CC (a 6-page short horror screenplay) by Anthony Cawood

An Augmented Reality ghost hunt hits close to home.

I’m absolutely obsessed with the paranormal. I probably spend more time on Youtube watching ghost videos and listening to podcasts than I’d care to reveal. I’ve never really seen a ghost or any kind of paranormal entity, though I’ve had some eerie experiences that were enough to make me wonder and not completely dismiss the possibility. Though, in those same experiences, there were a number of logical explanations for each strange encounter. So, it wasn’t enough for me to conclude, without a shadow of a doubt, that ghosts are real, either. But I’d love to see one. It’s something I’d really like to cross off my bucket list. I even downloaded an EVP recorder app for my phone. So far, no such luck, however.

But, as cool as it would be to have a real paranormal encounter and as drawn as I am to paranormal Youtube channels, there’s a part of me that would freak the eff out if I did have an encounter. Fear is part of that curiosity. It’s a visceral feeling and part of the reason why so many people are drawn to scary movies, as well as shows like “Ghost Hunters” on TV and the litany of Youtube and TikTok channels devoted to things that go bump in the night.

The reason I was so drawn to Anthony Cawood’s eerie, June One-Week-Challenge entry, the aptly titled, CC, was due in large part to how relatable I found his main character, 17-year-old Rosie, to be. That, and the script was also effectively creepy and probably the easiest to film out of most of the wonderfully creative June entries.

The story takes place in real time, but it kind of felt like my daily routine – just sitting on the couch, listening to music on my ear pods while peeping paranormal Youtube videos on my television. This is the extent of my ability to multitask. And this is exactly what Rosie is doing as her 15-year-old brother, Dylan, lounges around, doing what little brother’s do best – annoying their older sister.

Set in the near future – sometime later this decade, I presume – Rosie checks out a Youtube channel called, “pARa LIVE” with the sound off, reading the closed captioning while listening to music. A poor man’s, lower-budget version of “Ghost Hunters”, Rosie watches the first-person POV-filmed show as its curious paranormal researcher tracks some sort of entity through a neighborhood using a downloadable smart phone app called the PARA-APP. Rosie nonchalantly downloads the app as she continues to watch the show, the tracker catching footage of a small, pale, impish, troll-like figure…

As she continues to watch the video, fully absorbed, a sudden chill tingles her spine once she realizes that the location of the live feed looks oddly familiar – just outside of her neighbor’s house. To make things creepier, the live feed follows the imp as it moves closer and closer to her home, forcing her to use the app as it seeks shelter within her once-comfy confines.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s an awesomely spooky example of classic, found-footage horror at its finest. As a massive horror fan, I can easily see this fitting into some sort of “VHS”-esque anthology while also racking up Youtube views as its own stand-alone film.

BUDGET: Shoe-string. Two actors, pretty much one location. And some camera trickery to capture the story’s creepy imp “character”.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Anthony Cawood is an award-winning screenwriter with one feature produced and a further four features optioned or in pre-production. In addition to features, he has over forty short scripts produced/sold/optioned – including ten filmed. Also occasionally pens screenwriting articles, interviews with writers and filmmakers, and even a short story or two. He can be reached on his website AnthonyCawood.co.uk.

Read: CC (a 6 page short horror script)

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.