He leaves.

THE POINT OF NO RETURN

23. INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – DAY

The shop is taped off due to Mabel’s inquiry. No one’s allowed to enter.

Two young detectives arrive to take samples for investigation.

TERROR: They accidentally tip over an antique clock. They die.

24.INT. FARMHOUSE – NIGHT

Chron rents a haunted farmhouse and tries to update it.

FEAR: He calls Father John, not knowing the priest is a covert vampire, who advertises he specializes in spiritual cleansing.

He finishes and leaves. Chron doesn’t know Father John pauses to watch him paint. Chron’s muscles ripple. His love handles carry the perfect marbling of fat.

Father John shape shifts into a bat.

FEAR: His sonar bounces off any and all surfaces as he contacts his cauldron of vampires over for a leg of Chron.

Old paint bleeds through the new. Chron groans. He re-paints it.

HORROR: Chron’s spewed from his ladder, attacked. Impending death surrounds him as vampires converge. He grapples for a cross and a Bible as defense.

Father John and his cronies back off and disappear. Ceiling rafters crash. Light fixtures SPLINTER, FLAME, SPUTTER and DIE. Glass SPLINTERS.

Chron escapes. Afterwards, the house is silent, except for the wind moaning inside the chimney.

Acrid remains of spent fires spite the house with their odor.

25. EXT. VEHICLE – DAY

FEAR: Chron escapes outdoors for air. Weeds billow the wind. Outbuildings lean into it. No birds light the fences.

26.INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY

Chron sorts out what’s left of his property and starts packing.

PANIC: Police show up at his door with arrest warrants. Chron’s charged with Mabel’s death.

27.INT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS – DAY

Chron is given a polygraph. He’s fingerprinted, photographed and brought before a judge.

28.INT. COURT – DAY

DREAD: The judge sends him to jail. Chron sits in despair. A lawyer arrives who keeps glancing at his watch. He exits.

29.INT. JAIL – DAY

SHOCK: Chron’s arrested for murder.

He’s in jail for weeks, before Dorian realizes, the time lines are wrong. Puncture wounds aren’t consistent with anything human.

30.INT. COURTROOM – DAY

Dorian testifies. The judge drops the charges. Chron is released with the court’s apology and Dorian’s.

32. EXT. FARMHOUSE – DAY

The house is in tatters.

Chron gathers his property and moves out.

33.INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – NIGHT

Chron contacts Dorian. They break and enter.

They sip a full coffee pot of coffee and voice party plansat the shop. They are not aware of Hawk’s presence, only an archaic clock ominously out-ticking every other clock present.

34. EXT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP -DAY

Hawk watches as Chron and Dorian water plants with a couple sprinkler cans, filled with gasoline, saturating the exteriors of the shop.

EXT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – DAY

A lone figure straggles down the street like he is drunk. Barnaby eyes the shop. He listens as Chron speaks about tomorrow night’s party at the shop. He leaves.

35.. INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – DAY

They re-enter the shop. Hawk watches as they ‘water’ the plants indoors, generously spilling gas onto the floor, splattering the

FEAR: Hawk sentries the clock ready to attack if they threaten it.

36.INT. CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – NIGHT

SHOCK: The party is just beginning, when Mabel, a shrouded figure in a dark cloud. Benny and Allen follow.

FEAR: Behind them, Hawk’s eyes glitter as he focuses on Chron’s neck.

Mabel gazes at the cross hanging around Chron’s throat. And she remembers and cries out.

MABEL

Save me, Lord.

SHOCK: In the flick of an eye, she disintegrates to dust.

HYSTERIA: Hawk’s enraged. He leads the living dead to converge on Chron and Dorian.

ANGUISH: Dorian fights while pushing Chron out the door. Dorian dies.

EXT. THE OASIS – NIGHT

Barnaby watches Chron’s shop. He slowly wanders over to the party hoping to gain sight of Hawk.

37. EXT. CRON’S CLOCK SHOP – NIGHT

PANIC: Hawk shape-shifts into a bat, and shift back as a vampire, determined to kill Chron.

HYSTERIA: Hawk’s furious at Chron. He has lost Mabel and it’s Chron’s fault. Hawk grabs Chron by the throat. His fangs emerge, closer. Closer.

Hawk’s breath on his hold is putrid, heavy and laden with evil. Chron cannot move. He knows his life is over.

Hawk leans into him, limp and lifeless. He falls at Chron’s feet. In his back, is the stake from the shop. Mabel fades into a mist, and she’s gone forever.

Chron kicks Hawn into a clump of roses.

He clicks his Bic. The flame ignites the flowers and Hawk at the same time.

FEAR: The building flames into a huge conflagration. An explosion sends Chron flying.

Chron moans on the ground, gazing skyward. A lone figure, Barnaby, rises above smoke and flame. Behind him a cauldron of vampires rise with him. He cradles something in his grip.

38. EXT. SITE OF CHRON’S CLOCK SHOP – DAY

Chron packs what few possessions he owns and settles them in the back of the truck. He climbs in the cab, turns the key, and drives out of Ekron forever…

[Tom Freyer]

Tom’s Horror Outline (Sort of) Version 1

I didn’t keep a very detailed outline going– would have been nice to be clear on that– and already removed the horror prompts– must have misread the instructions.I also broke the rules (horrors!) and wrote out some of the horror scenes vs. keep them in outline form. I am happy with many of the horror choices I made stimulated by Hal’s prompts, but am open to anything scary, as well as changing story structure, and character arcs which are pretty weak right now.

Tom’s Horror Outline 1

ACT 1

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