So, every month, as a proofreader for a magazine that promotes Pay-Per-View films, I have to take the synopses of movies provided by the movies' own official press kits, and cut and re-word the things until they are small enough to fit in the little boxes that we use in our magazine.

I am feeling uninspired this month, so I'm wondering if anyone here wants to help me out. Here, for example, is what was supplied by the press kit for "The Mist":

David Drayton and his young son Billy are among a large group of terrified townspeople trapped in a local grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist. David is the first to realize that there are things lurking in the mist ... deadly, horrifying things ... creatures not of this world. Survival depends on everybody in the store pulling together ... but is that possible, given human nature? As reason crumbles in the face of fear and panic, David begins to wonder what terrifies him more: the monsters in the mist̶or the ones inside the store, the human kind, the people that until now had been his friends and neighbors? In this legendary tale of terror from master storyteller Stephen King, the thin veneer of civilization is stripped away, the masks are discarded, and the true horror is revealed as us.

I have to get it down to about 60 words. Here's what a correct-sized one looks like:

Nancy Drew
When girl detective Nancy Drew leaves her friendly hometown for the West Coast and enrolls at Hollywood High School, her unique personal style immediately sets her apart from her self-absorbed peers. But Nancy can’t worry about that — there’s a mystery afoot involving a dead actress and a haunted mansion, and it’s not going to solve itself.


Who wants to help me out? There is nothing in it for you other than my gratitude, and the knowledge that you have a flair for economic use of language. But if that's enough for you then hey, take it away!

How's this?

"The Mist"

Ordinary people are trapped in a store by an otherworldly mist filled with lurking, terrifying creatures. Can they pull together to survive? Or are the real monsters inside the store? From master storyteller Stephen King comes a legendary tale of the true horror that emerges when the masks of civilization are stripped away.

Aw man. I forgot I posted this. Thanks, D.L.! (I went with my own abridgment, written about an hour after my post -- but I would've used yours! )

Thanks! I've actually done this sort of thing quite a bit with my own work.

How about this. "Stephen King movie about his book 'The Mist' is not as good as 'Misery' " but DOES have people in a supermaket fighting off creatures they can't see because there's a 'Mist' "

That would work well too I think! You can thank me later.

or, " 'Nancy Drew 'is based on the novels and stars that girl from 'Unfabulous."

(yes, I know that)

Now, you have to build a front page for me, assign 20 stories to reporters, read them, place them on pages around steller and appropriate art, then do two freelance stories and head to the library for my part time job.