Happy Halloween!
Enjoy a couple of spooky short stories from us.
Is it just me or has October gone by ridiculously fast? I barely had enough time to get through 5 Saw films in one day (not a cry for help, by the way)! To keep with the spooky spirit, we wanted to end the month with two horror short stories of our own.
We’ll be honest: both of these are our half-baked short film ideas that we’ve yet to finish but we wanted to share them with you nonetheless. Apologies in advance if you don’t like the huge cliffhangers, we honestly don’t know how either of these end (maybe you have some ideas, please let us know!)
Just the Two of Us
Ben carefully grabbed a box off the top of a precarious stack in the corner of the living room. He walked over and sat in front of the TV stand, taking out movies and placing them in alphabetical order.
“Could you turn that down?” he asked.
“Sorry, I’m not used to my speaker being so loud,” Polly responded.
“Did you notice that the screen is faster too?”
“Yea! I didn’t even realize my old one was so slow.”
“I guess losing your phone has its perks after all.”
Polly rolled her eyes and ignored the jab.
“You know, it can do cooler things than just being able to hear your TikToks from a room away.”
“Yea, like what?”
“The camera’s supposed to be pretty good, it adjusts to low light pretty well.”
Polly sat up on the couch and turned to face the window behind her, holding her phone up to see outside.
“Oh damn, you’re right I can see a cat on my lawn,” Polly said.
“Take a video and see if it's actually that good.”
Ben picked up a Bluray of Enemy and put it between Easy A and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Meanwhile, Polly kept on speaking to him, giving commentary on what the cat was doing. Ben was not remotely interested. Instead, he was deep in thought, silently reciting the alphabet to himself under his breath.
“Oh my god it’s so cute, it’s trying to jump onto…” Polly’s voice trailed off.
Ben looked at the Bluray in his hands and unwrapped it. “Hey, we never opened this one, we should watch it tonight.” He looked up at Polly, who was frozen. He could only see her profile, but could tell that her eyes were wide open with fear.
Her hand was white as it gripped the phone tightly, the veins in her hands were clearly defined.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Ben got up, slowly walked over, and put his hand on her shoulder trying to get her attention. He tried to pull her arm down but she’s a stone.
“What happe–”
He’s cut off by three loud knocks at the door. He flinched and quickly looked towards the door.
“Scared the shit out of me. Do people normally come to your place this late?”
Polly didn’t respond.
Ben walked towards the door and saw the shadow of a small figure in the door’s window.
He turned back towards Polly but she’s still staring outside. She’s no longer recording and her tensed arm is down. He turned back to get the door when the sound of the ring app pinged from his pocket. The knocking started again but this time it didn't stop.
“Who is it?!” Ben yelled out.
The knocking got faster and louder.
Clearly overwhelmed, Ben stopped and pulled out his phone, tapping on the notification that somebody was at the front door.
He froze as soon as it loaded.
Polly was standing outside, at the door. She’s wearing different clothes, but it's an exact copy.
Before he had time to react to what he saw, the incessant knocking stopped and he heard a loud shuffling behind him.
He quickly turned around only to see a blur of a Polly on all fours, crawling away from
him towards the back of the house.
It knocked into a couple of boxes as it slithered out of the room–producing both a loud crash of glass and thud of heavy objects hitting the ground. Ben recoiled back at the sound, trying to get as far away as possible.
“What the f—what the fuck!” he exclaimed.
He backed into the door, and remembered the Polly that’s outside.
“Who the fuck are you?!” he called out.
He brought out his phone again and darted his eyes between it and the back of the house.
The Polly that’s outside is now looking right into the camera with fear in her eyes.
“Please let me in, Ben, I’m scared,” She said.
Ben hesitates, looks back at the mess in the living room and decides that his Polly couldn’t possibly be whatever that was. His Polly wouldn’t–couldn’t crawl like that.
He opened the door slowly.
“Why are you out here?”
“Somebody attacked me at the gas station. They stole my phone and my car.”
Seeing Polly in the light, he saw a black eye forming and a cut on her lip. He rushed outside and slammed the door shut.
“Are you okay? How did you get in?” Polly asked.
“There’s something in there that looks like you.”
“What?”
“We have to go.”
“I have to get my keys first.”
“No, fuck that. We’ll run.”
“What about my phone?”
“It was crawling on all fours, babe. I’ll get you another new one.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Let me just grab them real quick.”
Ben takes a deep sigh. “No no, I’ll grab them. I know where they are.”
“Be careful please.”
Ben slowly opened the door. He looked around to find any sign of the other Polly. His hand searched for the keys hanging on the wall to the right of him. For an instant he had to look away from the living room to find the keys.
He grabbed them and then he looked back at the living room. Still no sign of her.
He saw the phone halfway between him and the couch.
He reached back behind him, holding out the keys to Polly.
“Hold these, I’ll get your phone.”
The keys left his hand as he took a deep breath and looked around the living room one more time.
As quickly and quietly as he could, he ran towards the phone, picked it up.
As soon as he reached the phone, the door slammed shut. He jolted back and tried to rip it open but it wouldn’t budge.
Ben tries desperately to open the door, but it’s impossible to pull on.
He looks behind him, still not seeing other Polly and hears the car outside starting. The headlights flash on as the car pulls out of the driveway and turns onto the street. The tires screech as it shoots down the road.
Nick looks down at Polly’s phone, opens it with her passcode and sees the video she took.
He opened it and pressed play.
Pillow Talk
Nico laid on the bed, looking at the ceiling. The cascade of sounds that Henry makes during his night routine rang out from the bathroom.
Nico was in a haze, not reacting to the many crashing and shuffling sounds Henry was making. He didn’t move until Henry opened the door. He looked at Henry as he walked to the other side of the bed and sat. Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes.
“Are you feeling better?” Henry asked.
Nico nodded his head, then realized Henry’s back was still facing him.
“Yes,” Nico said.
Henry turned, his profile was highlighted by his nightstand lamp.
“You said some really hurtful things tonight. You realize that?” Henry asked.
“I do,” Nico said. “I’m sorry.”
Henry laid down and Nico faced him. They stared at each other for a moment. Nico softly smiled which finally melted Henry’s rigid posture.
“I’m sorry,” Nico said, nearly in tears.
“What happened?” Henry asked.
“I just don’t feel like myself lately. It’s like I know who I want to be and I see that person in my reach, but then something pulls me back. I don’t know if I’ll ever reach that person.”
“What do you need me to do? I want to help.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything to do, honey.”
“Maybe I can find a therapist? Maybe we can go on a little vacation?”
“I don’t want to leave home.”
“A staycation?”
“Maybe.”
“What about therapy?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll find a few people. Give you some solid options.”
“Okay.”
Henry laid on his back, fighting to keep his eyes open.
“We’re going to be okay.” He said, feeling himself fall deeper and deeper into sleep.
“I don’t know.” Nico whispered.
“Huh?” Henry asked, only hearing Nico’s voice but not able to make out his words.
“I’m so sorry,” Nico said.
Henry woke up with a jolt. He was facing toward the alarm clock and away from Nico. It was 3:13 AM. He looked at the moonlight seeping through the blinds when he remembered what woke him up. He could have sworn he heard a scream, but the current silence didn’t seem possible if somebody had just screamed. He soothed himself by thinking of that one TikTok he saw about auditory hallucinations.
Then, he thought, he could see if Nico was awake. He’s such a light sleeper, that he’d for sure know if there was a scream in the distance. Henry turned to Nico but the bed next to him was empty. He looked at the nightstand and saw the full glass of water Henry poured at Nico’s insistence.
He looked towards the bathroom and felt a chill crawl up the back of his spine. Nico was peeking out from the edge of the bed. His eyes were stretched wide and staring directly at Henry. He couldn’t see Nico’s mouth, but the longer he looked, he could swear Nico was smiling.
“Nico?” Henry called out. Nico didn’t move. “This isn’t funny.”
Nico continued to stare at Henry, not moving, blinking, or saying a word.
Henry sat up and Nico followed his movement with his pupils.
“Stop fucking staring at me!” Henry yelled. After Nico didn’t so much as blink, Henry turned to click on the lamp on his nightstand. He turned back to Nico and he was gone.
Henry shifted his legs so he was on his knees. He moved his body slightly to see if Nico was still beside the bed. Henry leaned on his palms, trying to get as close to the edge of the bed as he could, without making the bed frame creak. He crawled towards Nico’s side of the bed, anticipating a scream or jolt that Nico surely was waiting to scare him with. But nothing. As Henry reached the very edge of the bed, he couldn’t see Nico anywhere.
“Nico?” Henry whispered.
The room was silent.
Then, a click of Henry’s lamp and the room fell into complete darkness.
“Go to bed,” Nico whispered.
Recommendations
Talk to Me (by Anthony)
Available on A24 App and anywhere you buy movies digitally/physically
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
I can’t believe this is Danny and Michael Philippou’s first film. They truly have a deep appreciation and understanding of the genra. Very few horror films stick the landing and they fuckin did it. Go watch it please! It would be a great movie to celebrate the end of spooky season with!
When Evil Lurks (by Livia)
Available on Shudder
The residents of a small rural town discover that a demon is about to be born among them. They desperately try to escape -- but it may be too late.
My biggest complaint about modern horror is that they tend to play it safe. If there’s any genre where you can just go for it, it has to be horror and it makes me upset when I can tell the filmmakers are either holding themselves back or are being held back. I have no such complaints about this movie.