A slow-burn original ghost story, no gore, no people on screen, a quiet twist in the last two sentences.
Untested. We have not rendered a video from this brief yet. Rendering costs credits, so it has not been run; the draft steps (scenes, edits, price quote) are free.
Hook (nine words or fewer)
“The logbook was filled in again this morning.”
Frame 1, already in motion
A logbook open on a wooden table, wet ink glistening, a lamp flame flickering, camera already pushing toward the page.
The brief to paste
Make a 45-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en). Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "The logbook was filled in again this morning." Frame 1 is already moving: a logbook open on a wooden table, wet ink glistening, a lamp flame flickering, camera pushing toward the page. Scenes, one idea each: 1. Hook over the logbook. 2. The new caretaker arrives at a foggy lighthouse cottage; the log is empty. 3. Day two: an entry is there. The handwriting is not theirs. The ink is wet. 4. Day three: two entries. The caretaker locks the door and stays awake. 5. Night: the lamp turns without anyone touching it. 6. Twist in the last two sentences: the final entry describes this exact night, written before it happened. Look of every image: photographic, dark and moody, fog, waves, a flickering lamp, empty rooms, a closed door. No people, no faces, and no legible handwriting: show the logbook from a distance, closed, or with the page out of focus. Ending: Quiet twist, then a hard stop. No gore, no real places, no real people. Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
- Art style
AUTOSHORTS(Professional). Photographic and people-free, so the fear comes from places and objects.- Length and format
- 45 seconds, 9:16.
- Language
- Narration: English (en).
- Voice
- Not selectable on the draft path: the product narrates with its default voice. Steer the delivery with short sentences and plain punctuation; premium ElevenLabs voices are a separate paid option (see the options table). For a whispery feel, write short sentences with silence implied by full stops.
- Caption look
- Picked automatically through MCP. In the dashboard's Motion graphics (beta) style, the "Mono" look is the first one listed for this genre.
- Estimated cost
- 40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.
- Tools it triggers
autoshort_list_optionsautoshort_draft_videoautoshort_get_draftautoshort_update_draftautoshort_estimate_costautoshort_render_draft
Visual direction for the images
- Handwriting is the trap: any visual that asks for readable writing comes back as pseudo-letters. Show the book closed, from behind, or blurred.
- One wrong detail per scene (a lamp on the wrong way, a door ajar), not a crowd of effects.
- Use hands or the back of someone only if you must; the default style removes people, so prefer empty rooms.
- Keep frame 1 a close detail, not the lighthouse from the sea.
Two variations
Shorter, 30 seconds: “Someone else has been writing in my logbook.”
Same story in 30 seconds with four scenes and the twist in the final line.
Make a 30-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en). Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "Someone else has been writing in my logbook." Frame 1 is already moving: a pen lying beside an open logbook, ink still wet, lamp flicker, slow push-in. Scenes, one idea each: 1. Hook over the pen and book. 2. The caretaker finds an entry she did not write. 3. Second night, a second entry, in the same stranger's hand. 4. Twist: the last entry is dated tomorrow. Look of every image: photographic, dark, fog, lamp glow, empty rooms. No people, no faces, no legible writing. Ending: Quiet twist, hard stop. Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 70 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Different place, same recipe: “The lift stops on a missing floor.”
Swap the lighthouse for an invented office building; keep one wrong detail per scene.
Make a 45-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en). Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "The lift stops on a missing floor." Frame 1 is already moving: a lift display glowing over closing doors, the number between two floors, slow push-in. Scenes, one idea each: 1. Hook over the display. 2. Night shift: the security guard rides to the top floor as always. 3. The lift stops one floor early; the corridor lights are already on. 4. Every door on that floor has his name on it, blurred. 5. He presses the button; the doors do not close. 6. Twist: the floor is the one he works on tomorrow. Look of every image: photographic, cold fluorescent light, empty corridors, closed doors, no people, no faces, no readable signs or numbers (show them blurred). Ending: Quiet twist, hard stop. No gore, no real building. Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Do not
Do not put a "bare feet" or other body part in the hook frame. The first frame of a horror short is the one a viewer sees longest, and a malformed limb ends it.
What we saw: Dark-ink horror story: the hook frame showed bare feet that looked malformed; replaced by a door with a shadow. (our note: qa.md, line 18.)
Do not ask for legible handwriting, signs or numbers in an image. Ask for the object, not the words.
What we saw: The long uppercase no-text block made the image model redraw garbage text on 3 of 11 trial videos; a short "Pure illustration with no writing in it." replaced it. (our note: howto.md, line 7.)
Do not open with a wide establishing shot of the lighthouse or a line like "In a small coastal town...".
What we saw: A bedtime story opened on a wide establishing frame and a 16-plus-word "In a soft watercolour world..." first sentence. (our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 20.)
Related real videos (not made from this recipe)
Earlier lighthouse short, motion-graphics render mode, 12 Oct
Published on our own channel. It was made in the Motion graphics style, not from this brief, and no view numbers for it are recorded in our files.
Our note: published.md, line 27.
Also see Horror and story shorts use case, all prompts and what each step costs.