What’s the best kind of place to visit and research before you write your screenplay about a notoriously haunted location? Well, a notoriously haunted location, of course.
After the long and arduous adventure that was my first feature film, “The Devil’s Instrument”, I began thinking about what direction my next project should take.
“The Devil’s Instrument” contained a lot of darkness, and after spending so many years with all of that, I knew I wanted to make something fun.
And what’s more fun than getting together with a group of friends and doing something crazy?
It’s All About the Group
“The Devil’s Instrument” dealt mostly with individuals, so I decided another way to branch out and do something different would be to write about a group.
I drew upon my influences growing up and I thought about all of the movies that I loved that had a group of friends getting together and conquering some evil or somehow banding together to save the day.
I also remembered that each member of each of these groups were unique in some way and brought something to the table that the rest of the members seemed to lack. In other words, their presence was able to exponentially strengthen the group. What it all boils down to is: there is strength in numbers.
I also enjoyed the dynamics of each of these groups. You can have romantic involvement, jealousy, betrayal, and lifelong friendships formed. Regarding the potential story aspects, I was excited by all of the different things you could do with a group as opposed to an individual.
Now that I knew I wanted to write something involving a group, the next logical step was to ask myself the right questions. For example, I asked myself, “what is this group going to do and what are they going to try to accomplish?”
I Wouldn’t Go There If I Were You
Awhile back, my wife and I, along with a few friends were eating at a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky prior to our scheduled tour of a place called, Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Yes, we were a group of friends who had gotten together and were now about to do something crazy.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium is an allegedly haunted location. The hospital opened in 1910 to help treat patients who were severely stricken with an outbreak of tuberculosis in the area. The hospital closed in 1961. Today, it has been investigated countless times by pretty much all of the ghosthunting shows on TV. So, for some reason, we thought it would be fun to go there and check it out.
While we were eating at the restaurant, we were talking about Waverly and our waitress must have picked up on our conversation because after she refilled our drinks and asked if we needed anything else, she simply added, “I wouldn’t go there if I were you.”
I found it interesting that we received a warning before going to an unfamiliar place and I filed that little tidbit away in my miscellaneous mental folder for possible future use.
During our tour, we listened to the many stories about the location, heard ominous noises, smelled weird odors, and felt strange energy. Ghosts didn’t jump out at us and things didn’t go flying across the hall, but Waverly Hills is certainly a place that, once you go there, you never forget it.
This experience also gave me the idea I needed for what my group should do. They were going to go ghosthunting.
Write What You Know
Writers from all walks of life know the old adage that you should write what you know. The problem that I had was that I wanted to write an original screenplay about a group of friends that go ghosthunting but I didn’t know that much about it. So, I began to research.
I watched countless hours of those ghosthunting shows on TV and I learned a lot. Some are better than others, but most of them go into great detail explaining what they are doing and why they are doing it, in terms of potentially gathering useful paranormal evidence. Their entertainment value alone is second to none.
Next, I researched books on ghosthunting, and to my surprise, I found them to be quite numerous. I learned all about how to conduct a paranormal investigation, how to document evidence, and how to operate all of the different types of equipment used during an investigation.
I learned about motion detectors, dowsing rods, EMF meters, spirit boxes, thermal scanners, and the talking board. The last step, the all-important step, was to get some hands-on experience. So, I ordered some ghosthunting kits and tested out all of the equipment.
Later, when we began filming, we used all of these authentic ghosthunting devices to great effect. I also thought about that warning we received before we walked into Waverly Hills.
I wanted the group of friends in my story to have fair warning as well. So, I thought it would be fun if they went to a Tarot card reader prior to their adventure and receive their warning that way.
So, I researched Tarot cards and learned everything that I could, especially those things that I could include in my screenplay. I learned all about the rich history of Tarot cards and what each card represented. I memorized the suits and what a reader could potentially do to add psychic protection, if need be. I included all of this in the final version of the screenplay and I think it added a level of authenticity that would be appreciated by anyone involved in the trade. It was a very interesting experience, to say the least.
All of my research and experience eventually led me to write the screenplay for what would become “Darkness Hunting”. The film is a horror-comedy about a small group of would-be ghosthunters who investigate a notoriously haunted location, only to end up with more than they bargained for when they unwittingly unleash a terrifying darkness.
To make matters worse, not everyone in the group is who they appear to be, and they just might need the assistance of a world-renowned medium if they wish to make it out alive.
The film stars David Rice, Damita “Star” Harris, Jordan Bryant, Madison Deatherage, Wheeler Green, Chris Olds, Cheryl Sergent, and Linda Underwood Rice Hawkins. I also have a small role in the film, but thankfully I didn’t have any lines. I will say that it was a lot of fun scaring people, though.
The movie features ghosts, demons, witches, and other spooky elements. Each of the characters in this story are unique and bring something different to the group. They build each other up. They argue and bicker, and play off of each other to hilarious effect. After “The Devil’s Instrument”, I can truly say that I had a lot of fun writing, “Darkness Hunting”.
With the screenplay complete, I now had to prepare for the shoot.
