Valley of Souls

The Valley of Souls contains a malevolent, evil force as old as the earth itself. The Forest sucks the life from anyone or anything it encounters. Happy people find themselves depressed and then suicidal within a matter of days. Those who leave quickly can survive.. but those who camp.. those who stay, always find their way to a clearing deep in the Valley where they loop a rope over a tall branch and hang themselves. Will Brodie discover it's secret and get out of there before the despair takes a hold of him too?

A “Emma Schranz” FILM
WRITTEN BY Emma Schranz

A dog crawls through the dense misty forest. In the distance its masters voice yells for it, but the dog cannot stop. It whines as it comes to the edge of a massive ravine.

The dogs owner yells its name as she gets to the clearing. She stops at the edge of the cliff and peeks over the edge. The dog lays dead at the bottom on a large rock in a pool of blood. Beside him lays the bodies of hundreds of dead forest animals in various stages of decay. She screams into the vast void of the Valley of Souls.

Miles away a couple pull into a car park. They get their tramping gear on and embark down a pathway past a large sign littered with stickers about suicide prevention. Brodie and Jane enter the Forest.

The Valley of Souls contains a malevolent, evil force as old as the earth itself. The Forest sucks the life from anyone or anything it encounters. All who enter it, become depressed and then suicidal within a matter of days. Those who leave quickly can survive.. but those who camp.. those who stay.. always find themselves at a clearing deep in the Valley where they loop a rope over a tall branch and hang themselves.

After three days camping Jane becomes detached, distant and she wonders off. Brodie spends two days searching for her. When he finds her body he stumbles back unable to fathom what he sees. There are literally a thousand corpses hanging from the branches. Some are new, some just skeletons. But none of them made it out of the Forest alive.

Tracing his footsteps through the dense Forest to get help, Brodie is overwhelmed by a black sadness overtaking him. Will he be able to get out in time or will the Valley claim his soul too?