Screenwriting : Elements of Supernatural Horror/Favorite Horror Films and TV/Cable Shows by Bill Costantini

Owen Mowatt The Blair Witch Project has one of the best plant-payoff scenarios in all of horror in my opinion. At the very beginning of the film, within the first 15 minutes, the main character Heather is interviewing all of the townsfolk about the legend of the Blair Witch... Right? And everyone gives their various answers, yet both the MC as well as the audience are not meant to think too much about what these people are saying, other than their responses coming across as more hoaxes. But... smack in the middle, if you remember, there is one gentlemen who says how she'd make one kid stand facing a corner and then kill them after killing the other, etc... Remember? We then go through the ENTIRE FILM before the payoff to what that man said which turned out to be the final frame of the film, with Mike facing the corner and Heather screaming at the top of her lungs before being knocked unconscious, confirming that what that gentlemen said was true! Some peops may not have got it right away, maybe had to think back since the gap between most significant plant and payoff was so long, but I got it immediately, and it was creepy as hell! AJ

@Bill Costantini Have you ever seen The Descent?.. the first one. It's damn good... and scary.

Owen: oh man....I loves me some Blair Witch....that is just one great film from beginning to end...those stick figures scenes...the pacing...the conflicts within the group....the climax...man...I could go on for paragraphs about the greatness of each scene...if I wasn't eating a hot sloppy beef sandwich I would....

....and the marketing....man...pure genius the way they did that...crystallized brilliance....just pure genius....a $60,000 film grosses $250,000,000....no film had ever done that before.....what a life-changer for Army Survival School Graduate/Cinema Scarite Dude Greg Hale....and film school grad, too...and his posse....what a life-changer for all of them.

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Artisan: the better question to me would be "which month since The Descent came out have you not watched it?" Man....that is such a great film...The Descent II also....most of that was shot on a special set they made....you talk about brilliant design, camera work and editing...and sound and lighting...and the story of course...that is such a great film....I think, if I recall correctly, that there were two different endings...one for the U.S. , and one for everyone else....but what a couple of great films....man...I love those films...

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Dan MaxXx: i think I was ten when I first saw Ben....man...I've had three pet albino lab rats since then...they only live a few years at most....but still....nobody better mess with me...heh-heh....I think that was Michael Jackson's first big hit single, too...."Ben"....

....Seriously, bro, you don't believe in the supernatural? You're all-Italian...grew up with some old-timers...had a white witch in your family....saw a lot of freaky shit...and you're not a believer? Oh wait....that stuff was me....never mind, bro....never mind.......

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Bill Costantini Absolutely, although I'm not nearly as big on the sequel, it was actually too bright in my opinion compared to the original and I didn't believe for a second that that girl would go back. But what really stood out to me is how it kept getting worse for the characters, the all female cast that is.

I love how the first half of the film deals with claustrophobia and we do not see the first Crawler until roughly an hour into the film, it may even be right at the 58 minute mark... when the girl sees it drinking at a puddle sort of off in the distance, a really creepy shot. And then from that moment moving forward... it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse for the characters... obstacle after obstacle. First they get trapped due to a collapse, next they run into a gap, have to get across it... then there is the first crawler encounter, havoc ensues... one girl is killed and another girl breaks her leg! They then realize that they're not only being hunted by one crawler... but an entire colony of them! Next... they find that the crawlers hunt by sound, so they need to be quiet in order to escape, they find old equipment, bones... realize that nobody has ever made it out alive! Crazy good.

I want to read the script badly but it's no where to be found online, although let me tell you something, that level of horror present in The Descent... as well as some other very decent horror films and inspirational films of the past, is something that I believe I may have captured in my own horror spec, the one that I keep bragging about, right there on the pages! But... add to that so much more (which I can't reveal on here, from it's main character to it's antagonist to it's universal themes to it's title) plus something else that is insanely unique and has never been thought of or on display in any form of literature, let alone cinema and... where do I begin? That's what I believe I have.

Nobody has read it yet. Nobody believes me. But there is even more secrets that I can't reveal on here... I know I sound crazy but I just want to at least attempt to spark some interest in my material before I reveal it, because I've lived with it for so long now and I'm almost ready to unleash it... to the world. I don't have an agent but the script is ready for market, it's protected, it's in the best shape possible, I believe in it 150% and what it could even do for the genre, and here I am just sitting on it as I work on other projects when I know the time is right for it! Crazy crazy. But I'll shut up now and get to work! AJ. Also, the supernatural is a tricky subject, I may have my own take on it...

Artisan: I have them both, and now you do, too. I love those scripts. I also love It Follows, the Ring, and Annavelle - those are some very tight scripts. You have them now, too. I love those scripts.

Last night...I'm talking on the phone with this woman....she's telling me a true haunting story that happened to her family....so I'm all cool and shit for the first five minutes or so...and she's telling me more and more....man....

......and I'm starting to see in my head at that point everything she's sharing with me...as she's going into more explicit visual details.,,,and I could see everything...cuz it was a new one to me...and that's how my mind works...and holy shit....she really scared the shit out of me...and after only ten minutes or so...

.....but what a fucking haunting that one is....what a seriously petrifying fucking haunting....I was frozen in my back yard for a while...and couldn't get out of my chair

.....one thing you should never do is....oh man...I have to leave it as a teaser...for now...but what a fucking haunting....

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Bill Costantini Holy crap. Thanks for those scripts! Awesome man! There are other scripts that I can't find and want to read, I'll let you know later. AJ

Artisan; no problem on the scripts, bro. Remember, those five scripts - and any scripts that aren't yours - are to be used for educational purposes only. And don't forget to send me the...let's see...5..times 20....carry the zero...plus overnight internet delivery...tax....don't forget to send me the $655 for the scripts to my Paypal account...the Julio Schlitzerstein III account. If you send it after Friday, please add another $125 for late processing. Thanks for understanding, and please enjoy the scripts.

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Erik...I hear you, bro. But those literary devices were also created many, many years ago...at a time when profiteering through the media with malevolent malarkey or superstitious subterfuge probably didn't make too much sense.

So at The Stanley Hotel, where Steven King stayed with his wife one cold night, the vibes of the hotel inspired him to write The Shining. I added a pic to my profile that was taken by a couple who were on a tour of the area. Notice the apparition of a young girl roaming the staircase. That picture became world famous, and no scientist or scientific lab has been able to de-bunk it's authenticity.

I have a couple such pictures myself. One was at a temple in Thailand. My girlfriend was sitting on the steps leading up to the abandoned temple, which is around 500 years old. I took her picture, had the film developed, and saw two apparitions sitting next to her. I'm glad they didn't scare her as much as they scared me. I'm such a wienie. Heh-heh.

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Bill Costantini ... overnight internet delivery...tax. Lol. Thanks again. I'm reading now, breezing...

Bill Costantini Hey Bill... have you ever seen Fortress? It's an Australian made for TV film that has remained memorable to me over the years and still holds up quite well even now. I posted a snippet of an intense scene from the film on my instagram! If you go to my bio on here and look under Links you will see a link to My Movie Clips if you want to check them out! AJ

Big A....oh yeah...that's a great film. I love Rachel Ward...love Bryan Brown, her husband, too. Cocktail, Gorillas in the Mist...etc...but I loved him the most as Rollie in FX...with Brian Dennehy, who I used to see perform when he was a member of Chicago's Goodman Theater troupe. Those are four tough-as-nails/sweet-as-cannoli's/great fucking actors....Rachel Ward, Dame Judi Dench, Bryan Brown, and Brian Dennehy...and all three cut their teeth on the theater stage. I love live theater....long live live theater.....

.....hey...I think I utilized a homophone in that last one...and it's not even 8:00 a.m....not bad, bro...not bad....I was bread to bee that way, I think.....

....speaking of bread...this was a funny one a while back...with Dame Judi Dench and her nomination at the SAG awards in a "leading roll"....heh-heh....funny man Dave Iztkoff had a field day on Twitter with that one....I remember that...that was funny....he's a funny guy, for a guy not named Bill....Dave Iztkoff....

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/toast-of-hollyw...

And don't forget the money for the scripts...you're racking up some hefty late fees...they double by the hour....my collectors in Bean-Town are hungry for some work...and you need your fingers to type....just saying, bro...just saying....heh-heh....

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Hey Bill. Me, I don't do horror. I don't like to be scared, and once you have those images in your head, they're there forever, you know? Having such an overactive imagination already, I don't need negative crap polluting that environment. But your post has prompted me to dig a little deeper. The only horror movie I do like is the Shining. Why? What is it about the Shining that makes it palatable to someone like me? Maybe it's the slight unbelievability...you never fully 100% suspend your disbelief??? I have a bone to pick with movies like Blair Witch, and the more recent Witch. Mostly because I am a practicing Wiccan. But also because I 100% believe that the only way humanity is going to ante up and try to save this planet from dying of pollution is if we love Her, and the only way a human gets to loving Nature is to spend time in it. These movies make people afraid of the forest! It's just so frustrating to ask my friends to go for a walk on the bush with me, and they want to, but they're too afraid. That's the real result of horror movies!

I noticed that the people seated in the room don't appear too concerned about the "ghost" on the staircase.

Sarah...you're like the 10th woman since last night who has said those same words..."I don't like to be scared. ." Luckily for horror writers, though, the overall demographics aren't so one-sided, at least...and horror is always gonna reign at the box office, and especially lower-budget horror films....but I hear you, Miss Sarah...I definitely do hear you.....and the other nine women who echo your feelings.

Here is a good article from Variety about horror-film demographics for the horror-film writers.....and an ever more-detailed analysis from our friends across the pond...hope you folks have some ink in your printers...

https://variety.com/2016/film/news/horror-movies-1201900551/

https://cmpalexgilbey.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/7/38878453/horror_film_re...

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And there goes Dash...dashing my idealized visions....ripping and rocking my dreams....always shattering my beliefs...crushing me like an empty beer can at a pool table in a Country & Western Bar on a Saturday Night....oh the humanity.....oh the humanity......

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Sorry, Bill. It's just an organically natural response from a guy originally from Brewtown, a superior city in a superior state just north of you, to a guy from Chitown. Can't be helped (;

Man, Dash...the self-righteous scorn slithers down your chiseled cheeks like the grimy grease from a Milwaukee Oktoberfest bratwurst slathered with mustard.....(mustard on sale at Albertsons this week...$1.99 a bottle, folks...get it while you can)....but, man...I wish I had something more witty to counter your superior state and sardonic saliva with...but great looks and a great tongue usually melt me like butter on popcorn....man, oh man....where's a young Bob Eucker when I need him?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JXq_tF4skE

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And don't forget our delicious fried cheese curds.

1. They know how to manipulate each reaction, there is a rhythm, a beat to it. Scaring someone is a science.

   2. The Omen(scary as hell), The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Blair Witch Project.

   3. I watched most seasons of "A Haunting". There is a huge part of the internet full of all sorts of supernatural stuff and stories.

   Many look convincing. A researcher said that there is a difference between a real skeptic and a wannabe one.

   The wannabe skeptic denies everything in principle, without any justification.

   The real skeptic analyzes the information available and then draws a conclusion. He is open to all possible explanations. As for me, I am not sure I want to know the answer.

   Some of the stuff I read makes me wanna hire John Constantine as a bodyguard...:))

Oh man, bratwursts and fried cheese curds...it's a miracle that anybody in Milwaukee makes it past 40 without turning green and speaking in tongues, you know, Victor?...I swear...where's our book...we .gotta go save some people from that devil food and those evil thoughts...those bratwursts and those fried cheese curds...and those big-ass pretzels that could knock a train off the railroad tracks....we can do this, Victor....don't be scared....we can do this...it's a wonderful day for an exorcism....

....Demon...through the Power of Stage32.... and all that is holy ....Victor has the courage to cast you out... ,,..while I smoke a cigarette out by the car!....The power of good health compels you! The power of good health compels you! The power of good health compels you!

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Owen I can't help the little dots...my Auto Type Like You Speak Software is still in the beta stage...and the testers are all tested out and passed out again as usual...that chili cheddar cheese fries and chocolate cupcake stuff is killing them.....and those investors are breathing down my back....never take seed money from union guys...and can you please stop sidetracking a topic....like you naughty Brits...always tend to do! The war has been over for like....240 years now....there's more land to grab elsewhere...like in the Sahara Desert....let it go....just let it go! Heh-heh.

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Horror Of Dracula with Christopher Lee was my first horror flick. I saw that when I was eight years old. I did not sleep for a month.

I don’t like the obvious snarling biting chase the teens around horror. I want more mystery; who is the ghost? who will die next? Is he really a monster? So what did I do? I wrote one myself.

I am all zombied out. I can’t watch another moon walking zombie, doing a pirate “argh argh” until someone puts a spike through his head.

I liked Train to Busan, I knew what was coming but I was surprised anyway. The Host was an adult “Where the Wild Thing Is,” one minute cutie pie, next minute the pie will get eaten.

I prefer creepy. Then again American Werewolf in London was a genre bending blur of funny and frightening. Wicker Man (original, not the Nicolas Cage abomination ) may seem tame now, but it troubled me then that such weird ass people might exist and may be my neighbors.

My favorite examples of supernatural horrorr include scary looking monsters and good action.

I especially love the thrill of Train to Busan.

Also the first Resident Evil, yeah! Is that horror?

Guillermo Del Toro's Devils Backbone was one of the movies that really scared me as a kid.

The American version of The Ring was really good also in my opinion.

Ghost Ship also really fucked me up, but I was really young when I saw it, maybe it sucks now. But that's a good element too, great make up/prop effects.

But good spooky story with good acting are most important for me really.

Nowadays it feels like most new stories are pretty repetitive.

Another recent favorite is It Follows. It's fresh.

The Others is a great example of good suspense too.

Regarding the supernatural in our reality... I think we don't fully understand how multiple dimensions work, if that exists you know. Either way, sometimes the fields that separate dimensions get too thin and I think it might be possible for people to see things that aren't really here. Also demons are scary.

I''m like Peter. When I was around 10, me and a friend saw The Exorcist (yes, we were able to see an x-rated movie, cuz that's how movie theaters rolled back then), and I did not go into my completely-finished and well-lighted basement alone for like six months - and my comic book collection was down there! My dad or grandparents would laugh when I'd asked them to come down with me, and my brother would hide down there in a black cape and try to scare the shit out of me.

Me and Peter would do well together as Abbot and Costello in an Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein remake, I think. "Chick...oh Chick....oh Chick!" No need to give us a script...we're method actors all the way, baby.

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Erik: you are really starting to scare me. I can take a photo of me right now, and it looks nearly identical to that one you have there. And that car and house on your profile look nearly identical to one of my dad's old cars and houses.

I am starting to believe that you are me in a parallel universe, or that I am you in a non-parallel universe, or that I'm eating too many of these chocolate nonpareils left over from Halloween, and that you and Peter are here stealing my lunch money.

Oh man...karma is really a bitch, and especially in this 43rd lifetime of mine. It's like the chickens have come home to roost...or as we used to say back in the 1st lifetime...the pterodactyls are coming back to the cave. Ah...the pterodactyls. .the caves....those were such simpler times..Erik...those were such simpler times.

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Ricardo: thank you for finally getting your ass in the forums. I mean...welcome to the forums! Like I told you before...I went to school in Mt. Vernon for a year...and know Iowa City very well. Man...that Slater Hall at U of I....nuh-uh...never go on the roof at night, unless you want to meet the spirit of the student who jumped off that roof back in the 1960's. And that ties right in with my belief about spirits and unjust deaths. Iowa City is one haunted place, bro....one haunted place.

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Owen: Okay, so I can tell this story now. I just checked and the main player died eleven years ago. So I'm spiritually and ethically okay with sharing this.

So back in the day I worked for the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Cook County is the governmental unit that is responsible for Cook County Jail, Cook County Hospital, the Cook County Forest Preserves, etc. Chicago and the 70 suburbs make up Cook County, and it's home to like over 3,000,000 people. I worked for the Cook County Board President and handled special stuff, and I ran a program that helped get delinquent properties put back to good use.

So one day I'm doing my thing, and a high-ranking Sheriff's officer came to me with a problem. He was on patrol in the Cook Country Forest Preserves, and had a car accident. The Board would have to approve any time off for injury, and he wanted to know how he should report it. I asked him.."well...what exactly happened?" He told me "i'm driving down 143rd Street, near the cemetery, and a horse and buggy flew across the road, and I crashed into a tree and almost broke my neck."

Now, there aren't any horse and buggies around that area. Not, actual horse and buggies, at least. And the cemetery is no ordinary cemetery, it's the well known Bachelor's Grove Cemetery. So, rather than subject this long-time and well-decorated officer to potential public embarrassment, I didn't have to think long-and-hard on this, but more like short-and-soft. And I came up with the best and most appropriate answer.

"Don...no problem...it was a fucking deer that ran across the road, and you swerved...you hit the tree...and you hurt your neck. Those fucking deer..." And he did the report, and that deer got lucky that it didn't get hit.

I will not tell you what happened in my youth, when me and my friends used to hang out in the cemetery, and drink beers at night there. I do not want to bring those spirits to my home here in Las Vegas. But I will tell you this: DON'T PLAY AROUND IN CEMETERIES!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor's_Grove_Cemetery

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Let's see...just for fun. My mother was a sociopath, my father idolized her, my brother raped me when I was 7. Fast forward through other disasters, my 2nd husband tried to kill our son. I do not have any fears from ghosts. They tell me their stories all the time. Since I do not believe in God/Satan, Heaven/Hell, Reward/Punishment.....why should they scare me? I live in a neighborhood right now that is full of meth heads which is like living with the walking dead. Horror movies are comedy to me. It's the living souls who think they have souls that scare me. The only thing I do believe is that pure energy never dies and is sometimes concentrated in such a way that it can communicate.

Great topic.

I tend to steer pretty clear of horror movies, mostly because I'm pretty sensitive to gore and there is enough in real life to give me the willies. OK, so I'm a wus about stuff, maybe. And where that ends on the other end of the spectrum, I have a pretty strong "oh puleeeze" filter and it is hard for me to suspend enough disbelief to really accept the notion that otherwise intelligent people are going into the vampire lair at night instead of during the day when, oh, I dunno, all those fang-bearers are asleep or those dumb teenagers who decide to go camping in the exact same spot as dumb teenage campers who went missing and suffered a gruesome fate coincidentally just a year ago.

THAT said, the Supernatural is an entirely different situation entirely. There are so many things about our "reality" that we don't understand, including our own origin story. Who are we? Where do we come from? Do we exist on a singular plane or in multiples? Religion and science often take opposing swipes at the issue, and where these don't meet, the imagination and anecdotal experiences takes over.

I live here. In the nexus of religion, science, emotional feelings, intuition, and common sense, somewhere in all of this, there is a truth. And truth is not objective but it is beautiful.

From science I know the facts: energy (and matter) cannot be created or destroyed. From this regard I know that we are timeless and in ways limitless. We are comprised of atoms derived from the belly of exploding stars. We've been here since time began and we will be here, in some form or fashion, until time ceases to exist.

Time? Ah, that's man's biggest limitation. We know time is non-linear and yet man experiences it linearly. Not only that, we generally experience three dimensions and yet are aware of many more. We only experience light on a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. We only hear a small portion of what constitutes complete sound waves. So if we can't truly trust what we know, what is unknown lends itself to further review and speculation.

From religion I know many things. To tell you more than what you want to know, I was raised as a Christian. My foundation is the Bible, and I know it well enough. Let's just say I've moved beyond my upbringing here. Mostly, I tend to look for commonalities among the major world religions. For example, most world religions tend to discuss some form of partaking in moderation. Check. Makes sense. Most tend to discuss some form of reaping what you sow, Kharma. Check. I get that. Most world religions ALSO allow for some form of angels, demons, and other spirits. OK, there may be some "truth" to that. I have also studied a degree of the Law of Attraction and have dabbled in everything from the Kabbalah to Hinduism. And dammit, when I write whether or not I intend to, I end up with some form of redemption tale at least for a character or another.

How these things are brought to life on the screen, both literally and metaphorically, are beyond interesting to me. I can point to everything from Battlestar Gallactica to Dark City to Cloud Atlas to Dead Again to pickyourfavoritemovieortvshowhere as an example.

From my own experience, I can point to specific things that have happened directly to me that I can't explain that dabble in the Supernatural realm. A few quick examples.

I get what I call Justdimes. I have since I was a child. Usually when I'm low on cash or down in spirits I can look down and from seemingly nowhere, I will find just a dime. Not in conjunction with other change. Sometimes in crazy random places (oh the stories I can tell!). If I can logically explain it away I don't count those dimes, but in just a few short years, I collected over $70, which filled a small mahogany box that I donated to a charity. To me, it seems like the Universe saying that it has my back and that I am Seen. It is a very gratifying thing.

I've experienced a glitch in the Matrix. One day while driving, the scenery flipped back and forward rapidly between autumn leaves to summer ones. I have no explanation for this except to say that I would attest to this in a lie detector test.

I've seen a UFO. One night, my ex-husband and I were out on our back deck looking up at the night sky. Unbeknownst to me, we were both tracking what we both thought was a satellite crossing the sky. Unexpectedly, that satellite, instead of taking a straight line across the night sky began bouncing all across the sky in a very erratic pattern. And then it disappeared. I thought maybe I had imagined it, when my ex-husband said after many minutes of silence: "You saw that right?" to which I could only reply "Yep".

I've seen and heard things I can't readily explain (and no, I'm neither on the spectrum or mentally ill). The first time was in the fourth grade. I was playing with a classmate in her basement when a set of slippers that were on the floor shuffled very loudly and very obviously across the floor. Both of us decided it was time to end the play date.

And then there was this disembodied female voice. One day there was a whole host of us hanging out in a log cabin in the woods where I lived at the time. We ALL heard my daughter call for me and we ALL ran to the door--since she sounded panicked and was supposed to be at work. She wasn't there. This same voice would repeatedly tell my now son-in-law in my daughter's voice that she loved him.

I've also FELT things I can't easily explain. I live in Louisville, KY and I used to dread getting stopped at a certain stop light. It creeped me out like whoa every time. At this particular stop light there was a certain house that gave me the willies. I asked my then mother-in-law what that was about and learned that there was a gruesome series of murders and other tragedies that took place in that house. I can't be the only one that experienced that--the house was eventually torn down after sitting boarded up (in a neighborhood where that was not common) and unsold for years. There is also a very popular local pizza joint that I can't even drive past without "feeling" it. Whatever it is I feel is coming from the second floor on the left hand side. I can't explain it, I'm not ashamed of it and I'm not backing down from it either. We are given intuition for a reason. So while energy is energy and neither a positive or negative, there are some things that feel OK and some that just don't. I've been in places that there is energy that doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I don't avoid that place entirely.

I've also witnessed a hacking of chi energy. Unsettling at best. Downright demonic at its core. I cannot go into detail here except to say it was harrowing and life altering.

And then there was The Night. I am very much a creature of habit. My stuff goes in a limited number of places. One night my keys were not where they were "supposed" to be. I was running late for work looking for them. I looked in all the places they were supposed to be to no avail. Finally, I retraced my steps and found them somewhere I had looked three times already to find them. So, I am now speeding trying to get to work and the hair starts crawling on the top of my head. "PRAY" the Universe said. "NOW". So, unsure of what it was exactly that I was supposed to be "praying" for, I did as told (how could I question such a strong feeling?). I topped the rise in the road to find splayed before me the biggest array of fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars I have EVER seen. Unmistakably, I knew in my gut two things: there was a fatality, and had I left on time, it would have been me. I get chills 20 years later just thinking about it.

In the grand scheme of things, I think we tell these stories because what we know to be "true" is too hard a story to tell, so we tell things in the form of anecdote. And it resonates on some core level that we aren't usually comfortable to telling it as so. This is why we are drawn to the Sams and Deans (and that beautiful Chevelle) of this world.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but this is such a deep and cool topic. Thanks Bill Costantini for bringing it up.

Wow, Cheryl...I expected insightful and profound from you...but I didn't expect to tingle, too...talk about intended and unintended consequences...even my cat is trying to rip your stuff and pawn it off as his own on one of those websites for writer cats...I should have never taught that crafty and shifty little fucker how to write or how to steal.....bad kitty! Bad kitty!

MY BROTHER THE MONSTER CHILLER HORROR THEATER AFICIONADO

So my brother is like a Seriously Supernatural Superman kinda dude...has like over 300 books and over 100 films on All-Things-Scary.... and he's a Major Las Vegas Bad Ass that doesn't come down with one chair hit to the back of the head, either...unlike me who crumbles like a soft raisin-oatmeal cookie (empathy for Bill...empathy for Bill)...and he read your shared thoughts, and he did his Man-of-Few-Words-Highest-Praise-Thing..."wow, that's really good"...so..coming from him...that's like an A+ from Steven King, if Steven King was your professor of writing for a Real and Scary class.

NEW DIRECTIONS

So I'm working on a romantic comedy rewrite at the request of a producer, and I'm also working on a pretty important and socially-relevant drama...and I'm done writing political attack ads for now (6 for 6 in the victory column last week!) but I've talked to a few people in the past week about a supernatural true event that took place a while back...and realize that I have to put that story on the same stove as the other two. Fortunately for moi, I have a Super Great Writing Partner who helps to keep me well-grounded and well-rounded, and she and I are going to hammer and nail this story by Christmas and already have it charted out and are gonna hit all the right dramatic elements at all the right points and are gonna scare the shit out of whoever reads it. And then our script consultant will do her natural and sometimes scary thing. And I bet this one is gonna be made before next Halloween and maybe even before I run out of this leftover Halloween candy that I bought way too much of last month. Consciously and unconsciously I musta bought like 50 pounds of chocolate and have already gained 4 pounds in less than a week. Fat Bill! Fat Bill! Oh man....treadmill time again....

LUNCH IN LOUISVILLE

Cheryl, I will be in Tennessee-Georgia-Kentucky next spring, and when I'm in Louisville, and as appreciation for your great thoughts shared here....Jack Fry's Jeff Ruby's or The Havana....you name the place....and you can most certainly buy me lunch at any one of them! Heh-heh...just kidding...lunch would be on me...but another supernatural tale or two would have to be on you. Please.

Thanks again, Cheryl....you are a great thinker, a great writer, and a great human.

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Ingrid: I can't imagine how any of that would feel, and I hope you have Great-Rest-of-Your-Life and hope you receive the light and fortune that you deserve.

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Thank you Bill. I want to state that all things are relative and I don't want to come off as pure negativity. We pass through so many corridors and levels in life. I have many times turned to the simplest of things to dig my way out and those simple things are full of beautiful magic. I remember when I was homeless once, on a park bench, meditating on the intricacy of the patterns of the tree bark of the tree I was holding for warmth and some kind of companionship. The paranormal has been a positive for me not a horror. There is a spirit ;here in this house whose name is Betty. She flits in and out. She is a little girl who has the habit of drumming on things incessantly as if she is making music in her head. These are old mill houses. She remembers going and listening to neighbors way back when having music jams on their porches. She loved her momma with all the strength of her soul. But she drown and though they tried to save her she was lost. She never stopped feeling sorry for her mom and would be with her constantly. That is just one example. There is such horror in the world. So many that need help. Just a word, a whisper, a nod can plant buds of life to flower into the beauty we want for everyone. Betty says "Hi!"

Bill, I would consider it an honor to meet with you when you trek through next spring. Thank you for your kind words. I suppose I need to start reading blogs written by cats. If one seems suspiciously familiar I may have to have a chat with your feline. :)

Dan Guardino Shoot me a link Dan I would love to at least attempt to read the first 10 pages. AJ

Dan Guardino Just breezed through the first 5 pages. I will say that this line stood out to me ( PERROT: Or we just witnessed a fabrication devised by an unbalanced individual.") I can tell you had a lot of fun with the characters & dialogue. AJ

Bill, these are great questions and great choices. I am a professional paranormal investigator--yes, such people exist. My wife, who is a psychic medium and I spent 2 years (85 visits, 160 hours) investigating a haunted library in North Carolina. We recently had a book published about it and have been on many podcasts and radio shows. We have tried to turn the art and science of paranormal investigation into a step by step, multi-modal process as you would do with any subject. We do a lot of hard-data historical research (deeds, newspaper articles, etc), apply quantum physics, and most pertinent to this thread, storytelling analysis. We are also experiencers, which set us on our path with other investigators and mentors a decade ago. We have witnessed many supernatural things, and probably the biggest point of interest for me is the narrow gap between one's life (personality, interests, behavior) and post-death manifestation. What we have found is that there is not much difference at all, which leads to mistaken conceptions of what "demons" and "angry, vicious ghosts" actually are. So I think that the recent Netflix show "Haunting of Hill House" and the TV adaptation of The Shining do a good job of keeping that gap narrow. Our book is Watch Out for the Hallway: Our Two-Year Investigation of the Most Haunted Library in North Carolina." I also write a good bit of paranormal fiction, including a screen play that I am currently revising after it did well in some competitions (it is based on a true story--a haunting of some terror of a family of female mediums). I am keeping the gap narrow between the principles in the story and the supernatural manifestations.

Julius here...Bill's cat..that's my pic to the left...yep...a little too much Egg Nog this morning...Bill's in the yard playing with his drone...he's easy to distract....but as a wise cat...I must respond to Bill's buddy Owen....who Bill pretends to be when he's in England and goes on those International Blind Dates for Buddhists.. ..pretending to be Owen....of course they always believe him,,,,cuz...well...they're Buddhists and all....Bad Bill!....Bad Bill!.....but back to Owen....

......."accredited by any scientific body"....you mean like.....the scientific bodies that accredited Point 2 of Dalton's Atomic Theory, which was rendered obsolete by the discovery of Isotopes.....or...meeooww....oh the homemade Egg Nog that Bill makes gives me the serious cat burpies....or the scientific bodies that accepted Newton's Law of Universal Gravi...meeoooow... tation....that Einstein later blew out the window with his Theory of Rela...meeoooowo...tivity.....man...I'm cat burping all over the place...and I'm even starting to cat drool a little now........Bill and those spoiled eggs...I..mmeeeoooww....swear..... or the scientific bodies that accredited behaviorist explanations for language acquisition in infancy, which was...meoooww...oh man....discredited by the study of cognitive adaptations for language, or......

........oh man....here comes Bill.....he's bleeding from the nose, and I think the drone got him again.....don't want him to know I'm discrediting his Egg Nog Can Be Good with Expired Eggs Theory now....meeooowww.. ...and I'm the one who does all the heavier writing and typing here anyway....he'll never see this....he just reads the Celtix vs. Final Draft debates.....and those Rules fights.....he doesn't even know who Blake Snyder is, and thinks he wrote The Pink Panther....he thinks metaphor is meta two plus meta two......that.. ..meeoooww.. ..Bill....but before I go.....Joey's right about that library...it is the Most Haunted Library in North Carolina, Owen....and a quick writing tip for everyone....What is the difference between a cat and a complex sentence?....a cat....meooowwww.....a cat has claws at the end of its paws. A complex sentence has a pause at the end of its clause.....yep....we do...and they do.....and I'm no scardey cat when it comes to the Supernatural....but I'm sure scared of Bill's Bad Egg Nog now....yes sir....I'm sure scared of Bill's Bad Egg Nog ...meeeoooww......now......don't ever drink any of it....everyone.......

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Owen: Two years was the length of the investigation. The reason was to do a true longitudinal study to measure the phenomena and the distinct personalities of many of the spirits/ghosts over time, which is an opportunity paranormal investigators rarely have. The subtitle came from the publisher. Our original suggestion was "a haunted library in North Carolina." We agreed because of the level and diversity of the phenomena and the reputation of the specific library. The book chronicles the details of the investigation and accords "proof" based on corroboration of numerous investigators and witnesses, use of energy measuring equipment, historical research, extensive interviews, all carefully catalogued. No hard and fast claims are made as to the origin and ultimate meaning of the phenomena. The book is available at Amazon.com and at visionarylivingpublishing.com. I would ask anyone to read the book with an open mind and then ask questions such as you have posed..

Dang....Joey is the kind of guy who I'd like to hang around with for a couple nights in a couple documented haunted places that I've been to in the past...and I don't normally like to hang around with guys. You're the real deal, bro. Congrats and keep up the great work, Joey!

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Whilst I love films like The Exorcist, Hellraiser, Paranormal Activity etc., I have never seen anything that has convinced me that ghosts/spirits exist. I've been on several ghost hunts and nothing has happened to change my mind. If you are susceptible to believing in the afterlife, I think you are more likely to "see" or experience things that aren't there or that have a logical explanation. It was recently revealed that the Most Haunted programme with Yvette Fielding here in the UK was faked by the producers throwing objects and even wounding themselves to "prove" the existence and to further their interests in the programme. Let's face it, the world is plastered by CCTV and there are MILLIONS of cameras in smartphones these days. But not one is seemingly able to capture irrefutable evidence that ghosts exist. Every item of "proof" that I've seen is shaky beyond belief, or so fleeting that it can't be corroborated effectively. And with effects programs being so affordable these days, it's not hard to create something that "looks" real. Believe what you like, but I've seen nothing that convinces me otherwise.

Owen: I'm just riffing a bit here, but firstly, leave my pussy out of this. He’s a bit of a rambler at times. Sometimes, he’s quite the serious cat, and presents hard evidence that is indisputably conclusive, and sometimes the evidence can be challenged. And he likes to bullshit at times, too. He’s quite the handful, and weak minds should stay clear of his clever ways. You're not a weak mind, thankfully. But he sure can slice them weak minds up like cheap curtains with those sharp claws of his, and he kinda gets off on that, too.

I think the old rye bread that he ate before the eggnog contributes to his mischievous ways at times. Old rye bread, as you may know, has now been established by scientists to be the cause of the mass hysteria that resulted in the famous Salem Witch Trials.

However, comma, old rye is not the cause of global warming. There's a whole bunch of scientists with a whole bunch of data that suggests global warming is caused by natural process, and there's a whole bunch of scientists with a whole bunch of data that suggests it's caused by man-made factors.

Who to believe, you know, bro? Who to believe?

There's also a whole bunch of scientists who believe that Republicans should run America, and a whole bunch of scientists who believe that Democrats should run America. Again, who to believe, bro? Ya know? At least in your neck of the country, you all tow the same line. Oops…think again, Bill…think again.

But even in our little universe of writers...some of us believe that script consultants are beneficial, and some like to bad-rap them every chance they get. Are these conclusions science-based and data-based, or based on the need to shoot stink bombs? I know that my opinions are based on data, and I suspect that others are just dumb-assing and wha-wha-ing it a bit, and they don't let science get in the way of stink bombs and wha-wha, you know?

So yeah...bad rye...natural process...the prejudices of political beliefs...stink bombs and bad wha-wha....every bit of that can contribute to the making of hysteria and bad science at times

So what makes some scientific data correct, and universally-accepted without dissent? What makes science acceptable to some, and not to others? What makes the natural, natural, and what makes the super natural super?

Sometimes it's a mindset that can be budged. Sometimes it can't be budged. Sometimes, it’s just time, and the advancement of new ways that measure stuff that undoubtedly alters and crystallizes perceptions. I think the examples that my cat Julius earlier gave kinda hit on all three. He's a smart little fucker, I grant him that, and even when he mixes in a little bullshit with a little information, and even a little bad Egg Nog and even some bad rye as well.

So even though some people believe in the super natural, and even though some people don't, and even though some people use science - or at least the current science - when forming their beliefs, and even though some people don't...I guess it's always going to be an area that will have its disputes. Maybe the tools currently available don’t influence your thinking, or maybe it’s not a hard enough science yet to you to make you change in your regards to the subject. Maybe the current scientific instrument makers aren’t quite there yet. Shit…we still don’t know all the potential of the human brain – and there’s nothing supernatural about a body part, you know? But it’s been almost 100 years that modern scientists have been looking at the brain, and they still don’t know much about it, and unashamedly even admit that.

So maybe the ways that supernatural activity is measured now – photography, sound equipment, other measuring devices, paranormal investigative practices, first-hand affidavits and testimonials, etc. – maybe that’s not enough to prove or convince you to become a believer, but I bet one day that will change for you in your lifetime, and especially as scientific measuring devices become more advanced.

Many people question and challenge the existence of God, too, and believe that Republicans care about poor people, and I'd never try to convince those people otherwise of those two beliefs. Well…maybe not the first one. Hmmm….actually…I’d challenge them on that, too, now that I think about it, and think about all the evidence out there on that topic, too.

But you can certainly believe what you want to believe. You’re still my bro, and even if you’re a non-believer. But one day you will be a believer, bro….one day you will! Heh-heh.

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Dang, Owen...it reads fast...like 4 minutes tops....and only covers one point....but I guess Owen was taken over by a bad-ass poltergeist....that's what happens when you play with fire...those poltergeists don't fuck around with non-believers!

I hope Owen's okay, cuz he's a good writer and a cool dude. I hope he's not possessed, and I'm glad to see that the Vatican is now holding training courses for demonic possessions. The power of Christ will compel you! Heh-heh.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43697573

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/30/vatican-to-hold-exorcist-t...

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Well said, Erik J from near Bombay. That reminds me of Ionesco's quote about politics and mass hysteria and all....

"The supreme trick of mass insanity is that it persuades you that the only abnormal person is the one who refuses to join in the madness of others, the one who tries vainly to resist. We will never understand totalitarianism if we do not understand that people rarely have the strength to be uncommon.”

I love Ionesco and all his plays. Ionesco's quote probably holds truer today than every before in the U.S. We have two large groups of people who think the other side is crazy, and the shit is flying here pretty high these days. It almost is, in one sense, like war-torn Europe, and what the people had to endure and believe, or pretend to believe, just to survive the day. And notice I said "one sense", and am not comparing our current political situation to the human slaughters that took place very frequently at times in certain places. But I hope the U.S. is not headed towards that. If so...I think The Four Horsemen will be headed our way soon, and I'm glad I have a bail-out plan if necessary. I plan for everything. And that really is scary, if that end up happening.

(And I'll be moving in with Owen, and I hope he is neat and doesn't sleep too much at night, cuz I like to talk a little....just a little.)

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Erik: the last thing you want to do is steal something me and Owen. I'm a peace-loving Buddhist with dark sadistic leanings on the weekends and only in recreational ways, but Owen...man....that dude is a 24/7 bad British Mo-Fo who flies off the handle quicker than a drop of sweat in a hot oiled pan, and he takes no prisoners when it comes to stealing his shit. I do things quickly and whole, he does things slowly and in pieces, and even has a film crew for documentation reasons.

Please, Erik J from near Bombay...home of many documented supernatural experiences....please don't mistake my benevolence as a sign of weakness. Just write the dang script and put my name and Owen's name on it, and be done with it. And just to be safe, put Owen's name first. And it'll be good karma for your next reincarnation, and will help ensure that you don't come back as a rat or as some kinda weed. And don't worry....I'll straighten things out with Owen for you and tell him this was all a joke, or that November 13 is like April Fool's Day in India. He'll believe me - he agrees with everything that I say. .

Whew....I'm glad we talked this over, and while it's night time in England. India wouldn't be the same without you, bro. It just wouldn't be the same. And that couch surfing serial talker better at least have a cool cat!

Erik. That's cool. Seriously. But my couch always has a cat or two hidden in it...and if anybody ever scrunched one of those cats...seriously....I'd very upset. I wouldn't be a good candidate for couchsurfing.com because of my serious Flyoffthehandlleitis. Some people call that "rage"....I call it..."life". But at least I'm honest about that. Ain't nobody gonna wanna stay here, and not even a poltergeist. Heh-heh.

Yeah....I'd be worried about stuff like that, too. That kinda stuff is more common than is publicly noted, and mostly because of the public embarrassment associated with it. And thanks for the typo catch, Erik!

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Owen: I hear you. We might butt heads at times, but I think our backs work well when we support each other, too. And we're both sales guys...so we're supposed to love/hate each other. We wouldn't be...like...real and true to ourselves if we didn't, you know? And some people like my long posts...some don't. I'm fine with that.

+ Regarding the Vatican: .name a long-standing powerful institution that doesn't have any of those adjectives that you used in your remarks about the Vatican. I bet you can't. In fact, I know you can't. Even Buddhism -.the last dude who ran for Supreme Patriarch a couple years ago...he almost makes Trump look clean. And just google "Buddhist Monks and sexual abuse" and see what you come up with. It ain't pretty. And I embrace Buddhism with all my heart, but not the bad eggs who are in the mix, and who should be hung upside down from bridges 30 feet high and dropped. And in shallow water. .

+ There was a person who posted here a few years back...she wasn't allowed into your country...because she had said something derogatory about your leader on a travel website once...nothing seriously scandalous or felonious...just something a little nasty that a standup comic could get away with...and the authorities there prevented her from entering your lovely little land because of her remark. I guess they actually google people's names before being allowed in your country. How veddy, veddy.. ........understandable, in the land whose list of scandals just from the last five years is longer than this post.

+ I could come up with story and story...incident after incident...of everywhere in the world...and every powerful institution in the world...that fits your adjectives. And just off the top of my head. But I'll stop here, and hope you've read this far...knowing how all of a sudden you don't like reading long things by me. Which is cool too, bro.

+ But just remember...it's not the institution that should be condemned...or the ideals of an institution....it's some of the people...and the realities of some of those people....and some are good...and some are evil. And there's that old theme that's been explored since the beginning of time, and is the basis for many of your favorite films, too. Good versus evil. Now there's a good theme for everyone to explore.

+ ....and I'll ignore your slights to the supernatural. I know how you feel, and more power to you, bro. More power to you. That's cool, too, because I'll never have to worry about you being my competition in writing salable and realistic scripts about the supernatural. That's really cool, in fact...because the less competition, the better.

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Owen: Yeah..sometimes I am...I'm kinda a little bit of everything....grew up Roman Catholic...altar boy for many years...embrace the great religions of the world...my great aunt's cousin was Pope Pius XII...never met him cuz he died before I was born, but he did baptize my Mom....strayed from the church during my high school years....know and have seen a lot of supernatural events during my ghost-chasing 20's and 30's when I used to do that for kicks and also to learn, and that I still do a little, and when I have the time and the desire...worked in a lot of different institutions and have seen what goes on in front of the door and behind the door....understand the good and evil natures of man...and how we all battle with our dualisms...also understand how grounded scientist types struggle with beliefs, too....and even alter them as they age

......here is something that you will really like, I bet....I remember a while back reading a study of how many people have lived and died since the beginning of time...disclaimer...I question everything, that's my nature...but the study was done by a scientific organization based in the U.K, and they surmised that 100 billion people have lived and died since the beginning of time....at the same time...and I shit you not...another study from another prominent society of scientists has concluded that, there are 100 billion stars in the universe....

......and people die everyday....and new stars are discovered everyday....so in my mind, heart and soul...I have to believe that those two dynamic numbers aren't a mere coincidence...and whether or not there is a Bigger Being out there and above it all...man...I don't know and struggle with it and with everything else...but I don't think it's all random and shit....I just can't believe that...and have received way too many signs over the years to allow me to believe that....

....I know I sometimes try to be funny here on Stage32 and elsewhere...and sometimes I don't ...but I live that way, too....I'm a bullshitter type-of dude who is also a pretty deep guy in a lot of ways, too....and I just can't believe that one day we're here, and one day we're gone, and then we just become food for the worms or an added fuel for the fires. There is something after this life, and there is something between Here and Now, and There and Then....and sometimes they intersect, and the Here and There, and the Now and Then become one....if any of that makes any sense...and I'm not trying to hit you over the head and make you accept it.

But those two studies are real, and they kinda hit me over the head, and should really make anybody else think a bit about it, you know? And maybe grab one of their Arthur C. Clarke books, too.

And regarding the differing beliefs that we might have about institutions, good and evil....well...reality is just a construct anyway, isn't it? Buildings are buildings, and symbols are symbols,...but people are people, and we're the ones who create the good and evil in everything. And I bet we at least agree on that part.

And sorry for the length of this...if we were in a bar talking...it would only be a few minutes of your time. So I owe you a drink or two if you got this far, bro. As long as you're buying. Heh-heh

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Owen: symbolism and institutional identifications aside...I bet you're still a really good guy. And that's what being a spiritual person is all about...regardless of whether you call yourself a (fill in religious affiliation name here.) or a (fill in religious affiliation name here.)

And if by some chance you're not still a really good guy...well....we should talk privately.. ..like...in a bar....and down the block from you....cuz I got something that really might interest you...and it will only take a few hours...and you might get wet a little...and I hope you're not afraid of tigers.....heh-heh. (JUST KIDDING, TIGER LOVERS....JUST KIDDING.)

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