The Writers' Choice

This Tornado Loves You by Eric Wall (EWall433) - Short, Horror - A young woman, held in captivity, has one chance to ensure her freedom… and one last night to endure her captor. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Followed closely by a four way tie for runner up

Conversion by Henry Christner - Short, Horror - A 62-year-old woman faces a point of no return while seeking treatment for a forgotten early trauma. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Halloween Baby! by John Robbins (oJOHNNYoNUTSo) - Short, Horror - A hip scientist invents a way to summon his dream girl from hell, but is she everything he's dreamed of? (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Pins and Needles by Ryan Lee (ryan1) - Short, Horror - Desperate to save his afflicted wife, a tailor decides on a drastic last resort. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

The Price by Bill Sarre (Reef Dreamer) - Short, Horror - A desperate woman struggles with the high price of the one thing she wants most - her dead son brought to life. (NC 17) - pdf, format 8)

The remainder in Alphabetical Order

Be Careful What You Wish For by Gary Kohatsu (Abe from LA) - Short, Horror - A young boy seeks the help of an unusual Halloween artifact, as he takes flight from his abusive father. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

A Burning Ring of Fire by T. Joe Fraser (Blakkwolfe) - Short, Horror - A tough guy biker must battle demonic forces in order to escape their devious trap.  (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Cold Alone by Khamanna Iskandarova - Short, Horror - A  man receives a message from his recently deceased wife and visits her grave. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Da Horns by Dena McKinnon (pale yellow) - Short, Horror - Would you go to the depths of hell to bring back someone you loved?   (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Danny's Coming Home by Phil Clarke Jr. (dogglebe) - Short, Horror - The dead are returning to the land of the living and Danny is dying to go home. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Demon.Star.31 by Dan Viau (Last Fountain) - Short, Horror - Neo Alchemists open a portal to Hell on a space shuttle orbitting Earth. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Dust by Mohammad A. Nawaz (nawazm11) - Short, Horror - An orphan ventures through distant memories in search of the monster that stole her mother's life. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Exchange Student by Rob Barkin - Short, Horror - A cocky college student investigating a dimensional portal on Halloween encounters an unexpected surprise. - pdf, format 8)

Fair Trade by Janet Goodman-Clarke (Wonkavite) - Short, Horror - A terminally ill man inadvertently discovers a portal to a parallel world - and possible redemption for his family. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

For Her Lov'd Sake by Jon Barton - Short, Horror - In Victorian London, a grieving husband travels into the Underworld to rescue his wife's spirit before he loses her forever. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Forsworcennes by DS - Short, Horror - When the otherworld opens on sundown at October 31st, an old man uses its forces through dark magic from the Anglo-Saxon days to avoid losing his beloved farm. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Halloween Hijack by Jean-Pierre Chapoteau - Short, Horror - A troubled kid has no patience for the Halloween spirit.  (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Head by Richard D. Kinsella (Scar Tissue Films) - Short, Horror - Every girl wants to hear the words, "I love you". Don't they? (NC17) - pdf, format 8)

Humanity Speaks by Raphael Howard - Short, Horror - The human race is being put on trial, and the only person who can save mankind is a mute girl. (G) - pdf, format 8)

Impropriety by Dustin Bowcott (Dustin) - Short, Horror - A deaf, dumb and blind man, reveals his true motivations to a nurse on Halloween night. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Isle Of The Dead by Renee Joynson - Short, Horror - When an internet blogger is persuaded by her boyfriend and crew to investigate an urban legend, about a cursed island off shore, she will be forced to fight for her life as they all unwilling become part of the legend until the curse on the island is broken. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Je Me Sais Pas, Cozco by Dexter B - Short, Horror - After having his money stolen, a high schooler finds solace in an idiopathic Frenchman from another world who may or may not be a hitman. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Justice at Sundown by Kyle Bowler - Short, Horror - A man wakes up, tied to a chair in a greenhouse on Halloween. With only a strange man to keep him company and even stranger things happening outside. (NC17) - pdf, format 8)

Liquide Bone Danse by Rick Fyvie - Short, Horror - It's All Hallows Eve, and whilst attempting to cling to a worthless existence, an aging priest must come face to face with his sordid past, and the darkness it has begot. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Mr. Nasty And The Dancing Angels by L. Chambers - Short, Horror - Some holidays are more difficult than others - especially when taking a trip with Mr. Nasty (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Nathan Green by Marnie Mitchell-Lister - Short, Horror - When a woman struggling to deal with her recent separation buys a jacket from a thrift store, she inadvertently lets another bad man into her life. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

The Nightmare Door by Steve Miles - Short, Horror - A conniving Housemaster recounts a bedtime tale to a sleepless young student. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Operation: Sleepwalker by Matthew Dick - Short, Horror - On Halloween, a young man going through withdrawal witnesses beings that can't be seen mingling among the Trick-or-Treaters and killing them one at a time. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Peanut Butter Kisses by Darren J Seeley - Short, Horror - After a Halloween party, an axe-wielding sociopath in a goat mask stalks a young woman. When she fights back, she finds he's not exactly human. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Reynard: Doors & Rings by Ray - Short, Horror - An abusive husband pushes his wife to extreme action only to have him pursue her return from a world he belongs in. (PG) - pdf, format 8)

Shamed by Glenn Doyle - Short, Horror - Two deceased, former high school students embarrassed by the school bully when alive seek revenge on Halloween night. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Shout at the Devil by Jeff Bush (Dreamscale) - Short, Horror - On Halloween, 2014, the gates of Hell will open, and only the chosen one can hope to close them. (NC 17) - pdf, format 8)

A Soldier's Search by Steve Cooper (CoopBazinga) - Short, Horror - As a raging war threatens humanity, a soldier must find his family before the horrors of another world get to them. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

The Soul Cleaner Vs. Hitler Vs. Kevin by Alex Brauck - Short, Horror - On a Halloween rave, searching for the restroom, drugged up Kevin collides with an overchallenged cleaning power, and Adolf Hitler, whose plan is to send more Ebola to the living. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Spiral by R. McManus (rendevous) - Short, Horror - Within its pages lie some of mankind's best kept secrets. Many try to gain it. Many will fail. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Trapped by William Boehmer - Short, Horror - A man trying to avoid Halloween has to help a horde escape their entrapment. (R ) - pdf, format 8)

Henry and John,

Please either PM or email me at webmaster@simplyscripts.com a mailing address to which I can send something roughly the size of a cat's head.

I believe Eric, Ryan and Bill already have received a crappy mug.  However, I think that Eric should be recognized as the Writers' Choice, but I don't think he wants to own two crappy mugs.  I'll come up with something.

Well done Eric.

And thanks again Don. Much appreciated.

Go Bill!!!

Congrats to the winners! And apologies Jeff, totally called that wrong.

EDIT: Time to start catching up on reads...

Congrats to the new Keepers Of The Mugs!

Quoted from JonnyBoy Congrats to the winners! And apologies Jeff, totally called that wrong.

Great OWC, and grats to Ewall.  Well deserved win.

As far as Cozco, I'm guessing you don't need to apologize to Jeff, Jonny.  "Dexter B." is Jeff's alias for owc's and cheap motels. ;D

Congrats to EWall. I did like that script. And the others.

I would complain here about the lack of support for mine. But that would be churlish.

If you would like to here me complain then come down the local about 8. I shall be there in the corner, grumbling into my G&T. Oh, bring some peanuts.

R

Congratulations Eric!

Haha, so many surprises here - great work everyone.

Also, really enjoyed Ryan and Rick's entries. Stellar writing!

A big congrats to EWall!

And to all of the runner-ups as well!

Congrats EWall and the runners up!

Also to everyone else. Some great entries :)

Congrats Eric, Henry, John, Ryan and Bill.

Kudo's to John, for truly breaking barriers and writing stuff most of us wouldn't dare try - but should.

Way to go, dude.

@JC - Roughly the size of a cat's head? Bwah hahaha

Oh shoot!! Let's not forget about Mr. Nasty! How amazing it was, I would love to watch that. That was one of my favorites - really fun to read, Libby!

Thanks for the shout out Johnny. I was glad some people got it and really liked it. Made my day. Congrats to you on your very inventive crowd pleaser.  ;D

Congratulations Eric, well deserved.

Johnny, I never would have guessed it -- will we be seeing you on the stage anytime soon?

Bill, congrats -- far darker than anything I've read of yours before -- and not a therapist/counsellor in sight...

Big congrats to Ewall! Super job :)

Congratulations, guys!!  And hah!  Bill, I called you on The Price.  KNEW it!  (It's just got your sort of vibe...)

Great job from all...

Cheers,

--Janet (W)

I didn't read many of these, but, wow...well, great work to Dena and John.  Halloween, Baby! was awesome.  Good stuff, John.

Holy carp, really?! I thought Halloween Baby! was taking it to the house  :)

Congrats to Henry, John, Ryan and Bill. Particularly Henry and John. Enjoy the AWESOME mug! And thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and to Don of course for hosting (yes, you may send me a cat's head ;))

It’s been a blast as always!

Congrats to the writers choice.

I gave my vote to Halloween Baby, Pins and Needles and Nathan Green. Happy to see two out of three made it.

Can't believe I messed up all my guesses! Rick - huh, I remember what you said about the Head. And I thought and thought why he's paying so much attention to that...

Thanks, Don - this OWC was a lot of fun.

Congrats EWall. That was one of my 2 recommends! Most of my considers made the top 4 also. My other recommend...Da Horns. You are awesome Dena. Seriously.

I suck at guessing these. I only got one right and that was Jean Peirre's and only because I recognized he bolded his characters names. LOL.

And the big surprise...John wrote "Halloween Baby". LOL. No wonder I couldn't guess it!!

Well done, Eric - excellent entry and well deserved.

A big thanks to Don for organizing - good stuff.

Good job all! Didn't get to finish them all this time so I didn't vote but there was some really good stuff here. Probably one of the best OWCs regarding entry quality.

I don't recognize several of these authors by their proper names, helps to have their SS handles attached.

I posted an open invite at IndieTalk.com well before the challenge got underway plus a few supplemental provocations hoping for some cross pollination between SS & IT.

Wanna know if anyone from there threw an entry into the ring here.



How many "New to SS" screenwriters are there for this OWC?

Well done EWall and to everyone that did well. Commiserations to those that didn't.

Congratulations to Eric, and a big thanks to those who wrote reviews of my entry, "Conversion." I received many excellent suggestions for revising the script. A wonderful experience for me.

The other interesting thing about the reveal is it shows who went around praising their own script. Clever, or a bit cringeworthy?

Tut tut. :)

Congrats Eric! As well, to all others who wrote in a writer's choice with their concept and creative take on this difficult theme. All were a well deserved recognition for this OWC.

Well done to the winner, runners up and everyone who entered. Big thanks to Don for the hard work.

I'm one of the new members who entered. I've been writing for about a year but this was the first bit of feedback I've had so it's a big step for me. Not gonna lie, I was bricking it when my script (Justice at Sundown) was listed.

Thanks for all the reviews, good and bad. I'm not a big horror fan but this was fun and educational. There's clearly a lot of talented writers here. Looking forward to the next one.

Quoted from JonnyBoy The other interesting thing about the reveal is it shows who went around praising their own script. Clever, or a bit cringeworthy? Tut tut. :)

Replace the word 'bit' with with the word 'utterly' and you're about halfway there.

R

Quoted from JonnyBoy The other interesting thing about the reveal is it shows who went around praising their own script. Clever, or a bit cringeworthy? Tut tut. :)

Always a good question.

Reviewing your own script is fine, but normally to be neutral or give it a good kick. We all know where our script is weak.

Talking it up is another thing.

Quoted from JonnyBoy The other interesting thing about the reveal is it shows who went around praising their own script. Clever, or a bit cringeworthy? Tut tut. :)

I think there's a big difference between waxing lyrical for half a page about your own script and putting a more positive spin on something or providing a little tacit info - in particular when the thread is being derailed repeatedly by one poster who insists their opinion is gospel.

Congrats to all writers. I will get to reading your entries soon.

So...the age old question...

How many peeps who entered a script didn't read or review a single script?

Who are the total A-Holes who should never be aloowed to enter an OWC again?

You know who you are and we do as well.  Get on the horn, peeps and catch up, or choose to be that ass who takes but doesn't give.  

I don't know who they are and I couldn't give a hoot. A couple of newbs by the looks of it, but big deal. They're probably unaware or didn't care.

Appears to me that most people who entered did review a decent amount.

First, I want to congratulate all of us for participating in a really great OWC.

Second, I tip my hat to Eric as the Writers' choice, and to our four runners-up, Henry, John, Ryan and Bill. I actually gave recommends to Eric and Ryan. Hmm, no ladies in the group this round.

Yeah, I feel pretty guilty about only reading a dozen or so scripts.  It's a real struggle for me to write, but carving out time to read 35 scripts is even more daunting. I'm a notoriously slow writer and reader. So, I owe reads to a good lot of writers. I hear what Jeff is saying, and even though I don't fall into that category of No Reads, I can't help but feel bad for not reviewing at least half the entries.

Me thinks it will be about mid-Jan or February when I can catch up on the reads. I get one full day off a year, usually Christmas Day. If I owe anybody a read, let me know and I will read your OWC script or a different short.

Finally, thanks to all who gave my entry a read.  There were some great critiques and advice, which I will surely utilize should I continue with the story.

Abe

Quoted from dead by dawn I didn't read many of these, but, wow...well, great work to Dena and John.  Halloween, Baby! was awesome.  Good stuff, John.

Thank you. And I loved love loved Halloween Baby as well...good job John.

Congrats to Eric, and also to
Henry, John, Ryan and Bill. Great job convincing most among these 36 entries.

Still have six to read, will come back to them once to finish the reads completely this time.

From what I read I had one recommend and 6 considers.
Reynard the fox-man, this stiff plush head; I don't want to have him in my closet or mirror or wherever this guy appears. It is my favorite here, followed by

Conversion
Forsworcennes
Spiral
Justice at Sundown
A soldier's Search
Shamed

Great job, Don.