A Scary Story About a Scary Story

As a writer working in the trenches of obscurity, I believe a good chunk of my fellow authors would be thrilled to see their work adapted into screenplays. Next to getting that major book deal, seeing one’s characters and worlds interpreted on the big screen is “the dream.”

So what then would be the nightmare?

Perhaps seeing one’s story on the big screen yet NOT being listed as the writer or creator in the credits; not even in that opening credits line that says, “Based on the short story by….”

So, did that make you wince, at least a little? Yeah, me too. In fact, I can tell you first-hand that it’s an absolutely harrowing feeling. I hope you’re ready for a scary story about a scary story, because I’ve got one for you.

It was January 2019. A fellow writer shared a link to a “bloody valentine” short fiction contest held by an online horror magazine. Upon reading the guidelines, the wheels of creativity began turning in my head of a passionate new love affair that goes horrifically wrong, inspired by the annoying touchy-feely feet of my spouse in bed every night. Seriously, I’m forever pushing his feet away from mine so I can sleep. Anyway, I wrote a story titled “Melding,” presented it to my local critique group for feedback, and submitted it with the following teaser: “What happens when a new couple becomes too wrapped up in each other.” The story was rejected, but that’s not the harrowing part.

Like the good little intrepid writer that I am, I didn’t let that deter me. I really liked how the story turned out so I added more juicy details, changed the title to “Inseparable,” and submitted it to four additional publications between October 2019 and March 2020. Those four submissions turned into four more rejections. That is also not the harrowing part. I had other projects in the publication pipeline occupying my brain space at the time, so I shelved “Inseparable” with the loose idea that I might one day dust it off and try again to find a home for it.

Flash forward to summer 2025. Whilst scrolling through the internet for whatever unimportant bit of information I was on the hunt for that day, I came across mention of a new movie titled “Together.” I love a good horror, so I checked out the full trailer. My stomach bottomed out when the premise of the move was revealed. “Together” is basically a longer version of “Inseparable.”

“Okay,” you may be wondering, “but do you honestly believe they stole your story, D.M.?”

Well, no…? But it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. Out of curiosity, I did a bit of reading on the movie. According to an interview, the writer/director apparently wrote his script “years ago” before dusting it off and presenting it to the production company “sometime later.” The dates are all rather nebulous. The most interesting thing I learned, however, is that the filmmakers are currently being hit with a lawsuit for…

Wait for it…

Copyright infringement.

As it turns out, the writer/director of “Better Half,” an indie rom-com horror released in 2023, alleges he sent his script to the lead actors of “Together” in August 2020. The lawsuit claims they turned it down in favor of developing their own version of the body horror premise. The summary of both movies, as listed in the lawsuit paperwork is that “…both works center around a couple who wake up to find their bodies physically fused together as a metaphor for codependency.” This is also an apt description of “Inseparable.”

“So D.M.,” you may ask, “do you then suspect the ‘Better Half’ writer plagiarized your story? And that ‘Together’ then stole from ‘Better Half’? Like some ‘Human Centipede’ of body horror stories?” (see what I did there?)

Well, no…? Look, the chances that either of them somehow snatched “Inseparable” from the slush piles of one of five small, independent online magazines and used it as a basis to create a larger piece of work are extremely low. It’s not zero, mind you (and trust me, I’ve thought of all the ways it could be possible), but probably close to it. 

Instead, this is likely a prime example of how it’s completely feasible for creators to come up with identical ideas independent of one another.  That’s not to say that the “Together” team didn’t rip off the “Better Half” story; there are supposedly numerous other similarities in their films that might make for a reasonable case. I haven’t wanted to read the actual full lawsuit filing itself. It would just be painful.

No matter who may or may not have poached from whom, the similarity of these produced projects to mine confers what amounts to an unpublishable status on “Inseparable.” I’ll have an uphill battle convincing editors I’m not just writing a condensed, heavily-inspired-at-best and plagiarized-at-worst, version of “Together” or “Better Half.” It’s not hard to prove; I still have the original submission emails, including the first submission that contains the full “Melding” version dated for February 2019. Even if editors believe me, they know their readers won’t see it as original material, so there’s no benefit to them to publish my story. Ergo, the unpublishable status.

Whenever I dwell on this situation, it fills me with depressing “what ifs” that honestly aren’t that plausible. “What ifs” hardly ever are.  I can at least take some consolation in knowing the concept of “Inseparable” is solid. In fact, “Together” incurred a bidding war for distribution rights after its Sundance review. (Sundance! *sob* Oh, what if…!) Oftentimes, a submission rejection leaves the author wondering if the themes or plot are not appealing. That’s clearly not the case with my gruesome little body horror story. So, yay for me, I guess. I have good ideas.

No matter what, I’m still going to think of this premise as my story. And yes, if I ever decide to torture myself with a viewing of either of those ersatz movies (no, I’m not bitter at all…), I will mentally add to the opening credits, “Based on the short story “Inseparable” by D.M. Domosea.”