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Lesson 5
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R Whitney Lesson 5
What I learned:
Act 1
Atmosphere of Evil established:
Horror Situation: The African expedition is attacked but we only hear screams. All are torn to shreds.
Reaction – Denial: Explained as wild animal attack
Horror Situation: Opening of package from Africa expedition
Connect with the characters: The lead scientist opens a package from the African expedition.
<strong style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Horror – face of monster : The package contains large Mantis exoskeleton shells and Mantis eggs
Safety taken away: Eggs are alive
Horror Situation: Eggs hatch and kill first person while in lab
Reaction – fight and scream
Horror Situation: Baby Mantis escape out of the lab
Reaction – try to solve:
Monster: Giant Mantis on the prowl
Horror Situation: Impending doom
Reaction: try to solve
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Returns home
Horror Situation: Sees Neighbor attacked by 4 foot Mantis
Reaction: Tries to help but neighbor is killed slowly
Horror Situation: Scientist trapped in house by 4 foot mantis
Reaction: Escape
Horror Situation: Scientist caught by Mantis while escaping
Reaction: Fight
Character Death: Scientist hurt but is able to escape
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Kevin Lobo’s Horror Situation Track:
What I learned doing this assignment is planning is the key. The temptation to rush in and write is killing but these meticulous planning sessions are amazing in chalking out the details well in advance.
ACT 1
Atmosphere of Evil established: The gang of 6 teens venture into the graveyard, try the spell, release the evil spirit which possesses and kills one of them instantly.
Horror Situation: The gang see one of them being possessed, brutally assaulted, display demonic activity, and then get crucified.
Reaction – Escape: The terrified teens flee, finding themselves powerless to help their friend.
Horror Situation: As they flee, they sense, the evil spirit among them but are too terrified to say anything.
Reaction – Denial: The gang dismiss it as a one-off punishment for disturbing the dead and playing with the spell even though they feel they must alert their elders to the death of their friend. They agree to deny all knowledge and sink away quietly into their daily routine.
The group meet up a few days later to celebrate Sarah’s birthday who is the next to turn 19. They decide to keep it low key. There are subtle warnings from the village priest and the retired village FBI detective to bypass the celebrations.
Goaded on by the wild Ruth, the gang decide to celebrate anyway.
Horror Situation: Possession/Trapped – the group see Sarah’s full-blown possession.
Reaction – Fight: This time the group try to fight back as they don’t have a choice. They are trapped in their secret dugout.
The gang begin to get a sense from the two killed on their birthdays that this is not a one off now.
Denial of Horror: Yet, despite the two deaths, the remaining slink away, in fear and guilt rather than seek help or rope in the village elders and their families.
Safety taken away: As they flee, the evil spirit torments them having slipped into the next one. They realize that they have brought back the spirit with them.
Horror Situation: The gang see their next friend possessed but slip back into her normal self
Reaction – Try to solve it. The gang realize that there is no escape now. They begin to quietly reach out for help to the Priest, the detective and the FBI agent in the village who has been sent to solve the situation.
Horror Situation: The remaining teens begin to be tormented by the evil spirit now residing in Ruth as her birthday approaches. Their warnings are lost as the Ruth’s family sees a very normal Ruth
Reaction – Denial: From Ruth’s family.
Monster: Having see two possessions and death up close and knowing that Ruth is already next with the spirit in her, the remaining three see no escape. They are tormented by nightmares and gloom as they see the village and the FBI agent now working with the priest and the retired detective totally helpless themselves.
Horror Situation: The arrest of a rich man known to dabble in the occult does nothing to stop the possession in Ruth. The remaining three see the spirit mock them as the next.
Reaction: Utter despondency and paranoia, further fed in by the paranoia engulfing the village.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Ruth’s family tries to get her away from the village with the promise of a Vegas birthday celebration.
Horror Situation: TRAPPED: The gang and the village see Ruth return from the village outskirts in a daze. She informs them that the spirit showed up as a zombie and killed her family, by crashing the car.
Reaction: Hide. The remaining three are quietly tormented by the spirit in Ruth, warning them not to escape. They know it is Ruth in her possessed form who has killed her family.
Horror Situation: Pursued. The possessed Ruth finds them easily, sneaking into their bedrooms at night. It is the evil spirit in Ruth who now begins to relay messages through Ruth to them.
Reaction: They try to reach out to the FBI detective for help but are locked in by their families for their own safety.
Horror Situation: The public death of Ruth.
Character Death: The entire village gathers for a special Church service on Ruth’s birthday to pray for protection and to protect Ruth who now does not have a family and is living in the protection of the priest. However, as the villagers emerge from the Church, the evil spirit surfaces and after the usual brutal physical assault, the demonic activity, the spirit kills Ruth in sight of the entire village leaving a final warning and a deadline to find and return something it wants back.
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Mike’s Horror Situation Track
What I learned doing this assignment is…?
I put in a lot of repetitive stuff, but the process allows me to think and visually evaluate some things that might work and some things that might not. I started referring to the ‘Feral Phantom’ as the ‘Masked Stranger’ so still not sure which way to go. But, I’ll let the changes come as the course progresses.
ACT 1
Atmosphere of Evil established: Eight year old child, Darian Brown, playing hide and seek. Here’s the ‘Ready or not, here I come’ in the distance and goes further into the woods. He sees a stone cottage to hide in.
Horror Situation: Snapping twigs.
Reaction – stifled laughter: No way he’ll be found.
Horror Situation: He looks out and he sees something.
Reaction – terror: His face shows it.
Horror situation: Monster approaching and no escape.
Reactions – defeat: Screams as all goes dark.
Connect with the characters: 12 Years Later: Sam leads Megan, Nate, Maddy, Kate, and Danny along the trail, with Sam retelling the story of Darian Brown. <div>
The characters are warned not to do it: Some strange sounds, eerie forebodings, and a solo female hiker warns them of some unusual activity from a strange part of the forest named, “The Whispering Thicket.” “They say there’s a phantom up there. The Feral Phantom. That is if you believe in that stuff,” she says before hiking off. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Intro of Dr. Julian Grimm, Declan Caldwell, and Flint Maddox.
Denial of Horror: Sam assures his friends that this will be a fun time, a time to remember, and despite the stories, there’s no cause to fear.
Safety taken away: Sam and friends enter ‘The Whispering Thicket,’ where Darian saw the monster. They go to the abandoned stone cottage but refuse to enter.
Horror Situation: Spooky. They hear something behind them. Their exit is blocked by something but they can’t see what it is.
Reaction – Argue: They argue over what it could be.
Horror Situation: Two tree knocks, loud and close.
Reaction – Flee into shelter: They hide in the ruins of the abandoned stone cottage.
Monster: The nature of the beast: The friends peek outs and get their first glimpse of the monster.
Horror Situation: A quick glimpse of a Sasquatch steps out from a tree.
Reaction – Panic and confusion: Terror-stricken, they attempt to make sense of what they think they see.
Horror Situation: More spook. Evidence of rituals.
Reaction – Fear and blame. They blame Sam for bringing them there but they just want to get out.
Horror Situation: Noises and sounds of the Sasquatch close, then silence.
Reaction – Helpless and afraid. Trapped. Evening approaching.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Friends trapped in abandoned cottage.<div>
Horror Situation: Menacing figure, whispers.
Reaction – Denial: Megan argues with Katie that the thicket, the whispers, the folklore of the ‘Feral Phantom’ is a story, which is never as magical as they seem. “This isn’t the movies.”
Horror Situation: Feral Phantom makes an appearance.
Reaction: Nate becomes hysterical. Danny becomes a liability.
Character Death: Danny faces the terror only to find he hasn’t the courage. Flint, the hunter, finds him. Danny tells his friends they’re being pranked and he’ll prove it. Despite protests, he strides out in full bravado.
Dr. Julian and team meet up with teens.</div><div>Horror Situation: The friends see Danny fall backwards and scrambles up. Something has him spooked. They peek from the stone ruins to find the Feral Phantom chasing and shouting at Danny but they can’t hear what it’s saying.
Reaction – Megan barrels out and Sam follows but they don’t see anything. They hear Danny screaming. More sounds send them back inside where they fret about Danny.
Horror Situation: Danny falls to his death, impaled on broken branch of a fallen log.
Reaction: Lands in front of Flint Maddox, Declan Caldwell and Dr. Julian grim. Flint sees the Feral Phantom.
Choices: Declan argues with Flint and Dr. Julian that they need to notify the police about the body. Flint convinces them not, too, but to satisfy Declan agrees to protect the body from wildlife and alert the authorities when finished. “This is a sign. This is what we came here to do. Call it in, might as well go home,” Flint tells them. Dr. Julian wants to keep going, and his excitement shows.
The friends argue about what to do and how they need to find Danny.
Horror Situations Stones thrown at cottage. Gunshot.
Reaction: Sam confronts the danger but it’s only Dr. Julian and team.
Horror Situation: The group weeps at the news of Danny. Flint matter of fact, not so gentle. Told of a Sasquatch. Nighttime. Foggy. The door bangs.
Reaction: Flint grabs his gun and checks from the doorway. He fires a shot, just because.
Horror Situation: A stone hits Flint. He sees the masked phantom. He moves toward it. Raises gun for another shot, when…SMASH. His body snaps as the giant ape destroys him.
Reaction: Mayhem. The friends make a run for it, despite protests from Declan.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought! They think the Sasquatch is playing with them, like an orca with a seal.
Full pursuit by the killer: Dr. Julian tries helping teens escape but the teens see the Sasquatch again and separate, some into the cave, where the Sasquatch enters.
Horror Situation: Monster approaches.
Reaction: Same, Nate, and Maddy split from Megan and Katie in the mayhem. Sam, Nate, and Maddy enter a cave. “That could be that thing’s lair,” Nate protests.
Terrorized: In the cave the noises and sounds of the approaching Sasquatch with no escape. But something else hunts them. Something more terrifying. Actual villain revealed.
Horror Situation: The Sasquatch enters the cave.
Reaction: The friends retreat further in and try to hid in a dark recess. They hear it. “We’re dead. You don’t think that thing can’t smell us.” – Nate; “Doesn’t have to smell us, just listen to you freak out.” – Sam.
Horror Situation: Feral Phantom makes strange incantation-like sounds in front of Megan and Katie.
Reaction: They freeze. Declan to the rescue. Dr. Julian confronts the Feral Phantom.
Horror Situation: The Feral Phantom disappears behind a tree. Declan chases.
Reaction: Markings on a tree. Declan recognizes something, so does Katie.
Declan and Katie try to figure out the markings. Katie remembers them from a paper about the research of Dr. Eleanor Sable. “This is just a woman doing this?” – Dr. Julian. He takes Flint’s gun and exits. Declan knows and tells Katie what happens as Dr. Julian hunts the Feral Phantom.
Horror Situation: Maddy feels something. Turns on flashlight. Bones!
Reaction: Maddy screams the flashlight catches eye shine and the light goes out.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Declan, Katie and Megan calm Dr. Julian and devise a trap for the Sasquatch.
Horror Situation: Sasquatch lured to trap. It doesn’t work.
Reaction: Escape and confrontation.
Dr. Julian spots the Feral Phantom and chases it.
Horror Situation: Dr. Julian shoots the Feral Phantom but misses. He fires a again.
Reaction: The Feral Phantom makes a ‘whooping’ call.
Horror Situation: Dr. Julian attacks Feral Phantom. They fight. Sasquatch arrives.
Reaction: Feral Phantom goes berserker. Sasquatch carries off Feral Phantom.
Hysteria: Sam, Megan, and Nate play off each others paranoia, and for good reason as the Sasquatch brings them to the edge of death.
Horror Situation: Sasquatch returns to the friends.
Reaction: Feral Phantom reveals herself: Dr. Eleanor Sable.
The thrilling escape from death: False defeat of villain.
Horror Situation: Dr. Julian insane with rage grabs gun.
Reaction: Declan tries to stop him and gets shot. Dr. Julian fires at the girls but misses.
Dr. Eleanor Sable reveals some of how she got to be there and why she protects this Sasquatch.
Death returns to take one or more: The villain overthrown, but at a heavy cost.
Horror Situation: Sasquatch senses danger, stops Dr. Sable from leaving cave.
Reaction: Sam knows what he must do, but Nate beats him to it. Nate exits and Dr. Julian shoots him.
Horror Situation: Sasquatch on the move.
Reaction: Kills Dr. Julian.
Resolution: Sasquatch free, teens get free but a couple friends down, and disturbed by shaken reality. Declan has his evidence but chooses to keep it secret.
Dr. Sable and Sasquatch leave.
At Danny and Nate’s funeral, Sam joins his friends only to find out that after all he did to try to give them one last hurrah, he broke their friendship—he did. What he tries to save, he loses. They want nothing to do with him and blame him for the nightmares they’ll never forget.
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TOM’S HORROR SITUATION TRACK
What I learned: Brainstorming these situations and reactions was productive. Dropping them into the plot requires time sequence, character development, as well as proper pacing, so Step 4 instructions will need a lot of work.
A. Isolated Situations
Lost: A crew member is blinded and stumbles into a hole which is actually the creature. Trapped: Doctor is locked in a room by the creature and can’t escape.Shackled An onboard prisoner is shackled to their cell when the creature is roaming. Being lured into danger: An injured crew member is smitten by a pretty nurse in sick bay (in reality the creature) Forces of nature: The submerged ship is suspended on a cliff which is collapsing. The only one who sees the monster: Chief Engineer Dave Osmond spots the creature on his video feed but can’t communicate with Dr. Patel , who’s in the dry-dock when the creature shows itself.
B. Pursued Situations
Forced into a dangerous environment: Angel is forced to isolate the creature in an oxygen-free environment to try to suffocate it. If she loses her mask with oxygen tank hose, tables will turnImpending doom: Once the North Koreans and Chinese discover the sub has violated the treaty, it could spark WWIII , No escape or their escape route has been cut off: The depth charges knock the sub into an underwater crevasseMonster approaching: Dave Osmond can see the creature heading for Dr. Patel. Monster trying to get to you: Someone is on the toilet. The creature is swimming through the toilet pipes!Out of the frying pan and into the fire. ?
C. Torture Situations
Injured, wounded, or debilitated : The creature invicerates the patients in sick bay.See another killed ?Something inside our body: When he tries to answer a direct order from the Captain,, he creature bursts out of the mouth of Dave Osmond.Transformed into something else (zombie, possessed, touched rotting monster) The creature disguises itself as Quantell Jefferson to holy-roller MalloryPhysically tortured: In the mess, a group of seamen are telling jokes We see the creature rip through the internal organs of all of them. Mentally tortured: Angel starts thinking she sees the shape shifter everywhere.
D. Tormented Situations
Possessed ?Tricked The creature tricks its hunters by becoming part of the sub and even the crew.Dilemma: Who to save: Them or me? Or Person A versus Person B? Captain considers silencing the crew (gassing them to death) in order to save the missionFriends in danger ?.Another character loses it (hysterical) Always jovial Connor McCaffery loses his shitA character becomes a liability (physically): If Connor can’t be silenced, they’ll have to kill him
E. Paranoia Situations
The group has been infiltrated: After the creature becomes Jefferson, everyone suspects everyone else Suspecting someone else is possessed-same thingNot knowing who is possessed – same thingUnknown motive?Internal conflict in the groupMenacing Stranger: Dead alienA character refuses to take action: Even though he won’t shut up, Captain refuses to kill Connor
F. Spooky Situations
Slimed ?Doing something forbidden Dr. Patel brings the alien cadaver aboard despite Captain’s odersFall through the floor: The “floor” is actually the creature when a crew member steps on itThreatened ?Face to face with the monster Angel finds herself face-to-face with the creature when both are running out of air. Who will succumb first?Can not see (fog, being underwater), speak or yell, hear (too loud or too quiet)Environment changing around you: Anything on the ship might actually be the Shape-shifting Creature
G. Deceptive Situations
Walking into a trap?Lured into the horror?Helping a good person and being attacked ?Working with someone, then they become the evil one: Jefferson is the creature in disguise
REACTIONS
Once you’ve done Step 2, go back to each Horror Situation and add a character reaction. This doesn’t have to be the perfect reaction, but instead one that seems to work for the moment.
BTW, the reaction could be the entire group running or hiding, or it could be two people hiding and three escaping.
A. Denial
When someone (who?) tells the Captain there’s a creature aboard, he doesn’t believe them.
B. Try to solve it
Angel leads the effort to try to figure out, first, how to spot it despite its camouflage, (eventually, she discovers it has a heat signature, so IR goggles). and second, how to kill it.
As they gain more experience, they will move closer and closer to understanding the real nature of the monster, and that will give them a real chance at killing it. Heat, cold, gas, stabbing, finally, oxygen.
C. Hide
A natural reaction to overwhelming violence is to hide. Characters can hide anywhere — under the bed, in the closet, in the basement or attic, in a dumpster, under a pile of leaves, in plain sight, or any of a hundred other places.
A Seaman hides in his locker, but we see it slowly coming for him.
The great thing about hiding is the apprehension and suspense it creates as the monster searches for their prey.
D. Escape
Some of the most thrilling moments of a horror movie are the escapes and botched escapes. Many of the attacks by the monster will conclude with an escape. Some will work for the moment. Some have the characters breaking free, only to run into a worse hiding place. And others have the characters run right into the monster.
There’s an emergency mini-sub, that the doctor used to capture the alien cadaver, that somebody tries to escape in, but the creature kills them before they can escape.
The act of escaping can be dangerous in itself. It is often a desperate move that is not well thought out, so people stumble, run into things, trip, fall, or injure themselves in the process.
E. Fight
And then, there is the ultimate choice: fighting the monster. Early in the movie, this almost always results in the character’s death. They don’t know enough to defeat their enemy. But by the 3rd Act, they have seen it in action and learned its weaknesses. With that information and a brilliant plan, they fight back.
A few characters may survive. Most won’t. But that is what makes it exciting.
Angel’s fight to the death with the creature goes here.
STEP 4: PUT HORROR SITUATIONS/REACTIONS INTO THE PLOT
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: We meet Captain Taylor Vanderpool and CWO Angel onboard top-secret stealth submarine. Captain unlocks mission and shares it with crew, which is to spy on North Korea.Isolated / Trapped / Abducted North Korea has a spotter ship looking for them. Captain orders silent running: Absolutely no noise! Medical Officer summons Capt to the view port. Deep underwater, submarine passes by a crashed UFO. An Alien cadaver with a missing eye floats by the viewscreen.There are alien bodies floating outside the ship. Medical Officer wants to grab one. Captain warns against it. Medical Officer retrieves it secretly using the mini-sub. Alien body now aboard ship. Left eye missing. Med. Officer recites into microphone, compares the wounds to cattle mutilations in TX, Wyoming and Montana.Alien seemed to have disappeared. A pipe moves amongst the hallway hydraulics. A tentacle locks the door from the inside. Chief Engineer David Osmond sees the alien transform, into something worm-like moving on video, but there’s no sound connection. Medical Officer locked in the dry dock with the creature. The creature attacks Med.Officer . He screams, dies. There’s a hole where his right eye was.Osmond tries to warn captain there’s a creature loose on the ship. Captain sketical. Maybe it was just a bad dream?
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Creature gets into the plumbing pipes. It travels up toward a toilet just as a Osmond closes the head door and sits down. It attacks from within. It comes out of Osmond’smouth in a froth of blood. CPO Connor McCaffery cracks a joke to baby-faced First Mate Toby Schein.Schein walks down hallway. He screams! CPO finds him dead. His left eye is gone! WTF happened?Another character loses it (hysterical) Always jovial Connor McCaffery loses his shit. A character becomes a liability (physically): If Connor can’t be silenced, they’ll have to kill him
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Dillemma: Captain becomes concerned if screams give them away. He must decide between saving the mission or saving the crew. The crew begins to panic: They lock it in a room and freeze it with liquid oxygen . First Mate Quantrell goes into the room to retrieve it, fires the carcass out of a torpedo shoot..FM Quantell Jefferson discusses creature with Seaman FC Mallory Ewing. She tells him she was never worried, she’s got Jesus on her side. “Jefferson” turns into creature and kills Mallory.Physically tortured: In the mess, a group of seamen are telling jokes We see the creature rip through the internal organs of all of them. Impending doom: Once the North Koreans and Chinese discover the sub has violated the treaty, it could spark WWIII ,Terror! Electrical cord drops, startles crew member, who screams and then dies. North Korean boat hears it. Order depth charges dripped on boat. Now there are depth charges and creature terrorizing the boat.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Impending doom: Once the North Koreans and Chinese discover the sub has violated the treaty, it could spark WWIII ,Terror! Electrical cord drops, startles crew member, who screams and then dies. North Korean boat hears it. Order depth charges dripped on boat. Now there are depth charges and creature terrorizing the boat. Mentally Tortured: Angel begins thinking she sees he creature everywhere. She decides to see if it has a heat signal. Fight to the death. Angel discovers it hiding, via IR heat signal fights it with a fire axe. She cuts it in two with a fire axe. It’s dead. But no, a piece of it is still twitching. It attacks and kills another Crewmember. Hysteria as the entire crew panicsThe thrilling escape from death Angel finds it again and iocks herself in a room with it. Puts on oxygen tank and mask. Turns off the air in the room. One of creatures goes through gasping death throes. Death returns to take one or more. She reaches for the fire axe. It turns into the other creature.The creature launches out at her, knocking off her mask. Who will die first?The sub floats into a harbor. It appears no one is alive until they hear banging from a cabinet. Inside, they find Angel, barely alive.
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Eve Williams’ Horror Plot
“What I learned doing this assignment was I can scare myself.”
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil Established –
Moonless night in the Mojave Desert. Far away from civilization, an older pick-up towing a loaded trailer heads down a deserted road.
Horror Situation: They are lost, and have been for a while.
Reaction: Tired and confused, they consult the map again. Eventually…
The truck’s headlights illuminate a worn sign: El Mirage Heights. Dimly lit homes line the short street.
Connect With the Characters –
Inside the truck is Alberto, a worn Hispanic man in his early 30s, Maria, tired and 26, 5 months pregnant; Jesus, coke bottle glasses wearing 5 year old; Bonita a fat old Chihuahua, and Lolita Bird, a vocal green Conure parrot
Horror Situation: Jesus, Bonita, and Lolita Bird sense evil in the house
Reaction: Jesus won’t come near the house, and Bonita barks and Lolita Bird jungle yells.
Typical tract home; it was the model home for the El Mirage Heights subdivision.
Horror Situation: Alberto proposes to Maria, shoving a key ring with the house keys on her ring finger. In doing so, he scratches her finger, which drops blood.
Reaction: Maria is pleased, but considers the dripping blood a bad sign.
Sheet draped furniture is inside. The group works to grab suitcases and settle in.
Denial of Horror –
Maria says that the house is so far out. Alberto says that she saw the neighbors’ homes and they won’t be alone.
Horror Situation: Alberto attempts to get a cell signal.
Reaction: He locates one while standing in the middle of the street.
Safety Taken Away –
Before dawn, Alberto is picked up by a co-worker. They’re off to Northern Nevada to work construction for a week.
Horror Situation: Jesus hears a knocking at his window. He looks out but sees no one. Then knocking at the front door, where a black eyed little boy stands.
Reaction: Jesus asks Maria if he can let him in. Maria believes it is Alberto, who has forgotten something and tells Jesus to let him in. So he does.
Horror Situation: Maria quickly dresses and goes to the living room. Confused when she doesn’t see Alberto, Maria asks Jesus where he is.
Reaction: Jesus tells Maria that a little boy was at the door but he left.
Horror Situation: Maria and Jesus go outside to find the boy’s home. They look down the street and see that the “homes” are actually weathered frame stage homes with false fronts.
Reaction: No one else lives in El Mirage Heights. They are completely alone.
Monster –
The nature of the beast. Most of the monster’s initial actions involve scary nature things, like wild winds and mirages.
Horror Situation: Going from bedroom to bedroom, Maria pounds nails into the wall and hangs crucifixes above the beds. The next time she returns to each room, the crucifixes are turned 90%
Reaction: Unnerved, she carefully straightens each crucifix.
Horror Situation: Maria takes Bonita out to pee in the backyard. The whipping wind startles the dog, who whimpers and runs back to the door. It also uncovers a stack of bones.
Reaction: Maria examines the bones, attempting to figure out if they are animal or human.
Horror Situation: Maria is unpacking, and hears water from inside the bathroom. Calling for Jesus, she knocks on the closed door. Jesus looks into the hall from his room. When Maria opens the bathroom door, the water runs for a second, then stops.
Reaction: Maria is afraid, but doesn’t want to upset Jesus. She fiddles with the faucet handles, and tells Jesus to make sure the faucet is completely off.
Horror Situation: Jesus carefully places his toys on a shelf, stepping back to admit the display. One slowly moves to the edge of the shelf, teeters, and falls to the floor.
Reaction: Jesus removes his glasses, wipes the lenses, and puts them on. He picks up the toy and examines it. He places it back on the shelf.
Horror Situation: Maria is dozing on the coach, and wakes up clutching her stomach. She races to the bathroom and throws up. Swaying a bit as the stands, she wipes a wet wash cloth on her face. She stares at her reflection in the mirror. And notices a man standing behind her.
Reaction: Maria turns around. No one is there.
Horror Situation: From her cage in the living room, Lolita Bird watches Bonita who is having a violent nightmare as she sleeps on the kitchen floor. Bonita yips, rolls, and kicks her legs.
A cabinet door slowly opens. Then another. And another. Until all are open. Then all but one shut with a bang. Lolita Bird jungle yells and Bonita wakes up and barks frantically.
Bonita slides across the kitchen floor into the living room. Lolita Bird’s cage shakes violently and the bird yells; “La Migra”!
Reaction: Jesus runs into the living room, and attempts to calm Bonita and Lolita Bird. A creak from the remaining open cabinet door gets Jesus’ attention. He watches as it slams shut.
Maria hangs the house key ring on a hook in the kitchen.
Horror Situation: A short time later, she walks by the hook and the keys are gone.
Reaction: She frantically searches the room for the keys. No luck.
Maria and Jesus both go to bed in their respective rooms.
Jesus sleeps in his bed.
Horror Situation: Tapping above his head wakes him. Motionless, he stares up at the wall.
Reaction: Curious, he taps back on the wall.
Horror Situation: Another tap from the wall. Then a battery toy car comes to life, and drives across the floor.
Horror Situation: Maria dreams that a monster is chasing her. She flails about in the bed, only waking when she feels something hard and pointed in the bed sheets.
Reaction: Maria stares at her missing keys. Using a cord on the nightstand, she ties the key ring to her wrist.
ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated/Trapped
Horror Situation: Maria awakens to the sound of a baby crying.
Reaction: She checks on Jesus, who is soundly sleeping.
Horror Situation: A music box plays in the nursery.
Reaction: Jesus hears the music, and goes into the nursery. He picks up the music box and turns it off.
Horror Situation: A voice says: Jesus…
Reaction: A confused Jesus answers: Mama?
Horror Situation: Maria plugs in her cell phone and sets it on the bathroom vanity. When she returns, the charging cord is missing. After a brief search, she finds it in the toilet.
Reaction: Fishing out the cord, she yells for Jesus. When he doesn’t come, she goes to his room. The door is shut. Annoyed, she pauses briefly.
Horror Situation: Muffled voices from inside the room. One is Jesus. But the other?
Reaction: Maria freezes, then places her ear to the door. Brow furrowed, the lilt of the children’s voices confuse her. She knocks, then tries to open the door. It is locked.
Horror Situation: Yelling, Maria pounds on the door. She tries the knob again and walks in to see Jesus sitting on the floor, playing with his toys. Maria asks he who he was talking to. Jesus said “my friend”.
Reaction: Visibly mad, Maria tells Jesus not to lie to her about having a friend. And accuses him of dropping her charging cord in the toilet. Jesus denies knowing anything about the charging cord and says he does too have a friend.
Horror Situation: The crucifix above Jesus’ bed knocks against the wall, beginning a clockwise turn. The crucifix rotates 180 degrees as Jesus and Maria watch.
Reaction: Maria crosses herself, and runs to right the crucifix. It burns her hand and it falls to the floor. Maria clutches her hand and leaves.
Horror Situation: Jesus hears a low whistle. Then another. Jesus calls for his friend. He looks under the bed and sees the black eyed boy staring back at him.
Reaction: Jesus tells the boy he must leave. The boy tells him “you ask me in”.
Horror Situation: Maria’s in the bathroom, washing her reddened hand. The temperature of the water changes from cold to hot and she yanks her hand out of the flow.
Words slowly appear in the steamed mirror. P-E-E-K-A-B-O-O… A dark reflection in the mirror forms behind Maria
Reaction: Maria spins around to see…Nothing. She quickly wipes the mirror. As she leaves the bathroom, a man’s low chuckle…
The next day, Maria is in the garage, which is finished out with office space. She discovers El Mirage Heights brochures, with glossy pictures of her house and the partially built others on the cul-de-sac.
A large photo of a grinning man is prominent above the phase “Let Me Take You Home”.
Horror Situation: Maria hears a hiss behind her. A large snake is coiled in the corner of the garage.
Reaction: She grabs a broom and beats the snake. Then notices it is only a rope. Rubbing her eyes, she uses the broom to pull the rope out to see if the snake is under it. At the end of the rope is a hangman’s noose.
Horror Situation: A man’s low chuckle…
Reaction: Maria yells: “This is MY HOUSE”. Stop It!”
The next day, crucifix and Rosary in hand, Maria attempts to cleanse the house.
Horror Situation: Unseen by Maria, a ghostly hand reaches out and brushes Maria’s hair as she passes through the hall.
Reaction: Maria touches her hair, and turns to see no one.
Lolita Bird sleeps in her cage.
Horror Situation: An dark form approaches the cage, which shakes wildly.
Reaction: Lolita Bird jungle yells, attempts to bite the form. Then yells ‘La Migra! La Migra”
MIDPOINT: The Monster Is Worse Than We Thought!
Horror Situation: Maria is in the backyard, searching for Bonita. She follows footprints leading to a metal shed. It is locked. Trying the smallest key on the key ring secured to her wrist, Maria unlocks the door.
Horror Situation: She opens the door, and suspended cow skull swings past her head. On the concrete floor is a painted pentagram, spent candles, and bones. In the middle of the pentagram is a dead Bonita.
Reaction: Maria screams and runs back to the house.
Horror Situation: That afternoon, inside the house Maria tries to call Alberto. No signal. She wanders through the house, looking for a signal. She goes outside, and tries in various places in the yard.
Reaction: She finally finds two bars, and places the call. No answer but she leaves a frantic voice mail.
Horror Situation: Outside, the desert winds howl and rocks hit the house. And then it is quiet. Maria looks outside and sees her doppelganger. Who is not pregnant.
Reaction: Maria subconsciously touches her stomach. She looks outside and nothing is there.
In an attempt to keep out the horror, Maria tapes old newspapers she’s found in the house over the windows.
In one newspaper, Maria reads about a developer who committed suicide in the model home of his failed subdivision El Mirage Heights.
Horror Situation: Maria recognizes the man as the one on the brochure and the apparition she’s seen.
Terrorized –
Horror Situation: Carrying bags, Maria runs to the truck. Jesus follows with Lolita Bird’s cage. Maria fumbles but manages to shove the key in ignition. The truck’s engine catches and the radio blares. Then it sputters and stops.
Maria frantically tries again, starter motor whirs. And again. Then just click, click. Dead battery.
Reaction: Maria steels herself, and gathers up a few bags and Lolita-Bird in her cage. She and Jesus slowly leave the truck.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Horror Situation: A monstrous wind batters the pair as fight their way back to the home. Lighting stabs, and thunder shakes the earth. A pelting rain begins as they run back to the house. Lighting flashes, illuminating the hanged man in the house’s dormer window.
Reaction: Maria is terrified, and Jesus runs faster to the front door.
Full Pursuit By The Killer –
Once inside the house, Maria and Jesus barricade the doors.
Hysteria –
Horror Situation: Outside, black birds pound the windows; several break their way inside and fly wildly around the room. They are joined by swarms of bats. The power goes out.
Reaction: Maria grabs a broom and swings wildly at the flying creatures. Jesus’ glasses are knocked off and he drops to the floor, reaching out to find them.
Fight to the Death –
Horror Situation: Banging inside and outside the house. The Monster shows itself as the hanged man, who grabs Maria by the throat.
Reaction: Jesus tries to grabs the Monster, and is thrown against the wall. Maria wrenches free, and races to open the front door.
Horror Situation: Fierce winds suck Maria and Jesus out of the house, where the storm rages.
Reaction: Maria and Jesus run to the shelter of the frame stage home.
Horror Situation: Lighting strikes the structure, which flares up immediately.
Reaction: The two run to the next property, and the next, and the next.
Horror Situation: Each time, the structure is incinerated by a lighting strike. But the ferocity wanes with each strike.
Reaction: Maria and Jesus crouch behind some construction debris in the last remaining structure.
Resolution –
Horror Situation: The Monster in the form of a huge apparition appears in the center of the street.
It enters the only remaining structure, and searches for Maria and Jesus.
Reaction: Maria and Jesus loudly scream the Prayer to St. Michael. They throw rocks and bricks at the apparition.
Horror Situation: The Monster grows to enormous proportions, and lunges and claws at Maria and Jesus.
Reaction: Maria and Jesus run from the structure.
Horror Situation: A massive blot of lighting hits the structure, and a huge fireball forms.
Reaction: Both Maria and Jesus are knocked off their feet.
Horror Situation: Unearthly screaming of a thousand demons. Then silence.
Reaction: Maria crawls to her feet. A short distance away is a motionless Jesus. She goes to him, imploring him to wake up. He opens his eyes, and smiles.
Maria helps him up, and they slowly walk away from the smoldering ruins. The rain stops as they walk to their home.
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Brett Born’s Horror Situation Track
What I learned doing this assignment is how to pace the horror situations to create more and more scares as the story builds toward the finale.
ACT 1 – SET UP FOR HORROR
-Atmosphere of Evil established: Flashback thirty years to the night of the first murder at the drive-in.
Horror Situation: Jim comes face to face with Buck.
Character Death: Buck stabs Jim to death in middle of the drive-in theatre.
Reaction – Escape: Horrified moviegoers panic when they realize what’s happening.
-Connect with the characters: Present day… reconnect with several of the characters including one who is a detective hunting a serial killer and one working to reopen the drive-in. Meet new characters planning a podcast/reality series that will document experiences at the alleged haunted drive-in.
Horror Situation: Rideshare driver picks up Buck. Buck mentally torments him.
Reaction – 1st Denial & 2nd Fight. Driver thinks Buck is playing then takes him seriously. Screams for him to get out of the car.
Horror Situation: Buck takes a family hostage.
Character Death: Three of the family members are killed. One survives.
Reaction – Try to solve it: Detective called to crime scene to investigate the attack.
-The Characters are warned not to do it: Jen orders Christine to stay away from the theatre. Jade argues with Shin that reopening the theatre is a terrible idea.
Horror Situation: Muse stalks Christine at her house.
Reaction – Denial: Christine thinks it’s someone playing a joke.
-Denial of Horror: Buck Kilgore has been locked away for thirty years. Muse is only a legend.
Horror Situation: Detective suspects that Buck is somehow linked to the attack on the family.
Reaction – Try to solve it: But how? Buck should still be incarcerated.
Horror Situation: Detective visits survivor of home invasion and she says something only Buck’s first drive-in victim would know.
Reaction – Try to solve it. How could the victim have known this?
-Safety Taken Away: Cell phones have been blocked by an app from the management team. Even Shin’s phone is blocked. Can’t initiate any outgoing communication and only receive incoming messages from Muse. Jade is nowhere to be found.
Horror Situation: Muse sends Intermission ads to the group via their phones.
Reaction: Confusion – What does it mean? Why is this happening?
-Monster: The nature of the beast – Buck attacks double dating teens after he finds them trespassing at the theatre. Some of the core group discover remnants from this attack.
Horror Situation: Buck traps four teens on a rooftop.
Character Death: Three are killed.
Reaction: One escapes by jumping off the roof. Severely injured, she’s taken hostage.
Horror Situation: Some of the core group find blood evidence from the attack on the double date.
Reaction: Denial – Must be part of the podcast/reality show.
ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
-Isolated/Trapped/Abducted: Cars have been tampered with. Pyro guys have disappeared. Film crew hasn’t arrived as scheduled.
Horror Situation: The pyro guys are missing. The film crew is nowhere to be found. No one is able to make an outgoing call. No one knows where Jade is. Shin insists that he has no idea what’s going on.
Reaction: Denial – Shin believes Jade is sabotaging the opening of the drive-in because she changed her mind.
-One of us is killed: Muse murders Carlos outside the ticket booth.
Horror Situation: Carlos is confronted by Muse outside the ticket booth. Carlos doesn’t understand what he’s facing.
Character Death: Muse kills Carlos.
MIDPOINT – The Monster is worse than we thought: Muse stalks Shin and kills him. First time the group sees the Intermission ads play on the big screen starring the dead.
Horror Situation: Shin is chased by Muse.
Character Death: Shin is beheaded.
-Terrorized: Buck attacks the girls in the bathroom. He kills Hannah. Muse throws Shin’s corpse through the lobby ceiling.
Horror Situation: Girls are trapped in the bathroom by Buck.
Character Death: Hannah dies.
Reaction: Escape – Christine, Lauren and Zoe make it out of the bathroom and back to the lobby.
Horror Situation: Girls discover remains of Shin. They all lose it.
Reaction: Have to find a way out!
Horror Situation: Detective discovers Buck’s doctor. Still alive, but he’s missing his limbs.
Reaction: Try to solve it. Where’s Buck?
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
-Fight to the death: Group tries to retrieve the only working cell phone from Hannah’s corpse. They fail, and Barbra is killed in the process. Javier tries to escape in his car, and he’s killed. The remaining survivors make a run for the pyro van in hopes of finding a weapon.
Horror Situation: Someone has to go back into the girl’s bathroom to retrieve Hannah’s phone.
Character Death: Barbra is killed.
Reaction: The remaining survivors need a new plan for escape.
Horror Situation: Javier makes a run for his car.
Character Death: The car has been tampered with. Javier doesn’t make it far. He’s killed as the other’s watch.
Reaction: New plan for escape.
Horror Situation: Last survivors trapped inside the pyro van as Buck pounds the outside.
Reaction: Fight back.
-Hysteria: Buck has the remaining survivors trapped in the pyro van. They formulate a plan to fight him. It fails.
Horror Situation: Girls leave the van and confront Buck.
Character Death: Buck is killed by Muse.
Reaction: Girls must now escape Muse.
Horror Situation: Face to face with Muse. Alyxx is wounded.
Reaction: They catch a break and are able to run.
-The thrilling escape from death: The girls escape with the road flares and race for the movie screen so they can climb to the top and light them, hoping someone from the highway will see the call for help.
Horror Situation: Alyxx can’t make the climb up the ladder.
Reaction: The girls have to find a place to hide Alyxx and leave her.
Horror Situation: Alyxx is trapped, and Muse is coming.
Character Death: Muse finds Alyxx and kills her.
-Death returns to take one or more: Christine is tricked into coming down from the top of the movie screen. She’s taken hostage, along with her mom.
Horror Situation: Christine’s mom drives into the theatre lot.
Reaction: Christine must leave the safety of her position to go warn her mother.
Horror Situation: Lauren and Zoe chase after Christine to help her.
Reaction: They don’t find Christine, but they find an operational vehicle. They leave to go get help.
-Resolution: Detective unmasks Muse, saves the one survivor of the double date, but is too late to save Christine and her mom. Christine and the other unlucky victims become part of the haunting intermission ads which play on the giant screens.
Horror Situation: Detective helpless to stop pyro van explosion with Christine and her mom inside.
Reaction: Denial – He watches the intermission ad play on the big screen starring a cast of deceased victims.
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Karen Crider’s Horror Situations Track
Assignment 5/ Brainstorming for potential horror situations,
What I learned:
#1A. Atmosphere of evil established: In Blayne, MT. two brothers go treasure hunting:. Allen’s metal detector goes wild when he unearths pulverized wood with his shovel. Benny, his brother, watches. A stake skewers its bones.
Horror situation: An ominous wind blows. A wolf howls. Fog clots the air. An apparition solidifies and attacks Allen. A blood curdling howl drowns Allan’s terrified screams, as the vampire CRUNCHES his bones.
Inside a flurry of madness, Allen’s eyeball implodes. Arteries spew blood, as the vampire degrades into full-scale gluttony. While gnashing cartilage, the vampire’s glances at Benny, as if eyeing him for dessert.
#1B Allen talks Benny into going treasure hunting with a metal detector. While Benny digs into a grave site, it gets dark, but Allen insists they continue. An ominous wind blows, lightning flashes, a wolf howls. Benny’s shovel strikes something solid.
Allen’s flashlight illumines a skeleton thrust with a stake in its chest. The shovel knocks it loose. An apparition rises. Benny tries to hit the vampire with his shovel. It goes clear through. A blood-curdling howl drowns out Allen’s screams as the vampire attacks.. Ravenous consumption marks the night’s feast.
A clock gongs and startles the vampire–a bell tolling the dead. The vampire pauses– steps back from the clock as if threatened
Reaction: (Escape) Benny’s traumatized, but he grabs the clock for protection and runs. The vampire howls in rage.
Benny’s footfalls strike the hollow ground. He staggers for hours, spent, jumping at every sound, until he arrives home with the clock. Benny huddles under the bed, traumatized and weeping.
*** I choose this scene for visual appeal. It serves the story well…
#2A. Mabel Cromsky, wife to Chron, a religious woman who likes to quote scripture. She warns her husband something’s evil about the clock.
Mable conflicts with Chron demanding he not touch that evil thing. She reminds him that Allen has disappeared and Benny’s not right.
Chron dismisses her remark, not realizing he’s millimeters from becoming a vampire. The clock has him mesmerized and demands his services, refusing to release him.
Reaction: Angers his wife.
#2B. Mabel Cromsky, wife to Chron, argues with her husband concerning the clock. He plans on selling it for cash to avoid bankruptcy. He ignores her as he works on it constantly, replacing its gears, cleaning its parts till even its gong carries a deceptive tone.
Mable loses her patience and tells him, not to touch the unclean thing! (fight)
Chron ignores her and keeps on polishing the clock to a sheen, until he falls asleep.
Reaction: While he sleeps, Mabel covers the clock with a thick quilt.
Reaction: She drives to a nearby lake and slings it in. Something pushes her in with it, and she almost drowns. She struggles to the beach and staggers to the car. She zigzags all over the road.
Reaction: She limps into the kitchen. The clock waits on the counter, wet, gleaming and she’s induced to pick up Chrom’s cloth to dry it…
I choose this scene, as it accents the atmosphere closer than the first.
#3A. Mortician, Dorian Simms, a man respected for his acumen, arrives at the hospital morgue. He examines a skull from the nearby woods with two deep puncture wounds in the upper cerebrum. The brain stem is intact, along with the cerebellum, but the brain is devoid of blood.
Dorian x-rays the brain, and charts his findings in a John Doe record: The frontal brain is not yet fully developed. He’s young, perhaps an adolescent. He examines the teeth, films them, and sends them to every dental office in the state.
The information’s returned that afternoon, from a local dentist. He’s identified as: Allen Eaton, 17, a local youth, nephew to Chron Chronson. Two policemen go to his address to deliver the bad news. (solved it)
#3B. On a cold metal slab in a forensic morgue, Dorian Simms, mortician, appears to examine a human skull. One draped beneath a blue sterile pad.
Dorian dons a pair of sterile gloves and approaches the skull puzzled. He examines itl from every angle, studying two, good-sized puncture holes. The brain contains no blood. Not one drop. (Mystery)
Dorian’s proceeds to x-ray the cadaver’s teeth. He emails them to every dentist in the state, for identification. By late afternoon, a report from a local dental office identifies the skull as Allen Eaton, 17, whose guardian is Chron Chronson. (solved)
Reaction: Two policemen arrive at Chron’s door to deliver the bad news. I choose this scene because it’s more visual.
4A. Hawk, the time keeper, (antag) is the clock’s overseer. A spirit vampire lends an image of a bent-over shadow, kin with the night. (Beware the bent-over shadow).
It haunts the clock but is capable of creating new vampires, but demands high standards of care, or his caretakers die. She gets one more chance…
Reaction: revulsion.
#4B. Hawk, the time keeper, emits a dark shadow that hovers whenever he goes out. A shadow that stumbles in the dark, puddles the rain against the rag-tag buildings– alone, up cement steps clutching a heavy sack of leftover souls of those who are now vampires.
Reaction: sadness and surprise. I will use this one for the script.
#5A. Two cop brothers, Ed and Amos Dusk, go to gather forensic evidence. Hawk encounters them, when they accidentally knock over the clock. It lands with a loud gong onto the counter,
Ed is the first attacked. Hawk knocks him down, and comes at him full force. Ed draws his gun and shoots. Bullets scar the house and destroys everything except the vampire.
Amos shoots, not sure what they are shooting at, until Hawk attacks him, sinking his fangs into his neck. Amos spasms in shock and dies not knowing what hit him.
Reaction: Ed crawls to his brother’s side. Hawk makes short work of him, and he dies with his arm over his brother’s shoulder.
5B. Ed and Amos, two cops who investigate Chron’s house after a corpse is found, They take blood samples and fingerprints, but accidentally knock over a menacing clock. It lands on the floor gonging loudly. A dark shadow fills the room.
Reaction: Ed notices and feels threatened. Hawk, The vampire attacks, and Ed shoots in all directions scarring the house with bullet holes.
Reaction ; Amos joins Ed shooting as well, until he is knocked to the floor. Blood spews from his neck covering the room… He blacks out, never to awaken again.
I choose this one, because it’s starker.
6A. Chron (protag.) decides to go to see Father John, a visiting priest to cleanse his house.
Reaction: Chron follows the priest as he enters the house. He jabbers in what sounds like Latin. He feigns a cleansing, but images of blood covering both in and out of the house filter the air. Darkness follows, and Chron races from the priest’s presence aware something is very wrong.
6B. Chron calls Father John to do a home cleansing. He arrives early, blesses the house, waving incense that makes the air acrid. In between, he mutters prayers as he commences to jabber in Latin.
Darkness shadows the interiors. Bats flies above their heads. Blood-screaming howls fill the air. Blood slides down the walls. It’s surf rises and falls rushing back and forth, covering the walls, stove and sink.
A cross on the wall illumines. The vampire’s backs off. Chron grabs the cross and dodges the priest. He fades into a weaker version of itself, as if Chron holds kryptonite.
Reaction: Escape. I choose this scene for my script.
7A. The police close down Chron’s clock repair shop as a crime scene. They evict the family. Chron’s lost his business.
They leave, but Mable insists on taking the clock with her. She pampers it non-stop when Chron isn’t. The family including Benny, move into a rented two room farm house. Chron’s in despair.
Reaction: grief.
7B. Chron and his family must vacate the premises. The police fence off the crime scene with tape to keep others from entering Chron’s property. It doesn’t keep out the vampires. Chron’s family rent a farmhouse.
Sometimes, Chron drives to his clock shop. No police cars line the driveway. Yet, lights flash. Door’s slam. Wolves howl. Once, he hit the gas pedal when ominous, yellow eyes peer in his windows.
Hawk’s unsure where they have taken his abode. He follows Chron to his farmhouse. As Hawk enters, the clock’s macabre gongs welcome him in strange tones. Sap from the wood runs down its exterior, the color of blood. (hide) I choose this scene.
8A. Chron and Benny hatch a plan. They speak in front of the clock about a party at the clock shop that afternoon. Both Chron and Benny wear a cross. Mabel is drawn to the party. She’s clearly a vampire. She begs Chron to join her. He resists, sick at heart.
The party is full of vampires. Not one human attends. When the party is in full swing, Chron and Benny sneak off. They blow the dynamite. Everyone dies including Mabel.
Reaction: Grief and loss.
I choose this scene.
Reaction: grief.
8B. When Mabel goes to collect firewood, Chron and Benny plan a plan a party at the clock shop for that afternoon. They voice it in front of the clock. Word spreads like wildfire.
During the day, they set charges of dynamite. Mabel shows up at the party. She’s clearly a vampire. When the party’s in full swing, they blow up the clock shop. Chron grieves. All is lost.
Reaction: grief and loss.
9A. Chron and Benny carry torches with them everywhere they go. If they even suspect vampire activity, they lit the fuses of dynamite and throw them in their direction.
9B. Chron and Benny have a full crate of dynamite. Every time they suspect vampire danger, they light the fuses and sling them at whatever appears. The vampires leave a burnt stench in the air.
#9A. Those vampires who are left attack the farmhouse. It’s a war between humans and vampires. Chron and Benny sneak out the back. The clock gongs loudly, as if to warn the vampires.
Chron and Benny jump in the car. It refuses to crank. After the second try, the engine starts. They zoom away with only the clothes on their back. Human bodies litter the highways. When they get back home, their farmhouse is aflame.
The police show up. After several are attacked by vampires, they realize vampires are real. The Army is called in. They utilize napalm to destroy the tunnels and gravesides of suspected vampires.
9B. Vampires search for Chron and Benny after they realize how they killed their kind. They rush the house. No one is present. They take the clock and their fellow vampire and burn the farm house.
Chron and Benny return after killing the vampires only to be attacked again at their burnt farm house. They have a chase scene where the vampires fly neck to neck with the vehicle. They travel a distance ahead, and Benny slings a couple sticks of dynamite at them. They disappear.
Chron and Benny flee to the police department and tell them they are under attack by vampires. They laugh, until several cops are attacked. In their stockade, are several flame throwers, perfect for eradicating vampires, even new ones.
I choose this one, but I lay money it will change long before I get to this point…
Reaction: Fear.
10A. The war of the vampires continues. It spreads to other places and the Army is called out.
Many are killed, but in the end, humans survive, though their losses are devastated.
10B. America is daunted with vampires. Several companies of soldiers are bitten by vampires and now must be eradicated less they return and try to eliminate mankind. All branches of the military take up arms. Failure is not an option.
Many are killed, but in the end, humans survive, though their losses are devastated.
I choose this one.
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Tasha’s Horror Situation Track
What I learned doing this assignment is working out some of the logic issues at this stage will set you up for success as you work through the other tracks.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: Sheena, a young girl traveling at night is stalked by the Mirror Mirror serial killer.
Horror Situation: Attacked and Chased – Mirror Mirror runs her off the road and chases her through the dark woods.
Reaction: Escape – She makes it to the road and flags a van down, explaining that a crazy guy ran her off the road and is following her. She needs to be taken to the nearest gas station or police station, anywhere but there.
Horror Situation: Refusing to take action – The van of thuggy dudes refuses to give her a ride because she can’t give them anything. She promises to haunt them to their graves.
Reaction: Denial – They don’t care if anything bad happens to the girl and mock her vow to haunt them. They drive away leaving her stranded.
Horror Situation: Physically Tortured – The next day she’s found mutilated (partially dismembered?) on the side of the road.
Connect with the characters: The lead thuggy dude, Qade picks up his boys, Targ, Jean Tyrone and Ike, one by one to go to a party. They give Jean Tyrone’s beloved little sister, Vivi, a ride to her friend’s house.
The characters are warned not to do it: Ike sees a news story about Sheena’s murder and thinks back to Sheena’s vow to haunt them to death because they didn’t help her.
Denial of Horror: Qade tells Ike he’s worried about nothing. He pins Sheena’s news picture to a dart board and Targ sends a dart into it.
Reaction: Guilt – Ike goes to Sheena’s funeral. (Note: this can be revealed later. He sees Sheena’s mother there who looks like a ghost of herself because she’s overwrought with grief).
Safety taken away: Ike sees the apparition of Sheena on his ring camera and she blows up his phone with a text saying she found him.
Horror Situation: Impending doom – Sheena knows where Ike lives.
Reaction – Denial – Ike tells Targ who blames it on the last crazy “bitch” that Ike ghosted. He tells him that he needs to learn to stop fucking girls at his place.
Horror Situation: Environment changing around you – Targ experiences cold spots and the feeling that someone is watching him. He shows up at Ike’s asking to stay the night. Targ wakes up in the middle of the night. The house is an icebox. He sees a figure in the doorway. It’s Ike. Ike asks if he can hear the woman crying in the basement.
Reaction – Escape: They go to Qade’s place. They ask Jean Tyrone if he’s experienced anything and he says no.
A character refuses to take action: Qade sends them home.
Monster: The nature of the beast: Qade’s TV shuts off and he sees Sheena’s obscured image in the barely reflective surface of his screen.
Horror Situation: She points at him and moves to him. On the surface of the reflection he sees her grab him and start whispering in his ear.
Reaction: Escape – He jumps up and tries to shrug her off. Chilled, he grabs his coat and heads out of the house.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Sheena begins her customized assaults on the group.
Horror Situation: Being lured into danger – Jean Tyrone hears “Vivi” calling him for help.
Reaction: Solve it – He frantically follows the sound to find Vivi.
Horror Situation: Tricked – He sees Vivi lying dismembered at the bottom of the stairs.
Reaction: He runs to her and she disappears.
Horror Situation: Mentally tortured – Ike is stalked by Sheena’s apparition in various stages of mutilation everywhere and it’s driving him to madness.
Horror Situation: Monster trying to get to you – Targ hears footsteps running towards him but nobody’s there. Doors and cupboards fly open all around him.
Horror Situation: Monster trying to get you – An apparition of Sheena’s dismembered body flies after him. Sheena makes him see her cut open his throat in the mirror (note: Sheena can manipulate what you see in surfaces and shadows, etc.). All the activity makes him think the monster is going to get him.
One of us is killed: Escape – Targ runs into the street and gets fatally hit by a car.
Reaction: Denial – Qade berates the group for letting some bitch ghost scare them into doing “stupid shit” and points out that her scare tactics are actually harmless. All she can do is make them see things and open a few cupboards. He says put on a jacket and ignore the bitch.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!Full pursuit by the killer: Out of the frying pan and into the fire – Sheena influences (whispers, dreams, etc) Mirror Mirror to visit the block that Vivi walks down to get to school.
Horror Situation: The monster is coming – Mirror Mirror follows Vivi and sees Liv (her mother), Faye (her sister) and Jean Tyrone (her brother) throughout the day.
Horror Situation: Kidnapped – Liv is injected with a sedative.
Horror Situation: Trapped – Liv wakes up in a basement room.
Reaction: Escape – Liv bloodies her fingers to work the pins out of the door hinge.
Horror Situation: Fall through the floor – Liv almost gets out of the abandoned house but falls through a trap door onto a surgical table.
Reaction: Fight – Liv hurts herself falling onto the surgical table, but she tries to fight Mirror Mirror as he straps her down.
Horror Situation: Physically tortured – Liv dies from the body modification Mirror Mirror does to her.
Terrorized: Mirror Mirror abducts other members of the group.
Horror Situation: Menacing Stranger – Faye finds an old lady in her back seat.
Reaction: Denial – Sheena influences Faye to deny the red flags of the situation as she tries to help the lady, who ends up being Mirror Mirror in disguise. Faye is taken by Mirror Mirror.
Horror Situation: Tricked – Jean Tyrone sees Faye’s car broken down on the side of the road and Sheena influences him to think Mirror Mirror is Faye is under the hood.
Reaction: Solve it – Jean Tyrone stops by to see if he can help his sister and gets stab in the neck by a paralytic. Mirror Mirror, disguised as Faye, takes Tyrone.
Horror Situation: Impending doom – Liv’s dead body is discovered by Ike with body modification that seems familiar.
Reaction: Solve it – With Jean Tyrone nowhere to be found, Qade has a grieving Vivi stay at his place.
Horror Situation: No escape – Ike realizes that Sheena figured out how to use Mirror Mirror to exact her revenge.
Reaction: Solve it – Qade and Ike realize they have to kill Mirror Mirror and banish Sheena.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: Qade fightst to stop Mirror Mirror from taking Vivi.
Horror Situation: Monster trying to get you – Mirror Mirror breaks into Qades home and tries to get Vivi.
Reaction: Fight – Vivi fights and almost gets away, but Mirror Mirror gets the upper hand.
Horror Situation: Monster trying to get you – Qade comes home and tries to stop Mirror Mirror from taking Vivi, but he escapes to his car with her.
Reaction: Fight – Wounded, Qade jumps in his car and tries to follow Mirror Mirror. He calls Ike and says he’s in pursuit of Mirror Mirror because he took Vivi.
Horror Situation: Lost – Qade loses Mirror Mirror.
Reaction: Solve it – Qade drives around and finds the only abandoned structure in the area.
Horror Situation: Friends in danger – He shares his location with Ike and tells him he’s going to check out the abandoned shack.
Reaction: Solve it – Qade goes into the house.
Horror Situation: Walking into a trap – Mirror Mirror is alerted to Qade’s arrival in the house by a nest camera.
Hysteria: Qade and Ike encounter their dead friends as they get closer to Vivi and Mirror Mirror.
Horror Situation: See another dead body – Qade runs into Jean Tyrone’s hanging dead body.
Horror Situation: Slime – Qade thinks Jean Tyrone’s blood is on him but he realizes Jean Tyrone is covered in red lipstick. Now it’s all over Qade. Jean Tyrone’s body modifications freak Qade out.
Reaction: Escape – Qade runs further into the house.
Horror Situation: Lured into the Horror – Ike finds Qade’s car and enters the shack.
Horror Situation: Seeing another dead body – Faye’s dead body falls out a hole in the ceiling and Ike becomes tangled up with her.
Reaction: Escape – He struggles to free himself from the tangle of Faye’s body pulling him to the ground. He aggressively steps back.
Horror Situation: Trap door in the floor – Ike steps onto the trap and he falls through the floor with Faye on him.
Horror Situation: Injured – Ike falls onto the surgical table with Faye on top of him and breaks his leg.
Reaction: Escape – Ike tries to get out from under Faye
Reaction: Hide – Ike gets dragged into the other room by Qade. Qade is badly burned with bleach and blind in one eye.
Horror Situation: Face to Face with the monster – Mirror Mirror enters the room.
Horror Situation: Seeing other dead body – Mirror Mirror shove’s Faye’s into the other room with Qade and Ike. Qade reacts violently to seeing the dead body of his girlfriend but tries to keep quiet.
Horror Situation: Friends in Danger – Mirror Mirror roles Vivi into his “surgical room”.
Horror Situation: Cannot see – Qade and Ike strain to see through the hole in the wall if Vivi is still alive. It looks like Mirror Mirror has already begun making modifications to her.
Horror Situation: Face to face with the monster – Distracted, Qade and Ike don’t see that Mirror Mirror has entered their room. Mirror strikes down Qade with several fatal knife stabs (or something else that fits his MO – maybe Mirror Mirror injects him with the sedative, drags him into the “surgery” room and starts taking vital things off of him to put on Vivi – maybe if he catches Ike).
Reaction: Escape – Ike runs into the surgery room to find Vivi still alive. He frees her from the surgical table/gurney on wheels and they run back through the house of horrors and make it outside.
The thrilling escape from death: Ike douses the shack in gasoline from his car and lights it on fire. The shack is dry and made of flammable materials and it quickly turns into an inferno.
Death returns to take one or more: Ike sees Sheena in the flames. Distracted, he doesn’t see Mirror Mirror emerge to grab Vivi and pull her back into the inferno of the house.
Reaction: Fight – Ike heads into the burning building to get Vivi but Mirror Mirror had dragged her deep into the flames.
Horror Situation: Dilemma – Vivi screams in pain and horror. Ike tries to go in further, but Sheena crashes into the burning structures of the house so they start to fall around him. Vivi can still be saved, but when Ike sees Sheena at the doorway, he knows he has only one chance to jump through it before she rams it and the whole place collapses on him. He saves himself.
Resolution: Ike lives. He gives his statement to the local police exposing Mirror Mirror. He’s a local hero. But at night when he sleeps, he dreams of killing himself over the guilt of leaving Vivi behind. When he’s able to calm himself and return to sleep, Vivi whispers into his ear and Sheena joins her to increase Vivi’s power of influence.
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