When real-life landscapes breathe horror, and history whispers legends through the wind, stories like Killer Content are born. In this exclusive interview, filmmaker and writer B. Rain Bennett takes us deep into the eerie islands of North Carolina, the place he once called home, and now, the haunted stage for his first venture into horror screenwriting. Known for his work in documentary filmmaking, Bennett makes a bold genre shift, crafting a slasher-infused tale of influencers, isolation, and the digital world’s darkest shadows. From the ghost of Blackbeard to the dangers of losing Wi-Fi in the wild, Killer Content taps into historical folklore and modern paranoia to deliver a fresh and terrifying take on survival.

1. Killer Content is your first horror project—what inspired you to delve into the genre, and how was the experience different from your other works?

I have always loved horror stories. I even used to write them as a child—stories about mad scientists and monsters. But as primarily a documentary filmmaker for most of my career, I haven’t had a chance to create horror films. And even my narrative work hasn’t focused on that genre since I’ve been screenwriting. To be honest, the real-life location where this film is set is what inspired me to write this story. It was made for a horror movie! The experience was incredible for me and at one point I could feel my heart beating faster reading the scene that I just wrote—that told me I was onto something.

2. Growing up in the remote islands of North Carolina, how did that environment influence the setting and atmosphere of your screenplay?

Honestly, that was everything. The region of eastern North Carolina is so steeped in early American history and already full of folklore, legends, and ghost stories. It is the place of pirates, thousands of shipwrecks, The Lost Colony, and many other true stories that are exciting and eerie sometimes. So that setting—including the aspect of these islands being separate from the mainland by many miles—provided a wonderful backdrop that I could lean into with my story. I didn’t have to fabricate it.

3. Can you share more about the historical elements you incorporated into the story? How do they intertwine with the horror elements?

Some of those historical elements find themselves in the backdrop of this story. It is set on Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands—both popular ports in the early American colonial times, and very close to the location where the infamous pirate Blackbeard was ambushed and killed in 1718. The celebration of Blackbeard is very common even today in that area—and the weekend of this story takes place during the annual Blackbeard Festival—and that affinity finds its way into the characters’ storylines as well.

4. The concept of influencers surviving in a deserted island ghost town is unique. What inspired this theme, and how do the characters’ personalities shape the narrative?

The idea has always stuck with me of what would happen if a bunch of younger people (influencers, in this case), completely reliant on their technology, were thrust into a situation where they couldn’t use them but had to escape danger. This is a real issue in the remote islands of NC, as cell service is often non-existent. And it was probably influenced by one time when I was a fixer for Travel Channel and a crew from LA came into those areas to shoot an episode on Blackbeard. All of these characters have different personalities, but they’re all equally annoying and challenging when trying to escape a dark force on a deserted island town.

5. As a first-time horror writer, what challenges did you face while crafting the screenplay, and how did you overcome them?

I knew the basic outline of the story I wanted to tell in my head. But with a group of seven characters, I did face some challenges in making sure each of them had a distinct voice and played a certain role in the story—that none of them were just “there to be there” and serving no purpose. And with the horror genre specifically, there’s always the challenge of “how do they get out of this?” or “how will they not make it out of this?” But those are the fun challenges as a storyteller!

6. What do you hope audiences will take away from Killer Content, both as a horror experience and as a story rooted in your personal background?

I hope that they will enjoy the fun ride that it is. Much of it is typical backwoods horror. But I hope they see the approach, the setting, and the characters as a fresh take on the genre, and I hope they get intrigued by the lands and waters of eastern North Carolina, because they are something worth seeing.

7. Finally, how can readers follow your work or stay updated on the development of Killer Content?

The best way is just to follow me (@rainbennett on most social channels or rainbennett.com) as I frequently post about my work. And I’d also like to say that I’m always open for emails or connections with other like-minded storytellers.