Head Case

Smoking isn't good for you.

Type:

Short

Status:

For sale

Page Count:

1pp

Genre:

Horror

Budget:

Shoestring

Age Rating:

17+

Based On:

My short story.

Synopsis/Details:

Kyle, a social outcast, is a big smoker. Cigarette butts litter the floor by his recliner.

Sensing something wrong, he rises, taking an unseen thing with him, and shuffles to the kitchen.

There, we see that the thing is the hollowed-out head of a man, and it is loaded with cigarette butts. Kyle observes his human ashtray's bad shape and tosses it into the trash.

He opens his refrigerator, where another half-dozen heads are waiting. He picks one at random - a woman. He takes his new ashtray back to his recliner, balancing the head on his lap. He lights a cigarette and momentarily holds it to the head's lips. Then he sits back and enjoys a smoke with his new lady friend.

Story & Logistics

Story Situation:

Madness

Story Conclusion:

Surprise Twist

Linear Structure:

Linear

Cast Size:

Single

Locations:

Single

Special Effects:

Prosthetics

Characters

Lead Role Ages:

Male Middle Aged

Villian Type:

Mentally Disturbed

Advanced

Time Period:

Contemporary times

Country:

United States of America (USA)

Time of Year:

Summer

Illness Topics:

Psychological

Submitted: August 1, 2022

Last Updated: March 19, 2024

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The Writer: Mike Murphy

Mike, a four-time Parsec Awards finalist, has had over 150 audio plays produced in the U.S. and overseas. He’s won a dozen Moondance International Film Festival Awards (winner, finalist, and semi-finalist) in their TV pilot, audio play, short screenplay, and short story categories. A more complete list of awards is presented below by year. In 2025, his TV pilot script Milly Foster, Macabre Investigator was a quarter-finalist in the Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards (Season 9). In the same year, Mike's screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the 2025 New York International Screenplay Awards. In 2020, his screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the Unique Voices Screenplay... Go to bio