Haunted by Medicine

Unveiling "A Taste for Lunacy"

I wanted to take a moment to update those of you following my creative adventures about the project that’s been devouring most of my waking and dreaming hours: my screenplay, A Taste for Lunacy.

What’s the Project?

At its core, A Taste for Lunacy is a psychological horror feature set in a crumbling 1950s asylum—a story about monstrous medicine, moral decay, and the blurred boundary between savior and villain. The script orbits Dr. Arnold Schuler, a deeply troubled doctor, and Dr. Michael Little, his equally haunted colleague, as they navigate the rituals and betrayals of survival inside an institution that swallows hope.

Recent Breakthroughs

Opening Scene Revamp

After months stewing on feedback and haunted by my own dissatisfaction with earlier drafts, I just completed a full overhaul of the opening scene. The new version throws us right into the fraying relationship between Arnold and Michael: gone is the slow, overly descriptive start—now, the scene crackles with tension, sharp visual cues, and a sense of claustrophobic horror. Lightning flashes outside, surgical tools glint beneath a dying bulb, and Arnold’s reflection in a steel sink hints at the moral rot to come.

Character-Driven Conflict

One of the biggest critiques I’d received was that the early pages got lost in atmosphere, not stakes. In the revision, Michael isn’t just a foil—his own vulnerabilities and ethical battle are front and center. Their initial exchange is all barbs, subtext, and regret; the story’s themes of self-created prisons, ethical erosion, and the longing for escape are raised immediately.

Atmosphere Meets Momentum

I learned to trust the audience more, using fewer (but sharper) details to conjure the asylum’s oppressive environment. Now, every drop of sweat, every jammed surgical tool, has a purpose beyond mere set-dressing: they reflect the growing anxiety and unraveling identities of the characters. And I reworked the reveal of the story’s title to land with maximum unease.

What’s Next

Breaking the Cycle

I’m not stopping at just a better beginning—next up is abandoning “one patient per night” repetition. Inspired by recent brainstorming (thanks to helpful feedback!), Arnold will attempt to combine the remains—and dreams—of multiple patients in a single night, leading to intense, chimeric hallucinations that shatter any sense of safety or order.

Parallel Descent

I’m eager to deepen Michael’s journey too—his descent won’t just shadow Arnold’s, but stand as a parallel track, tracing the human cost of trying to “do good” inside a corrupt system.

Feedback & Workshop

Once I’ve locked Act I, I’ll be reaching out for more workshop eyes—in particular, those who love horror, unreliable narrators, and stories that push at the seams of sanity.

Why Share This?

Writing screenplays in the dark can be, well, lonely—so I’m hoping to build a little window here for you to see how the sausage (or the surgical lobotomy) gets made. Sometimes, sharing what’s raw or unfinished helps future drafts rise to the standard I’m chasing.

How You Can Help (If You Want!)

• Interested in reading pages or giving a gut-check reaction? Let me know!

• If you have personal obsessions with medical horror, asylums, or unreliable protagonists, please drop your recommendations or thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for following along—I’m as excited as I am terrified to keep going.

Stay haunted,

Dr. C