Original subtitles

(Moody rock music)

(Siren wails)

(Tires screech)

(Moody atmospheric music)

Hello?

Hello, admitting.

This is saperstein.

Where is he?

He's cleared admitting?

Right.

Bring him in.

He's coming.

Good, good.

(Patient moans)

Trent?

John j.

Put him in number nine.

- (Thuds) - (Groans)

You son of a bitch!

- (Thud) - (Grunts)

Hang on to him!

(John moans)

No, no.

=-no, no, no. Come on, get him in there.

No, no, not me!

No, wait, wait.

This is wrong.

Look, I'm sorry about the balls!

It was a lucky shot, that's all!

Wait!

Thank you wait!

(Indistinct announcements over pa)

- I'm not insane, you hear me? - (Tense orchestral music)

I'm not insane!

- (Man 1) I'm not if he's not! - (Man 2) Oh, I'm not!

- (Indistinct shouting) - (Man 3) Me either!

I'm not insane!

Me neither!

I'm not insane!

(Peaceful electronic music)

- (Muffled moans) - (Thuds)

Yes, doctor?

It's working, they're calming down.

J you've only begun j

oh, no.

Not the carpenters, too.

J so many roads j

(music slows and winds down)

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Knocks)

(Knocks)

(Knocks)

This is a rotten way to end it.

This is not the ending, vou haven't read it yet.

- (Glass smashes) - (Intense abrasive tones)

(Man laughing)

(Glass smashes)

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Thunder claps)

Yes, just a moment.

- Here you are, doctor. - Thank you.

All right.

Came in this afternoon? Yes.

How did you get here so fast?

We've been monitoring all admissions through police

and paramedic channels, this one fit the symptoms.

You think he's one of them?

Mr. saperstein, I promise you,

that's what I'm here to find out.

Things must be getting pretty bad out there

to bring you fellas in.

Is this it? =yes.

Did he make any requests? =just...

One.

A, uh, single black crayon.

(Locks clicking)

John?

Hang on.

What's up?

My name is Dr. wrenn,

and I'm going to try and get you out of here.

(Scoffs) After all my redecorating?

No, I think I'll stay.

There's a guard with a pair of swollen testicles

who swears you wanted out of here.

Oh yeah, well...

I've changed my mind.

I see.

The crosses are a nice touch.

They'd almost have to keep you here once they'd seen these,

wouldn't they, John?

Got a smoke?

(Thunder claps)

You're waiting to hear about my them, aren't you?

Your what?

My them.

Oh, every paranoid schizophrenic has one.

A them, a they, an it.

And you wanna hear about my them, don't you?

I want to know how you got here.

Things are turning to shit out there, aren't they?

Let's talk about you.

(Chuckles)

Your dime.

I'm a...

I was an insurance investigator, freelance.

Checked out funny claims, frauds, the usual kind of thing.

And lately, I'd been working for a firm here in the city.

And all of this started with the disappearance.

The sutter cane disappearance.

(Moody guitar music)

It's a little hot in here, isn't it?

It's boiling.

How long I gotta be here?

I mean, I took care of all that paperwork.

The check was supposed to be here three weeks ago, right?

Isn't that right?

Well usually, yeah, that's the way it goes, but,

I just have a few final questions to ask about the fire.

- You understand. - (Sighs) More questions.

I've answered all your questions, I mean,

enough"s enough here.

It was supposed to be cut and dried, I mean, they told me.

Look, I understand, we'll be outta here in 3 minute.

See, robby here, he owns the company.

And he's hired me to see that things go smoothly.

You understand.

And it's just a little thing, but you see,

robby takes a view that it was you who burned down

your own warehouse on northern boulevard.

Me? (Chuckles) That's horseshit.

That was all my own stuff in that warehouse.

- I mean, that's my whole life. - Believe me, I sympathize.

Jeez, you're really starting to sweat.

Shall I turn on the air conditioning, what do you think?

- Oh, no, I'm fine. - Are you sure?

Yeah, yeah!

- Okay. - It's just,

I'm running a little late, that's all. It's...

I'm supposed to pick up my wife. T-=

oh, yeah, your wife.

She's a great lady.

You know her? =no, not really.

We just met briefly.

You know, when I went round to check up on your story.

See, we have these photographs, of your wife,

tooling around town, wearing various articles that you claim

were destroyed in the fire.

No, no, that's (Chuckles) Impossible.

No, this is all stuff I bought for her myself.

See, the problem is, when I went round to talk to her,

it turned out she knew a lot more than she thought she did.

Especially...

Especially after I showed her pictures of miss palminteri,

who appears to be wearing even more of your

destroyed articles.

Miss palminteri?

Miss Rosa palminteri.

A word of advice.

You wanna pull a scam, don't make your wife a partner.

And if you do, don't fuck around behind her back.

(Robinson) Trent, you look beautiful.

Everybody says you got the best

nose for a con in the business.

But to see it firsthand, I mean,

to watch you work is incredible.

Well, it wasn't hard, robby, the guy's wife liked me.

Besides, he was an amateur.

It's just too easy with amateurs.

See, you try to figure out who's professional and who isn't.

And that's when it gets fun, when you run into a pro.

You know, most of my salesmen couldn't sniff out

a phony claim if their noses were nailed to it, but you,

- man, you never miss. - (Suspenseful music)

(John) What's to miss?

You learn to expect the worst in people and you get it.

Everyone's looking to play an angle.

I'm always there to clean up the mess.

I'll tell you what.

You stop freelancing and join my staff.

I'll make it worth your while, Trent.

Forget it, robby.

I'm my own man, nobody pulls my strings.

I'm independent and I'm happy.

(Robinson) Well, be my man one more time.

I'm having quite a difficult mess with arcane.

The publishing house? =yeah.

It's my biggest account.

They just filed a claim that cost me millions.

I want you on this right away.

- What's the claim? - Sutter cane is missing.

- (Glass smashes) - (Patrons scream)

- (Screams) - (Dramatic music)

Do you read sutter cane?

What?

(Tense tones)

(Man grunts)

(Gun fires)

Lay down, lie close, lay down!

(John panting)

- (Siren wails) - (Tires screech)

(Jaunty electronic jingle)

(Male anchor) Horror writer sutter cane.

A harmless pop phenomenon,

or a deadly mad prophet of the printed page?

This was the scene today outside several city bookstores.

Police believe the riots began because the stores could not

meet the demand for advance orders of sutter cane's latest

novel, in the mouth of madness.

When does fiction become religion?

And are his fans dangerous?

Only if you count axes.

(Female anchor) In related news, there were 18 other stores

across the city reporting...

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Woman) Mr. Trent?

Mr. Trent?

Mr. harglow will see you now.

Thank you.

You're not listening to me, I needed it yesterday.

If you wait any longer, it'll be all over the front page!

Get it done.

Jackson harglow, Mr. Trent, I'm pleased to meet you.

It's a pleasure. Excuse the commotion.

We have something of a crisis going on.

Now, everybody out now, please.

I need time with Mr. Trent.

Have Sylvia hold the calls and you get Linda in here.

- Yes, Mr. harglow. - Gee, that was great.

- I almost left myself. (Laughs) - (Laughing) Sit down, please.

I am a little short on Patience these days, I'm afraid.

So, Mr. Trent, are you familiar with arcane?

Well, aside from the fact that you're insured

by the company I work for, I never heard of arcane.

- I'm sorry. - You read books?

Linda styles, John Trent.

Linda reads books for a living.

She's one of our best editors.

Since she joined the firm, she's been handling

sutter cane exclusively.

Sutter cane.

Isn't he the guy that writes that horror crap?

Maybe he's too sophisticated for you. Sutter cane

happens to be this century's most widely-read author.

You can forget about Stephen King.

Cane outsells them all.

So, what happened to this cash cow of yours?

Cane disappeared two months ago without a trace.

The police have turned up nothing.

Who was the last person to hear from him?

His agent.

Cane mailed him several chapters of his new book,

oh, not two weeks ago.

Plain brown wrapper, no return address.

(Linda coughs)

Oh, gee, I'm sorry.

You don't mind, do you?

What'd the agent have to say?

Well, you heard what he had to say.

(Chuckles) What're you talking about?

I understand you were there when the poor man went crazy

in midtown Manhattan,

you witnessed the shooting, I believe.

That lunatic with the ax, that was cane's agent?

Hard to believe, isn't it?

(Chuckles)

Yeah, well you'd think a guy that outsells Stephen King

could find better representation.

Excuse me.

(Suspenseful music)

(Woman) Miss styles, this is what we have.

It's just a little joke.

Well, we're not in the mood.

- I'll see you out, Mr. Trent. - Thank you.

Cane is a billion-dollar franchise.

He's the tent pole to this company.

We've already sold the film rights to his new book,

as well as publication rights in 18 languages.

Book you can't find?

Well, his agent found it, at least part of it.

You think he just took one look at this latest work of art

and just went ax-happy in broad daylight?

I think it's great.

It's great promotion for arcane, great publicity.

This was not a publicity stunt, you were there.

Cane's writing has been known to have

an effect on his less-stable readers.

- Effect, like what? - Well, disorientation.

Memory loss, severe paranoid reaction.

People pay money to feel like that? It's cute.

- Put it in the press kit. - Look, we need you.

Okay.

Well, why don't you and I get together after work?

We'll go through his files.

I don't think so.

I need to see his contracts, papers, you know?

Impossible, his agent was a total buffer.

We don't even know where cane lives.

What do you know?

Well, for about a year before he disappeared,

his work became erratic, bent, more bizarre than usual.

He became convinced his writing was real and not fiction,

then the work stopped coming.

I need to know if he's alive or dead, and I need that book.

We've delayed publication as long as we can.

His fans are getting really restless.

This shit really sells, doesn't it?

More than you'd imagine. Surprised?

Lady, nothing surprises me.

We fucked up the air, the water, we fucked up each other.

Why don't we finish the job by just

flushing our brains down the toilet?

Why don't you try reading his stuff?

See if you can get it?

Got anything on tape?

(Eerie piano music)

(Distant thuds and grunts)

(Officer panting)

You want some too, buddy?

Now, relax, robby.

Look, it's a scam, of course it's a scam.

You see, all this strange behavior from people

that read the books and the agent going nuts and so on,

it's, I figure it's like mass hysteria, you know?

It's like, um, it's a pop phenomenon.

It's a craze, it'll pass.

It's this year's hula-hoop, something like that.

Yeah, my god, it's freaky.

No, it's a setup, it's a setup.

I just have to work out how it's set up, that's all.

It's just a matter of time.

You too?

(Laughing)

God, I've had heartburn, tell me about it.

(Reporter) Sporadic riots continue to hit eastern cities,

and reports of violence from Boston and Philadelphia

are now coming in.

Police continue to describe barely coherent witnesses, all

reporting having read horror novelist sutter cane's latest

novel, hobb's end horror.

Many officers have been physically attacked,

and more than 380 people, male and female,

have been jailed in New York county.

Two officers in Boston were hacked to death

amid jeering crowds in an attack last night.

(Suspenseful music)

What is this horrible, unexplainable madness

that is gripping our lives?

What in the world is happening?

(Man) I can see.

Excuse me”?

He sees you.

Great, uh, (chuckles) Tell him I say hi.

(Phone rings)

Hello?

Oh, hi, robby, veah.

Yeah, not a lot.

I picked up some of these sutter cane books.

You know, I've been reading them.

Well, pulp horror novels, they're all pretty familiar.

They all seem to have the same plot, you know.

Slimy things in the dark, people go mad,

they turn into monsters, you know.

The funny thing is that they're kind of

better-written than you expect, you know?

They sort of get to you in a way.

I don't know if it's his style of writing,

or his use of description or whatever, but... hm?

(Chuckles) No, don't be silly.

(Laughing) No, no, no.

- (Sighs) - (Suspenseful music)

(Distant thuds and grunts)

(Ominous tones)

(Whispering)

- (Tense atmospheric music) - (Thuds and grunts)

Do you want some too, buddy?

(Agent) He sees you.

He sees you.

He sees you.

What?

- (Agent screams) - =(Thuds)

(Music swells)

(Panting)

Oh, it's just too weird.

(Intense abrasive tones)

(Gasps)

(Panting)

(Eerie atmospheric music)

Beautiful.

(Sighs)

Where'd you go?

Assuming you went somewhere.

Cute.

Now I know why cane had the artwork done himself.

See this?

It's a map.

The red dot is hobb's end.

It's not on any real map, but look at this.

The two line up.

Like it or not, cane's book covers place hobb's end

right in the middle of new england.

So you're saying the man went someplace fictional?

No, no, no, it's a real place in a real state.

- New Hampshire, to be precise. - But it's not on the map.

Well, not on any new ones, but maybe on some old ones.

There's plenty of forgotten towns across America.

Makes a great contest, doesn't it?

Put the pieces together, find the town,

win a sutter cane lunchbox.

How can you be sure he's there?

Well, I'd have to go to be sure.

Are you sure you want me to go?

See, I'm not suggesting that you're lying,

that you're about to file a fraudulent claim, but,

forgive me if this sounds a little bit like bullshit to me.

And if you're telling the truth,

if you really want vour author back,

if you really want your book, then maybe it's in

both our best interests if I go find him.

We have nothing to hide, Mr. Trent.

I desire only our fair share if cane is dead,

or our property if he's alive.

Since I assume you also have nothing to hide,

I'm sure you won't mind if I send miss styles along

on your expedition.

Well, it's your party.

J America the j

J beautiful j

j fromsea to.

J shining j

- (Horn squeaks) - (Linda gasps)

What was that, what?

(Laughing) You're awake.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, whoa, whoa!

Couldn't you just shake me, you asshole?

What did I do, what did I do?

We're lost.

We are lost because there is no such place as hobb's end.

Well, we'll see.

Never, never, never throw chips at a driver.

(Scoffs)

Damn, shit.

(Whispers) Asshole.

(John) Styles, can 1 ask you something?

Do you really like working on cane's stuff?

You really like busting people?

Yeah.

I bust frauds, I bust phonies, and yeah, I love it.

Have you ever busted anyone you know?

Yeah, sure, I did.

Didn't make any difference, you see, in my business,

you soon find out that anybody's capable of anything.

If you can think of it, they've done it.

Doesn't leave you much to believe in.

(John) Yeah, but think of the upside, at least

it doesn't leave you too much to be disappointed in, either.

Believe me, the sooner we're off the planet, the better.

Now you sound like cane.

No, not me.

You're the cane lover.

I just like being scared.

Cane's work scares me.

What's to be scared about?

It's not like it's real or anything.

It's not real from your point of view,

and right now reality shares your point of view.

What scares me about cane's work,

is what might happen if reality shared his point of view.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, we're not talking about reality here.

We're talking about fiction, it's different, you know?

A reality is just what we tell each other it is.

Sane and insane could easily switch places,

if the insane were to become the majority.

You would find yourself locked in a padded cell,

wondering what happened to the world.

No, that wouldn't happen to me.

Well, it would if you realized

everything you ever knew was gone.

It'd be pretty lonely being the last one left.

(Doctor) Not only in Manhattan proper, but there was

an incident in long island that was also related to it.

(Host) Oh, come on, doctor, I don't buy this.

I mean, what are you saying, that there's some kind of

disease that's spreading across the country?

(Doctor) It is an addiction that people have at

this time, of fantasy creating a pile of written material.

(Host) How could it be addicting?

Look, I mean this is words! (Doctor) All things have been...

- (Eerie atmospheric music) - (Playing cards clack)

(Doctor) Or just something that is created by the press?

That's nonsense...

(Host) Acting stupid is what it is.

- (Music swells) - (Playing cards clack)

(Linda gasps)

Jesus Christ. What?

I just saw, I saw a...

A cow, a sheep?

A pig, what'd you see?

- Never mind, it was nothing. - (John) Good.

(Linda screams)

(Tires screech)

(Suspenseful orchestral music)

Don't move him!

- Is he alive? - T don't know.

Just don't move, he'll get a blanket, lie still.

I can't get out. Don't move.

He won't let me out.

(Steel rattles)

(Ominous tones)

- (Eerie atmospheric music) - (Playing cards clack)

(John) He was okay?

Come on, let's go.

We'll tell the cops when we hit the next town.

You okay?

(Radio interference and static)

- (Snhoring) - (Suspenseful music)

(Wind whistles)

(Thunder claps)

(Tense orchestral music)

(Whimpering)

Oh, I can't believe it.

I must have slept through the whole night.

Hey, thanks for driving.

What is it?

Look.

(Eerie atmospheric music)

(Chuckles) Styles, you're fantastic, you found it.

What's wrong?

You drive.

Cute, cute, cute.

Main street, U.S.A.

Jesus.

Antiques.

This old crap, I wonder where they manufacture this shit.

(Ominous tones)

Look.

Those kids.

You didn't see them?

No.

Where is everyone, it's like the place is picture-perfect

and there's nobody around.

Come on.

(Ominous tones)

(Suspenseful atmospheric music)

Styles, how'd you know about this place?

I thought you'd never been here before.

I haven't, I've read about it.

So have you.

This is empty now.

It used to be filled

with strange growing things, remember?

One night, the townspeople saw something moving in here,

something enormous, with arms like snakes.

Oh, veah.

Hobb's end horror.

The hotel from hobb's end horror.

Styles, you know what I'm thinking?

There's gotta be a great tie-in for a town like this.

I mean, think of the tourist potential for instance, or...

There should be a painting behind us.

(John) Oh, yeah.

It's nice.

(Linda) There's a loose board there.

(Floorboard creaks)

(Bell dings)

Good morning. =hi.

Can I help you folks?

I certainly hope so, we'd like a room, please.

We're on our way to Boston, we thought we'd take a...

Break in your famous little town.

Famous?

(John) Yeah, what with the whole sutter cane thing and all.

(Woman) Sutter who?

Cane.

We heard he came from around here.

He comes back to stay once in a while.

I don't know anybody named cane.

(Chuckles) Nobody passes through here much anymore.

Let me get you your keys.

(John) You want me to leave a deposit,

or my credit card or something?

(Woman laughing) Oh, city folk.

(John chuckles)

Oh!

Well, styles, if that's what you saw, then,

(chuckles) Yeah, I guess it would be a little unsettling.

I'd be a little unnerved myself, but regardless

of what you saw, regardless of what you think,

we are not living inside a sutter cane story.

They're all in here.

The Mrs. pickman in the book is a lunatic

who chops her husband into coleslaw.

That sweet old thing that we met downstairs,

isn't capable of anything worse

than dipping her dentures into her husband's beer.

Trent, I know you think this is a joke.

Just listen to me for a second, please.

What if cane's work isn't fiction?

Oh, for Christ sake.

This is reality.

(Knocks)

You hear that?

Reality.

Now, if what you're saying is true,

there should be, out that window,

a black byzantine church with 250-foot spires,

with gold onions on the top.

Now, look!

You see?

Reality.

You didn't read closely enough.

The view is from the east.

(Ominous tones)

"This place had once been the seat of an evil

"older than mankind and wider than the known universe.

"It was a place of pain and suffering

"beyond human understanding.”

You've got me reading this thing like it's a guidebook.

"Originally, there was an old stone church built

"on this site in 1788, but the black church swallowed up

"the old sanctuary, the way it has swallowed our minds.

"Now there is nothing left of what was once here,

"except the mosaic of our lord and savior,

"above the front door.

"Some believe the old sanctuary still exists somewhere,

"trapped inside this evil edifice.

"It's primeval inhabitants were a murderous race

"of creatures, whose vile existence contaminated

"time itself, affecting history,

"with their sadistic wickedness."

(Door rattling)

(Linda) It's the battle for heaven.

The archangel Michael's fighting off...

Don't tell me, fighting off one of the creatures

from the other side, right?

A representation.

The things cane writes are indescribable.

Beyond description.

Right.

We're wasting our time, we ought to be asking about cane.

(Tires screeching in distance)

We'll have somebody to ask in about two seconds.

Come on, we have to get out of here.

We can't be in front of the church, Trent.

They have guns, Trent!

(Suspenseful music)

(Tires screech)

Cane!

(Gun fires)

No, no, no, wait.

(Gun fires)

Give him back!

(Ominous tones)

Johnny.

Johnny boy.

(Doors thud)

(Thunder claps) =(Doors thud)

- (Thunder claps) - (Ominous music)

Is that cane?

(Thunder claps)

(Dogs snarl)

(Dogs bark)

(Doors slam)

(Suspenseful music)

(Gun fires)

Get in the truck.

- No! - Where are they coming from?

No, no, no!

Stop it! (Screams)

(Man groans)

I see.

Tell me how you knew about that mob, tell me that, hm?

You see, you can't bullshit a bullshitter, can you?

'Cause I'll tell you how.

This whole thing has been staged, that's how.

You, harglow and cane, you put me through all of this so I can

go back and blab to the media

about cane"s haunted little town,

help you sell a few more million copies, well, fuck that.

- You're wrong. - No, I'm not.

And before I leave this shitty town,

I'm gonna find someone who's gonna come clean.

And we're gonna dismiss your bullshit claim.

You're wrong, Trent, I know you are wrong!

How am I wrong?

(Linda) Because you're right, you're half-right.

This was a hoax.

We did send cane away on a publicity stunt,

only he never showed up.

Harglow sent me with you to make it look good.

Only we weren't supposed to find anything, but we did.

That's how I know what we're seeing is real.

We didn't stage any of this.

It's all happening for real, Trent.

And it is all in that book and that's how I know.

You're lying.

I read the books too, you remember?

There's nothing about any mob, any little girl.

Not in the old books, Trent, in the new one.

No one knew what was in it except me and cane's agent.

(John sighs)

All right.

What's it about, the new one?

It's about the end. To everything.

And it starts here in this place,

with an evil that returns and takes over hobb's end

piece by piece, starting with the children.

It's about people turning into things,

creatures that aren't human anymore.

It's fiction, styles.

Fiction.

We need to read the new book to find the way out.

- How is that gonna help? - We could skip to the ending.

Styles, I really hope vou're making this up.

I really do, because if you're not, you're actually crazy.

Please, Trent.

Don't make me do this alone.

Hey.

Hey.

Are you coming with me?

(Sighs)

Fine.

Have a nice bus ride home.

(Ominous tones)

(Mrs. pickman) No smoking, please.

It bothers my husband.

I'm sorry, I just can't seem to help myself around here.

Just on my way out.

I thought I'd stop and admire the artwork.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Sure is.

Styles told me you painted it yourself.

Styles?

Oh, the...

You mean the pretty young thing you came in here with.

I don't know her at all.

Does she know me”?

Well, she claims she does.

So you're not responsible for this?

Hell no.

Well, it's a nice place you got here.

Although it must be a hell of a thing to keep clean.

You look as if you've been up all night.

- Been reading. - (Faint groans)

- (Thud) - (Faint groan)

- Styles? - (Door closes)

- Styles! - (Car starts)

Styles!

(Tires screech)

(Faint groans)

- Hush! - (Faint groans)

(Dark electronic music)

(Man) You're a writer?

No, are you an actor?

Take a hint, leave.

This ain't no tourist town.

Oh, I've been trying to.

You guys are good, you know?

You, the old lady at the hotel.

Really, really good.

Cane's been messing with the church.

Now, something came leaking out,

took the little ones first, then passed it on to us.

Can I buy you a beer?

Don't let it get to you, just get out.

Give it.

(Linda) What are you?

Where do you come from?

Where do you live?

With you.

Who takes care of you? =you do.

You're my mommy.

Know what today is?

Today is mommy's day.

(John) Styles?

Linda.

(Ominous tones)

(Inhaling deeply)

(Eerie atmospheric music)

(Typewriter clacking)

(Dog snarls)

(Typewriter clacking)

- (Door slams) - (Typewriter clacking)

Linda.

Nice to see you again.

(Typewriter clacking)

You can edit this one from the inside, looking out.

It's funny, isn't it?

For years, I thought I was making all this up.

But they were telling me what to write.

(Door rattles)

(Dark orchestral music)

Giving me the power to make it all real.

And now it is.

All those horrible, slimy things,

trying to get back in?

They're all true.

(Door rattles)

Come.

See the instrument of their homecoming.

What you have come looking for.

The new Bible...

That starts the change.

Helps you see.

(Intense abrasive tones)

(Dark atmospheric music)

Do you like my ending?

Any suggestions?

(Tearing)

(Creature snarls)

(Dramatic chord)

- (Linda moans) - You found something.

- Where did you go? - I'm losing me.

I'm losing me, John.

Help me, I'm losing me.

(Panting)

What's happening? =I saw the book.

Don't look at it, don't read it, John.

I'm losing me!

(Bell dings)

Mrs. pickman?

(Suspenseful music)

(Phone dings)

Come on, you old bitch.

(Distant shrieks)

(Creature shrieks)

(Muffled moans)

- (Creature shrieks) - (Man screams)

Mrs. pickman?

(Creature shrieks)

- (Thud) - (Man screams)

(Panting)

Styles?

(Muffled snarls)

We're going.

Now.

(Muffled snarls)

(Ominous tones)

(Creature shrieks)

- (Townsfolk moan) - (Children sing merrily)

J you are a dead girl j

styles.

(Ominous tones)

Styles?

Fuck you!

(Man) You're still here.

Busy night.

Special effects, hidden speakers.

You people are professionals, I'll give you that.

The thing I can't remember is what came first.

Us or the book.

We are not living in a sutter cane story!

This is not reality!

(Man chuckles)

Reality is not what it used to be.

Oh, Jesus, this place makes my head hurt.

Oh, really?

Come on, look at this.

This was done by a five-year-old, my five-year-old.

Johnny's sister.

She did me after she did her mom.

You're alone.

Don't.

(Man) I have to, he wrote me this way.

(Gun fires)

- (Tense string music) - (Blood drips)

(Panting)

(Thud)

- (Thud) - (Linda groans)

(Panting)

Oh, shit.

The key.

- (Keys rattling) - (Linda laughing)

Jesus!

(Linda groans)

(Thud)

Christ.

Shit.

(Car starts)

(Tires screech)

(Panting)

Never leave the city, why don't I learn?

Are we leaving?

We're already home. You should have believed me.

Where's the fucking highway?

Cane's writing me, he wants me to kiss you.

Why?

Because it's good for the book.

Jesus.

It's what the readers wanna read.

Oh, god!

(Tires screech)

(Ominous tones)

Get off, get...

Get away from Mel!

- (Distant steel rattles) - (Suspenseful music)

(Playing cards clack)

- (Linda moans) - (Squishing and cracking)

Cane has a job for you.

(Squishing and cracking)

(Giggles)

(Squishing and cracking)

(Giggles)

- (Giggles) - (Squishing and cracking)

(Tires screech)

(Giggles)

- (Suspenseful music) - (Panting)

- (Giggles) - (Ominous tones)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

A few bad calls.

A few wrong turns.

(Ominous tones)

(Playing cards clack)

- (Linda giggles) - (Ominous tones)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

- (Linda giggles) - (Ominous tones)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

(Tires screech)

(Metal crashing)

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Panting)

(Ominous tones)

(Cane) Do you wanna know the problem with places like this?

With religion in general?

It's never known how to convey the anatomy of horror.

Religion seeks discipline through fear,

vet doesn't understand the true nature of creation.

No one's ever believed it enough to make it real.

The same cannot be said of my work.

(John chuckles)

Your books aren't real.

(Cane) But they've sold over a billion copies.

I've been translated into 18 languages.

More people believe in my work than believe in the Bible.

You got a point?

(Cane chuckles)

I think you know it.

There has to be some kind of an explanation

for what I've seen tonight.

I'll sort this shit out later, but right now,

there has to be some kind of a simple fucking explanation.

Always looking for the con.

Even now, you're trying to rationalize.

Anyway...

Your books suck.

(Ominous tones)

You must try reading my new one.

The others have had quite an effect,

but this one will drive you absolutely mad.

So I'm told.

(Cane) It'll make the world ready for the change.

It takes its power from new readers and new believers.

That's the point.

Belief.

When people begin to lose their ability to know

the difference between fantasy and reality,

the old ones can begin their journey back.

The more people who believe, the faster the journey.

And with the way the other books have sold,

this one is bound to be very, very popular.

(Dramatic chord)

Want to see?

(John groans)

(Intense abrasive tones)

(Typewriter clacking) =cane.

(Cane) All done.

In the mouth of madness.

Yours to deliver, Trent.

What?

I'll be joining my new publishers now.

You take the manuscript back to the world for me.

That's what you do.

What I do?

- (Door rattles and creaks) - (Muffled snarls)

You are what I write.

(Chuckles)

Like this town.

It wasn't here before I wrote it.

And neither were you.

No.

I know what's real.

I know what I am, and nobody pulls my strings.

Did you think my agent attacked you by accident?

He read about you, in there.

He knew you'd bring it back and start the change.

Make what's happened here happen everywhere.

He tried to stop you.

I'm not a piece of fiction.

I think, therefore you are.

Read it if you don't believe me.

See what I have in store for you.

I know what I am.

- Go back. - (Muffled roars)

Your world lies beyond that passage.

(Ominous tones)

Go now.

I can't hold them back any longer.

- (Roars) - (Door creaks and rattles)

(Suspenseful music)

(Linda) "Trent stood at the edge of the rip.

"Stared into the illimitable Gulf of the unknown.

"The stygian world yawning blackly beyond.

"Trent's eyes refused to close.

"He did not shriek.

"But the hideous, unholy abominations shrieked for him.

"As in the same second he saw them,

"spill and tumble upward,

"out of an enormous carrion black pit,

"choked with the gleaming white bones

"of countless unhallowed centuries.

"He began to back away from the rip as the army

"of unspeakable figures, twilit by the glow

"from the bottomless pit, came pouring at him,

"foward our world."

Come with me. (Panting)

(Linda) I can't.

I've read to the end.

- (Suspenseful music) - (Creatures snarl)

(Panting)

(Feet thud)

(Creature snarls)

(Panting)

(Creature shrieks)

(Panting)

(Creature shrieks)

(Panting)

- (Creature roars) - (Panting)

- (Creature shrieks) - (Panting)

(Music swells and intensifies)

(Grunting and panting)

- (Distant steel rattles) - (Wind blows)

(Playing cards clack)

Hey, kid.

You want a paper?

Have you been in an accident?

Yup.

(Paperboy) You want me to get somebody?

No, just...

Just point me to the highway.

Straight up.

(Playing cards clack)

Hey, kid.

Did you ever hear of hobb's end?

(Engine rumbling)

(Dramatic orchestral music from TV)

(Woman yelps)

(Woman screams)

No, no!

(Suspenseful atmospheric music)

Mr. Trent.

What?

Package for you, sir.

But nobody knows I'm here.

- Well, someone does. - (Ominous tones)

(Panting)

Who delivered this? =-t don't know.

- Who? - T don't know!

- I wasn't here last night. - Sent me, who was it?

I was, and I didn't see shit.

(Fire crackles)

I remember New York during the depression.

People think they have it bad now.

You should have seen the bowery back then.

Bodies piled two, three feet high off the gutter.

(Ominous tones)

(Chuckling)

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm god now, you understand?

God's not supposed to be a hack horror writer.

But maybe I can help you believe.

Look around when you wake up.

Did I ever tell you my favorite color was blue?

(Screaming)

Relax, buddy.

Relax.

- You're awake now. - It was just a bad dream.

Are you deaf and dumb, sir?

I was just there in the town, in that town...

And there were people there and shops and homes and...

I don't doubt that.

What I'm telling you for the 10th time is that

it couldn't have been called hobb's end.

There never was, is, or shall be any such place

by that name in this state, ever.

I wanna see your supervisor!

If you could write it, I'd publish it.

You don't believe it, do you?

Well, if I don't, what's my option, that I'm crazy?

I'm not crazy.

(Harglow) Have you heard the rumors that, uh,

cane's books have affected certain readers?

Yeah, styles told me.

Styles.

Oh, that's the girl you say I sent with you, that...

But I know I sent you off alone.

Why wouldn't I remember her?

Well...

Well, that's easy, she was written out.

(Harglow) Written out? =yeah.

Look, do you think those books

somehow infected you?

Listen to me, harglow.

Everything I've said is true, it's real.

And that's why I had to destroy the last manuscript.

But I know that's not true.

What are you talking about?

You delivered that manuscript to me months ago.

To me personally in this room.

- I did? - Yes, you did, last spring.

For god's sakes, we published in July.

The book's been in the stores for seven weeks.

(Ominous music)

Have you read it?

No, I never read cane's work.

I haven't got the stomach for it.

Pull it, don't distribute it.

Even if everything I've said is totally looney tunes,

I know this book will drive people crazy.

Well, let's hope so.

The movie comes out next month.

Oh, Christ.

(News anchor) The newest and presumably posthumous work

of sutter cane continues to sit at number one

on the best-seller list.

In the mouth of madness is expected to break

all previous publishing records.

On the local scene, police are at a loss to explain

the outbreak of violent crime among the city's clergy.

The mayor has called an emergency meeting

of law enforcement and medical agencies to discuss

an apparent epidemic of paranoid schizophrenia.

(Reporter) Just an unbelievably horrible story, Bob.

What began locally has now broken out

into a global epidemic.

An epidemic of monumental proportions, of senseless,

seemingly unmotivated acts of violence.

Like the book?

I love it.

Good.

Then this shouldn't come as a surprise.

(Suspenseful tones)

(Sharp thud)

(Screaming)

(Thunder claps)

(Dark atmospheric music)

It's spreading out there, isn't it?

Just because you know the symptoms,

doesn't mean to say your story's true.

It's cane's story.

And it'll spread with each new reader, that's,

how it gets its power.

What about the people who don't read?

(Chuckling)

There's a movie.

Oh, yes, of course.

(Thunder claps)

I'm gonna leave now, but I'll be coming back.

I promise.

I want to help you.

There's no hurry, it's safer in here now.

It'll get worse out there.

(Dr. wrenn) Why?

Every species can smell its own extinction.

The last ones left won't have a pretty time of it.

And in 10 years, maybe less...

The human race will just be a...

Bedtime story for their children.

A myth.

Nothing more.

(Door slams)

(Thunder claps)

- (Thunder claps) - (Door locks)

Did he have anything to say?

No, it was useless.

He thinks he's fiction,

and that sutter cane's causing the epidemic.

Do you read sutter cane?

(Thunder claps)

(Intense atmospheric music)

(Muffled screams)

- (Thunder claps) - (Muffled screams)

- (Thunder claps) - (Muffled screams)

(Screaming and thunder stops)

(Chuckling)

(Intense rumbling and rattling)

(Door creaks)

(Intense shriek)

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Reporter) I'll try to continue this emergency

broadcast as long as we can hold out here.

The city is almost completely deserted now.

There are only a few stragglers left on the streets.

No emergency services.

The fires continue to burn out of control.

This incredible epidemic of random mass killing

has spread to every country in the civilized world.

Every hour, more people are becoming infected,

being driven to senseless acts of extreme violence.

Now, we have gotten reports, sketchy at best,

of people mutating, their bodies swelling and distorting,

changing somehow.

Locally, the mass killings appear to have moved inland.

All the major cities on the east coast are silent.

We lost contact with Los Angeles

and the west coast last night.

So it's impossible at this time to know

how many unaffected people are left.

If, for any reason, you are

one of us who hasn't become infected,

take shelter immediately.

Do not trust any friends or family members.

- I repeat, do not... - (Radio static)

(Man) Go on, you go in, get in there!

(Man 2) No, no, no!

No, wait, wait.

I'm sorry about the balls. It was a lucky shot, that's all!

Wait!

I'm not insane.

Do you hear me?

I'm not insane!

(Screams)

(Man 3) Relax, buddy.

You're awake now.

This is not a sutter cane story, this is not reality!

Not reality, not reality!

This is reality.

- Hear that? Reality. - (Laughing)

- Not reality, reality! - (Laughing)

(Laughing)

(Glass smashes)

- (Laughing) - (Moody rock music)

(Creatures shriek) =(Laughing)

(Laughing)

(Heavy rock music)

(Dark atmospheric music)

(Moody rock music)