So, about that Film Script...

Yeah, what about that then...

Would you believe that, although this idea has been floating around in my head for 4 years now, this is the first time I've ever written (well, typed) any of it down? Here it is then.

At the moment, the working title is 'The Harrowed Man'.

It is about someone who loses their wife and 4 year old child in a car crash, which he survived. Whilst struggling to carry on with his life, coping with his grief and a creeping feeling of guilt that he survived when they did not, he begins to be haunted by a terrifying figure. This figure not only feeds the man's feelings of guilt, but it also physically attacks him, each encounter more dangerous than the last.

With the support of his sister, and a grief counsellor (who believe that the man's injuries from these attacks are self afflicted), he realises he must confront this figure, in order to overcome his grief and guilt.

But this figure is not merely trying to hurt the man - it wants to make him remember things he has suppressed from his memory...

Well, that's the bones of it. At the moment I have the opening, a few scenes, and I know how it will end. It's just working out how to make the transition from scene to scene. Also, as if that wasn't enough, the final act is non-existent in my head at the moment.

Seeing as this will fit in to the horror/ghosty-story genre, I'm trying really hard to avoid all the clichés that go with it. None of that 'OMG! it's behind you!' jump scares. No shadowy figures suddenly flashing across door ways. No self-levitating objects.

"Sorry, what did you say? 'Boo'?  Oh, yeah.  Right.  Whatever...."

So, basically, none of the 'scares' from any ghost-related horror of the last few years - Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Woman in Black, Mama - all that stuff that mainly relies on making people jump. I think horror should create a growing feeling of unease, take you to a place that is bleak and unrelenting - and then leave you feeling as though a bit of a malaise has settled on your soul. My favourite horror works - not just cinema, but books and graphic novels - all do that. Also, if it has some genuinely disturbing, freaky imagery that keeps you awake for a few nights, then that also helps...

I shall leave you with that thought, till my next post, pleasant dreams..! :p