A MATTER OF TASTE (9-page short horror screenplay) by James Austin McCormick

Two crime bosses pit their wine tasting skills against one another in a contest to become head of the underworld – only they’re vampires and the wine isn’t actually wine.

James Austin McCormick’s humorous crime-horror hybrid pits underworld mafiosos, DUKE VINCENZO SALIBRI and ARTUR DUBEK, against each other for full control of the criminal empire as head of all families. How, you ask? In a wine tasting competition!

This clever low-budget affair follows OWEN REEVES, a young tabloid journalist who attends the historic taste-off in attempt to expose the dark and secretive mafia crime world.

With several underworld criminals serving as the audience, crime boss Salibri shows off his impeccable palate as first-up in the very pretentious competition. You can practically picture him sipping with his pinkie out.

But these aren’t your typical mafiosos. And this isn’t a “wine” tasting – they’re vampires and what they’re tasting and describing is blood!

Though Salibri carries himself as the more sophisticated one, his brutish, seemingly less sophisticated opponent, Dubek, has a pretty strong palate, himself. Though rather than sipping, he prefers to chug the “wine”. Unfortunately for Dubek, he’s simply outclassed by the bourgeois Salibri, ultimately losing the taste-off.

But Dubek refuses to lose quietly and the seemingly innocent competition turns into a Shakespeare-esque sequence of double-crosses that will inevitably cause a war between the old and new families. And in the midst of all the mayhem, our human journalist, Owen, is outed by MORTARUS, the meeting’s mediator.

The fate of Owen’s career (and life) now lies in the hands of a room full of vampire crime bosses.

Smart and witty, McCormick’s script offers a new twist on both mafia films AND vampire films.

BUDGET: Low. One main location, two other very simple locations. Four actors, a few extras.

ABOUT THE WRITER: James Austin McCormick is a college lecturer and compulsive writer of speculative fiction with many short stories published in various anthologies along with novellas and novels published with Class Act Books. As a screenwriter, James has consistently placed high in international competitions and, along with a co-author, has had three feature-length horror scripts optioned by K5 films. With a long list of short-length scripts, James also collaborated with talented writer, Annabel Grace, on the produced short, In the Silence. You can find his works on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. James can be reached at: jimbostories (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.

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Horrific Tales of the Wickedly Macabre is an anthology series that celebrates the ridiculous excess of ’80s horror. Eight separate terrifying stories, each told by horror fans, specifically for horror fans.

First up is:

Lunar Shift (34 pages in pdf format) by Sean Elwood (Wraparound Story Written by Sean Chipman)

When the popular kids at school begin to die in vicious maulings, the average Joe’s set out to find the beast and kill it before they’re next.

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THE LIST (one-page short drama screenplay) by Steven Clark

A troubled man visits a park with a friend he must always make excuses for.

All right, filmmakers. If you’re looking for something safe and easy to shoot while keeping social distancing in mind, look no further than Steven Clark’s poignant and poetic micro-short, “The List”. Although this one is only a one-pager, Clark packs a lot into this brief yet very emotional journey.

We open the story at a park early in the morning as Don, a middle-aged man suffering from severe depression, sits on a bench, contemplating suicide. Though we’re not sure exactly what he’s been through, we get a sense of it as we hear painful memories flash by inside his head as he stares off during the early-morning sunset…

And hold this moment. Hold as the sound of VOICES are heard – men, women, children. Talking. Shouting. Arguing. A SLAP. A GUNSHOT. The CRASH of a car. The whisper of a LOVER.

Then silence.

While reliving those painful memories, he stares at a gun, seriously considering ending it all. That is, until a songbird landing on a nearby tree branch grabs his attention, its melodic chirping distracting him for just a moment. Getting lost in the beautiful simplicity of nature.

He brings out a notebook, a list of various things written down in it, mostly simple things such as, The sun shined today and My daughter called. Once he writes down, The call of a songbird, we realize that these simple yet beautiful things are the little things in life that has kept him from ending his own life despite all of the pain and tragedy that continues to haunt him daily.

Depression is indeed an everyday battle.

BUDGET: Shoe string. One actor and a park bench.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Based in upstate, NY, Steven Clark is the writer of over 30 short scripts, several of which are under option, in pre-production, or have already been made into films. On A Clear Night, a family Christmas feature aimed at a Hallmark Channel-type audience, is currently in the works. Steven can be reached at Steamroller138 (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.

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AND THEN HE COMETH (11-page short horror screenplay) by Warren Duncan

A Halloween party descends into chaos for a young girl and her partner when they take center place in an ancient ritual.

One lesson I’ve learned in life; never go to a party unless you’re personally invited or you know people there who were invited. Especially when it’s at some creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately for Lily and her boyfriend Axel, they learn this lesson the hard way. And that’s putting it very gently.

While strolling around the city during Halloween festivities (Lily in a sexy devil costume, Axel dressed as a demon), they conveniently receive a flier for a “Demons & Devils” – themed shindig. Why not, right?

They hop in an Uber and, next thing you know, they’re at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It’s pretty much just as advertised – everyone’s dressed as devils and demons, just like them. But something about the vibe seems terribly off – all eyes seem to be strangely focused on Lily. Could it be the sexy costume? Who knows? But Lily and Axel aren’t feeling it. As they attempt to ditch the party, a demon-dressed party-goer practically pressures them into staying for at least one beer. “One drink and we go!” Axel tells her, yelling over the loud music.

Things don’t go quite as planned and Lily ends up waking up on the couch without Axel and without her cell phone. It seems like the party’s over, a demon-dressed man sweeping the floor around her. Even stranger, it’s not even midnight yet.

Lily wants to leave and it seems as if the demon-dressed man, the only other person who seems to still be there, is trying to help her by calling an Uber. But it turns out that he (along with everyone else at the party) knows much more about Lily than she knows about them.

If you’re a fan of films like “House of the Devil”, you’re going to LOVE this, especially the awesome “gut punch” of an ending. Uniquely horrifying visuals really elevate this one over your average demonic cult film.

BUDGET: Low. One location, three main actors and extras in robes and demon costumes. Oh, and some practical effects (blood, mainly).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Warren Duncan writes screenplays and comics in his spare time and has been lucky enough to have several shorts produced and the first issue of his comic book series published. Warren can be reached at: Warren_duncan(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.

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SCAVENGE (5-page short horror screenplay) by Steve Miles

A backpacker stumbles upon an abandoned campsite only to discover he’s not alone when it comes to an appetite for scavenging.

All right, filmmakers, if you’re looking for something super-low budget to shoot while keeping social distancing in mind – and I know a lot of you are – look no further than “Scavenge” by writer, Steve Miles.

The story opens as a lonely backpacker (never a good thing to be in a horror movie) named Lars happens upon an abandoned beach – the perfect spot to post up for a few days. After setting up shop, he decides to explore the area a little bit while scavenging pretty much everything he can get his hands on – candy wrappers, bottle caps, beer cans, etc.

Lars hits the jackpot when he stumbles upon an abandoned campsite, camping gear and loads of trash (or treasure if you’re Lars) scattered around the remains of a campfire.

But where is everybody? And what happened to them? Not too concerned with any of those questions, Lars peruses the abandoned items like a kid in a candy shop, taking with him a cooking pot and nice camping chair. He even finds an unopened can of beer! Score!

However, Lars spots something else – fabric poking out from under the ground. As he pulls on the fabric, he discovers that it’s a tent buried under the sand. Oh, well, nothing Lars can take with him.

It isn’t until later that night when Lars realizes that something about this abandoned beach is very, very off…

I know this sounds like the set-up to a typical slasher film, but the way this story plays out may surprise you. I know I wasn’t expecting it. In fact, this may be the antithesis to the typical slasher film. For one, there’s no dialogue. Also, there’s no cheap jump scares. Everything is carried by raw tension, specifically a terrifying, visually arresting (yet simple) scene when Lars is in his tent and realizes that he’s not alone.

If you were afraid of camping before, this story definitely won’t help you get over any fears. Quiet, tense and visually horrifying, “Scavenge” is a perfect horror short to film during social distancing. But I wouldn’t recommend watching it alone.

BUDGET: Shoe-string. All takes place outdoors at an abandoned beach with two actors (one main actor).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Steve Miles enjoys writing in a variety of genres but leans toward raw, grittier characters and the worlds they inhabit – from the deadly serious to the darkly comic. Fortunate to have a number of shorts produced (some of which can be seen at Steve Miles’ Short Scripts alongside a range of scripts) with short films Forever Red and A Cool Green Place soon to be released, and The Cold Season which you can watch on Amazon Prime. Steve can be contacted via his website.

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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.

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DING DONG DITCH (5-page short horror screenplay) by Zack Akers

After thinking a group of mischievous kids are ringing his doorbell and running away in the middle of the night, Matt soon finds out that it’s someone else with much more sinister intentions.

Come on, you know the game. We ALL played it as kids. Remember? That “game” you played when you’d ring someone’s doorbell and run away? It’s more of a prank rather than a game. A hilarious prank if I remember my childhood correctly. Sometimes we’d ring doorbells and hide behind bushes so we could see the befuddlement on their faces when they’d answer the door… only to see nobody there! Oh, what fun!

No harm done, right? A little childhood mischief never hurt anybody. Though some kids liked to light a bag of dog crap on fire and leave it on their doorsteps – which is a bit next level for my taste. But even then, come on! Kids will be kids! It’s like egging houses or toilet papering people’s lawns. No harm, no foul. Just a bit of innocent fun.

At least that’s what you think when you’re a kid. After reading Zack Akers’ atmospheric slasher, “Ding Dong Ditch”, I couldn’t help but look back on those days and realize how creepy that must’ve been for the people answering their doors. Hell, if I hear my doorbell ringing any time after dark, I’m hiding in the closet in fetal position, hand shaking while clutching pepper spray, crying to a 911-operator. Come to think of it, me and my friends were pretty messed up. I can picture my neighbor having night terrors 30 years later all because me and my dorky buds had nothing better to do.

Just imagine if it wasn’t a kid with nothing better to do, but a full-grown adult… who’s idea of fun is much more sinister than ringing a doorbell and running away in laughter. That’s the idea behind “Ding Dong Ditch”, a classic horror slasher that takes familiar horror tropes and exploits the hell out of them in the creepiest and most sinister way possible. No, author Zack Akers isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel here – but he’s taking the wheels off completely and taking us on a homage-fueled hell-ride into the darkest depths of human nature.

The night starts off innocently enough for 44-year old Matt, who’s viewing of the original House on Haunted Hill is unpleasantly interrupted by some punk kids ringing his door bell.

It’s annoying how much Matt reminds me of myself – that old, crotchety middle-aged man shaking his fist at a bunch of up-to-no-good, punk kids.

Sure enough, later that night, the doorbell rings again. Ready to kick some adolescent ass, Matt answers his door again – but there’s nobody there. So, it seems. Unbeknownst to him, there’s someone watching him from the distance, breathing heavily – a classic trope you see in Giallo style thrillers like Dario Argento’s Deep Red – a style later used in slasher films such as Friday the 13th, Halloween and Black Christmas.

While taking a phone call from his ex-wife, Matt hears the door bell ringing yet again. “Oh, those pesky kids!” he’s probably thinking to himself. But he’s about to get a very rude awakening.

If it’s not the kids playing ding-dong-ditch… who is? And why?

Heavy on atmosphere and tense, edge-of-your-seat moments, “Ding Dong Ditch” carries a very depraved and bleak tone with an ending that will remind you of one of the scariest films of the past 20 years, The Strangers. If you’re a filmmaker looking to rack up Youtube views while scaring the begeezus out of anyone who dare watch, I highly recommend you jump on this one.

BUDGET: Shoe-string. Two actors and a house. Can’t get any easier than that.

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

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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.

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BEE-EL (8-page short horror screenplay) by CJ Vecchio

A young girl befriends something that’s inside her closet.

Monsters come in all shapes, sizes, forms. As children, we learn that these monsters or boogie men, as we like to call them, prefer to dwell in the darkness – usually under our beds or in our closets. Of course, once we’re old enough, we learn our imaginations were just running wild and there were never any monsters hiding in our closets. But we’ve seen the premise used in numerous horror films, television shows and books. The premise itself might as well be its own horror sub-genre.

What makes CJ Vecchio’s dark, twisted tale so different from the other tales we’ve seen or read about is that it makes us question who the monster really is.

The story begins innocently enough as Sabrina, a cute, innocent nine-year-old picks wild daisies for her mother. They seem to have a great relationship. But her mother notices her playing with a new doll – a doll that she didn’t buy her.

Her mother thinks nothing of it. After all, most children have had an imaginary friend at one point or another. But what she DOESN’T know is that Bee-El is very real. And he lives inside the walls, once in a while keeping an eye on things from the closets.

Bee-El talks to Sabrina as if he were a child himself, though never revealing what he looks like. He brings Sabrina gifts – toys, chocolate and other trinkets. He’s very protective of her and seems to genuinely care about her, always willing to lend an ear and hear about her day.

Bee-El would do anything for Sabrina… ANYTHING. And that’s when we discover that Sabrina isn’t so innocent after all as she tells Bee-El about some bullies from school.

Things take a very, very dark turn. And as Bee-El continues to do Sabrina’s evil bidding, we find out who the real monster truly is.

Dark, clever and very simple to film, this would make for some great midnight viewing.

BUDGET: Low. One location (a house) and three actors.

CONCEPT TEASER:

ABOUT THE WRITER: CJ Vecchio braves the cold, windy winters in Chicago, along with his sidekick, a lovable pit bull named Izzy. Recently, due to COVID, CJ’s business (along with many others) was shut down. With a lot of time on his hands, he started to pursue his lifelong passion of writing Horror and Sci-Fi shorts. He plans on entering his latest short “Bee-EL” into The Killer Shorts contest and others. CJ is also working on featured full-length versions of his stories. CJ can be reached at his website is www.CjVecchio.com.

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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.

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THE COST OF WAR (5-page short historical screenplay) by Marnie Mitchell

A waitress fed up with the antiwar protests in 1962 New York City changes her stance once the effects of war hit close to home.

Finishing as Week 5’s top-scoring script for the final week of the Writer’s Tournament was Marnie Mitchell’s impressive historical short, The Cost of War. Under Week-5’s theme of “Winning at Any Cost”, Marnie was assigned the following three criteria items to include in this week’s entry: a COFFEE SHOP, a BAG OF COFFEE GROUNDS and a MODEL, all written under her assigned genre, HISTORICAL.

The story opens in New York City circa 1962, where Pamela, an aspiring model, works as a waitress at the famous Gaslight Cafe, a well-known venue for famous folk artists and poets. She has a crush on a patron and performer there named Bob. Bob performs his latest song he just finished writing. If you’re old like me, you’ll recognize the lyrics and realize that this is Bob Dylan.

The song (“Blowing in the Wind”) is clearly an antiwar/protest song, which seems to turn Pamela off a little bit. You see, her father is in Vietnam, proudly serving his country. And Pamela doesn’t understand what all the protesting is all about.

After a few days, writing away at the cafe or “bleeding on paper” as Bob tells Pamela earlier, he notices that she hasn’t been around for a few days. It isn’t until the next week that Pamela returns to work. But she returns with a new outlook on the antiwar protests once discovering some tragic news, the effects of war hitting very close to home.

She then hits the stage, reciting a heartfelt poem documenting the tragedy her family had endured due to the war and how her stance on the protesting had changed. I won’t give away everything, but there is one beautiful excerpt in her poem that really hits hard – “… When you’re willing to win, at any cost – it’s obvious to many, that – you’ve already lost.”

Perfectly capturing the feel of the 60s – a very divisive and turbulent decade defined by the civil rights movement, assassinations and antiwar protests, Marnie Mitchell’s tightly-woven script makes us feel like we’ve gone back in time and experienced Pamela’s pain for ourselves.

BUDGET: Low. There are exterior shots of protesters, but the amount of extras can be cheated on camera. It is a period piece, so 1960’s style wardrobe would be needed. Other than that, it all takes place in one location.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Marnie Mitchell is an award-winning screenwriter and 5-page contest junkie. Due to her addiction, she’s written over 80 shorts, 15 having been produced. Currently she’s working on her 8th feature, an adaptation of a horror short she wrote 10 years ago. Some of her work can be found on her site, BrainFluffs.com. Some of her photography can be seen here: marnzart.wordpress.com. Marnie can be contacted via her website.

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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.

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WINDOW CREEP – by Rob Herzog
short, horror script

A nine-year old boy tries to outwit the visitor who scratches at his window screen in the middle of the night.

Are you afraid of the dark?

Since time immemorial most of us have felt that most primitive of fears – being afraid of things that we cannot see and of things that go bump in the night.

Remember being a kid? Most of us can recall waking in the middle of the night listening out for another creak of the floorboards, or startled by the groan of a wardrobe-door yawing open of its own accord. Covers pulled up and over our heads we would lie in wait, dreading the moment when something might pounce from the closet, or jump out from underneath the bed… Terrified that there was something evil lurking under the cover of darkness.

In Rob Herzog’s chilling horror, Window Creep, we meet Eddie, a plucky nine-year old kid who we sense is somewhat used to fending for himself. Amidst the backdrop of an ordinary pre-teen bedroom – posters of superheroes and monsters adorning the walls – Eddie’s enjoying his usual bedtime ritual. He’s up late, playing with his toy soldiers. The lights are out and the gleam of Eddie’s flashlight bounces off the walls, when all of a sudden –

At this point Eddie’s going to do what every petrified kid will do under the circumstances, and that is scream and call out for his Mom.

But it’s also at this point that writer, Rob Herzog cleverly ramps up the tension and suspense even more than before, because…

Mama’s not answering. In the bedroom down the hall it appears she’s out cold which means Eddie is now all alone and at the mercy of whatever this Creep is and whatever it wants.

So, what does Eddie do next? Well, there’s one trick in Eddie’s arsenal and it’s the same ploy he uses with his toy soldiers when they’re not behaving. He attempts to hypnotize it in the hope that –

But… toys are just toys and Eddie’s about to learn that whatever this Creep is, it’s very real, it’s very evil, and it won’t be fooled by childish games.

And then…

Well, I can’t spoil the fun and the scares can I?

Suffice to say you will not guess the sting in the tail of this cleverly written part monster, part parable tale following in the tradition of such horror gems as Lights Out, Bedfellows, The Babadook, and Don’t Breathe.

Rob Herzog’s Window Creep might well be the stuff of nightmares, but for you filmmakers out there it could be the perfect calling-card for your dreams.

But don’t go hiding under the bed. Better burst out and into the light. The only thing scarier than not getting your claws into this one would be missing out on it altogether. And you really don’t want that… lest the lost opportunity haunt you for the rest of your life.

BUDGET: Low. Self-contained one location, one plucky kid, one Mom, one Creep’s hand with some light SFX.

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 like Amazon Prime, YouTube and Vimeo. He has a master’s degree in English composition from Northeastern Illinois University. Rob can be reached at: robherzogr (a) hotmail.

About the Reviewer: L.Chambers has been writing all her life – especially in her head, and on scraps of paper. It’s only in the last few years she began to get serious about screen-writing. Prior to this she worked in the Features Department for ABC TV as a Program Assistant, and trained as a FAD. She currently works as a freelance web-content editor and lives with her husband (also a screenwriter) in Sydney, Australia. L. Chambers can be reached at: libbych (a) hotmail.

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