Horror Corn Maze by Glass Darkly

Okay, so I'm finally getting a second to brainstorm about the horror movie. This is just going to be a stream of consciousness kind of thing as I am already very, very late. I haven't read anyone else's so as soon as I post this I'll read and comment.

Does it really have to be a corn maze? :P So... I'm picturing this labrynthine "structure" of corn stalks. The grounds have been cursed/enchanted so that any who enter has a unique experience. The spell or presence draws out the character's greatest fears and makes them live/face them.

They start out together, but soon they start seeing things. The deepest horrors dwelling inside each mind springs to life for them in the maze. No one can see the other's horrors, they only see their own. Maybe I should start at the beginning... who are these people and how do they get there? Hmmm...

A group of apprentice (do they have apprentices?) historians/archeologists have been assigned the area of Ancient Native American Curses for their master's project. Six of them... yeah six is a good number... Their professor (who probably turns out to be a decendant of whoever cursed the maze in the first place) wants a unique presentation, bemoaning the unremarkable offerings of the last few years.

The suck-up, we'll call him Douglas (not Doug or Doogie, though some of his classmates refer to him as "UGH" behind his back), is all over the idea and is determined to spur the other five to feats of historian greatness. He starts researching the idea... as do the rest, but without the fanatic zeal that Douglas puts into his work... he comes across a vague reference of the site. He shares it with the others and they all agree after finding out more about it that it would be perfect for their project.

The paranoid perfectionist, Jacqueline, who would be a suck up if she didn't take so much time making everything perfect that she missed out on all the sucking up opportunities (gotta move fast with Douglas around)... thinks it is actually the perfect site, but is worried about how little is really written about it.

Breezy, free spirited Thomas, Tom-tom, Tommy-boy, Tomeister, the Tomster (who received the long string of nicknames from the studious Nigel ((yes a tad cliche, but I tell you its a million dollar name, baby! :) )) who's just trying to be hip so Jacqueline will notice him) reassures Jackie that that is what they are there for, the whole world will know of this place once they finish their project. (Douglas approved of this little speech, btb)

Rounding out the group are the twin sisters, Amalia and Avaria... ha ha just kidding. Artemis (Temis or Missy) and Apollo (Paula) are actually their names. Their parents thought they were having boys and didn't want to change the names they'd picked. The parents are well respected in their own field of Ancient Greece and Rome - Do You Know the Difference? Its a seminar they give around the country. It's fabulous, really.

Artemis is as gung ho as her parents and most of the rest of the class. Apollo is less enthusiastic, but she goes where her sister goes, as always.

Okay so (details, details, planning, packing, searching, finding) they get to the site in the middle of the day. All seems well, so they take their gear and head inside to find a good place to camp. Light-hearted joking abounds giving off the feeling that all's right with the world and this movie isn't going to turn into a bunch of blood, guts and screaming.

The sun begins to set and Jacqueline gets up to pace around a bit. Thomas tells her to lighten up and enjoy the night, beautiful skies, yadda yadda yadda. She puts on a brave face, but still decides she needs a bit more leg stretching. So she takes off down one of the paths, with her trusted map... that she got somewhere... que slightly more eerie music... scenery still beautiful though. She even sees a few cute little furry creatures. When she passes shadows fall over them and they look bloody and creepy.

She goes back to the group, feeling a bit better. Dinner's ready and everyone sits around the fire, Nigel suggests telling ghost stories (because that's what cool kids do around a campfire you know). They all tell one and laugh after each, some nervously, others accompanied with rolling of eyes. Then Paula sees a big tarantuala climbing up her sister's back, screams and points and scoots away. Everyone jumps up and gets all excited... but when none of the rest of them see anything they throw marshmellows at her telling her it was a good joke.

She gives a forced laugh then frowns, looking behind her sister for signs of the big ugly thing. Hmmm... maybe this isn't exactly how the assignment was supposed to go... I should get to the horror part. Basically, people start seeing things they are afraid of, it starts out small and innocently enough, (in and out of reality) but soon they are trapped in their own minds and no one is seeing anything real anymore.

Nigel comes across Thomas, but he thinks he is the man that killed his parents when he was little. Thomas walks over to Nigel (who he sees as Nigel), trying to comfort him as Nigel is looking pretty bad. Nigel sees the murderer, hears him taunting and getting closer and suddenly in his scurrying backwards his hand falls on the handle of a scythe which he whirls around in Tom/the murderer's direction.

Tom tries to get away, but stumbles. He pleads and cries for Nigel to see who he is, but Nigel doesn't. He hears the murderer continue to taunt him, so he swings down over and over again slicing and dicing poor Tom to pieces... cue staccato theme to accompany Tom's dying screams. I'm thinking this should happen after Tom figures out what's going on and tries to tell the others. Obviously the maze doesn't want anyone figuring it out.

Does Nigel come out of it and realize what he's done? Not sure... Has the maze taken him under its... stalk... and appointed him executioner? I'm thinking the reason the professor has had such lackluster results is that he assigns the same project year after year, but the students keep dying and the ones who make it out don't want to talk. Have to figure out a way to hide that from the school/public because that many students dying every year would get suspicious.

Maybe two or three make it out and come after him and then more horror ensues as he uses the dark magic his family has handed down through the centuries. Either everyone dies and some creepily familiar explanation is used (like... the audience finds out the "truth" behind why you lose socks in the dryer... and its some big scary evil thing. Lame example, but that's what I mean... something completely ordinary that no one thinks about actually has a horrifying story behind it.)... or one or two of the students survive and kill the guy (which leaves an opening for a sequel because those kinds of bad guys never really die :P) ... or get him locked up, which still leaves an opening for a sequel which horror movies seem to feed on :P

Okay... I might put more thought into this later, its kind of interesting to me :) But I'm going to post what I have now so I don't get even further behind and I've been wanting to read all yours all week! Hope I made sense... I didn't get very gorey, sorry Hill...