Spooktober is a 31 day event of coming up with original horror ideas based on prompts my writing group argues over. These are my entries.
SPOOKTOBER DAY #17 — Monkey’s Paw
TITLE: Poppies Will Make Us Sleep
PREMISE: This genre is supposed to be scenarios where something desirable comes with a horrible twist. I don’t think I did a great job of that, but at least I did it fast.
Youths at the gothiest private school in NYC aren’t feeling the future and are tempted by escape. They are found with a flower in hand and flowers growing all around their bodies, whether found on soil, concrete, or a basketball court. They’re asleep and they won’t wake up. Seemingly unrelated incident – a new band starts up and they take new student Isaid as the vocalist. “Les Amis de Dorothée” hypnotize the crowds and take the city by storm, despite their youth. Will Isaid’s parents allow this extracurricular activity? What will be the price of this fame?
HORROR ELEMENT: Oblivion’s cold allure.
Poster by AI, modified with photoshop.