Listed below are the loglines for all 40 semi-finalists in the Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition – Season 1.
Screenplays are available to read by request only.
Simply click “Request this Script” to email the screenwriters!
1st PLACE WINNER
AN APPLE A DAY
by Allen Roughton
Short | Horror | 19 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
In a macabre twist on the “Apple a Day” nursery rhyme, a medieval farm boy must escort his sister through an onslaught of malevolent plague doctors after his teasing pushes her to take a forbidden bite from the daily apple offering meant to ward them off.
BIO
Allen Roughton got his industry start in development at Flynn Picture Co., went on to teach a summer filmmaking course at UCLA, and then became a coordinator connecting major production companies, studios, agents, and managers with up-and-coming writers. Allen left the position last year to focus on his own writing, but continues to work as a reader and researcher. Writing across genres and formats, Allen is inspired by social impact entertainment and stories that explore identity, social structures and corporatism.
Agents
N/A
Managers
N/A
2nd PLACE WINNER
THE NO-NO MAN
by CJ Whitehead
Short | Horror | 14 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
A boy, being abused by his dad, receives help from an animated TV show character who comes to life and takes vengeance on the boy’s behalf.
BIO
CJ is originally from Chicago, IL but currently living in Southern California. He’s written several feature-length screenplays, as well as several shorts. A few of his shorts have been produced as short films. CJ’s preferred genres are the thriller and horror genres. He loves telling stories that are not just entertaining but also thought-provoking.
Agents
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Managers
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3rd PLACE WINNER
THE BUTTER STREET HITCHHIKER
by Chris Hicks
Short | Horror | 12 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
Haunted by his past, a driver picks up a ghostly hitchhiker who will answer his deepest, darkest question if he drives him to his destination.
BIO
Chris Hicks is a screenwriter and author currently residing in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has optioned over a dozen short scripts and was recently selected as a finalist in WeScreenplay’s Diverse Voices competition, and a semifinalist at both Austin Film Festival and Screencraft’s drama screenplay competitions. As an author, he has created multiple viral short horror stories on Reddit’s popular NoSleep website, one of which is currently under option for adaptation as a television series.
Agents
N/A
Managers
Peter Katz, Story Driven (UPDATED!)
FINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BABY DOLL | A young babysitter is terrorized by a sinister doll that she fears has come to life. | John Burr | Request This Script |
| CONSUMED | A lonely young woman, tormented by bullies and her overbearing mother, attempts to miraculously transform herself using a bizarre, cutting-edge infomercial product, but with disastrous and horrific results. | Brian K | Request This Script |
| FALL | As teenage bullies force two younger kids to climb a 1000-foot TV tower, everyone begins to lose their grip on the situation and it spirals out of control. | Danny Newell | Request This Script |
| FINAL FINAL GIRLS | Things go awry for a horror superfan when he uses a monkey's paw to find out which of his favorite final girls would win in an all-out battle royale. | Ben DeLoose & Matthew Chilelli | Request This Script |
| FREEZER | Inspired by true events: After her youngest son dies in a household accident, a strange miracle leads an impoverished single mother to grim lengths to keep her family together. | Chris Wiltz | Request This Script |
| INTRUDER | A woman wakes in the middle of the night to a disturbing text from her roommate. | Maria Wilson | Request This Script |
| SECOND SKIN | When his older brother is drawn into the neighbouring woods one night, a young boy suspects that the person who returns is no longer his brother. | Gary Davies | Request This Script |
| THE RICKETY MAN | A distant and grieving widower learns one of his children is grieving in her own, terrifying way. | Jeremiah Lewis | Request This Script |
SEMIFINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAEL | When a father-daughter road trip takes a dark turn, sacrifices must be made. | Brandon Weavil | Request This Script |
| BLANK | When a woman experiences dissociative episodes, she and her boyfriend come to believe that a new personality is growing within her brain and destroying her original mind. | Avishai Weinberger & Tova Weinberger | Request This Script |
| BONESEED | An abused young girl befriends the re-animated skeletal remains of a murdered man — now fused within the trunk of an old tree — and helps investigate his murder. | Joshua David Matthews & Brett Brooks | Request This Script |
| BORDER CONTROL | A documentary crew embeds with border control, their secret plan to expose the ill treatment of those crossing reveals a hellish truth far worse than they expected. | Michael Rogers | Request This Script |
| BREEDER | The manager of a rural animal control facility discovers a horrifying connection between identical litters of puppies left on her doorstep and her father’s new girlfriend. | Alex Payne | Request This Script |
| BY MOONLIGHT | After surviving a brutal countryside car crash, a pair of newlyweds experience terror by the light of the full moon. | Brandon Laraby | Request This Script |
| COLD CALL | A Woman home alone is plagued by an unhinged Cold Caller who will stop at nothing to make a sale | David Bryant | Request This Script |
| DEAD BODY CAM | A corrupt police officer who lost his partner has to deal with having a new colleague in the form of a body cam amidst a zombie outbreak. | Brian Lisi | Request This Script |
| DEAD BY DAWN | A disgraced ex-priest has one night to escort a new born baby, a prophesized holy child, to the safe confines of a church as a city of evil creatures and crazed cultists are hell bent on devouring the newborn to gain immortality. | Johnny Gao | Request This Script |
| DRONE | A drone hobbyist must fight for his survival after the person he was spying on takes him captive. | John Arvai | Request This Script |
| ETERNI-TREE | A surviving son is stuck with the remains of his abusive father who chose to be interred in the Eterni-Tree, a commercial bio urn, and soon finds himself in a battle against the aggressive sapling. | Doug Mallette | Request This Script |
| FACELIFT | Essie receives a mysterious mask that will help her regain her beautiful, youthful looks. But there are strict rules to be followed, the violation of which may lead to sinister consequences. | Virat Pal | Request This Script |
| FIELD TEST | After a successful heist, two thieves steal the wrong van and find themselves unwitting test subjects for a horrific government experiment. | Chris Hicks | Request This Script |
| FINGERS | Spurred on by a tall story from his deadbeat Uncle, eight-year-old Tom takes it upon himself to confront a local legend and make a terrifying sacrifice for his family. | Lachlan Marks | Request This Script |
| FOG OF WAR | A young soldier in WWI falls deeper and deeper into delusion. After his entire family is killed by a bomb and his brother dies on the battle field at Verdun, he starts having visions of a boar-like creature roaming the battlefield at night, devouring the souls of dead soldiers. | Steven Lundgren | Request This Script |
| GANGLERS | A jaded correction officer transporting a busload of restrained inmates must choose whether to defend the prisoners she despises when they are attacked by creatures with a twisted sense of justice. | Mark Renshaw | Request This Script |
| MI CARIÑO | A young, newly hired nurse at a run-down nursing home begins to suspect that one of her patients is being terrorized by a spirit from their past—only to uncover a darker, much more disturbing reality. | Christian Jacob Ramon | Request This Script |
| MY DJINN | Following the death of his estranged father, a man inherits a djinn, putting himself and the lives of everyone around him in danger. | Rubel Rafael Ahmed | Request This Script |
| NOISE COMPLAINT | A disgruntled transcriptionist struggles to meet a deadline, as the noise pollution in her building infects her with madness. | Matt McCarthy & Katherine Cox | Request This Script |
| SASKIA | Two Tradesmen trapped in a remote Island cottage, find themselves stalked by a mysterious threat. | Connor Savage | Request This Script |
| SLAUGHTER HEARSE | On Halloween night, a woman has a terrifying Uber ride...inside a hearse. | Evan Baughfman | Request This Script |
| SMILEY IKE | A homicide detective investigates a spate of murders and disappearances where the only evidence is skin. Meanwhile, his own family suffers torment at the hands of a mysterious force centered around his adopted daughter and her beloved rag doll. | Trevor Lawrence | Request This Script |
| THE KEY | A Latino barber’s shop faces foreclosure. But when he finds a keyhole in the back of a wealthy customer’s head, he thinks he might have the answer to all his problems. | Jorge Lucas | Request This Script |
| THE LEGEND OF THE RABBIT MAN | The gruesome legendary origins of the rabbit's foot charm become terrifying murderous reality for a small group of co-eds in an isolated cabin. Hilarity ensues. | Darren Joe | Request This Script |
| UNFINISHED BUSINESS | Work at Purgatory Inc. gets personal for intake officer Catherine after being assigned a recently deceased Bus Driver who caused a severely fatal accident on the other side. | Kimberley Elizabeth | Request This Script |
| WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS | When a group of carolers come to her door, a woman trying to relax is not prepared for how seriously they take their song. | Sarah Emery & Carl Firth | UNAVAILABLE |
| WIGILIA | A newly pregnant Magda brings an unwelcome guest to Christmas Eve dinner. | Richard Karpala | Request This Script |
| YOU'RE IT | A short screenplay contest judge reads a cursed script and becomes haunted by the horror it unleashes. | John Licata | Request This Script |
| ZOMBIES ON A BUS | "Speed" meets "Snakes on a Plane" but with zombies. | Janet L. Loftis | Request This Script |