Hey Stage 32 fam,
Logline: A YouTuber trades empathy for views. A cursed village trades his soul for justice.
Genre: Supernatural Contained Horror | Stage: Spec Script, In Development
SWA Registered #76633
Concept:
A 24-yr-old Indian YouTuber, drowning in debt, fakes a ghost video in the abandoned village of Dhanushkodi for viral fame. The village is real. The ghosts are watching.
Rules broken: No lights after dark. No names spoken aloud. No lens can capture us.
At 2 AM, his livestream hits 1M views. But the comments are from the village dead: "WE SEE YOU".
Each 'Like' kills a villager in the past.
Each 'Share' erases his memory in the present.
To escape, he must delete his channel, burn his phone, and confess to the one ghost he wronged - his mother, who died filming his first fake video.
Theme: Digital Validation vs Human Fear. Likes vs Lives.
Question for the Lounge: Does the "social media mechanics = supernatural consequences" hook feel strong enough for the US/International market? Would love feedback from horror producers/writers.
#Horror #SpecScript #SupernaturalHorror #ContainedHorror #IndianCinema #Screenwriting
@rb_botto Sir, would love your thoughts on this concept from India. Thank you!
Too many words
Interesting concept. There’s a strong hook in the idea of social media mechanics triggering supernatural consequences.
I do think the core idea is compelling, especially the contrast between digital validation and real human cost.
That said, it might benefit from simplifying the rules a bit. Right now there are several mechanics at play (likes, shares, memory loss, past consequences), and tightening that could make the concept feel more focused and internally consistent.
The most interesting part to me is the character — someone faking the supernatural for attention, only to be confronted by something real and personal. Leaning further into that emotional and moral conflict could make the story even stronger.
Overall, definitely a solid foundation with a clear hook. :)Kjell, thank you so much for this incredible feedback. Seriously means a lot coming from a Director/Screenwriter.
You're 100% right about tightening the rules. I got excited building the "social media curse" mechanics and overcomplicated it. Your note on focusing the "emotional and moral conflict" is the heart of it.
The core I want to protect: A guy who fakes ghosts for likes, meets a real ghost who forces him to feel every like as a human life. The guilt vs fame war.
Quick question: If I simplify to ONE rule - "Every like he gets, someone he loves loses 1 day of memory" - would that feel more focused + consistent?
Would love your thoughts. And thank you again for taking the time. This is why I posted on Stage32 :)
-Basha
David, fair point. Thank you.
Working on tightening the pitch. Appreciate you taking the time.
-Basha
Yes, I think simplifying it to a single rule definitely helps.
It feels stronger because it’s clear, emotionally direct, and much easier to build tension around. The personal cost — losing someone he loves in terms of memory — gives it a strong dramatic core, which I think is more effective than multiple overlapping mechanics.
That said, it really depends on the story structure you’re aiming for. Ultimately, the mechanic that creates the strongest dramatic conflict will also deliver the strongest emotional impact.
It might be worth exploring each variation a bit further before locking the final direction, just to see which one generates the most natural narrative tension.
Kjell :)
The more impossible the concept, the harder it is to sustain for feature length. The audience will start poking holes in the plot logic.
Are we to understand that some supernatural force is watching his YouTube views and likes go up? Is there a ghost sitting at a computer or holding a cell phone?
The Ring had similar technological issues to overcome. The ghost was of a girl who had power over electro-magnetism. So she could haunt a VHS tape. Some things don’t make a lot of sense when you think too hard— how does the ghost call you on the phone, how did she “film” the spooky content on the tape— but hopefully we’re too scared to notice.
I bring this up because if you make the rules too complicated, it will become less believable, not more. Make it about the core theme— what is the sin that the main character is being punished for? If it’s vanity, then killing or mindwiping his followers is enough. Now he must think about others before himself, and learn the lesson of empathy.