Duke Hauser pushed open the heavy glass doors of the Paramount Pictures building at exactly seven in the morning, his shoes echoing across the deserted lobby.
He was still wearing the same wrinkled suit he had put on in Idaho the previous evening, having endured a grueling flight down to Los Angeles that had afforded him a few hours of actual sleep.
Despite the physical exhaustion pulling him down and the feeling of fatigue scratching behind his eyes, he was very energized still.
Tucked under his right arm was a worn bag.
Upon finally reaching his office, Duke did not bother turning on the overhead lights, preferring the soft illumination creeping through the windows.
He dropped the bag on the center of his desk, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and sank in his chair.
He unbuckled the straps of the bag and pulled out a stack of manuscripts.
These were not scripts submitted by hopeful writers, nor were they properties acquired by the studio's literary department.
These were entirely short horror stories that Duke had written himself.
The first page displayed the words Children of the Corn.
In Duke's original timeline, this disturbing story about a isolated fanatic cult of murderous children hiding in the cornfields of Nebraska had become a lucrative film franchise.
Right next to it sat the manuscript for Sinister, which he wondered if it was published during the Satanic Panic, would people love it or hate it.
The third paper was End of the Line.
An adaptation of Final Destination, a story where the antagonist was the invisible, unstoppable design of Death itself, hunting down a group of people who ha dmanaged to cheat their fate in a disaster.
Of course, he didnt choose to adapt the first movie of Final Destination.
He choose to adapt Final Destination: End of the Line, a spin-off book released in 2005 from the saga.
___(Spoilers of this book)
The story follows a guy named Danny King, recent high school grad who is visiting New York City with his twin sister, Louise.
They are tagging along with a group of international exchange students.
While they are waiting at a subway station, Danny gets a horrifying flash of the future. He sees a catastrophic train derailment that violently crushes everyone.
He freaks out, screams at everyone to run, and drags his sister and the exchange students out of the station just in time.
Seconds later, the train crashes exactly like he foresaw.
Here is where the story shifts gears. The survivors cross paths with a medical student named Kate.
It turns out Kate actually "died" a few years prior during a medical school hazing game before being resuscitated.
Because she already crossed the threshold of death once, her psyche is fractured. The invisible force of Death uses this loophole to enter her brain.
Kate starts experiencing intense blackouts and sleepwalking episodes where she is subliminally brainwashed into becoming a serial killer for the Grim Reaper.
She goes around New York City actively sabotaging everyday objects to murder the survivors, having absolutely no idea she is doing it when she wakes up.
Because Death has a human hand helping it, the kills in this book are incredibly mean-spirited.
One of the exchange students, a japanese girl is recovering in a hospital bed when a iron bathtub from the floor above leaks, breaks through the ceiling, and crushes her.
An elderly 99-year-old Jewish man survivor who was ready to accept his fate with Death, and accidentally pulled out part of his brain after he fell on a corkscrew that impaled him in the eye.
Two teenagers are thrown into a department store display rack during a car crash and are violently impaled by display umbrellas.
Eventually, Danny's sister Louise is targeted and almost dies from a lethal drug injection given to her by a delusional Kate.
However, emergency room doctors manage to revive Louise, temporarily tricking Death's design.
Eventually, Kate snaps out of her trance, realizes she is the person who has been murdering all these people, and commits suicide out of guilt.
With Kate dead, Danny and his recovering sister Louise think the nightmare is finally over. They retreat to the mountains to heal and do some mountain biking.
But the book delivers one final gut-punch.
Remember how Louise was technically killed and revived earlier?
Because she cheated death, she is now the new puppet.
The book ends with a brainwashed Louise unknowingly cutting the brakes on Danny's mountain bike right before a race.
The story closes with Danny speeding down a mountain trail, completely unable to stop, as he flies right over the edge of a ravine.
___
He decided not to call it Final Destination for now, since Final Destination should be about Death killing people, not people killing people.
Finally, the fourth paper was The Faculty, a science-fiction horror hybrid that played on the relatable teenage belief that their high school teachers were actually alien creatures.
It was homage to classic invasion narratives.
Duke looked at the four distinct stories, knowing that together, they represented a valuable property portfolio.
As he organized the pages, Duke made a mental note regarding the cinematic future of these properties.
While Children of the Corn and Sinister could easily be produced with the current practical makeup effects currently available in 1975, both The Faculty and Final Destination would require a leap in visual effects technology that simply did not exist yet.
By publishing them now, he would build a fanbase and establish the underlying copyrights long before a single camera ever needed to roll on a soundstage.
Gathering the four manuscripts back into a singl stack, Duke left his office and stepped out, walking across the Paramount lot with a quiet security guard behind him. His security was relaxed today, after all communist radicals don't wake up till 10 pm.
Duke bypassed the production facilities entirely, heading toward a slightly smaller office building located on the edge of the lot.
This building housed the bustling editorial offices of DC Comics, which Duke had acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Paramount corporate umbrella, back in 1972.
Duke pushed open the doors to DC Comics, and walked into the slightly cluttered office of Archie Goodwin.
Archie, the respected head of DC, quickly stood up, clearing a space on his messy desk, his eyes wide with genuine surprise.
Duke didn't waste a second on pleasantries, "Archie, I have something incredibly special here,"
He carefully placed the four thick manuscripts directly onto the cleared space on the desk. "These are four original short horror stories that I want to publish together as a promoted collection or anthology."
Duke leaned forward, his hands resting on the desk, "First, we are going to publish a traditional horror anthology, a mass-market paperback distributed through our existing partnership with Doubleday Publishing House."
"But simultaneously, I want DC Comics to produce a graphic novel adaptation, basically a graphic anthology."
Archie sat back in his chair, and started reading.
"This is completely fascinating, Duke," Archie said, after a while. "You know, DC has a successful history of publishing horror comics. Titles like House of Mystery and House of Secrets have been consistent for us for years."
Archie paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he looked over the manuscripts, with slight hesitation crossing his face.
"But Duke, there really isn't any concept of a 'graphic novel' in the market right now," he admitted, looking up from the typed pages. "Do you mean something like a standard comic book? Because doing a high-quality graphic anthology comic book dedicated to a single author's stories would be a trailblazer for the traditional publishing industry, but the format itself doesn't actually exist out there yet."
Duke smiled, as he stepled his fingers. "Think bigger than a standard superhero comic book on a grocery store newsstand, Archie,"
Duke explained patiently, his eyes bright. "We aren't making cheap pamphlets printed on low-grade newsprint that kids throw away after a single reading."
"I am talking about a thick bound book with high-quality, paper stock and a durable spine, sold directly in major bookstores right alongside traditional literature. We are going to invent a new retail market that helps elvealtes the entire comic medium into more a little more prestige."
"The anthology offically hits the chains in the middle of the summer season, building word-of-mouth and positive critical buzz while Jaws is in Cinemas. Then, as the Halloween season approaches, we drop the illustrated DC graphic novel adaptation."
Duke tapped the desk emphatically. "Furthermore, to synergize the corporate divisions, we are going to cross-promote both versions by prominently featuring 'Studio 13' the final approved name for Paramount's theatrical horror label directly on the front covers."
Archie nodded, understanding the marketing vision, he had already heard rumours about how Jaws, the latest movie by Duke, was going to have a massive publicity rollout.
He started contributing practical ideas of his own.
"We can utilize the DC fan mail subscription list to market the anthology to our most loyal comic readers," Archie suggested, jotting down quick notes on a pad. "We can also run full-page, advertisements for the graphic novel as a limited DC premium product."
Duke agreed and leaned back in his chair, shifting his focus toward the broader landscape of the comic book industry.
"How are our core characters performing out there with the public right now, Archie? Who is moving the needle for us?"
Archie tapped his pen against his notepad. "Well, ever since the animated series launched on television, Blue Beetle has exploded in popularity among kids and teenagers."
"But if you're talking about the average person on the street, Superman and Superboy are still the undisputed kings of DC Comics. They have that multi-generational loyalty that you simply can't replicate overnight."
The conversation transitioned to PULSE, the studio's comic anthology magazine. Archie adjusted his glasses, looking over the latest retail reports.
"Now, regarding PULSE, it's definitely successful and profitable, but the overall circulation isn't growing quite as fast as our initial projections had expected."
"Ben 10 is currently driving a massive part of our weekly reader engagement, but the creative team is signaling that the storyline is rapidly drawing to its natural conclusion."
Duke nodded slowly, "The moment Ben 10 officially wraps up its run in the magazine, I want the series collected into the premium graphic novel format we just discussed. Bind it beautifully, package it as a complete set, and get it into traditional bookstores. That may give the property a second life."
Archie smiled, jotting down the directive before continuing his demographic breakdown of the magazine. "While the overall growth is steady rather than explosive, we've discovered a truly fascinating, unexpected find in the data."
"One of our biggest markets for PULSE right now is Black teenagers in major urban centers. The magazine is affordable at the newsstands, and they are obsessed with Slam Dunk. Even one of the Knicks players, Walt Frazier praised it in an interview last month, saying the raw energy and the style of the games represent New York basketball scene."
Duke nodded, appreciating the organic cultural connection. "That is great, Archie. We need to nurture this kind of audience."
Archie agreed, checking his schedule. "We'll definitely lean into it, especially since Transformers is also nearing the end of its planned run despite still being popular. Luckily, Slam Dunk has an incredible amount of runway left since the main characters haven't even finished high school yet, so that story is expected to be anchoring the magazine for a long time."
___
Im writting a non duke POV chapter... So, How you doing?
Btw, i know there's gramar errors, but i write this in my spare time as i said before.
I dont have the time to check thinks too much, just an overview but if i dont notice then it is what it is
This comment is specifically to that man that commented 60 different gramar errors, so... you know, chill