(Warning: The introduction to this article contains several gory descriptions.
If you aren’t keen on these, I recommend skipping it. I also recommend that
children under 15 avoid the introduction as well)
Introduction
Halloween is just around the corner, and in a bid to capitalise
on the occasion, the screenwriting site Simply Scripts set up a competition where
aspiring screenwriters had just one week to write a short horror script (6-10
pages) based around a certain theme. The theme was “Scary Tales Of My Childhood”,
with the screenwriters basing their scary shorts on fairy tales, fables and
mythology.
The competition featured a wide range of scripts. They
varied in quality, with many creative and interesting ones, and a few which
were badly-written and boring, but one thing which defined most of them was the
high level of gore. Fairy tales are well-known for featuring plenty of gruesome
aspects, but these are generally described in a simplistic style with very
little detail. This ensures that the readers are kept distant from the
unpleasant nature of these scenes, preventing them from becoming too disturbing.
In addition, the nastiest things tend to happen to villains. If anything bad
happens to a protagonist, they are usually healed by the end of the story. The
fact that villains who deserve to be punished suffer the most gruesome fates makes
the nastiest moments seem a lot more palatable.
However, there is a world of difference between hearing that
the villain was blinded by crows or burnt at the stake, and reading a vivid depiction
of a bloody death. Most of the scripts featured in the One Week Challenge featured
a number of gory scenes depicted with too much detail. The twisted Fairy Tales
featured in the One-Week Challenge included:
- · A version of The Ugly Duckling in which a bullied teen (representing the Ugly Duckling) gets revenge on her tormentors (representing the swans) and eventually wears the severed face of one bully as a mask a la Silence of the Lambs.
- · An adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin which ends with the protagonist cutting off her face in order to pay for the financial support given by a mysterious collector.
- · Numerous scripts depicting cannibalism, including adaptations of Hansel and Gretel and The Robber Bridegroom.
- · A version of Pinocchio where Geppetto is portrayed as a child-murdering vampire.
- · A take on the obscure Fairy Tale The Enchanted Quill where a woman gets an incredibly gruesome revenge on a paedophile.
I’m not saying that the reliance on gore makes these scripts
bad. In fact, several of the authors are very talented. However, it didn’t take
long for me to get tired of reading lurid descriptions of incredibly violent
acts, and this diminished my interest in the scripts.
I am not a fan of horror, but I have no problem with fairy
tales being turned into scary stories. All the best fairy tales (even those
from Disney) feature numerous dark and scary aspects, and if an aspiring
screenwriter wants to focus on these, than that’s fine by me. However, I am not
keen on the over-reliance on gore, as I believe that there are other, more effective
ways of scaring and unnerving an audience. It is possible to create an
interesting horror spin on a fairy tale without having to spill too much blood.
Another feature of the One Week Challenge was the reliance
on familiar fairy tales. There were a few instances where authors adapted more obscure
fairy tales, such as The Girl Without Hands and The Blue Light, which
work very well as horror shorts. However, for the most part, the screenwriters
taking part in the One Week Challenge focused on adapting better-known tales
such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
or Little Red Riding Hood. This is
not surprising, but it would have been nice to see some widely overlooked fairy
tales get their turn in the spotlight. Listed below are ten Fairy Tales which
weren’t adapted in the One Week Challenge, but would make interesting and scary
short scripts (with the potential for gore, if that is what the readers want!).
Although there are many fairy tales which could be adapted into scary short
scripts of 6-10 pages, this countdown will only feature Brothers Grimm fairy
tales in order to keep things simple.
10 Brothers Grimm
Tales Which Would Make Excellent Scary Short Scripts
(Listed in Alphabetical Order)
What’s It About? A King’s servant saves his master
from a set of curses, but gets turned to stone in the process. In order to
restore him, the king has to make a terrible sacrifice…
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? Due to their
length and overly elaborate storylines, many fairy tales will have to be cut
extensively to fit within the confines of a 6-10 page script. Faithful John is one story which would
benefit from such editing, as it means that the most interesting aspects of the
tale will be emphasised. There are two very unnerving questions at the centre
of Faithful John – How far would you
go to protect someone, and how far would you go to bring a person back to life?
Although this story ultimately ends happily, the issues it raises would provide
an excellent foundation for a scary short.
What’s It About? A Girl disobeys her parents and goes
to seek out a mysterious witch. Needless to say, the visit ends in a very
unpleasant fashion.
Why Would it Work As A Horror Short? This tale is one
of the shortest on the list, but stands out due to its nasty conclusion. It has
some memorable images, which would work very well in a horror short, and a
strong cautionary message. It probably requires a bit of expansion to convert Frau Trude into a 6-10 page script, but
it seems very easy to adapt into this format.
What’s It About? A young man born with the body of a
hedgehog tries to make his way in the world, and attracts the attention of two
kings. Their daughters have very different reactions to the half-man, half-hedgehog,
who has his own ways of punishing insincerity and rewarding virtue.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? Like Faithful John, Hans the Hedgehog isn’t that scary, but features a number of
elements which would work well in a horror short. For example, Hans’ grotesque
appearance lends itself to some vivid and terrifying imagery. In addition, a
scene where he assaults and humiliates an insincere suitor is surprisingly violent,
especially when contrasted with his otherwise kind and positive nature. A short
script focused on the darker elements of the story has the potential to depict Hans
the Hedgehog as a pretty interesting monster, showing the dire consequences of
offending and mistreating him.
What’s It About? A girl is raised in heaven by a
guardian angel, but gets sent back to earth when she violates her rules and
opens the door to a forbidden room. The girl ends up married to a king, but the
angel resorts to extreme measures to get her to confess to her earlier transgression.
Why Would it Work As A Horror Short? Our Lady’s Child may not seem very
scary, but there is something unnerving about the idea of an angel working to
ruin a woman’s life in order to get her to confess to a past misdeed. The
message of the story is a very positive one (“He who repents his sin and
confesses it shall be forgiven”), but the experiences of the obstinate
protagonist can seem incredibly unpleasant if seen from her perspective, as the
guardian angel steals her voice and kidnaps her children. I don’t think that a straightforward
adaptation of this tale would work as a horror short, but the themes and ideas
fuelling the story could inspire a pretty terrifying short script which will
raise plenty of questions about whether the end justifies the means.
What’s It About? A wicked stepmother kills her
stepson, and in order to cover up the crime, transforms the body into sausages,
which she serves to the rest of the family for dinner. However, the boy is
re-incarnated as a bird, and engages in an elaborate scheme to get a gruesome
revenge on the stepmother.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? The Juniper Tree is famous for being
one of the nastiest fairy tales in the Brothers Grimm canon, but it is also
incredibly imaginative and well-written. Surprisingly, there are very few
conventional adaptations of this fairy tale. This is probably because it can be
hard to depict the gory excesses of the story without making them seem silly.
However, I think that there are no shortage of screenwriters and directors able
to do justice to the vivid and memorable scenes. A short adaptation of The Juniper Tree will resoundingly
satisfy the demands of those who want to see plenty of gore, but it hopefully,
it will be able to capture the atmosphere of the source material, and use the
gruesome elements of the story to enhance this.
What’s It About? When his younger brother saves a
village from a terrifying boar, a crafty and arrogant man becomes jealous, kills
the sibling and takes credit for his achievements. His crime is kept secret for
many years, but when a Shepard discovers a mysterious bone, the truth is
revealed.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? The storyline of
a long-hidden crime coming to light is inherently interesting, and converting The Singing Bone into a short allows it
to be explored in a bit more depth. The source material is focused almost
entirely on the narrative and the message, and adapting it for a film (even a
short film under ten minutes long) means that there will be more emphasis
placed on the characters, particularly the devious elder brother. This will
generate extra psychological depth, and make the tale more interesting. If an adaptation
of The Singing Bone is handled
effectively, it could bring to mind other chilling tales with a similar
storyline, such as Edgar Allen Poe’s classic The Tell Tale Heart.
What’s It About? A family is harassed by the ghost of
their recently deceased child, who is seeking two farthings he kept hidden
whilst he was still alive.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? Ghost stories,
such as 1963’s The Haunting, stand out as excellent proof that a tale can be
scary without needing to rely on excessive gore, and The Stolen Farthings is one of the most notable ghost stories in
the Brothers Grimm collection. It is very short, but the message about coming to
terms with the death of a child is very interesting. This story may not have
gore or a shocking ending, but it can be turned into a short full of mystery
and atmosphere.
What’s It About? A dim-witted youth has no idea what
it means to shudder in fear. He visits a variety of places and meets a number
of strange monsters, but none of them are able to elicit the reaction he
desires.
Why Would it Work As A Horror Short? The One Week
Challenge featured a number of comedic horror stories, but these were generally
based on more conventional tales. However, The
Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was proves that more
obscure fairy tales are also well suited to the comedy horror subgenre. The
protagonist meets a number of seemingly terrifying monsters (such as demonic
cats and dogs, and a corpse which comes to life) but his unconventional way of
dealing with them has the potential to generate plenty of comedy. Just because
a short film is full of scary elements, it doesn’t have to be dark and
miserable, and The Story of the Youth Who
Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was is a great example of a story which can
be adapted into a short which is both funny and scary at the same time.
What’s It About? Three expert surgeons aim to show
off their skills by removing their hand, heart and eyes and restoring them the
following morning. However, when the body parts get lost, the maid looking
after them finds some unorthodox replacements, which have unexpected
side-effects.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? The concept of
someone receiving body parts which develop a life of their own is a popular
horror trope, as it plays upon our fear of changes to our body. The Three Army Surgeons plays this fear
for black comedy (For example, the doctor who receives a pig’s heart instead of
his own develops an inclination to act like a pig) but it is genuinely unnerving
to lose control of vital body parts. If this fear is handled effectively, then The Three Army Surgeons can be transformed
into a creepy little short.
What’s It About? A soldier marries a beautiful
princess. When she dies, he uses three mysterious leaves to resurrect her, but
the princess soon turns evil and tries to kill her husband.
Why Would It Work As A Horror Short? The idea that interfering
with death has disastrous consequences has informed mythology, superstition and
horror stories since time began. The
Three Snake Leaves represents an interesting fairy-tale spin on this
concept. Although there are some problematic elements to the story (I am not
keen on the negative portrayal of the princess), I think that the premise of a
resurrection going wrong represents an intriguing basis for a scary short.
Conclusion
The point of this article is not to criticise the
competitors in the SimplyScripts One Week Challenge, but to point out that there
are many overlooked fairy tales which should provide inspiration for any aspiring
writer or filmmaker. The best storytellers are those who can avoid a
conventional, clichéd approach and do something different and interesting. By
highlighting the ten fairy tales mentioned above instead of better-known ones, I’ve
aimed to show that the most obscure fairy tales can inspire short films more interesting
than yet another scary take on Hansel
and Gretel.
One of the best things about fairy tales is the fact that
they can be adapted in any way the storyteller wishes. People reading this
article should not forget that it only refers to one type of film (5-10 minute
shorts), in one genre (horror), based on the work of one storytelling duo (the
Brothers Grimm). There are many different fairy tales to adapt, and an almost
infinite number of ways to adapt them. You are only limited by your
imagination.
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