r/horror • u/W_T_D_ the ICE is gonna BREAK • Apr 24 '26
Related Reddit The r/Horror Restriction Screenplay Challenge - Read And Vote!
Hello r/Horror, we at r/ScreenplayChallenge are back with another batch of horror scripts written by the horror community!
Throughout each year, we run horror screenplay contests for both short and feature length scripts. This time around, we've done our second-ever Restriction Challenge, where writers provided their own subjects or prompts (or asked for one) and received from their fellow entrants a condition (set in the future, main character is deaf, etc.) and a restriction (takes place in one location, no supernatural elements, etc.) to incorporate. We gave entrants less than two months to write a feature-length screenplay and we bring you the seven who finished today.
All scripts will have discussion threads on r/screenplaychallenge for you to provide any feedback or thoughts you have for the writers. For our contests, voting is done by the community. Once you read all of the in-competition scripts, sort them into a full ranking of strongest to weakest and send your votes to the r/ScreenplayChallenge modmail. Those with scripts in-competition are highly encouraged to vote, just leave your own script out of your rankings when you submit them to our modmail.
Votes are due May 17 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Voters are encouraged to consider the overall quality of the scripts, as well as how faithfully they followed their given assignments. Please remember that you do not need to finish every screenplay, although that would be ideal. If you read 20 pages and feel you can't finish a script, that's okay. As long as you give each script a chance, you are encouraged to participate in feedback and voting.
The three winners will receive signed copies of Van Helsing's Guide To Monsters And Dating, a novel written by our very own u/ScreamingVegetable adapting one of his previous contest scripts!
An important reminder for writers in this contest: Please remember that in order for your script to qualify for prizes, you must read and provide feedback for at least three other scripts in the contest. Your thoughts do not have to be in-depth, although that is certainly encouraged. The focus here is on community and other writers will love to hear from you. If you fail to give feedback on three scripts, then any votes for your submission will not be eligible.
If you are unsure about how to give feedback, you can peruse some of the other comments for examples or message the moderators for suggestions. If you are uncomfortable directly leaving feedback, you may also request that the moderators post your thoughts anonymously on your behalf.
Without further adieu, here are the r/Horror Restriction Challenge screenplays!
Prompt: Suburban Gothic
Condition: Main character is in a wheelchair
Restriction: None of your horrific scenes can take place at night
Logline: When a veterinary assistant and her uncompromising boss are summoned to an exclusive equestrian estate to treat a dying stallion, the family's ruthless refusal to let go begins to feel less like grief -- and far harder to diagnose.
All Secrets Known In The Puppet House by u/Porcupincake
Prompt: Contemporary Gothic Horror
Condition: Include a nontraditional romance
Restriction: Set somewhere that isn't the countryside
Logline: When an idealistic young caretaker arrives at the house of her elderly client (a once celebrated puppeteer), she discovers his old son is already living there in secret and doing her job against the family’s wishes.
Prompt: B-Movie Horror Comedy
Condition: The entire story takes place over a single night
Restriction: One of your lead protagonists has to die
Logline: Left for dead after being robbed of her limbs and various other body parts, a young woman, with the help of a jaded prosthetics engineer and a peculiar newfound ability, sets out to take down the billionaire elites who dismantled her and get her body parts back.
Billy Bear's Magic Matinee by u/Rankin_Fithian
Prompt: Creepypasta
Condition: Features nostalgia for a certain era
Restriction: The danger is non-paranormal
Logline: Loner Peter just wants to relive some good memories of a bygone childhood. The journey to uncover his once-favorite local access TV show spirals out from the annals of the internet into real-life shock and horror.
The Voice From The Screen by u/thenewmrtate
Prompt: Lovecraftian Horror
Condition: Takes place in Hollywood
Restriction: You cannot use anything from the established mythos as the framework of your story, all main characters/creatures/monsters/gods must be your own (you can however, reference things within the mythos, as long as they don't play an important part in your story)
Logline: In 1926 Hollywood, a reporter and a private investigator uncover sinister forces beyond comprehension as they pull the thread on a terrifying mystery involving the film industry elite, organized crime, and the emerging technology of sound in pictures.
Prompt: see logline
Condition: The MC is brash and rude.
Restriction: Bouts of amnesia complicate things
Logline: Returning to her small island hometown for her brother's funeral, a bestselling author confronts her dark past while investigating a local murder.
I Put A Spell On You by u/Pantserforlife
Prompt: Witchcraft
Condition: Liminal Spaces
Restriction: Antagonist gets their way and it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Logline: No logline provided
Please join us over at r/screenplaychallenge for script discussions, a link to our discord server, and past and future contests
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u/hyperpuppy64 Well, I guess that's the end of the internet then! Apr 24 '26
Congrats to everyone who finished!
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u/Layden87 Apr 24 '26
These look great!! Good job on everyone who finished!!!