Rural Nightmare
by Grace Rudolph

Highlights

Female

Male

One Act60 minsPresent DayInterior SetContemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

A young couple and their two small children move to a rural town to escape the violence and pollution of the city.

While working to restore their antique home they hire a neighbor to watch the children.

She tells them something's buried beneath the hearth.

They unearth a small coffin but, it's empty.

One night they hear shuffling and scratching in the attic.

The next morning, in a crawl space, they make a frightening discovery.

Perhaps their neighbors are more terrifying than their discovery in the attic.

The horror of this play is that the Inhabitant is different.

He doesn't kill anyone.

He doesn't attack anyone.

His only crime was being born "different."

This spine tingling one-act brings to mind, - "...things that go bump in the night."

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Rita the wife, has or has had a good career.	female	—	the wife, has or has had a good career.
Lesley Rita's sister, also successful in her career.	female	—	Rita's sister, also successful in her career.
Eve a real estate agent.	—	—	a real estate agent.
Shirley a neighbor, knows all the gossip and know where the skeletons are buried.	—	—	a neighbor, knows all the gossip and know where the skeletons are buried.
George Shirley's husband.	male	—	Shirley's husband.
The Inhabitant a shaggy, filthy, dishevelled man.	—	—	a shaggy, filthy, dishevelled man.
Martin the husband, a tweedy type.	male	—	the husband, a tweedy type.