Submission Samples from the Horror Genre

Title: X-Ray

Logline: A daring rock climber stranded in a remote mountain range fights for her life against a local man whose grisly secret is an obsession with human bones and the twisted lenghts he goes to indulge it.

Synopsis: NANCY THOMAS, 24, speed climbs a sheer cliff without the aid of ropes or gear. Using only her hands and feet she skillfully maneuvers jutting boulders and impossibly angled walls. She's confident and strong until a problem with one of her legs stops her. At the same time, a Man shovels human bones and ash from a crematory furnace. He puts aside a skull and pelvis then dumps the rest into a grinder. He pours the remaining ashes into an urn and slaps on a dog-bone shaped label, "Fluffy" Miller. Nancy's doctor warns her never to climb again. Devastated, she heads to the Northern California mountains with her dog, FREEWAY, to prove to herself he was wrong. Freeway escapes and is hit by a car. She takes the injured dog to the only veterinarian nearby, handsome DAVID DENMEYER, 30s. She's grateful and attracted to the charming Doctor...until she discovers his deadly secret. Then in spite of her disabililty and fear she must use her wits and rock climbing skills to survive. (98pgs.)

Title: THE CURSED ISLAND

Logline: A curse by a pirate and a vampire from the future.

Synopsis: It's the year 1522 and the most feared pirate Estaban gets shot by his own women. He survives the hit and curses the women along with the Black pirates they run off with and the Island where they come from. The curse however, turns against himself. In the nearby future. At one of the vacation Islands in the Caribbean, vampires creep under the ground. Drug smugglers disappearing and after years the local gangsters finally know the truth... They really do exist. One of the vampires returns from the future in a space ship. With the technology from the future they capture people and copy them. The vampires must go to Saturn for the fuel they need and have their mind on the passengers of a Boeing 747.

Title: House of Vampires

Logline: 90-pg. horror comedy. A Tourette-syndrome-in-reverse-wannabe metal star, his hot-yet-nerdy girlfriend, and his can't-get-laid history professor take shelter in an old farmhouse invaded by vampires.

Synopsis: Three-time Emmy winner Paul W. Cooper called "House of Vampires" a "roller coaster ride." Tom, a quirky-yet-charismatic college student who refuses to ever say the word "ass," confronts an over-grown bully for hurting Meena the beautiful book-loving woman he has a crush on. Tom grows a pair and takes Meena out for coffee, and they hit it off. On a field trip, Tom and Meena's bus is flipped over by thousands of bats in broad daylight, and the survivors, including them and their sex-repellant teacher Mr. Nice, reach a farmhouse in Hickville where they fight an invasion of fairly dense vampires. The vamps are led by Andreas, a mysterious surprisingly classy monster that seeks a cure for his own affliction and that may have a link with Tom's past. WGA Registration #: 1374021.

Title: X-Ray

Logline: A female rock climber falls into the world of a serial killer obsessed with x-raying and torturing young women.

Synopsis: NANCY THOMAS, 24, speed climbs a sheer cliff without the aid of ropes or gear. Using just her hands and feet she skillfully maneuvers around jutting boulders and impossibly angled walls. She's confident and strong until a problem with one of her legs stops her. Not far away, DAVID DENMEYER, 30s, x-rays a drugged woman in provocative poses, then himself entwined with her. Later, he forces the young victim to watch as he injects her with euthanasia. At the same time, Nancy receives the devastating medical news that she is never to climb again. Defying the diagnosis she heads out for what she hopes isn't her last climb. On the way her dog escapes and is hit by a truck. She takes it to the only animal clinic in an isolated coastal town. There, she meets veterinarian David Denmeyer. She's attracted to the charming doctor, until she discovers his deadly secret. In spite of her disability and doubt, she must use her wits and rock climbing skills to defeat him.

Title: THE EVIL WITHIN

Logline: Six separate stories about what happens when GOOD people stare into the eyes of EVIL.

Synopsis: My personal creation of the NEWS, before THE NEWS. When good people can know longer control THE EVIL WITHIN. Whether you know it or not, there is a battle between GOOD and EVIL that has been brewing since the beginning of time. We watch the local news everyday, and witness the horror mankind inflicts upon each other. Violence has become normal in our everyday society. We always see the aftermath of unfortunate events, but rarely... do we see, what causes good people to do the UNTHINKABLE.

Title: From The Dark Stream

Logline: A man tortured by his past attempts to communicate with his dead family and inadvertently draws evil spirits into his life.

Synopsis: Edgar Stengal wishes for death and is consumed with guilt over causing an auto accident that took the lives of his wife and child and left him with a head injury that has given him the ability to see other people's auras. He takes up meditation in a attempt to contact his family but instead is plagued by visions of a palindrome speaking Reaper. When Edgar meets the mysterious Natasha, who has no aura, he learns that the place he is using to meditate was the site of a brutal murder, and that the meditative messages he's been sending his family may have been received by someone, or something else. Bob Melon sees U.F.O.'s wherever he goes. He's a local celebrity who bills himself as "The U.F.O. Magnet". Bob is totally obsessed with discovering why the U.F.O's are making themselves known to him. He has a recurring dream that includes Edgar Stengal wich may hold the key to the answers he seeks. When Edgar and Bob meet, events unfold that reveal the sublime evil that binds them.

Title: Baghead

Logline: He spent years hiding his face behind a paper bag; now it's time to put everyone else in bags

Synopsis: Dear Sir or Madam: My writing partner, Wes Laurie, and myself are seeking representation. We are LA based screenwriters with more than 16 completed screenplays between us. Most recently a horror script by Wes, BAGHEAD, has been requested by three production companies. My romantic comedy screenplay FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE is currently the top rated script on Francis Ford Coppola's site, Zoetrope, and another script of mine was a top finalist in the ExposeIt! comedy screenwriting competition. Wes is an internet film news journalist and I'm a published, agented book author (children's books). We don't have time to market our scripts. We really need an ombudsman. If you or any of your agents are looking for motivated, prolific writers please contact me. I will send a query with loglines and synopses. Yours very truly, Mary Hahn Wes Laurie

Title: The Companion

Logline: A reclusive spinster in a Martha's Vineyard mansion tries to escape the ghosts of her past by hiring a companion for her invalid brother who is supposedly confined to an upstairs bedroom.

Synopsis: Grand Prize Winner, 2007 Rhode Island International Film Festival Horror Screenwriting Competition. "Our judges especially liked the tense action of 'The Companion.' The gripping story - filled with isolation and suspense - was especially compelling to our screenplay contest readers." A lonely old woman attempts to flee her self-imposed exile by hiring a mysterious girl as an overnight companion for her brother, crippled by a horrific car crash when he was ten years old. The spinster's new found freedom ends in tragedy, doomed to failure by her deadly legacy. US Copyright TXu-365-094, 7/17/07 WGAE Registration #136563 Contact: Dickinson M. Upson Email: UP265@aol.com Phone/FAX: 508-252-3325

Title: The Night Train

Logline: On a cross-country train trip, a young journalism student encounters a vampire of terrifying power.

Synopsis: MATT WILKINS, a UCLA journalism major, embarks on a cross-country train trip from his home in Baltimore to Los Angeles, believing it could make an interesting story. He soon discovers that there is an extraordinary passenger on board: an ancient vampire that stalks and kills other passengers by night. Unable to convince anyone on the train of the grave danger they are in, Matt decides to go after the vampire himself. But even he cannot imagine the horror he is about to confront. WGAE #I61328.

Title: Forever Comfort

Logline: Death is the desired conclusion. Living is just too agonizing. To pray for death, to die, is not at all painful.

Synopsis: Forever Comfort is a tale of suffering, a depiction of God's failure to respond to the needs of those who suffer the ravages of time and age. And it is a tale of passion, where Satan extends his hand to embrace those who need comfort. It is a tale that challenges the logic of our beliefs and of our understanding. Officers Melanie Michaels and Lee Thornton volunteer to investigate the disappearance of one of their own. What they discover is unimaginable-an engaging campaign between God and His chosen adversary. The war is fought in the hearts of simple men and women whose only need is that of contentment while on earth. What they achieve is, instead, a life of loneliness and overwhelming unhappiness, attracting them to the allure of Lucifer's enlightenment. For failure to lessen human suffering, the once faithful give up their devotion to God for eternal comfort offered by Satan. Forever Comfort is the second of two screenplays and two full-length novels that I have completed.