Hi Guys,

Just letting you know about something that might be of use for you.

A friend of mine is looking to create an Horror Anthology...in the vein of Trick or Treat...4 stories linked with a central conceit.

He's an actor, but the Director on his latest film has strong links with a couple of major studios and is confident he could get a distribution deal if the final product is high quality enough.

My friend is hiring four different directors to create 4 short films based around this conceit and they are looking for scripts:

Quoted Text A party of teenagers go camping in a woods near a mental asylum. They scare each other with stories of the inmates - how they became mental (these are the 4 separate anthology stories). During the film they are being stalked by an escaped mental patient, who attacks them at the end.

Sounds like the kind of thing a few of you will already have in their lockers, and certainly something well within your remit.

Rick.

You are probably right that there is already a trove of such things around here, Rick.

I would toss out "Someplace Nice and Dark" for their consideration; most readers thought it was not too bad:

http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-short/m-1120591666/

Everybody said I should expand it, but I never could, really -- but if one were to carry the story forward a bit, it is not unreasonable to assume that Pinto ended up as a mental patient...

EDIT:

Clocking in at 25 pages, "Think of me and I'll be there..." may be more than they are looking for, but the girl in this story also has mental patient potential....

http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1199649050/

Yes, Someplace Nice and Dark would be a good fit in my opinion.

All you need to say is that no-one believed him and that's why they locked him up....part of the interlink between films.

It's a good script that, I'll let him know.

I've never come across the other one before, I'll check that out as well.

Don't know how I missed "Think of me.." but it's a great little story.

Not sure if it fits in with that mental asylum thing as it stands...feels like it would need one of the main characters (probably Evie) who ended up in the asylum, but I'd personally be loathe to change it as I think what you have is right as it is.

I'll pass it on though, for sure.

Something Dark would be perfect for an anthology. I'll have to check out the second one.

Rick, not sure if you remember Scottish Lullaby from last year's Feb OWC. After I wrote that, I wrote a couple more related stories with the idea of a trilogy. They all involved the idea of the Celtic Otherworld, and I tried to amp up the horror a bit in the others.

The 2nd involved an asylum, actually. It's a found footage script(not posted here). A reporter investigates mysterious murders in a sewer tunnel(the same where the sacrifice took place in Lullaby) that have been hushed up by authorities. The gist of the story is that a lonely young girl with artistic talent begins to hang with the same imaginary friend(Dougal) from Lullaby. She learns how to open a temporary portal to the Otherworld by drawing, and a terrible creature comes through and slays a group of children. The girl is not slayed and ends up in an asylum where she draws images of the slayings.

The third short was posted here, and takes place in the same seedy nightclub from Lullaby, with the same witch like old woman. It's a poker game where she raises the stakes to a bloody level. No asylum, though. I suppose one of the survivors could end up in the asylum. Or, even more likely, this script just doesn't fit the criteria!

These scripts are in very raw, amateur shape. Scottish Lullaby was my first short and very early in the writing process, and the others were soon after. Something Dark is definitely much better. When you said anthology it made me think of these stories for the first time in a while.

Hey Rick,

I think the demonology collection I have can fit into this criteria especially the soul shadows one (entitled Caine revised version 31 pgs) or Rachael 11 pgs . Whats the page limit?

Gabe

I presume with 4 stories they are looking at around 20 pages...give or take.

Hi Kev,

Sorry, missed your post before,

The scripts sound interesting. The asylum one seems made for it really.

Alright so I'll throw those two out there.

I can trim Bert's addition which will probably make the page limit go down to at least 25.

I can add more content to Rachael. I have ideas brewing on what to include.

But, I'll let you decide if you something interesting.

Gabe

Hey Gabe,

It's not my decision, all I can do is pass them on.

Rick.

Might I toss in Dreams in Dust and Marble? or Janet's Asylum?


Phil

I'll certainly point him in the right direction.

Wish I had some deranged characters in my stories.  Unfortunately, all my characters are normal and just fine mentally.

I have a couple:

DAMNED YANKEE - 6th Place winner at American Gem, also a finalist at Page and Gimme Credit.

http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/DamnedYankee.pdf


I also have a shorter short (8 pages) Secrets and Dirty Little Lies here in the short section.

http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/SECRETS%20AND20DIRTY%20LITTLE%20LIES.pdf


Cindy

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23506683/the%20glasgow%20file%201.0%20pdf.pdf

Rick, if you're interested, the script is linked above. It's done in mockumentary form, with an element of found footage.

It's 25 pages, but that's a little deceiving. There's a longish super at the beginning and at the end, and because it's in the form of a studio documentary, there are things like photo and film inserts that take up space.

I was much earlier on the learning curve when I wrote this. I like to hope I can do better now. But there were some cool ideas in it.

How long have we got to send something, I am working on a horror short that is set in an abandoned asylum and wouldn't take much work for me to adapt. Would love to put it forward for consideration.

Also, what kind of horror are they after? twighlight zonesque twisty stuff, gore fest, psychological (the latter I would warrant)
hard R?
Is it up to the four contributing writers to weave in the through line? (the stalker) or is that being penned seperately?

Sorry for the noobish questions but hey, I'm a noob!

Thanks mate

Daz

@Kev.

Cool. I'll check it out. Like I said to Gabe, I have no part in any decision making process, I'll just pass things along, but I'll check it out anyway.

@ DarrenJames It's in the initial stages and he's talking to Directors who have the necessary experience to shoot it to a high enough level so I suspect you've got a bit of time.

I'll speak to him in more detail about what he's looking for...but I'd imagine they'd want a mix of things but my initial feeling (which may be wrong) is that they are looking at a young horror demographic and so would be far from adverse to some gore and (again, I merely suspect) some nudity.

I do know that they'll want characters/images that are good for trailers.

Rick.

Looney Bins?
Escaped Patient?




About to be released from a psych ward, a young woman finds that someone doesn't want her to leave so soon.

The only downside is that it currently stands at 23-26 pages.

I'll also give  shameless plugs to:

Flesh Won't Be Missed
Wild Ginger's Wine  (both Feb 2011 OWC)
note: these two have been slightly rewritten since the last time you seen them.

Something Is Out There
Three people are trapped inside a chapel as a terrible creature hides somewhere out in the cemetery outside.

Step On A Crack

The mystery behind six mirrors which reflect murder and despair when they face each other in an old decaying house is revealed.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films is that they are looking at a young horror demographic and so would be far from adverse to some gore and (again, I merely suspect) some nudity.

Being somewhat slow...does this mean they do want gore or not?  ;D

If they do, maybe my Buckets of Blood entry Dark Side of Man would work. I can easily picture the kid in that one ending up going mental.

Or maybe The Pussy and the Hound it was a Soulshadows entry and that guy did go insane before he died, but that could be changed. It's one of my favorites.  ;D

I'll toss one of my own faves into the ring.

http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1304372054/

Definitely think it fits the younger demographic. Although, it is more thriller than all out horror. It's definitely twisted...

James

Quoted from Grandma Bear Being somewhat slow...does this mean they do want gore or not?  ;D If they do, maybe my Buckets of Blood entry Dark Side of Man would work. I can easily picture the kid in that one ending up going mental. Or maybe The Pussy and the Hound it was a Soulshadows entry and that guy did go insane before he died, but that could be changed. It's one of my favorites.  ;D

I think they'd like gore. ;D

Just letting you know that this project is on hold for the time being. The actor in question has been hired for two feature films and also has some plays on the go, so hasn't the time to follow through with it at the moment.

Typical, I suppose.

I'll let you know how things develop.

Rick.