"Sir...best not to mention this to anyone."
During a random stop of his night train, a man wanders off into the surrounding fields of tall grass...
Adapted from a short story by Joe R. Lansdale.
Tropes:
- All There in the Script: The man's surname is Laird. This is a particularly weird example, because he's not named in any way in the short, but the subtitles still provide him with a name.
- Big Damn Heroes: The train attendant shows up to rescue the man from certain death, fending off the monsters with a torch and helping the poor guy to get back on the driving away train.
- Blind Without 'Em: Downplayed. For a very brief moment, the glasses get knocked off from the man's nose. While he's looking from them, we are offered a blurred P.O.V. Cam perspective, but it's nowhere near as bad as typical examples - he simply need those glasses to navigate in the darkness properly.
- Cassandra Truth: The railman's reason for asking Laird not to speak about the events of the night, pointing out that no one would likely believe his story.
- The Cavalry: The old train attendant shows up for a rescue in the critical moment - with a torch.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Narrowly averted. But if Laird wasn't so inquisitive, he would have stayed out of any trouble.
- Eyeless Face: While the monsters subvert The Faceless when they open their jaws, they're never shown to have anything resembling eyes.
- Fantastic Light Source: Glowing ghoul-like monsters, attracting people like Will-o'-the-Wisp.
- Humanoid Abomination: The monsters are human-shaped.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When they catch Laird, monsters briefly fight each other to be the one who will eat him. But as soon as Laird take the opportunity to try to escape, they immediatly band together to hunt him down.
- Light Is Not Good: The creatures roaming in the tall grass emit a bright, luminous light.
- Lost in the Maize: The protagonist decides, in spite of stern warnings, to investigate the strange lights in a field of grass taller than he is, gets lost in it, and (almost) pays for it with his life.
- Lovecraft Lite: There is a field in a middle of nowhere where dangerous humanoid monstrosities prowl and the rail engine always loses all steam there during a night haul... but if you don't wander into the tall grass, you're safe and the world at large is unaffected. Also, the man is clearly designed to look similar to H. P. Lovecraft in glasses.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: One of the monster was about to kill Laird, just before another attacks them to steal its prey. The few moments the monster spend fighting each other to know which one will eat Laird probably made the difference and give the Railman the time he needed to come to the rescue.
- Nightmare Face: At first the monsters look like they don't have any... then they open their maws, making up half of said "face".
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: It's very clear that the protagonist, Laird, is designed to look like Howard Philips Lovecraft, only with glasses.
- No Name Given: The railman remains nameless.
- Oh, Crap!: Predictably, after venturing into the tall grass, the man loses his sense of direction.
- Stay on the Path: The rail man sternly warns Laird to stay near the train...and Laird almost immediately goes to investigate the glowing lights he spots in the grass. The monsters don't chase after the pair once they get back onto the tracks, so it appears they can't leave the tall grass.
- Was Once a Man: The railman speculates that the monsters might be people that got lost in the grass in the past.
- Weak to Fire: Implied. The Railman uses a torch to keep the monsters away, and it's pretty clear they fear the fire.
