Spirit in the Walls

I am a Screenwriter and producer making a film set in a daycare. It is a horror film set in one location and brings a new take on the genre setting it in an a new environment but also but still using the same formula that works in the genre.

It also tells a story of a character who has to learn to let go and stand up for herself.

Growing up, I never believed in the supernatural but that all changed one night while I was about to sleep. I had this pain in my throat and I couldn’t breathe and I thought my asthma was kicking in. A quick puff of my inhaler was all I needed but then I realized that the pain was still there and this was no ordinary pain. I could feel a hand on my throat choking the life out of me. We all have moments that we question the fact that in this world, we may not be alone.

This experience led me to write the movie Spirit in the Walls.

After moving into a new house and starting a daycare, a single mother learns of a dark entity that dwells in the house and the terrible past it holds. Spirit in the Walls is like ‘Annabelle: Creation’, The Exorcist and ‘What Lies Beneath’.

Spirit in the Walls is the story of Tierra May, a mother of a 7 year old son and a 5 year daughter. Tierra is an easy going person and a woman that loves children. After the birth of her second child, she decided to be a stay at home mother and depended solely on her husband for income. That all changed later on when he died and staying in the old home does not help as the memories it carries became too much to handle and forces Tierra to start a new life on her own while raising two kids. She finds a new place to stay and with the help of her Sister-In-Law, Tierra decides to open a daycare for children, but despite this move, Tierra finds out she is still stuck in the past and is unable to move on.

Tierra soon finds her daughter talking to no one but thinks her daughter has an imaginary friend and thinks nothing of it. She makes sure everything is ready for the daycare but as she does, Tierra notices that when she puts her daughter’s toys in a toy box, it ends up in front of Tierra’s door. Thinking it is probably her dog that put it their, Tierra proceeds to put the toy away. As she is about to call it a night, Tierra experiences something touch her while she in bed. Not knowing what or who it was, she checks around the house and sees an older woman outside the house and also notices her front door slightly open. Tierra is about to call the police when she notices her dog growling at the basement. She checks the basement and sees a bloody note that reads ‘LEAVE OR DIE’. Tierra immediately calls the Police but they find nothing. Tierra is scared and wishes her Husband was still here.

The next day Tierra’s daughter begins having psychotic fits which causes Tierra to think something is deeply wrong with her daughter. Her son is scared about his sister’s behavior and worries about her. Tierra seeks help for her daughter from a Psychiatrist but that does nothing as her daughter’s behavior worsen’s when the little girl starts talking about her Elderly Friend who seeks to make this daycare her home. Having no where else to turn to and feeling a overwhelmed, Tierra turns to the local Reverend, a hippie preacher known to also commune with the dead. She also calls her sister-in-law to help her. Tierra’ daughter is not pleased with the presence of this preacher and wants the Preacher out. After prayers, everything seems calm and Tierra is left with crosses, a Bible and Holy Water.

That night, Tierra becomes increasingly uncomfortable and hears her daughter’s voice questioning her about the preacher and when she does check on her kids, she finds her family picture shredded to pieces. Tierra is a mess and feels helpless. Tierra is unsure of what to do. Her son stays close to her. As Tierra tries to figure out what to do, there is a power outage which Tierra’s daughter attributes to her friend. Tierra calls an electrician. Once the the electricity is restored, it does not last as it goes off as quickly as it comes on.

Tierra realizes that there maybe something else at work here. Her son is very scared. Tierra then invites the Preacher a second time. When the Preacher returns, things escalate. The Preacher can sense a presence in the home. And it is not a good one. Then, Tierra finds her son in the basement, hurt and next to him is the bloody finger print of an adult. Using the Preacher, Tierra then tries to find out whose prints they are. Tierra sees the ghost of a little girl in the basement.

She learns of the presence in the house. An Elderly Woman who had a family and lost them in the same house to a fire. After her own death, the Elderly Woman’s identity has remained entangled with her past living self and she has failed to crossover to the other side. Tierra realizes then that this is her daughter’s ‘friend’. She tries to get rid of the Elderly Woman but it becomes impossible as the woman possesses Tierra’s daughter and begins raising havoc in the home by tearing down anything in the house that does not belong to the woman, killing the dog and the preacher and binding every other person (Tierra’s Son, Sister-In-Law and the Electircian) and places them in the basement to die.

Thinking she is still in her home, the Elderly woman begins remaking the home to what she remembers as her home. Tierra frees herself and the others and decides it is time to take down the Elderly Woman. She is able to tie down her daughter and begins a seance which eventually frees her daughter from the grasps from the hands of the entity. When the Elderly Woman tries to kill Tierra with a knife to the chest, the Bible given to her by the Preacher comes into play as Tierra uses it to protect herself from the potential death strike. This slows the Elderly Woman down and Tierra places crosses around her and pours the holy water on her causing her to burn to ashes, which Tierra flushes down the toilet. Everyone in the house feels better.

From this point onward, Tierra decides not to continue with the daycare. In the process, she learns that she can live her life without the dependency of her husband and that she has to be strong, not just for her, but for her kids.

We all have lessons we need to learn but one thing is clear, Life is all about the journey and less about the destination.