The Nightmare Before Christmas Page #2

CORPSES.

The Corpses sit bolt upright and heartily sing:

CHORUS OF CORPSES

This is Halloween, this is Halloween,

Halloween...(etc)

THE MANSE'S FALLING DOWN FRONT HALL

is tenuously illuminated by a tarantula chandelier which clings

to the ceiling overhead and lowers and rises according to the

whims of its web.

FOUR BIG VAMPIRES

lumber in from the dark, slanty hallways that fan off the

entrance hall. They march in and, in formation, march OUT THE

FRONT DOOR onto the ruins of--

EXT. WORM-ROTTED FRONT PORCH. NIGHT/CONTINUOUS TIME

The Vampires' bodies are huge, but their heads are small like

insect heads and the voices that come out of heads are little,

squeaky and high.

VAMPIRES:

In this town, we call home,

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!

As they sing they march down the rickety steps. Out on the--

EXT. STREET. NIGHT/CONTINUOUS TIME.

A HEARSE passes the Manse. Riding on top is the corpulent MAYOR

of Halloweenland. Not surprisingly, he's a TWO-FACED SORT OF

GUY, revealed as each of his faces sings a line:

MAYOR:

In this town, don't we love it now

Everybody's waiting for the next surprise.

While the hearse turns a

CORNER:

and glides past an ALLEY we hear a GRAVELLY VOICE:

GRAVELLY VOICE:

'Round that corner, man,

Hiding in a trashcan

Something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll--

The lid flies off of a trashcan and out pops the GRAVELLY-VOICED

TRASHCAN-DWELLING MONSTER. He's fat and slimy and grotesque.

GRAVELLY-VOICED

TRASHCAN-DWELLING MONSTER

-- Scream! This is Halloween,

Red 'n black, slimy green...

Aren't you scared? Well, that's just fine!

WITCHES speed toward us on their brooms -- zipping out of the alley.

WITCHES:

Say it once, say it twice,

Take the chance and roll the dice

Ride with the moon in the dead of night (oh)

At the street, the witches fan out and swoop past the

HANGING TREE,

a gigantic oak with SEVERAL HANGED MEN dangling from its broad,

outspread branches.

The hanging tree itself sings:

HANGING TREE:

Everybody scream, everybody scream

In our town of Halloween.

The hanged men suddenly revive:

HANGED MEN:

This is Halloween, This is Halloween...

EXT. ANOTHER STREET. NIGHT.

A LUMPEN-LOOKING LONG-HAIRED WOMAN IN HEELS hurries away down a

tortuously windy street. This is SALLY. For now, we see only

her backside, her waist-length hair.

Behind her, and closer to us, a GHOUL tips into view to

demonstrate his particular talent:

GHOUL:

I am the guy with the tearaway face...

Sally hesitates, listening.

GHOUL (CONT'D)

Here in a flash and gone without a trace.

Sally is about to turn around, but as the ghoul vanishes, she

continues on her way. We follow her.

In a moment, a SECOND GHOUL sets upon her -- this one more

gruesome than the last.

SECOND GHOUL:

I am the who when you call --

This ghoul is closer, louder and Sally does turn around now --

revealing that she's a crudely stitched together Bride Of

Frankenstein Rag Doll. Her balance is precarious. Her arms

flop. Her mouth is a tragic slash. She has a quavering, little

voice:

SALLY:

-- Who's there?

But the second ghoul has disappeared before she sees him. Only

his voice remains...

SECOND GHOUL'S VOICE

I am the wind blowing through your hair.

Invisible fingers lift Sally's long hair. It is with pathetic

eagerness that she looks around for whomever is responsible for

this.

A THIRD GHOUL:

springs into view, then bounces skyward. With a very

disappointed Sally (she's sorry he's leaving), we watch him go up

into...

EXT. SKY. NIGHT/CONTINUOUS TIME.

The Third Ghoul seems to reach the moon.

THIRD GHOUL:

I am the shadow on the moon at night,

filling your dreams to the brim with fright.

As the Third Ghoul passes the orange disk of the moon,

BATS:

flap out from behind it. They sing with the Third Ghoul...

THIRD GHOUL AND BATS

This is Halloween, This is Halloween

HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN!

The bats flutter off and the Third Ghoul falls back toward the

ground. He lands...

EXT. HALLOWEEN TOWN SQUARE. NIGHT/CONTINUOUS TIME.

As he hits the ground, the Third Ghoul shatters, breaking apart

into several pieces -- globular and doughy GELATINOUS LUMPS, each

a separate little creature. When they sing, they have very high

voices:

GELATINOUS LUMPS

Tender Lumplings everywhere

Life's no fun without a good scare.

Over the crest of the hill, behind the town square,

THE CORPSES:

march into view, flanking the MAYOR'S HEARSE.

CORPSES:

That's our job, but we're not mean

In our town of Halloween.

Behind the corpses come the VAMPIRES.

CORPSES AND VAMPIRES

In this town --

The MAYOR

blares out his message through a P.A. SYSTEM on the hearse.

MAYOR:

-- don't we love it now?

Everyone's waiting for the next surprise.

The WITCHES come next...

MAYOR, CORPSES, VAMPIRES, WITCHES

Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and

Scream --

The Gelatinous Lumps instantly reasemble to form the Third

Ghoul.

THIRD GHOUL:

-- like a banshee make you jump --

The Third Ghoul immediately bounces out of sight again...

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