KILLER SHORTS SEASON 4 SCRIPTS
Read the Loglines.
winners honorable mentions finalists semifinalists
Simply click “Request this Script” to email the screenwriters!
Grand Prize Winner
’97
by Sarah Ward
Short | Horror | 15 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
When two video rental store employees discover an unmarked tape in their return box, they find themselves both audience and subject in a sinister game with an anonymous filmmaker.
Agent
N/A
Manager
N/A
2nd Place Winner
MERROW
by Alexander Seltzer
Short | Horror | 22 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
A young boy is forced to grow up after his father brings him on his first fishing trip as part of a disturbing coming-of-age ritual.
Agent
N/A
Manager
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3rd Place Winner
COOKING LESSONS WITH BABA YAGA
by Julia Diddy
Short | Horror | 11 pages | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
An ancient witch and a battered wife cross paths.
Agent
N/A
Manager
N/A
FINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL THE RAGE | As well-to-do Victorians don the latest fashions in the trendiest color, women work themselves to death in an artificial flower factory to keep up with the demand. | Maryellen Devivo | Request This Script |
| THE CALL OUT | A roadside assistance mechanic late for a date finds more than she bargained for when she’s ambushed by monsters on her last call out. | Jess C Wheatley | Request This Script |
| IDENTIDAD RAZA | A queer, Latina couple driving through a deserted highway in the middle of the night, stop on the side of the road and quickly discover the desert isn't as devoid of life as they thought. | Victor Ridaura | Request This Script |
| PEOPLE DIE | One year after surviving a massacre on his college campus, the sole survivor of a notorious serial killer must reclaim his life from the grief and paranoia that haunts him. | Adam Santa Cruz | Request This Script |
| STUD MUFFIN | A social pariah finds himself in grave danger when he drinks a potion that makes him irresistible to the opposite sex. | Jed Woods | Request This Script |
| TOO MANY EYES | The staff of a small one-screen theater check-screens a rare cult classic 35mm film before showings the next day, but once the film starts, reality and fiction blend and they are plunged into a fight for their lives. | Patrick Loveland | Request This Script |
| WITCH HUNT | After passing anti-abortion legislation, politician Clara hides away from the media in a remote Scottish AirBnb, only to be tormented by the ghost of her own hypocrisy. | Zoe Bullock | Request This Script |
HONORABLE MENTIONS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HEADS | When a young man reluctantly gets a vaccination, the side effect is rare, horrifying, and ... loud. | Charlene Clarke-Todoruk | Request This Script |
| INCOGNITO MODE | A conflict-averse man in a comatose marriage begins fantasizing about other women during sex, but things take a nightmarish turn when those fantasies start taking on lives of their own. | Josh Schenkkan & Michael Mount | Request This Script |
| SING THE FUCKING SONG | A truck driver struggles to enjoy his break when a family insists the entire diner sings "Happy Birthday" to their creepy daughter. | Johan Spirolazzi | Request This Script |
| STRAY | When a curious young woman uncovers the shocking truth about her elderly grandmother's new furry companion, she must navigate a dangerous game of manipulation to save her. | Jason Rice | Request This Script |
| TELLER | A graduate finds himself with one too many connections at a networking event. | Lia Berger | Request This Script |
SEMIFINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMOR DE MI VIDA | Following the unexpected death of his fiancé, Manny, decides to do the unthinkable by embalming his former bride and passing her off as a mannequin. | Jenessa Rivera | Request This Script |
| BLOOD TRENCH | In the midst of WW1, two British soldiers discover an ancient evil lurking in an abandoned German trench. | Jack Carey | Request This Script |
| BUCK'S BIG BREAK | A disgruntled, unemployed biracial actor living in Los Angeles kills other actors who vaguely resemble him. When one of his victims gets an audition, he decides to impersonate the dead man with the hope of finally getting his big break. | Danny Rogers | Request This Script |
| CLEAN KILL | Two scavengers in a post-apocalyptic wasteland encounter something horrifying after they raid a small supply settlement. | James Furlong | Request This Script |
| DISPOSE | Carol has just committed an awful deed. Hiding within a vast, vacant warehouse, she thinks she's in the clear... but her fragile mind plays tricks on her. Is the paranoia pure delusion, or is her safe house not so safe after all? | Rachel Cylie Gross & Stanley Swindling | Request This Script |
| DO NOT OPEN | After discovering a pair of vintage walkie talkies left behind in their new house, a father and daughter play an unsettling game of “hide & seek” that threatens to shatter the small family forever. | Brian Barnes | Request This Script |
| DON'T EAT FROM THE MACHINE | On a late night drive, a divorced dad and his kids encounter a strange vending machine with a warning not to eat its unusual snacks. | Phillip Walton | Request This Script |
| DRINKWATER | In the wild west of 1881, a wanted outlaw must defeat the demonic spirit of a long-dead criminal in a shot-for-shot drinking competition to save his own life and free the town of its curse. | Shaun O'Loughlin | Request This Script |
| DUST | When a Dust Bowl refugee seeks shelter in an isolated homestead, the massive dust storms become the least of his worries when the eccentric homeowner is not what he seems. | Kareline Castor | Request This Script |
| EDEN | A black man sneaks into an underground museum that presents African-American slavery to its white guests in a disturbing art form. | Tiyan Newman | Request This Script |
| GET IT! | While driving his daughter to school, a suburban dad discovers something else that is growing up faster than he would prefer. | Jeremy Weiner | Request This Script |
| IS YOUR HUSBAND HOME? | Right before they go away on their trip, Seema's parents leave her strict instructions to ensure her safety - not from burglars or miscreants, but something far more sinister. | Mayanka Goel | Request This Script |
| IT'S OK. HE'S FRIENDLY. | A man looking to escape his troubled marriage goes on a weekend backwoods hunting trip. But the trip takes a strange and scary turn when he encounters a freakish dog and an even freakier community. | Brian Menz | Request This Script |
| JUST THE THREE OF ME | Ben, a young advertising copywriter, suffers from missing memories. It’s as if his life is being mysteriously edited. Where do his fun times go? Are they being stolen somehow? And what does this have to do with the serial killer stalking London’s late night buses? | John Platt | Request This Script |
| LADY MIDDAY | Krys loves Anja but Anja's dead, now she's Lady Midday. | Ben Woodiwiss | Request This Script |
| LADY PARTS | When Iris thinks of Ellie, she gets wet. Very wet. She’s heard it’s normal, but this seems different. And when you’re in high school, different can be dangerous. | Ariel McCleese | Request This Script |
| LOVELY GIRL | Cathy learnt young that the world likes 'lovely' girls. But now that she's a woman, she doesn't think she wants to stay lovely for much longer... | Lucy Foster | Request This Script |
| MEMORIES OF A HOUSE | Two couples move into the same haunted house during different time periods, where memories of their past weave into one another, blurring the lines of what is real or memory, ghosts or grief. | Joshua David Matthews | Request This Script |
| MUSKREALM.JPG | A helpline operator has a work day from hell when she receives a call from a man trapped in a Tesla. | Eric Robinson | Request This Script |
| NIGHT OF THE LIVING VACUUM | When a mysterious green powder brings a vacuum cleaner to life, a gay couple has to escape their mom and pop vacuum repair shop before the sentient cleaning tool can suck out their insides. | Christian Green | Request This Script |
| NOTHING'S FINAL | When a woman helps a beloved family member sell his home and relocate, she discovers unsettling truths when an uncanny visitor turns up at their door with other plans for the house and its owner. | Gwendolyn Hulet | Request This Script |
| RETROGRADE | The latter stages of Brian’s life are seen through increasingly fractured birthday parties. As his health deteriorates and his memory fails, he learns what is truly important to him. | Simon Laurence Doyle | Request This Script |
| SAMPSON & DELILAH | A painful secret from a man's past manifests in the form of a growth on his shoulder and slowly reveals itself in strange and disgusting ways. | Eric Warren | Request This Script |
| SELF IMAGE | A woman buys an AI workout mirror to grow confident, getting more than she bargained for during her total body transformation. | Jackie Perez | Request This Script |
| SHELF LIFE | While an eager-to-please new hire struggles to navigate a toxic work environment, she discovers a dark secret about her employer. | Miyako Fuqua | Request This Script |
| STARLIGHT | The crew aboard a deep space freighter awakens from hypersleep to discover that their craft has been boarded by an unknown entity. | April Rouveyrol | Request This Script |
| TAKE 177 | After a director's cruel methods result in his lead actress committing suicide, a film crew must keep him in check to complete the shoot while supernatural revenge stalks the set. | Justin Moritz & Parker Foreman | Request This Script |
| THE DOOR | A mother grieving over her daughter's disappearance struggles to move on after she becomes obsessed with a mysterious door that appears in her house. | Alexander Seltzer | Request This Script |
| THE NIGHT RUNNER | On one of his nightly running sessions, a man finds himself being chased by another runner who looks exactly like him. | Dominic Hart | Request This Script |
| THE UNWRAPPING | A set of twin brothers devise a plan to rob an elite victorian family blind under the guise of a 19th century mummy unwrapping ceremony, but all goes to hell when an ancient incantation brings the mummy to life. | Patrick Mediate & Aaron McLane | Request This Script |
| THE WHISPER TREE | In the Appalachian foothills, two sisters attempt to escape their abusive father with the help of a vengeful spirit in the forest. | Daniel Kiely | Request This Script |
| THERE'S A MONSTER IN MY ROOM | Little Sarah knows that there’s a monster in her room... | Yvette Ross | Request This Script |
| TO LIVE AGAIN A BUTTERFLY | Frightened by his parent’s bitter divorce, and the monstrous nighttime visitor to his room, a desperate young boy twists a sweet bedtime story into a horrifying plan to save his family from both. | Glenn Forbes | Request This Script |
| WHITE NOISE | A hypervisual-techno-horror-fairytale following a hopeful little girl caught in the matrix of misinformation created by our horrific habits of social & news media consumption, as she and her family battle the inevitable and uncontrollable monsters we create as technoholics. | Ash Lazer | Request This Script |
| YOU'RE ON MUTE | An ambitious young professional's life spirals out of control during the videoconference call from hell. | Joshua Heaton | Request This Script |
…and now presenting the best 1-page horror short screenplays of 2023.
1-Page Scripts Available by Request Only.
Simply click “Request this Script” to email the screenwriters!
Grand Prize Winner
FOLLOWERS
by Chris Vanderhorst
Short | Horror | 1 page | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
A young girl’s pursuit for new followers may not be what she hoped for.
Agent
N/A
Manager
N/A
2nd Place Winner
DUCK DUCK GOOSE
by Jess Bartlett
Short | Horror | 1 page | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
In a circle, a group of children sit in terror as a grotesque monster partakes in a sinister game of Duck Duck Goose.
Agent
N/A
Manager
N/A
3rd Place Winner
PHANTOM CRY
by Alison Pringle
Short | Horror | 1 page | REQUEST THIS SCRIPT
A strange sound emanating from their baby’s crib forces two parents to confront a paranormal phenomenon.
Agent
N/A
Manager
N/A
FINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A CONFESSION | Interviewed for a true crime podcast, a mother learns the horrible truth about her daughter’s murder. | Joshua Heaton | Request This Script |
| BUBBLES | Joey and Mikey just want to drink beer and look at old Playboys in the woods like any normal teenage boys, until they have an unwelcome visitor. | Andrew Wilczak | Request This Script |
| CLUCK CLUCK | A worker in a chicken processing plant has a horrifying encounter with a chicken. | Rene Claveau | Request This Script |
| NO LIFE DETECTED | A astronaut, completely alone in the vacuum of space, investigates the knocking at his spaceship's airlock. | Sanchez Taylor | Request This Script |
| PASTIME | It's in his blood. | Traci Loper | Request This Script |
| PLATEAU | A mother and daughter play hide and seek in the desert. | Joseph X Casillas | Request This Script |
| THE BALLERINA | A bewitched ballerina dances, hoping to break her curse. | Jackie Perez | Request This Script |
HONORABLE MENTIONS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFTER THE STORM | The early arrival of an impending storm, creates panic in a small, suburban town. | Chelsea Spirito | Request This Script |
| BOOKWORM | A cocky, young librarian discovers why you should never enter the restricted section after hours. | Christian Curry Akuna | Request This Script |
| LOVE IS IN THE AIR | Tony's dreams of his happily ever after are about to vanish into thin air. | Yvette Ross | Request This Script |
| MRI | Claustrophobia may not be the only thing a patient has to fear when getting an MRI. | Sandra Wade | Request This Script |
| STORAGE ROOM | A few students and a teacher are in a storage room hiding from a school shooter. A knock on the door confronts them with a difficult choice. | AR Ugas | Request This Script |
SEMIFINALISTS
| TITLE | LOGLINE | WRITER/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #MILK | No point crying over spilled milk. | Patty Papageorgiou | Request This Script |
| A LITTLE PRICK | Jenny doesn't want to make waves on the subway and decides to stare straight ahead, but something decides to stare back. | Wenzler Powers | Request This Script |
| GOURMANDISE | A junior chef's appetite gets the better of him while working the graveyard shift. | CC McLoughlin | Request This Script |
| KILLER IN TENT | At a campsite, a masked murderer greets his latest victims | Evan Baughfman | Request This Script |
| KITTY'S LIKE | A couple attempt to interpret the emotions of their new cat, but are unprepared for what kitty actually has to say. | Katherine Cox & Matt McCarthy | Request This Script |
| SNIP | Amber has a rhyme for every toenail that Mommy snips. But that last line is a killer... | Spike Black | Request This Script |
| WATCH MY BABY, PLEASE | Mothers meet in a park... One has what the other wants. | Arran Crawley | NOT AVAILABLE |