The Chill of the Civic
Teenage artists, preparing a local history exhibit in the town's decaying old hall, uncover disturbing artifacts, sparking darkly comedic arguments about the nature of their macabre show as an ominous presence stirs around them.
# The Chill of the Civic
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
A group of cynical art students, seeking inspiration in a derelict civic hall, unearth a collection of haunted artifacts tied to a forgotten child tragedy, awakening a malevolent presence that turns their creative project into a fight for survival.
## Themes
* **The Unburied Past:** The literal and metaphorical consequences of building over and ignoring historical trauma.
* **Art vs. Exploitation:** The fine line between creating profound art from tragedy and callously commodifying suffering.
* **Skepticism vs. The Supernatural:** The breakdown of rational belief when confronted with undeniable, terrifying paranormal phenomena.
## Stakes
The students' lives and sanity are at risk as they become the new subjects in a malevolent spirit's collection of sorrows.
## Synopsis
Four art students—flamboyant KAI, cynical LUCIE, pragmatic SAM, and quiet BEA—descend into the derelict sub-basement of the old Civic Hall, seeking a suitably atmospheric location for a school art exhibit. While Kai rhapsodizes about the "canvas of decay" and Sam worries about tetanus and his dying phone battery, Bea discovers an old crate filled with disturbing personal effects: a cracked doll's head, a rusty surgical tool, and a bundle of yellowed letters.
Kai and Lucie seize upon the find, gleefully brainstorming a darkly comedic exhibit called "Paving Over the Past: A Bureaucratic Haunting," which mocks municipal ineptitude and its potential supernatural consequences. Sam, the documentarian, protests that they are veering far from their original, more sensible proposal.
The mood shifts from morbid fun to genuine dread when Bea, having researched the hall's history, reveals the truth: the building sits atop a 19th-century paupers' cemetery, a mass grave for children who died from a plague called "The Lingering Fever."
Undeterred, Bea finds a second, more personal box. As she forces it open, the clasp breaks with an echoing crack. Inside lies a lock of hair and a haunting daguerreotype of a grieving mother and her dead child. At that moment, Sam's phone dies, plunging them into absolute darkness. An unnatural cold sweeps through the room, and Sam feels an unseen hand on his neck.
As the terror mounts, Bea, seemingly in a trance, recounts details from the letters about a "Collector of Sorrows"—a caretaker who gathered the children's mementos to trap their spirits within the building's walls. Heavy, deliberate scraping sounds begin from the floor above, accompanied by a high-pitched whirring and a disembodied child's giggle. Trapped in the oppressive dark, the group realizes they are not just observers of a forgotten tragedy; they are the newest additions to the collection.
## Character Breakdown
* **BEA (19):** Quiet, intuitive, and deeply observant. She wears a hand-knitted scarf like a shield. Her curiosity is her driving force, but it masks a deeper sensitivity to the unseen.
* **Psychological Arc:** Bea begins as a quiet, cautious observer, driven by a deep but passive curiosity about the past. As she uncovers the artifacts and the truth behind the hall, her fascination shifts into a chilling connection, transforming her from a passive observer into an unnerving conduit for the building's trapped spirits, her quiet nature becoming a vessel for their sorrow and menace.
* **KAI (20):** A dramatic, morbidly enthusiastic artist with a flair for the theatrical. He sees beauty in decay and art in trauma, but his bravado is a thin veneer over a more conventional fear.
* **LUCIE (20):** Sharp-tongued and cynical, using gallows humor as a defense mechanism. She is quick to mock but is the first to show genuine terror when her cynical worldview is shattered.
* **SAM (19):** The pragmatic, tech-reliant documentarian. He is the voice of reason, constantly trying to steer the group towards a sensible, achievable project. His reliance on logic and technology makes him especially vulnerable when both fail him.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE DESCENT:** The four students enter the oppressive, dust-choked sub-basement of the Civic Hall. Their conflicting personalities are immediately clear: Kai's artistic pronouncements, Lucie's sarcastic quips, Sam's practical worries, and Bea's quiet observation.
2. **THE FIRST FIND:** Bea discovers a wooden crate. Inside are a doll's head, a surgical tool, and old letters. Kai is ecstatic, seeing it as artistic "gold."
3. **A DARKLY COMEDIC CONCEPT:** Kai and Lucie devise an exhibit concept around "bureaucratic haunting," framing the letters and artifacts as a darkly funny exposé. Sam protests, arguing for his more grounded documentary approach.
4. **THE REVELATION:** Bea, having read the letters and researched the archives, reveals the chilling truth: the hall is built over a mass grave for children who died of the "Lingering Fever." The humor evaporates, replaced by a palpable unease.
5. **THE CATALYST:** Bea finds a second, smaller box. She forces it open, revealing a lock of hair and a haunting daguerreotype. The moment the box opens, the atmosphere changes.
6. **LIGHTS OUT:** Sam's phone, their only light source, finally dies. They are plunged into suffocating darkness. An unnatural gust of wind and a cold touch confirm they are not alone.
7. **THE COLLECTOR'S TALE:** In the dark, Bea's voice becomes eerily calm. She recounts the story of the "Collector of Sorrows," who trapped the children's spirits within the building itself.
8. **THE AWAKENING:** A heavy, scraping sound begins from the floor directly above them. A child's giggle echoes through the space. Faint scratching starts from beneath their feet. They are trapped, and the "collection" is now awake and aware of them.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be claustrophobic and grounded in realism, utilizing a single, failing light source (a phone's flashlight) for most of the film. The aesthetic is one of oppressive decay: thick dust, peeling paint, deep shadows, and damp textures. The camera work should feel immediate and slightly unsteady, bordering on found-footage to immerse the audience in the characters' rising panic.
The tone begins with dark, gallows humor and artistic pretension, lulling the audience into a false sense of security. It then masterfully shifts into atmospheric, psychological dread, where the horror comes not from jump scares but from chilling revelations and the oppressive, inescapable environment. Tonally, it aligns with the contained, character-driven horror of *The Haunting of Hill House* and the morbid, twist-driven storytelling of an *Inside No. 9* episode, exploring how modern cynicism shatters when confronted with ancient, genuine sorrow.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
A group of cynical art students, seeking inspiration in a derelict civic hall, unearth a collection of haunted artifacts tied to a forgotten child tragedy, awakening a malevolent presence that turns their creative project into a fight for survival.
## Themes
* **The Unburied Past:** The literal and metaphorical consequences of building over and ignoring historical trauma.
* **Art vs. Exploitation:** The fine line between creating profound art from tragedy and callously commodifying suffering.
* **Skepticism vs. The Supernatural:** The breakdown of rational belief when confronted with undeniable, terrifying paranormal phenomena.
## Stakes
The students' lives and sanity are at risk as they become the new subjects in a malevolent spirit's collection of sorrows.
## Synopsis
Four art students—flamboyant KAI, cynical LUCIE, pragmatic SAM, and quiet BEA—descend into the derelict sub-basement of the old Civic Hall, seeking a suitably atmospheric location for a school art exhibit. While Kai rhapsodizes about the "canvas of decay" and Sam worries about tetanus and his dying phone battery, Bea discovers an old crate filled with disturbing personal effects: a cracked doll's head, a rusty surgical tool, and a bundle of yellowed letters.
Kai and Lucie seize upon the find, gleefully brainstorming a darkly comedic exhibit called "Paving Over the Past: A Bureaucratic Haunting," which mocks municipal ineptitude and its potential supernatural consequences. Sam, the documentarian, protests that they are veering far from their original, more sensible proposal.
The mood shifts from morbid fun to genuine dread when Bea, having researched the hall's history, reveals the truth: the building sits atop a 19th-century paupers' cemetery, a mass grave for children who died from a plague called "The Lingering Fever."
Undeterred, Bea finds a second, more personal box. As she forces it open, the clasp breaks with an echoing crack. Inside lies a lock of hair and a haunting daguerreotype of a grieving mother and her dead child. At that moment, Sam's phone dies, plunging them into absolute darkness. An unnatural cold sweeps through the room, and Sam feels an unseen hand on his neck.
As the terror mounts, Bea, seemingly in a trance, recounts details from the letters about a "Collector of Sorrows"—a caretaker who gathered the children's mementos to trap their spirits within the building's walls. Heavy, deliberate scraping sounds begin from the floor above, accompanied by a high-pitched whirring and a disembodied child's giggle. Trapped in the oppressive dark, the group realizes they are not just observers of a forgotten tragedy; they are the newest additions to the collection.
## Character Breakdown
* **BEA (19):** Quiet, intuitive, and deeply observant. She wears a hand-knitted scarf like a shield. Her curiosity is her driving force, but it masks a deeper sensitivity to the unseen.
* **Psychological Arc:** Bea begins as a quiet, cautious observer, driven by a deep but passive curiosity about the past. As she uncovers the artifacts and the truth behind the hall, her fascination shifts into a chilling connection, transforming her from a passive observer into an unnerving conduit for the building's trapped spirits, her quiet nature becoming a vessel for their sorrow and menace.
* **KAI (20):** A dramatic, morbidly enthusiastic artist with a flair for the theatrical. He sees beauty in decay and art in trauma, but his bravado is a thin veneer over a more conventional fear.
* **LUCIE (20):** Sharp-tongued and cynical, using gallows humor as a defense mechanism. She is quick to mock but is the first to show genuine terror when her cynical worldview is shattered.
* **SAM (19):** The pragmatic, tech-reliant documentarian. He is the voice of reason, constantly trying to steer the group towards a sensible, achievable project. His reliance on logic and technology makes him especially vulnerable when both fail him.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE DESCENT:** The four students enter the oppressive, dust-choked sub-basement of the Civic Hall. Their conflicting personalities are immediately clear: Kai's artistic pronouncements, Lucie's sarcastic quips, Sam's practical worries, and Bea's quiet observation.
2. **THE FIRST FIND:** Bea discovers a wooden crate. Inside are a doll's head, a surgical tool, and old letters. Kai is ecstatic, seeing it as artistic "gold."
3. **A DARKLY COMEDIC CONCEPT:** Kai and Lucie devise an exhibit concept around "bureaucratic haunting," framing the letters and artifacts as a darkly funny exposé. Sam protests, arguing for his more grounded documentary approach.
4. **THE REVELATION:** Bea, having read the letters and researched the archives, reveals the chilling truth: the hall is built over a mass grave for children who died of the "Lingering Fever." The humor evaporates, replaced by a palpable unease.
5. **THE CATALYST:** Bea finds a second, smaller box. She forces it open, revealing a lock of hair and a haunting daguerreotype. The moment the box opens, the atmosphere changes.
6. **LIGHTS OUT:** Sam's phone, their only light source, finally dies. They are plunged into suffocating darkness. An unnatural gust of wind and a cold touch confirm they are not alone.
7. **THE COLLECTOR'S TALE:** In the dark, Bea's voice becomes eerily calm. She recounts the story of the "Collector of Sorrows," who trapped the children's spirits within the building itself.
8. **THE AWAKENING:** A heavy, scraping sound begins from the floor directly above them. A child's giggle echoes through the space. Faint scratching starts from beneath their feet. They are trapped, and the "collection" is now awake and aware of them.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be claustrophobic and grounded in realism, utilizing a single, failing light source (a phone's flashlight) for most of the film. The aesthetic is one of oppressive decay: thick dust, peeling paint, deep shadows, and damp textures. The camera work should feel immediate and slightly unsteady, bordering on found-footage to immerse the audience in the characters' rising panic.
The tone begins with dark, gallows humor and artistic pretension, lulling the audience into a false sense of security. It then masterfully shifts into atmospheric, psychological dread, where the horror comes not from jump scares but from chilling revelations and the oppressive, inescapable environment. Tonally, it aligns with the contained, character-driven horror of *The Haunting of Hill House* and the morbid, twist-driven storytelling of an *Inside No. 9* episode, exploring how modern cynicism shatters when confronted with ancient, genuine sorrow.