Course Listing Unavailable (14 page short horror in pdf format) by James Barron

An ambitious student signs up for an internship program promising real world, hands-on experience. Who knew bloodthirsty demons would be involved?

For today’s youth, the challenge of getting a good job has never been tougher. Many are determined to do anything that will enhance their resumes in the eyes of employers. Taking “useful” classes, getting internships, and doing extra-curricular activities are just a few examples of what diligent individuals do to spruce up that valuable sheet of paper.

The protagonist in Course Listing Unavailable, 17-year-old Gortat Emmanuel, is just another determined Ivy League freshman with a whiff of intelligent innocence about him. A mix-up in paying the tuition has meant he’s one class short of the minimum semester credit, and so he sees a counselor to get into a subject that appeals to him.

But every time the counselor enters the course he wants, there’s a problem.

Organic Chemistry? Unavailable. Biology? Unavailable. Ecology? Yup… unavailable. As a last resort, the advisor offers Gortat a chance for some real world experience: a month shadowing a service professional. Because the last guy who did it dropped out.

That’s all the information available. Apart from a name: Mr Shephard. Despite this, Gortat accepts, still eager to learn. And so on his first day, he’s dressed up as if he’s the President attending their inauguration.

However, Gortat’s destination isn’t as beautiful as the White House. Unless you’re into dilapidated buildings and tales of wasted lives in needle format littering the ground.

And the professional isn’t some smarmy doctor. Turning up in a classic American muscle with uninviting objects abundantly decorating the interior, Max Shephard invites Gortat in for his “education”. There’s no textbooks. No worksheets either. There’s only one rule, and it ain’t a typical one:

            Max
…no matter what happens
you will not puke in this car.

This may sound easy enough to obey until Max’s profession is revealed…demon hunter. Not quite what our Ivy League kid was expecting. In addition, it transpires that the supposed dropout dropped out of life…unwillingly. Oh, and for his first day on the job, he’s got to complete a practical helping Max eradicate the beast responsible for failing the previous student. Turns out “real world experience” means “other world experience” in this case.

Will Gortat pass his practical? Will he break the one rule? Will he even survive? Only one thing’s assured: direct this one well, and judges at film festivals will be giving you full marks!

Budget: Okay, there’s a bit of FX involved in here. But nothing a skilled director can’t – and won’t want to – tackle!

About the writer: James loves to write comedy and action along with the occasional horror short. You can reach him at jbarron021 (a) gmail.

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This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

About the reviewer: Hamish Porter is a writer who, if he was granted one wish, would ask for the skill of being able to write dialogue like Tarantino. Or maybe the ability to teleport. Nah, that’s nothing compared to the former. A lover of philosophy, he’s working on several shorts and a sporting comedy that can only be described as “quintessentially British”. If you want to contact him, he can be emailed: hamishdonaldp (a) gmail. If you’d like to contact him and be subjected to incoherent ramblings, follow him on Twitter @HamishP95.

SLEEPOVER (9 page horror short) by Curtis James Coffey

A young girl is terrorized in the middle of the night during her first ever sleepover at a friend’s house.

Ah, to be a kid again. We can only wish, right? Back when our imaginations were pure and full of magic; Santa would bring us presents, a giant bunny would hide eggs and some tooth-obsessed fairy would leave cash under our pillows. We had our whole lives ahead of us. The world was full of endless possibilities. Sure, there was a laundry list of rules, restrictions and responsibilities, mostly bestowed upon us by our parents. But it’s BECAUSE of those rules that the little things were so fun – like sleeping over a friend’s house. Especially when that friend had super cool parents. You got to stay up way past your bedtime, pig out on junk food you weren’t normally allowed to eat and hang out with your buddies without the supervision of your own parents and their stupid rules. But what happens when your friend’s parents are… weird?

That’s the premise behind Curtis James Coffey’s nightmarish horror short, “Sleepover”.

As magical as being a kid can be, it can also be a very scary time. As fun as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were, this was also a time when there were monsters hiding under the bed and a Bogeyman living in the closet. And, as fun as sleepovers were, there was always that one kid who would freak out because they were scared to be away from home.

Meet 10-year-old Allison, on her way to her best friend, Cassie’s house for her very first sleepover. Though a little nervous, Allison’s mother, Becky, tries to be reassuring.

            BECKY
You’re going to be fine. It’s not different
than sleeping at home in your own bed.
It’s even better, in fact, because you’ll
be with your best friend. You’ll get to
stay up late and watch movies and eat junk food!

Allison doesn’t seem so sure.

            ALLISON
But what if I can’t sleep?
Or what if I snore? What if SHE snores?
She might not have a nightlight. You know
I have a hard time sleeping with a nightlight.

            BECKY
That’s just something you’re going to have to
deal with. I’m sure she’ll protect you. And her
parents are going to be there the whole time. Right?

            ALLISON
What if they’re weird? Or mean?

When Allison arrives at Cassie’s home and meets her parents, Jack and Julie, everything starts off okay… ish. Meeting new people, especially adults, can be awkward for a child. But Allison’s skepticism seems fairly warranted. Though nice, there seems to be something a little off about Cassie’s parents. It’s almost as if they’re TOO nice. Not to mention those creepy “Stepford Wives” smiles that seem to be pasted to their faces.

Cassie seems pretty normal, however, embarrassed by her parents’ lame jokes and overly-gracious hospitality. And, as Allison settles in, she becomes more comfortable, even seeming to warm up to Jack and Julie a little bit.

            ALLISON
Your parents are nice.

            CASSIE
Yeah, they’re okay, I guess.

But it’s not until the “sleepover” part of the sleepover that Allison’s deepest, darkest fears begin to take over and she finds out that Jack and Julie might not be quite as “okay” as Cassie says they are.

Is it just Allison’s imagination? Or is there is something terribly, terribly wrong with Cassie’s parents?

Fully of creepy moments ala M. Night Shayamalan’s “The Visit”, heart-pounding jump-scares and chilling imagery reminiscent of a Marilyn Manson music video, “Sleepover” will make you glad to be an adult.

BUDGET: Low. One location (a house) and 5 actors (2 of them children).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Curtis James Coffey was born on May 28th, 1990 in Binghamton, NY and raised in Sarasota, FL. He self-published a novel titled, A Call Beyond, and did extensive writing for the tabletop RPG Machina Arcana. He currently resides in Saint Petersburg, FL and aside from film, enjoys games, comics, cooking, and all things spooky. He can be reached at de_cafe6914 (a) yahoo.

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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.

HAND AND FOOT DISEASE (14 page short horror script) by Luke Mepham

After an innocent foot massage, a happily married couple’s relationship is tested when they both become infected with a very strange and itchy skin disease…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of all the craziness happening in the world right now. Actually, come to think about it, “living under a rock” is probably the wrong idiom to use. Because many of us, for the past six weeks or so, have actually been living under rocks. Many of us are are sitting in isolation right now as we speak, quarantining ourselves until this madness blows over (hopefully). Many of us are surviving this lock down alone while many of us are cooped up with our loved ones, doing our best not to get infected.

But what happens when you’re isolated with your significant other and one of you gets infected? What happens when BOTH of you get infected? Do you turn on each other? A little game of who-infected-who?

Writer, Luke Mepham, explores what could happen in his delightfully twisted body-horror short, Hand and Foot Disease.

Before I continue – this is NOT a COVID-19 script. Nor is this making light of all the terrible things happening in the world right now. This was written long before any of this happened, back when the word “corona” was strictly associated with alcohol consumption. This script, in particular, examines how a seemingly-healthy relationship can turn very unhealthy under very adverse and unusual circumstances.

Our story opens with Dennis and Helen – a happily married couple just enjoying each other’s company, sharing some relaxing TV time on the couch. Just another night, right? Well, as Dennis gives his loyal, loving wife a foot massage, his hand begins to itch. Deciding that it’s probably nothing but a slight skin irritation, Dennis decides to just sleep it off.

But, later that night while in bed, that itchy sensation becomes a little painful for poor Dennis. He wakes up to find his mitts covered in nasty, blotchy rashes. To make matters worse, Helen wakes up to find the same itchy rashes covering her feet.

            HELEN
Whatever you had, you passed it onto me.

            DENNIS
What do you mean?

            HELEN
Come and see for yourself.

Dennis gets up and walks around the bed to see the state of Helen’s feet match the same state as his hands. Blistered, boiled, dry flaky skin.

After Helen accuses him of spreading it to her, Dennis then questions the quality of the hand soap Helen had bought – the blame game has officially begun.

But, with their doctor away on holiday, they try to make do. Putting their heads together, they come up with somewhat of a game plan – in an attempt to sweat the infection out and keep it from spreading, Helen tapes off her feet with layers of socks while Dennis tapes oven mitts around his hands. Not the worst plan, considering the circumstances, but now they can’t drive to an ER – Dennis unable to operate the steering wheel with mitts on his hands and Helen unable to work the pedals. So, it’s looking like they’re stuck.

As their condition worsens and the itchiness becomes more difficult to resist, the couple’s need to scratch completely takes over, even resorting to dipping their hands into scalding-hot water. But when that doesn’t work… well… let’s just say a cheese grater comes into play.

You’re probably getting itchy just reading this review, aren’t you? Well, it gets much, much worse for Dennis and Helen, the story reaching levels of body horror gore that would make David Cronenberg blush. But, as a massive Cronenberg fan, I found this to be a very, very entertaining schlock-fest, hearkening memories of the legendary filmmaker’s earlier work. This also reminded me a little bit of Troma’s gruesomely effective, “Cutting Moments” short film.

BUDGET: Low. Three actors and a house. Most of the budget will probably be fake blood, makeup and some cheap prosthesis.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Luke Mepham has loved film since he was very young. His childhood favorites such as “Hook” and “Back To The Future” pushed his interest into the world of screenwriting, hoping to write classic films of his own.Luke has written a few other scripts, both short and feature length, while also having several published short horror stories. Luke can be reached at: lukemepham1988 (a) hotmail.co.uk

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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.

INBOX (1) (11 page horror screenplay) by Matthew Taylor

After receiving increasingly disturbing emails, a deaf customer services agent must battle with his mind in order to make sense of his night.

The workplace can be a very stressful environment, especially when it’s at a boring, mundane, nine-to-five office job. With constant worries of job security, the pressure of meeting deadlines and performance goals and dealing with the seemingly infinite monotony of each unimportant shift, the office is often the last place we want to be. But the one thing that gets us through each day is the camaraderie we share with co-workers, bonding over all the things that make us hate showing up for work in the first place. This is how some of our closest, most precious friendships are formed, many of those friendships lasting for life.

But, with so many variables and personalities, the workplace can also be a way to make mortal enemies – there’s clashing of egos, competition, employees fighting to move up that corporate ladder and, at times, bullying.

In Matthew Taylor’s dark psychological thriller, “Inbox (1)”, customer service rep, Freddy, isn’t having the easiest of times. Most likely the target of bullying his whole life due to his disability (he’s deaf), he takes medication for what we believe is either anxiety or depression. His coworkers haven’t exactly been very kind to him – Eric and Danielle mock him behind his back, spewing insults out loud knowing he can’t hear them. His boss, Ian, lets him know, every chance he gets, that the only reason he hasn’t been fired yet is BECAUSE he’s deaf. And even Christina, the only nice one in the office, speaks to him loudly and overly pronounced despite being reminded repeatedly that he can read lips.

After getting chewed out by Ian, Freddy finds himself staying late, stuck with the exhilarating duty of clearing the day’s email backlog – 523 inbox messages, to be exact.

Freddy sucks it up and gets to work, responding to email after email… after email. Finally, after hours of pedantic, repetitious tasks, he looks to his screen – INBOX (1). Ever so close to sweet, sweet freedom, Freddy opens up the predictably unpleasant final message. Trying his best to maintain his professionalism, he goes by the book and responds to the message with the utmost courtesy until finally – INBOX (0). Yes!

Ready to shut down his computer, Freddy gives the screen a glance and, to his chagrin, he sees INBOX (1) again. He opens the message to find out that it’s the same exact person as the last email. Freddy’s been doing this for a while, so he’s used to the aggressive insults thrown his way. But it isn’t until this “customer” in particular makes fun of his duck-patterned tie that Freddy suspects something more sinister is at play.

Fed up, Freddy confronts each coworker at the office, starting off with the most obvious suspects, Eric and his partner in crime, Danielle. A fracas ensues, Freddy’s deep-seeded rage boiling to the surface, resulting in him throwing a glass of water into Freddy’s face. But, upon further investigation, Freddy finds out that it wasn’t Eric or Danielle at all… so it appears. In fact, there’s no evidence that it was ANYBODY in the same room.

Determined to get to the bottom of this, Freddy returns to his computer to find yet another message in his inbox. He opens it up to see a photo of himself. WTF? But it gets even more disturbing when a virtual knife slides across the screen, slicing Freddy’s pixelated throat and splashing animated blood. As if things couldn’t get any stranger, the lights suddenly flicker off…

What begins as a dark, who-dun-nit mystery delves into terrifying, psychological horror territory. And Freddy is forced to explore the darkest depths of his own fragile mind.

In one of my favorite shorts that I’ve recently stumbled across, Matthew Taylor has crafted an atmospheric, pitch-black, psychological, single-location thriller with imagery that will linger with you long after the final credits roll.

BUDGET: Shoe-string. An office room and five actors.

ABOUT THE WRITER: by Matthew Taylor is an accountant from Shakespeare’s county. Though fairly new to screenwriting, he is a naturally gifted storyteller hitting his stride as a writer, recently securing an option for one of his scripts. Though he’s always learning and looking to improve his craft, his skill level is far more advanced than most writers with similarly limited experience. Matthew spends his spare time reading scripts and books. His dream is to be able to make a living from screenwriting, specializing in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He can be reached at Taylor.MJ88 (a) Gmail.

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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.

REAR VIEW (4 page horror short) by Anthony Cawood

An elderly gent with distinctly modern tastes wishes he’d never got a car with a reversing camera.

As technology continues to become more and more advanced each day, the more technologically dependent our society becomes. Many of these innovations change the world we live in and help us to perform tasks with great efficiency, making our lives easier. But when these neat, innovative gadgets we depend on break down and malfunction, it leaves many of us helpless.

For Ross, the protagonist in Anthony Cawood’s ultra-creepy micro-short, Rear View, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Always up to date with the newest advancements in technology, Ross is a well-off gentleman who finds out that one of his devices might be working a little TOO well.

In Ross’s case, that device is a built-in rear-view camera feature in his brand new, fancy-schmancy white Range Rover Evoque. Breathing in that still-fresh new-car smell, Ross is about to head out for a nice cruise around town to show off his new wheels.

But, as he backs out of his driveway, he glances into his rear-view camera and hits the brakes just in the nick of time – two small children in all black just stand there with their heads bowed. Despite almost getting plowed over, they don’t seem to be bothered in the slightest. In fact, it’s almost as if they’re purposely keeping Ross from leaving his driveway.

Annoyed, Ross looks into both rear-view mirrors – but the kids aren’t there. He turns, looks out his back window – nothing. He turns back to the camera and sees the creepy children again – a boy and a girl, no older than 10. And this time, they’re looking directly into his rear-view camera. Staring. Their eyes dark and soulless…

I don’t know about you, but the thought of seeing any children appear suddenly, out of nowhere, being super creepy, makes me shudder. And when you seem them in a horror flick, it’s never a good thing. But Ross doesn’t know he’s in a horror flick. Thinking it’s some punk kids playing a prank, Ross leaves the car only to see that the creepy little bastards are nowhere to be seen – What gives?

I won’t give away any more details, but Rear View has that creepy, skin-crawly vibe I got from popular horror micro-shorts like Lights Out (which later became a successful and pretty solid feature film) and Selfie From Hell (almost 30 million views on Youtube).

Like the shorts I just mentioned, Rear View is all about the scares and the creep factor. And it really nails it. Very easy to film (a lot of newer model cars have the rear-view camera feature built in), this could be that next viral horror hit – of course, in the hands of a capable director with a panache for nightmarish visuals.

Playing off the popular black-eyed children urban legend, Rear View is sure to make you think twice before using your rear-view camera feature again.

BUDGET: Low. A lot of recent car models have the rear-view camera feature built in, so a Range Rover isn’t necessary. But hey, if you have one, good for you.

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.

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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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.

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (13 page horror screenplay) By Sean Elwood

When three high school teens pay a late-night visit to a haunted street tunnel to prove an urban legend true, they get way more than they bargained for…

Everyone’s heard of Bloody Mary. And I’m sure many of us as curious children with wild imaginations have played the game before – you stand in front of a mirror with the lights off and say Bloody Mary three times and something super creepy is supposed to happen once you turn the lights back on. It’s supposed to conjure up some sort of evil, vengeful spirit that may or may not do us some form of bodily harm. Why do kids do this? Because it’s fun! And because nothing bad is likely to happen. BUT… there’s always the possibility of the unknown, which makes it fun in the first place…

When playing Bloody Mary, we go in expecting one of two results – the unlikely possibility of a ghost appearing or nothing at all. At least that’s what the characters in Sean Elwood’s urban folklore creeper, The Light at the End of the Tunnel, thought. Unfortunately for them, something else happens entirely… something that nobody, not even the audience, could’ve expected.

Every small town in America has their own little urban legend based on some kind of local tragedy. The tragedy in this story was a car accident that happened 23 years ago inside of a street tunnel at exactly 11:42 pm. Every year, on the date, at exactly 11:42, if you flash your headlights three times into the tunnel, you see the ghost car flash it’s headlights back at you from the other side.

Young couple, Bethany and Victor, along with their third wheel, Taz, decide to test the validity of the local legend themselves on the anniversary of the tragic accident. Of course, there’s always that one doubter – in this case, Bethany. Bored out of her mind, she listens to the kind of aimless, stream-of-consciousness type banter you’d expect to hear from a couple stoners, their conversation covering several random topics, including the possibility of intelligent life outside of Earth – there doesn’t seem to be any sign of intelligent life inside of Victor’s car, at least from Bethany’s point of view.

Bethany thinks it’s stupid and a complete waste of time. And, in most cases, she’d be absolutely correct. But, as I mentioned earlier, there’s ALWAYS that very, very slim possibility of the unknown that sits in the back of our minds…

As the clock finally hits 11:42, Bethany watches with bated breath as her boyfriend, Victor, flashes his headlights into the tunnel three times. After a few tense moments, nothing happens. But, just as Bethany is about to make Victor and Taz feel stupid…

Lights flash at the other side of the tunnel! Eager to find out what happens next, Victor stupidly shifts his car into drive and speeds towards the “ghost car”, engaging in a very dangerous game of chicken. Did he not consider the fact that it may actually be a real car?

Fearing the worst and unable to get her boyfriend to stop the vehicle, Bethany braces herself for a violent head-on collision. But as the two opposing “cars” get closer to colliding, Bethany notices something very funny about the quickly approaching lights…

I’ll stop there as to not spoil the fun. But there is one thing I will say about the ending – you won’t see it coming. Author Sean Elwood toys with familiar urban legend conventions and COMPLETELY pulls the rug out from under us. Fun, creepy and surprisingly layered, The Light at the End of the Tunnel keeps us guessing right up until FADE OUT.

BUDGET: Overall, relatively low with clever use of lighting and editing. Most of the budget would go towards some practical and special effects.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Sean Elwood is an award-winning screenwriter specializing in horror. After developing a love for screenwriting at the age of 14, he continued to write both short and feature length screenplays as he perfected his writing, earning a degree in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production from the Art Institute of Austin. His anthology of short horror stories, After Life, After Death: Stories For the Dark is available in paperback via Amazon. Sean can be reached at elwoodsean (a) gmail.

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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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.

THE OTHER SIDE (12 page short horror screenplay) Written By Kirsten James

A young woman and her boyfriend make the innocent mistake of playing on a Ouija Board and find out the hard way that the other side is not to be messed with.

Being home alone, especially at night, can be a little scary sometimes. It’s something we can all relate to, especially now, in our current climate. Even just the slightest noise can make us stop and conjure up the possibility, just for a moment, that maybe we aren’t the only ones there. Is it our minds playing tricks on us? Probably – which is what most of us tell ourselves in order to find comfort. But there’s always the possibility of a home intruder. Or, depending on personal beliefs, maybe something paranormal.

In Kirsten James’s spooky, supernatural horror short, The Other Side, it’s something much, much worse.

After having her boyfriend, Josh, over two nights in a row, Samantha finally has a night to herself. And she’s using her free time wisely – we’re introduced to her as she’s getting in a nice Stair Master workout while rocking out to music. Not a worry in the world…

We then see a messy coffee table, a mess she hasn’t yet cleaned up from the previous night – an empty wine bottle, some candy wrappers, an opened Ouija board, half a bottle of Jack Daniels …

Wait… a Ouija board? Oh, that can’t be good. In fact, specifically in horror films, the presence of a Ouija board is NEVER good. But Samantha doesn’t know she’s in a horror film. Just like in real life, people like to be scared for fun. And, often times, this “fun” comes in the form of a Ouija board – I am DEFINITELY not one of those people.

Right from the jump, unbeknownst to Samantha, there’s a dark, creepy figure just lingering in the shadows. Is it a person? Something worse? We don’t know yet. It could be anything. But it isn’t until a loud grinding noise from the kitchen grabs Samantha’s attention.

She inspects, discovering a planchette stuck in the sink’s garbage disposal. Immediately, perhaps to convince herself nothing is wrong, she suspects her boyfriend, Josh, is messing with her. As she looks around the apartment for Josh, she discovers more things that make her suspect that her hubby is playing a prank on her.

Fed up, she gives him a call – but we see that Josh is clearly at his own place (living with his mother), working on a college assignment. As things continue to go bump in the night, we come to find out that Josh and Samantha, under the influence of alcohol and munchies, may have conjured something up while messing around with that Ouija the previous night.

But there’s a problem – Josh says he wasn’t there the previous night. But… if he wasn’t there last night… who did Samantha have sex with? Did the Ouija board somehow conjure up some demonic doppelganger?

All those questions are answered in what plays out like a chillingly clever mash-up of Paranormal Activity meets Jordan Peele’s Us. Packed with all the things you look for in a horror story, The Other Side is a mind-bending, frightening read and that would translate even better on screen. I highly recommend it to any filmmaker looking to make some noise in the horror film festival circuit.

BUDGET: Shoestring. Two locations (an apartment and then a room). And two on-screen actors.

ABOUT THE WRITER: In 2014 Kirsten was inspired by a friend to start writing short stories. After a year she realized she wanted to see her stories on screen and turned one of her shorts into a screenplay. She has never forgotten the rush of excitement she felt the moment she typed her first ever ‘FADE IN’. It was as if something clicked. Since then, Kirsten has written several shorts, mostly in the horror genre, with a couple of comedies and dramas thrown in. She’s had a few picked up for production. A short mystery has been produced based on characters she created and she has one horror short in pre-production as part of a horror anthology. Kirsten has a degree in psychology and finds this a great asset to her writing. Kirsten can be reached at niketa0000 (a) hotmail.

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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.

FLEE THIS ROOM (13 page short horror script) by Rob Herzog

Are you ready for this? – The story’s opening line of dialogue almost feels like the author is preparing us for the insanity that lies ahead in Flee This Room, a trippy, David Lynch-esque horror tale from writer, Rob Herzog.

The opening line of dialogue is what Amelia asks her hopelessly love-struck new boyfriend, Jay, before introducing him to a very odd group of friends. Ready for what, exactly? Jay isn’t quite sure, though Amelia describes it as an “experience”. An experience indeed, as Jay finds out soon enough.

Jay and Amelia are greeted at the door by the host of the party, Jericho – a spiritual guru of sorts. He leads the new couple into his apartment where we meet Ferd and Sissy, who we come to know as Jericho’s “followers”, I guess you can say. High as kites, the two hippies look like they belong on Spahn Ranch with the rest of the Manson Family.

            JERICHO
Jay, today’s experience will combine
elements of improvisation, spirituality,
self-realization, group dynamics, kinesiology
and pseudo sorcery. Are you ready?

Sipping on glogg (a Scandinavian alcoholic beverage), Jay still hasn’t the slightest clue of what’s about to happen. But he’s willing to roll with the punches – for Amelia.

Jericho kicks things off with what seems like some kind of acid-induced improv exercise.

            JERICHO
Okay. Let’s start out by being flamingos.

He, Amelia, Ferd, and Sissy immediately lope like flamingos, flapping their arms. Sissy stands on one leg and squawks. An exercise straight out of an acting class.

Strange, yes. But nothing out of the ordinary if you’ve taken an improv class before.

The flamingo parade continues until Jericho calls out–

            JERICHO
Boy band.

They whirl in unison/lock step – all except Jay.

Uh … okay. A little stranger. But nothing crazy. That is until the exercise quickly takes on a darker tone…

            JERICHO
And now – human sacrifice.

Instantly, the group jumps up, gathers around Jay, and starts to stab him with imaginary knives. They chant–

            SISSY
Accept this sacrifice!

            FERD
Accept this sacrifice!

Amelia takes her imaginary knife and slits Jay’s throat. She does not smile at all. Complete seriousness.

And, if that wasn’t disturbing enough, a homemade, life-sized dummy named Bertram is brought into the picture as part of the odd ritual.

Everyone in the room except Jay bows down before Bertram.

WT-actual-F?

After Jay finds out that his glogg has been spiked with hallucinogens, the ritualistic exercise continues to get stranger and stranger – reaching nightmarish levels of weirdness.

If my description of the story hasn’t given you enough anxiety, I haven’t even scratched the surface of just how delightfully bizarre Rob Herzog’s script actually is.

Outside of his surprise short film on Netflix, “What Did Jack Do”, David Lynch hasn’t released anything new in a very long time. But, if you’re a Lynch-starved movie fanboy like me, “Flee This Room” should be enough to satisfy your appetite. It’s an acid-trip gone totally right and would be a fantastic pick-up for any filmmaker looking to create something truly unique — something audiences will remember and talk about long after the closing credits.

BUDGET: Shoe-string. Six actors and a room.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Rob Herzog is a Chicago screenwriter. He has sold two short scripts and won prize money in two small screenwriting contests. His short horror script Creak and Shriek was produced in 2019 by Mad Dreamer Entertainment and can be viewed on various platforms. He has a master’s degree in English composition from Northeastern Illinois University.

Read: FLEE THIS ROOM (13 page short horror script)

^*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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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.

HERE COMES THE BOGEYMAN (23 page short horror script) By Zack Akers

He said he’s coming tonight.

Kids say the darnedest thing, don’t they? It’s always unsettling when that darndest thing happens to be something super creepy. Yes, it’s a very familiar horror trope. But it’s a horror trope that never fails to weird me right-the-F-out every time I see it in a film. It just works… if done effectively. And in, Here Comes the Boogeyman, it most certainly works – to very, very creepy effect.

But that’s merely the set-up to writer, Zack Akers’ atmospheric bone-chiller, which centers around another familiar trope in horror films and campfire tales alike – the Bogeyman.

The story opens with single mom, Mary, tucking in her six and eight year-old sons, Tyler and Devin, respectively, to bed. But, for some reason, Tyler and his older brother choose to sleep in the same bed. When asked why, Devin falls to tears, afraid to tell his mother.

“The Bogeyman,” Tyler tells her, speaking up for his older brother.

Like most children have at some point of their adolescence, Devin has been having nightmares about the Bogeyman. Mary comforts the boys, telling them it was just a dream and the Bogeyman isn’t real. Because of course it’s not. But that’s when Devin says that “darndest thing” – “He said he’s coming tonight.”

The comment seems to bother Mary as she talks about it over the phone with her boyfriend, Luke. He tells her there’s nothing to worry about, to which Mary reluctantly agrees – “Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably just overreacting.”

But later in the night, as Mary makes her way to bed, her doorbell rings… followed by four slow knocks at the door. This, indeed, turns out to be the Bogeyman – at least he knocked, right?

In what plays out like a cat-and-mouse home-invasion film, the Bogeyman has one unsettling request – “Give me one… or I’ll take them both.” Refusing to accept the “Sophie’s Choice”-option given to her, she decides to try and fend off the Bogeyman. But she makes some very bad decisions in the process, those moments that make audience members yell, “What the F are you doing?!” at the screen. This ends up resulting in the gruesome demise of the whole family.

Although it sounds like I just spoiled the ending for everyone, I assure you, it’s only just the beginning. And to see exactly what I mean, you’ll have to check it out for yourself. But I will say that it’s at this point that the story takes all these familiar horror tropes and uses them to create something truly unique and original. I especially came away impressed with how our protagonist, Mary, learns from her earlier mistakes (that so many horror characters tend to make). And, yes, I know I said she met her demise. But, again, read it for yourself. It’s soooo worth checking out.

This is the type of film I can see raking in some serious views on Youtube, Vimeo and maybe even Shudder, who I know lists short films from time to time. Atmospheric and suspenseful with some truly terrifying visuals and a gut-punch of an ending, “Here Comes the Bogeyman” is what nightmares are made of.

BUDGET: Low. One location (a house) and a cast of five (two child actors). This will require some blood, makeup and practical effects (or special effects, depending on how the filmmaker sees it).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Zack Akers has been writing screenplays since 2005, accumulating over 25 horror shorts with a handful of them having been produced. A true fan of the horror genre, Zack’s goal is simple – to scare the audience. Right now, Zack is collaborating with several talented filmmakers on some very exciting projects. So be on the lookout for some of his work! He can be reached at: zack.akers.89 (a) gmail

Read: Here Comes The Bogeyman (23 page short horror script in pdf format

^*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

Find more scripts available for production

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.