“In the blurred lines of reality and horror, lies an unsettling truth – insanity is just a page away.”
Watch the original version of In the Mouth of Madness
Prologue:
In the quiet solitude of an insurance investigator’s office, resided an unquestioned order of routine. Files piled onto the desk, waiting for investigation – each one a puzzle, a question mark. It was a place where reality was mundane and unquestionable – a world as far as possible from the spine-chilling realms of horror novels.
John Trent, a seasoned insurance investigator, was a man of skepticism and practicality. He lived his life by facts, dismissing the unprovable and the uncanny with a sigh of disbelief. His world was about to be turned upside down.
Chapter 1: A Dark Beginning
The late-night neon glow spilled into John Trent’s office, casting long shadows on the piles of paperwork. His phone rang, shattering the eerie silence. On the line was a voice filled with urgency, the voice of his boss, Simon. Simon was sending him on a peculiar assignment – to find the missing Sutter Cane, a famed horror novelist.
“Cane’s publisher has filed an insurance claim,” Simon said, his voice trembling with a hint of fear. “They’ve claimed that they stand to lose millions if his latest manuscript isn’t found.”
Trent was skeptical. He didn’t believe in horrors or the supernatural. To him, the world was as black and white as the pages of the files he investigated. But he took the task, intrigued by the peculiarities of the case.
Diving into Cane’s world was like stepping into a different reality. His novels were filled with disturbing plots and grotesque creatures, all set in a twisted realm of his imagination. Trent found himself caught in a web of Cane’s fiction, his skepticism waning. Each book seemed more than just a story – they seemed to reflect a part of Cane’s own psyche.
One book stood out, “The Haunting of Hobb’s End”. The tale revolved around a quaint town, Hobb’s End, where the inhabitants fell victims to a horrifying ancient entity. Trent was startled when a map fell from the book’s pages. It was a crude, hand-drawn map of Hobb’s End. The lines of Trent’s reality blurred as he came upon the terrifying realization that Hobb’s End, the town from Cane’s book, was somehow real.
Driven by a mixture of fear and curiosity, Trent decided to follow the trail to the fictional town. The journey was unsettling, a quiet drive through desolate landscapes under an ever-darkening sky. As the familiar world receded behind him, a feeling of dread crept in. He was leaving his known reality behind and stepping into the murky unknown.
When he finally arrived at Hobb’s End, he was met with eerie familiarity. The town was disturbingly identical to its fictional counterpart, right down to the last detail. A chill ran down his spine as he navigated around, his surroundings mirroring the descriptions from Cane’s horrifying tales.
The town’s inhabitants, too, were as strange as their fictional counterparts. They displayed bizarre behaviors and spoke in hushed whispers. It was as if they were caught up in a nightmare, unable to awaken. The whole experience was like being trapped inside one of Cane’s books, the lines between reality and fiction becoming dangerously blurred.
The deeper Trent delved into the mystery, the more the world around him seemed to twist into grotesque shapes. The late-night whispering winds carried the scent of fear, and the rustling leaves seemed to echo with tormented screams. Each encounter, each revelation chipped away at his skepticism until he found himself on the brink of believing the unbelievable – that Cane’s books were more than just stories, they were a terrifying new reality.
As the first chapter drew to its close, Trent realized he was no longer just an insurance investigator. He was a character entangled in a horror story, a pawn in a horrifying game. And Sutter Cane, the missing author, was the puppeteer pulling the strings from the shadows, his pen mightier than any sword.
In the mouth of madness, John Trent stood on the precipice of reality, staring into the abyss. His assignment was no longer just about finding a missing person – it was about fighting for his sanity against the monstrous horrors leaping out from the pages of Sutter Cane’s books. The ordinary man was about to face the extraordinary, and his world was never going to be the same.
Chapter 2: Cane’s Trail
John Trent, the hardboiled insurance investigator, was used to frauds and swindlers. His daily business comprised cold truths and harsh realities. Thus, the task of uncovering the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Sutter Cane, an author notorious for his terrifying tales, was a peculiar one. Trent didn’t fancy himself a literary critic, but his curiosity was piqued. There was something decidedly unsettling about the ardent effect Cane’s works had on his fervent readers, running deeper than mere appreciation.
He decided to read one of Cane’s books, hoping it would provide some clue to his whereabouts. Picking the most popular one, “The Hobb’s End Horror,” he opened to the first page—an ordinary act, but one that catapulted him into an extraordinary journey.
The prose was evocative, incandescent in its terror. The characters felt so real, and their fears palpable. The story centered around a quaint town, Hobb’s End, tormented by an undercurrent of malevolent forces. He began to sense a strange coalescence of fear in the pit of his stomach, an inexplicable sensation that was not entirely his own, as if the book was somehow affecting him.
Trent dismissed it as an overactive imagination until he stumbled upon a striking detail – the address of the publisher mentioned in the book matched an actual address in New York City. The connection seemed too far-fetched to be a coincidence. Fuelled by this new lead, he decided to delve deeper into the world of Cane’s horrors.
He read more books, each one more chilling than the prior, and the lines separating fact and fiction slowly began to blur. The nightmarish world of Hobb’s End seemed to leak into reality, with Trent finding uncanny parallels with the real world. The horrifying tales of monstrous creatures terrorizing the town echoed the anecdotal evidence of readers, who were supposedly driven into madness by the books.
He began to question his sanity as he uncovered unsettling events similar to Cane’s tales, occurring in reality – the gruesome crimes, the rampant hysteria, and the inexplicably missing people. Every new discovery added a layer of complexity to the mystery, the clues intertwined like a complex labyrinth with no clear way out.
The air around him seemed to thicken with suspense and fear. His sleep was disturbed by nightmarish visions, echoing the terror of Cane’s tales. The world around him swirled with horrors, akin to the pandemonium described in the books. Preposterous as it seemed, the terror was unshakably real.
A chilling revelation dawned upon Trent. Could it be that the readers’ hysteria was not just a psychological reaction to the terror spun by Cane’s words, but something more paranormal? The thought was absurd, but nothing else explained the chaotic pattern of events. The way his readers succumbed to the horror, it was as if Cane’s books were pouring life into fiction – or was it the other way around?
Trent realized he was not merely investigating the disappearance of an author but delving deeper into a terrifying paradox where reality mirrored fiction. As he followed Cane’s trail, the boundary between the real world and the horrifying fictional world of Hobb’s End continued to fade. It became difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.
As he fell asleep after another day of investigation, he found himself standing at the entrance of Hobb’s End, the misty town sign torn at the edges. He knew he should’ve felt fear, but all he felt was a strange sense of belonging. As if he was meant to be there.
He woke up in a sweaty daze, realizing he couldn’t call it a mere dream anymore. It was a premonition. A piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was leading him on this twisted trail of horror. And he knew where he had to go next.
He decided to venture towards the nightmare, towards Hobb’s End, to unravel the enigma of Sutter Cane, willingly stepping from the realm of logic and sanity into the mouth of madness.
Chapter 3: The Haunting of Hobb’s End
In a chilling turn of events, Trent found himself standing at the obscure edge of a town that should not exist. Hobb’s End, a fictitious place birthed from the macabre mind of Sutter Cane, sprawled out before him, as real as any other hamlet he’d seen. Its fabled welcome sign towered ominously, casting a spine-chilling shadow over the quiet lanes. With a deep inhale, he steeled himself and ventured forth into the uncanny quiet of the town.
As he trod the antiquated sidewalks, every minute detail stirred disturbing echoes of Cane’s narratives. It was like walking into a chilling horror novel, with each structure standing as a haunting reflection of the written word. The quaint buildings, eerily reminiscent of vintage architectural sketches in Cane’s books, bore an overwhelming sense of foreboding.
First, he encountered Mrs. Pickman, the owner of the local inn, another character that had sprung to life from Cane’s pages. Meeting her in reality was a visceral jolt for Trent, a terrifying affirmation that the boundaries between fiction and reality were indeed blurring. She was unsettlingly friendly, her cordiality marred by an uncanny flicker in her eyes that dared him to confront the horrifying truth she carried.
Unnerved but undeterred, Trent meandered deeper into the strange labyrinth of Hobb’s End, driven by a compulsion to unravel this surreal mystery. Each footfall on the stone-cobbled streets felt like stepping further into Cane’s eerie world. His senses had been hijacked by the vivid imagery of the town, each sight and sound echoing unsettlingly with Cane’s tales of horror and madness.
Then, he came across the church. A chilling replica of the one described meticulously in Cane’s novels – the unholy sanctuary for the monstrous creatures of the night. It stood ominously, its gothic architecture and grotesque statues bearing an eerie resemblance to Cane’s cryptic narration. Inside, he was welcomed by a strange echo, a cacophony of whispered prayers that seemed to solidify the chill air around him.
He met the priest, Father Blythe, a figure of benevolent authority in the daylight but a servant of the ancient evil in the darkness, just as Cane had written. His friendly demeanor clashed jarringly with the unsettling revelations from Cane’s novels, adding an extra throb to the pulsing vein of unease that Trent felt.
It was becoming clear to Trent that the residents of Hobb’s End were under the sway of a chilling force. They moved and acted with a strange automatism, as if operating under a monstrous influence. They were trapped in an uncanny reality, their existence teetering precariously between the realm of the living and the realm of Cane’s horrific narratives.
As the day slipped into twilight, the tension in the air grew thicker. Nightfall in Hobb’s End was the playground of monsters, as per Cane’s narratives. As the shadows deepened, Trent felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, his adrenaline pumping as the town prepared for its recurring nightmare to play out, just as it did in every chapter of Cane’s infamous works.
In the dead of the night, the town witnessed its terrifying transformation. The quaint, quiet town morphed into a shadowy carnival of horrors as the terrifying creatures of Cane’s tales rose from their slumber. The sound of their monstrous growls echoed through the darkened streets, the echoes of their footfalls a frightful reminder of the spine-chilling tales Cane had spun.
Despite the mounting horror, Trent found himself paralyzed, trapped in a world where fiction had metastasized into grotesque reality. He was caught in a nightmarish spiral, his sanity hanging by a fragile thread as he navigated through the terrifying maze that Hobb’s End had become.
Engulfed by the overwhelming terror, Trent realized that Hobb’s End did not merely exist in the books of Sutter Cane; it was the chilling manifestation of a world tethered on the brink of madness. And he was trapped in this dread-inducing maze, a captive in the haunting of Hobb’s End. Yet as much as the reality of Hobb’s End terrified him, it drew him deeper into its sinister snare, compelling him to carve his path through its mysterious and monstrous labyrinth.
Chapter 4: In the Mouth of Madness
Amidst the ghostly fog of the ancient town of Hobb’s End, haunted by characters from Sutter Cane’s horror novels, investigator John Trent found himself questioning his grip on reality. Yet, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of a looming dread, an ancient evil awakening, a chaos as grand and intricate as the human mind.
Once a skeptic, he was now knee-deep in the terrifying miasma of horror that had sprung up from the twisted depths of Cane’s imagination. Cane, a seemingly ordinary man, was no longer just a mind behind terrifying tales. He was the harbinger of an ancient entity that sought to shatter the boundaries separating reality from fiction.
In a grand, gothic mansion that bore a haunting resemblance to Cane’s literary description, he found his first clue. A book, its leather-bound cover adorned with grotesque illustrations from ancient myths, its insides filled with Cane’s signature scrawl, a blend of logic-defying horror stories and impossible truths. It was a manuscript bearing the same title as the one Cane was rumored to have been working on before his disappearance: In the Mouth of Madness.
Trent gingerly flipped through the pages, each filled with the author’s chaos-inducing narratives. As he read the tales of cosmic horror and unspeakable evil, he felt an icy chill run down his spine. His eyes widened in terror as he gradually began to comprehend the horrifying reality.
Cane was not merely reporting on the awakening of an ancient, all-consuming horror. He was the catalyst. The horror didn’t exist until Cane had written it into existence. Through his books, he was rewriting the fabric of reality to reflect his distorted, terrifying vision.
Each book sold, each reader enthralled by the horrors within the pages, fed the ancient entity, making it stronger. The growing popularity of Cane’s works was not due to his masterful storytelling alone. The books nurtured and provoked a fear that lay dormant within every reader, spreading like a contagion, seeping into their minds, and awakening the ancient horrors that resided within the cosmic abyss.
Trent’s blood ran cold as the weight of the realization consumed him. The world was spiraling into the chaos Cane had written, bridging the gap between the pages and reality. His readers were not merely reading a horror story; they were living it, further fueling the beast that lay in the mouth of madness.
Belief, Trent realized, was a powerful tool. Belief could shape reality and bend it to one’s will. And Cane was wielding this power, using his readers’ belief in his stories to give birth to an unfathomable horror that threatened to consume the world.
Powerless but determined, Trent found himself at the heart of a maze constructed of fear and madness, where every turn threatened to swallow his sanity. Struggling to piece together the remnants of reality, he was faced with a choice: ignore the impending apocalypse, surrender to the burgeoning insanity, or confront the entity birthed from the dark abyss of Cane’s imagination.
Haunted by the grotesque creatures from Cane’s books, the town around him was already a frightening echo of the horrors penned in ‘In the Mouth of Madness’. Trent could do nothing but brace himself, ready to delve deeper into the terrifying world that was rapidly blurring the line between fiction and reality.
The chapter ended with Trent, once an unbeliever, now a reluctant hero standing at the precipice of an existential abyss, ready to challenge the horror that was no longer confined to the pages of a book. It was a chilling reminder of the omnipotent power of belief, and the catastrophic results that could occur when it falls into the wrong hands. No longer was he just an insurance investigator; he had become a beacon of hope in a world sinking into the mouth of madness.
Chapter 5: Losing Grip
As the gears of reality incessantly gnashed against the brutal edges of the surreal, John Trent found himself trapped within the confines of Hobb’s End. The quaint town, which had once only existed within the spine-chilling tales of Sutter Cane, was now as real as the perspiration trickling down his forehead.
The once serene morning sun was now tainted, casting grotesque shadows that seemed to breathe with an unnerving life of their own. The town folks, once friendly and welcoming, now lumbered about with vacant eyes, their expressions distorted by the hidden, all-consuming madness. The cobblestone streets, previously brimming with charm, now felt like a winding maze designed to snuff out sanity.
Trent walked the haunted streets of Hobb’s End, the chilling words of Cane’s books echoing in his ears. As the bridge between the world of ink and paper and the realm of flesh and blood continued to blur, so did the line between his sanity and madness.
With every step, Trent felt his grip on reality slipping, falling into an abyss resonating with the terrifying echoes of latent insanity. He encountered Cane’s monstrous creations, which had slid from the ether of imagination into the dreadful reality, prowling the streets with disturbing familiarity. They were no longer bound by the shackles of fiction; these abominations had escaped the prison of text and now roamed free, turning Hobb’s End into a macabre carnival of horrors.
Trent’s mind felt like a crumbling fortress under the relentless assault of phantasmal dread. As he navigated through the twisted alleys and nightmarish apparitions, the pervasive dread gnawed on his sanity like a persistent specter. Each encounter was a brutal reminder of Cane’s influence and the monstrous power of his writings. He could almost feel the palpable fear seeping from the pages, molding the world around him into a terrifying embodiment of chilling literature.
Despite the relentless onslaught, Trent fought to keep his sanity afloat. As an insurance investigator, he was trained to observe, to question, to debunk. He had always been a bastion of rationality in a world driven by suspicion and fear. But now, he was battling the harrowing constructs of a narrative that had dissolved the borders of reality.
Every anxious breath was a testament to his resilience, each heartbeat a drumroll against the symphony of dread orchestrated by Cane. His logic, his disbelief was his armor, his beacon of hope in a realm swallowed by darkness.
Taking shelter within the desolated library, Trent found himself surrounded by Cane’s books. It was a chilling paradox; the very source of his terror might hold the clues to his escape. As he leafed through the horrifying chapters, the grim prose danced before his eyes, morphing into grotesque scenes of his ominous reality.
An unnerving realization struck him; he was not just within a city from a book but was part of the narrative itself. He, and everyone else, was a character in Cane’s grand horror plot, puppeteered by the cruel hands of a master storyteller. This was not about finding an escape route on a map; it was about finding an escape within the labyrinthine storylines woven by Cane.
Desperation fueled his determination as Trent, armed with his dwindling sanity, decided to face his fears. He was not just an investigator anymore. He was a man fighting the horrors of a mastermind, a knight braving the grotesque dragons of madness. He was a ray of sanity in a world devoured by the all-consuming mouth of madness.
As the chapter of his ordeal within Hobb’s End unfolded, John Trent was losing his grip not just on reality but also on the concepts of existence, time, and space. Yet, he clung to the thread of sanity, weathering the storm of horrors that Sutter Cane had unleashed. He was a lone voyager sailing the tumultuous sea of madness, heading towards the epicenter of the storm, his resolve unwavering. His fight against the horrors of Hobb’s End was just the beginning.
Unbeknownst to him, his real battle, his ultimate confrontation with the author of his dread, was yet to begin. His run-ins with Cane’s monsters were mere footnotes in the grand horror narrative that awaited him. The true climax of his descent into madness was still unwritten, yet horrifyingly inevitable. The world as he knew it was changing, reality as he perceived it was disintegrating, yet John Trent was not ready to give in. Not yet. Not without a fight.
Chapter 6: The Final Manuscript
In the hauntingly silent study of Sutter Cane, Trent discovered the final manuscript. Its mere presence sent tremors of discomfort coursing through his body. On its cover, a title that made his heart plummet – “In the Mouth of Madness.” A sense of dread washed over him as he picked up the manuscript, its pages etched with Cane’s insidious words.
Cautiously, Trent began to read, his thoughts quickly ensnared by the terrifying narrative. The manuscript, just like Cane’s other books, was a chilling tale of monstrous entities plotting to break through into the human realm. But there was a difference – this manuscript portrayed reality. It was an unfulfilled prophecy, a doom yet to befall.
Each page he flipped, Trent found himself becoming the protagonist, his deeds, his thoughts, his fears etched onto the parchment before they even occurred. It was as if the manuscript knew him, anticipated him. He was reading his own future, authored by none other than Sutter Cane. He wasn’t just a character; he was meant to be the harbinger, the messenger who would deliver the realm of humanity to the approaching madness.
The truth dawned on Trent with a crushing intensity. This manuscript was the final piece of Cane’s devilish puzzle, the bridge that would unite fiction and reality, plunging the world into an unending nightmare. He knew then, the full extent of his predicament – he was the pawn in a wickedly clever game, a puppet whose strings were pulled by Cane’s malevolent narrative.
Trent could feel his mind teetering on the precipice of madness as he engrossed himself further into the manuscript. Yet, he was unable to tear himself away. His reality was spiralling, intertwining itself with the narrative’s unhinging path. He felt a strange bond, a twisted kinship with the character that bore his name in the manuscript, as they both stepped further into the realm of insanity.
As he neared the end of the manuscript, Trent was beset by a feeling of chilling inevitability. He was no longer John Trent, the insurance investigator. He was John Trent, the main character in Cane’s terrifying tale. And the manuscript bore only one conclusion – he was doomed to be the bearer of mankind’s downfall.
Filled with a terrifying realization and an insurmountable dread, Trent made a decision. He would confront Cane. If he was to be the pawn in this nightmarish game, he would at least meet his puppeteer. His determination grew with each beat of his rapidly pounding heart – he would face the evil that had unraveled his world.
As the sun set, casting long and distorted shadows around the room, John Trent, gripped by fear, yet fueled by resolve, prepared himself for the impending confrontation with Sutter Cane, the architect of his fate and the author of his madness.
Little did he know, this was exactly what Cane had intended. For in the twisted story of Sutter Cane, the protagonist must acknowledge his fate, must accept the manuscript, and play the role that was scripted for him. Even in his rebellion, Trent was dancing to Cane’s tune, spiraling further into the mouth of madness.
Chapter 7: The End or The Beginning?
There was no silence as Trent walked towards the imposing mansion, where the infamous Sutter Cane was rumored to reside. All around, the air pulsed with an unsettling energy, whispers of horror threading through the wind, twisting reality into terrifying shapes of chaos.
Trent’s heart pounded in his chest as he pushed open the warped door of the mansion. Instantaneously, he was thrust into an impossible, disorienting maze of rooms and corridors, each visually echoing Cane’s horrific tales. His senses assaulted by revolting stenches and horrific sights, Trent clung to his sanity, the final manuscript clenched tightly in his hand. The only thing separating him from the abyss of insanity was his resolve.
He wandered through the labyrinth, encountering grotesque creatures, each more terrifying than the last. The labyrinth was a living entity, pulsating in rhythm with the insanity that bleed from Cane’s final manuscript. Its twisted corridors distorted time and space, the walls whispering unspeakable horrors into his ear. Though his courage faltered, Trent persisted.
Finally, an ill-lit room materialized before him. Standing in chilling serenity amidst the chaos, Sutter Cane looked up from his desk, his piercing eyes bearing into Trent’s soul. Trent’s blood turned icy as he felt his sanity, his last line of defense, slipping away under Cane’s gaze.
“Welcome, Mr. Trent,” Cane’s guttural voice echoed through the room, “You’ve come a long way.”
Trent’s grip on the manuscript tightened. His voice trembled, “I’m here to end this.”
Cane chuckled. His laughter echoed morbidly in the silent room, “End? My dear Trent, this is just the beginning.”
Trent’s blood turned cold as he realized the horrifying truth. He had been deceived into playing a pivotal role in Cane’s ghastly plot all along. His journey, his decisions, everything had been manipulated.
Suddenly, Cane lunged towards Trent, wrenching the manuscript from his grasp. A blinding light filled the room as he opened the manuscript. Reality distorted, fluctuated, then tore apart, revealing a terrifying abyss. The concept of reality shattered as the boundaries between fiction and reality merged into one chaotic singularity.
Trent’s vision blurred, and he collapsed onto his knees as an overpowering wave of madness washed over him. His reality was no longer his own, but a terrifying narrative written by Cane. He was a character, trapped inside a horror story, his actions dictated by the will of the author.
Cane’s laughter echoed ominously, “You see Mr. Trent, we are all just characters trapped in the plotline of omnipresent horrors. Our sanity, our reality is a mere illusion, a thin veil covering a cosmos of madness.”
Trent felt his sanity slipping away, overrun by the dark, chaotic reality of Cane’s world. But there was a burning determination deep within him, a desperate hope to reclaim his reality, his sanity.
With a burst of willpower, Trent launched himself towards Cane. A struggle ensued, reality twisting and distorting around them. Trent’s fear was gradually replaced by a fierce resolve to reclaim his reality. He grappled for control of the manuscript. Their struggle reflected the cosmic battle between sanity and madness, reality and fiction.
With an adrenaline-fueled push, Trent wrested the manuscript from Cane’s grip. His heart pounded as he hurled the manuscript into the monstrous abyss. As the manuscript disappeared, an ethereal light erupted from the abyss, reducing everything into blinding white.
When Trent woke, he was back in his apartment, the world seemingly normal. But the horrifying memories of Hobb’s End and Cane’s manipulation were fresh, disturbingly real. He knew the world had changed, that the horrifying abyss of madness lurked in the shadows, just out of sight.
With the rise of dawn, Trent realized his struggle was not over. It had merely taken a different shape. As the deliverer of the final manuscript, he had set in motion an irreversible plot of global descent into chaos. In the fight against this cosmic horror, he found new purpose – he would warn the world, expose Cane’s insidious plot, and combat the impending doom.
“I will retake reality. This is not the end, but a beginning,” he whispered, his voice echoing in the silent dawn. Unbeknownst to him, the terrifying journey of John Trent had just begun, the line between sanity and insanity blurring as the world balanced precariously in the mouth of madness.
Some scenes from the movie In the Mouth of Madness written by A.I.
Scene 1
INT. JOHN TRENT’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
John Trent, an insurance investigator, late 40s, gruff but intelligent, walks in and shuts the door. He’s exhausted, days of work etched onto his face. He checks his mailbox, finds an envelope. Opens it. “Sutter Cane – Missing.” His eyebrows raise.
INT. TRENT’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Trent collapses on his couch, envelope clutched in hand. Scattered over his coffee table are Sutter Cane’s books. He opens one, eyes scanning the pages.
INT. FLASHBACK – VARIOUS CHAPTERS
Trent is seeing flashes of gruesome and chilling scenes from Cane’s books. Each one more horrific than the last.
BACK TO PRESENT
Trent closes the book, rubs his temples. He skeptically gazes at the pile of books, then back at the assignment in his hand.
TRENT
(whispering to himself)
Cane’s gone missing huh? This should be interesting…
FADE OUT. TO BE CONTINUED…
Scene 2
FADE IN:
INT. JOHN TRENT’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
John Trent (early 40s, skeptic, determined) sits at a wooden desk, engrossed in Sutter Cane’s latest horror novel. A dim lamp illuminates the room – casting long, eerie shadows on the walls.
TRENT
(reading aloud)
“You will doubt your own senses. You will question your own sanity…”
CUT TO:
EXT. SUTTER CANE’S HOUSE – FLASHBACK – NIGHT
Sutter Cane (mid 50s, enigmatic, wickedly charming) stands in the porch light, his eyes gleaming with devilish delight.
CANE
(reverberating voiceover)
“That’s the beauty of it all, isn’t it?”
BACK TO:
INT. JOHN TRENT’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
Trent slams the book shut, a shiver running down his spine. He reviews the case files strewn across his desk – newspaper clippings, pictures of Cane’s fans driven to madness, letters written in strange symbols.
Suddenly, his eyes catch a pattern in the letters. He quickly grabs a map – marks points corresponding to the pattern.
TRENT
(to himself)
“Hobb’s End… It’s not just a place in his stories…”
CUT TO:
EXT. RAINY STREET – NIGHT
Trent stands with a duffle bag, looking up at a dilapidated sign – ‘Welcome to Hobb’s End’. A sense of dread washes over him.
TRENT
(voiceover)
“Reality and fiction – where does one end and the other begin?”
Slow thunder RUMBLES in the distance as Trent walks down the deserted, rain-soaked street – leaving behind the world he once knew, entering the world of Sutter Cane’s horrors.
FADE OUT.
Scene 3
FADE IN:
EXT. HOBB’S END – DAY
A small, seemingly tranquil town, eerily silent. JOHN TRENT, mid-40s, confident and skeptical, steps off a bus and looks around.
Trent (V.O)
Hobb’s End…just like in the book.
He walks towards the only inn in town, its faded sign creaking in the wind.
INT. INN – DAY
BECKY, a young woman with stress lines framing her face, greets Trent.
BECKY
Can I help you, sir?
TRENT
Checking in…and perhaps, finding Sutter Cane.
Becky’s face pales. Puzzled by her reaction, Trent follows her to his room, eyes drifting over the unsettling decor.
EXT. TOWN SQUARE – DAY
Trent wanders, observing the townsfolk. Their behavior is bizarre, their eyes vacant.
He stops abruptly as a YOUNG BOY on a bicycle speeds by, shouting.
YOUNG BOY
He sees you! He sees you!
TRENT
Who sees me?
YOUNG BOY
Mr. Cane!
Trent shivers, but laughs it off. He spots an OLD CHURCH at the end of the road, resembling Cane’s descriptions. He decides to investigate.
INT. OLD CHURCH – NIGHT
Trent pushes open the creaking doors. He hears whispers echoing from the darkness. Suddenly, WILLY, a disturbed man with crazed eyes, lurches at him.
WILLY
You’re just like us now, aren’t you?
Trent retreats, Willy’s chilling laughter echoing behind him.
FADE OUT
Scene 4
FADE IN:
EXT. HOBB’S END – DAY
The quaint, small town appears harmless under the daylight, but JOHN TRENT knows better. He’s seen things here, felt them — an ominous presence inches under the surface.
INT. HOBB’S END LIBRARY – DAY
Trent, flipping through the pages of “In the Mouth of Madness,” scans for answers. Suddenly he STUMBLES upon a passage describing the awakening of an ANCIENT EVIL.
TRENT
(whispering to himself)
“No way…”
Suddenly, an OLD LIBRARIAN shuffles beside him.
OLD LIBRARIAN
“Do you read, Mr. Trent?”
TRENT
“Only to know my enemy.”
Trent shows her the book. The Librarian’s face pales.
OLD LIBRARIAN
“What’s written can’t be unwritten… It’s started.”
TRENT
“It’s just a book, it can’t-“
OLD LIBRARIAN
(interupting)
“But it’s not… It’s a key.”
She gestures to the town outside the window.
OLD LIBRARIAN
“The book… it’s turned our town, into his.”
TRENT
“I don’t believe it. I won’t.”
The Librarian smiles, but there’s no comfort in it.
OLD LIBRARIAN
“Deny it all you want, but he’s awoken.”
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. HOBB’S END – NIGHT
The town is plagued with CHAOS. People are screaming, RUNNING from monstrous creatures. The reality and fiction have blended. The horror from Sutter Cane’s book is here, in real life.
FADE OUT.
Scene 5
FADE IN:
EXT. HOBB’S END – NIGHT
A thick fog engulfs the town. The only sound, a distant, eerie HOWLING. JOHN TRENT stands alone, his face etched with determination. He ventures into the fog.
Suddenly, a SCREAM echoes. A chilling SHADOW looms in the fog.
JOHN
(to himself)
Stay calm, Trent…
Suddently, a hideous MONSTER (as described in Cane’s novel) lunges at him. Trent sidesteps, narrowly escaping its claws.
CUT TO:
INT. DERELICT BUILDING – MOMENTS LATER
Trent catches his breath, haunted by his terrifying encounters. He finds a torn page from one of Cane’s books. He reads, realization dawning on his face.
JOHN
(to himself)
These… these are not just stories…
Suddenly, the walls begin to close in on him. Panicking, Trent looks for an escape but finds none.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOBB’S END – CONTINUOUS
As the walls seem to close in, Trent spots a SEAM in the wall. He sprints towards it, leaping through and finding himself back in the town’s square.
Suddenly, the townsfolk appear, their faces blank, chanting a line from Cane’s book.
TOWNSFOLK
In the Mouth of Madness…
John stares, petrified. As he looks around, he realizes he is trapped in a spine-chilling reality of Cane’s imagination.
FADE OUT:
TO BE CONTINUED…
End of scene.
