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Close Encounters of the Undead Kind by Jeffrey Harr play script cover

Close Encounters of the Undead Kind

by Jeffrey Harr

Wendy walks into a typical teen support group. Claire thinks Halloween is going to be humdrum as usual. Rachel wants her parents to be nice to her new boyfriend. Three ordinary scenarios… or are they? Is that a werewolf at the support group? A vampire at the door? A zombie boyfriend? With some close encounters of the undead kind, these plays are far from typical and humdrum!

With quick humour and fabulous characters this is not your ordinary collection. The plays can be performed individually or all together for a ghoulishly delightful evening.

Average Producer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 60 minutes (for the full collection)
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Set
Simple Set
Length
59 pages
Free Excerpt

This Book is a Collection of 3 Plays

License the entire book, or license individual plays separately. To license a single play, click its title below.

3 M, 3 F · Approx. 25 minutes

Rachel has bad taste in boys: Jerry with the forehead tattoos, Nicky with the prison sentence, and Ed with the "being a zombie" thing.

She knows her parents will never understand or approve of her zombie boyfriend and that's the way she likes it. But what happens when her parents welcome Ed with open arms?

2 M, 3 F, 2 Any Gender · Approx. 20 minutes

Claire thinks Halloween is going to be humdrum as usual... until a vampire shows up and asks to be invited in.

All of a sudden Claire is bonding with the undead over Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Twilight.

3 M, 5 F · Approx. 15 minutes

Wendy walks into a typical teen support group. However, she quickly discovers that the others are anything but typical.

Who is Vladimir and why does he speak with a Transylvanian accent? Why does Lucy only speak one word (braiiinnnnssss)? And why does Janet think she's Batman?

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

Cast List

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

Bad Taste in Boys

  • RACHEL Female 79 lines
    Teen. Has it bad for bad boys.
  • CINDY Female 68 lines
    Rachel’s younger sister. Conniving and intelligent: a dangerous combination.
  • MR. HARRIS Male 53 lines
    Rachel’s father
  • MRS. HARRIS Female 112 lines
    Rachel’s mother
  • STEWART Male 22 lines
    The Harris’s nerdy neighbor.
  • ED Female 18 lines
    Rachel’s zombie boyfriend

Beggar's Night

  • SAMANTHA Female 106 lines
    Teen girl. Hosting a small party far away from the cool kids shindig.
  • CLAIRE Female 78 lines
    Teen girl. Samantha’s friend.
  • JAMES Male 8 lines
    Teen boy. Socially awkward. Freezes when scared.
  • TRICK OR TREATER 1 Any gender 12 lines
    Teen boy or girl. Out for Beggar’s Night!
  • TRICK OR TREATER 2 Any gender 11 lines
    Teen boy or girl. Wants candy, but beggars can’t be choosers.
  • NECO (pronounced Neck-oh) Female 34 lines
    Tween girl. Older than she looks.
  • AKELDAMA Male 3 lines
    Teen boy. Brother of Neco. Dark, mysterious, maybe a little handsome.

The Support Group from Hell

  • DR. TAMMY Female 47 lines
    Counselor
  • WENDY Female 39 lines
    Teen girl
  • VLADIMIR Male 25 lines
    Teen boy, very well dressed in clothes from another era, speaks with a thick Transylvanian accent
  • WOLFGANG Male 12 lines
    Teen boy with an absurdly crazy beard
  • HECUBA Female 12 lines
    Teen girl in all black
  • LUCY Female
    Teen girl, pale, in ripped jeans and T-shirt, spattered with blood. Various moans and groans.
  • FRANK Male 12 lines
    Teen boy in plain T-shirt and blazer, a few long scars on his face with stitches
  • JANET Female 6 lines
    Teen girl in completely normal clothes and a Batman mask

Praise for Close Encounters of the Undead Kind

4 out of 5 stars
Robert Ford / Cindy Genzano (Theater Arts Teacher, Producer of the show)
North Branford High School
We had a very positive audience reaction and the students enjoyed working with the scripts.

More Plays Like Close Encounters of the Undead Kind

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A boy and a girl share words of wisdom straight from their parents' mouths.

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Horror Movie 102: Failing Just Got Deadlier

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A follow-up to the very popular Horror Movie 101!

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