Horror Obsessive
Before becoming a screenwriter, Vickie Caspall spent years studying the human brain.
She earned a doctorate in neuropsychology, trained in neuropathology, maintained a private practice, and served as an adjunct professor in neurology. Today, many of those experiences inform the psychological horror stories she writes, particularly her screenplay Splintered, a thriller that explores memory, grief, perception, and the limits of what we can trust about our own experiences.
For Caspall, horror often begins long before anything supernatural enters the picture.
From Neuropsychology to Screenwriting
Caspall’s medical background continues to shape the way she thinks about fear.
“My background in neuropsychology shaped almost everything about how I approach horror,” she says. “I spent years around people who felt like something inside them had changed, their memory, emotions, personality, or sense of reality.”
What stayed with her most was not a particular diagnosis or treatment, but the emotional experience shared by many patients.
“What stayed with me most was seeing how frightening it is when someone wants to be who they used to be and no one can give them clear answers.”
That experience eventually found its way into her writing. While working in medical and academic environments, Caspall became increasingly interested in storytelling. She began reading screenplays, studying films, and teaching herself the craft.
“I came to screenwriting later, but storytelling was always there,” she says. “I started reading screenplays and imagining how scenes would play out visually.”
Memory, Trauma, and Fear
Many horror stories ask audiences to accept extraordinary circumstances from the start. Caspall prefers to begin somewhere familiar.
“I like stories that begin in a believable place,” she explains. “In real life, most people look for medical, emotional, or psychological explanations before they ever believe something strange is happening.”
That philosophy sits at the center of Splintered. The screenplay follows Olivia, a doctor who survives a near-drowning accident and wakes to a life that appears normal on the surface. As the story progresses, she begins experiencing visions, memory gaps, and growing doubts about the world around her.
Working in neuropsychology taught Caspall that memory is often more complicated than people realize.
“Trauma can change memories. Sometimes people remember things in pieces or feel certain something happened while everyone around them says otherwise.”
That uncertainty became one of the driving forces behind the screenplay.
“In Splintered, Olivia feels like something is wrong, but she cannot prove it. The more she tries to make sense of things, the more reality begins to shift around her.”
One of the ideas Caspall returns to repeatedly is the fear of losing confidence in your own mind.
“Most people trust their own thoughts and memories,” she says. “It becomes frightening when people around you start telling you that what you remember is wrong or what you are experiencing is not real.”
Writing a Character Who Cannot Trust Herself
An excerpt from Splintered demonstrates how Caspall builds tension through doubt rather than overt horror.
In one scene, Olivia meets with her psychiatrist to discuss hallucinations, depression, and gaps in her memory. During the conversation, she mentions a son that her psychiatrist insists she never previously discussed. What begins as a routine appointment gradually raises larger questions about what Olivia remembers and whether anyone around her can be trusted.
Caspall says she wanted every explanation presented to the audience to feel reasonable.
“Trauma, medication, depression, and memory problems can all cause strange symptoms, so those explanations make sense early in the story.”
At the same time, she slowly introduces details that refuse to fit together.
“Objects move. Memories do not match. Bruises appear. Symbols keep showing up in places Olivia cannot explain.”
Rather than withholding information from the audience, Caspall wanted viewers to experience the same uncertainty as her protagonist.
“My goal was for the audience to question reality with her instead of feeling lost.”
When Science Stops Providing Answers
Although Splintered begins with medical and psychological explanations, it eventually pushes beyond them.
“I think horror is more effective when people try to explain things first,” Caspall says.
She is particularly interested in the moment when familiar explanations stop working.
“I am interested in that gray area where explanations stop making sense and someone begins questioning reality.”
The screenplay also incorporates recurring imagery, including infinity symbols and doves, which appear before Olivia understands their significance.
“I like symbols when they feel connected to the emotional story,” Caspall says. “Sometimes people notice things before they understand why those things matter.”
For her, symbolism works best when it raises questions rather than providing answers.
“They become quiet clues that something larger is happening.”
The Influences Behind Splintered
When discussing influences, Caspall points to Jacob’s Ladder as an important inspiration.
“Jacob’s Ladder influenced the emotional tone and the feeling of reality slowly slipping away.”
She also admires M. Night Shyamalan for his ability to begin with grounded stories before introducing more unusual ideas.
Films such as Dragonfly influenced her approach to building mysteries through accumulating clues and revelations.
Many of the locations in Splintered are also rooted in real places. Caspall drew inspiration from an aging Memphis hospital that has since been demolished, a Victorian-style home, a children’s hospital, and a bridge from her childhood in Arkansas. Characters often emerge from people she encountered throughout Arkansas, Memphis, and Houston.
Finding a Voice as a Screenwriter
Despite her academic and medical accomplishments, Caspall describes herself as largely self-taught as a writer.
“I learned mostly by reading screenplays and studying movies. I paid attention to pacing, dialogue, and how scenes created emotion.”
Like many writers, she credits persistence and revision as important parts of the process.
“There was a lot of trial and error. I would write something, realize it was not working, and go back to fix it.”
Across her completed scripts, certain themes continue to appear.
“I often write about memory, trauma, identity, and the space between rational explanations and something harder to explain.”
She also finds herself returning to strong female protagonists facing situations that challenge their understanding of reality.
“Even when things become stranger, I try to keep the story focused on relationships and emotion so audiences stay connected to the character.”
For Caspall, psychological horror remains effective because it draws on fears that already exist in everyday life.
“The fear comes from emotions people already understand, grief, confusion, guilt, fear, or feeling disconnected from reality.”
That perspective is easy to see in Splintered. Rather than relying on monsters or graphic violence, the screenplay focuses on a woman trying to determine whether her memories can be trusted. The deeper Olivia searches for answers, the more difficult it becomes to separate fact from perception.
Caspall’s approach to horror reflects the path that brought her to screenwriting. Years spent studying memory, trauma, and perception led to an interest in people who can no longer trust their own experiences. Those themes sit at the center of Splintered, where medical explanations, personal grief, and unexplained events compete for control of the story. Rather than asking viewers to fear what lurks in the dark, Caspall asks a different question: what happens when your memories tell you one thing and everyone around you insists they are wrong?
