I recently watched the I Hunt Killers trailer again for the first time since the book came out. And I remembered — dimly — that I’d originally written a completely different trailer. I dug around on my hard drive and voila! Check it out, if you like, and play it on the big screen in your mind…
FADE IN on a local TV news anchor, tight. His name is KEVIN. He’s visible from mid-chest up. Over his left (our right) shoulder is a graphic of a chalk outline and the words “LOBO’S NOD MURDERS.” There’s a chyron at the bottom of the screen that reads “KEVIN KIRK – WIHK” to the left and then “September 9” along the right.
KEVIN
News tonight from Lobo’s Nod, where police have made an arrest in the disappearance of two local women, both later found murdered.
CUT TO
MUG SHOT OF BILLY DENT
KEVIN (v.o.)
The suspect is 43-year-old Lobo’s Nod native William Cornelius Dent, known locally as Billy. He is a member of the Elks Club and known best for driving the Lobo’s Nod Bookmobile during summer breaks.
CUT TO
KEVIN again
KEVIN
Dent has a young son, whose identity is being protected by police since he is a minor…
SMASH CUT
to STATIC
CUT TO
We’re back to Kevin. He’s in a different suit and tie now. It’s a month later. The over-the-shoulder graphic is a little more put-together: It’s a slightly Photoshopped copy of the mug shot, with “DENT MURDERS” bannered over it. The chyron is the same as before, only now it reads “October 28.”
KEVIN
…an update tonight on those killings in Lobo’s Nod. Police and prosecutors now telling WIHK that they believe Billy Dent may also be the serial killer known as Green Jack, who terrorized the Mid-West a couple of years ago and was never caught.
This adds a new layer to things, doesn’t it, Gene?
CUT TO KEVIN’s co-anchor, Gene, a similarly dressed guy. Chyron updates to read “GENE HAMILL – WIHK”
GENE
Dent is a widower, and police are now saying unofficially that they believe he may have murdered his wife several years ago.
Makes you wonder what his poor son has seen…
SMASH CUT
to a young boy’s hand picking up a large knife out of a kitchen sink. Footage should be slightly grainy, murky.
SMASH CUT
to STATIC
CUT TO
GENE this time. The over-the-shoulder graphic has changed to show Billy’s mug shot, superimposed with question marks. The chyron tells us that it is now December 2.
GENE
An update tonight on those Green Jack killings — police may have tied Billy Dent not only to murders in Lobo’s Nod, but also to several killings attributed to yet another serial killer, Hand-in-Glove. Kevin?
CUT TO
KEVIN
KEVIN
Well, Gene, if this is true, it might make Billy Dent one of the biggest mass murderers in U.S. history. If, in addition to killing those two girls in Lobo’s Nod, it turns out that he is both Green Jack and Hand-in-Glove, then he may have killed dozens of people, as many as fifty….
SMASH CUT TO
STATIC
CUT TO BLACK
TITLE: Billy Dent eventually confessed to 123 murders. He was sentenced to life in prison.
TITLE: Four years have passed. Billy Dent’s son is now 17.
TITLE: And the bodies are piling up.
TITLE: Again.
TITLE: www.ihuntkillers.com
FADE OUT
And if you want to check out the creeptastic trailer we ended up putting together, here it is again: