William Hickey
A Southerner–young, poor, ambitious but uneducated–determines to become something in the world. He decides that the best way to do that is to become a preacher and start up his own church.
14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church’s authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence – which is considerable.
This retelling of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist may be populated by drug pushers, pimps and prostitutes, but the book’s classic themes remain the same. Caught under the thumb of a lecherous brothel owner, 10-year-old Lee befriends an aspiring musician named Angel who helps him escape his servitude and sends a maternal drag queen to vanquish the boy’s enemies.
Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack’s rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.
Broadway producer, Max Bialystock and his accountant, Leo Bloom plan to make money by charming little old ladies to invest in a production many times over what it will actually cost, and then put on a sure-fire flop, so nobody will ask for their money back – and what can be a more certain flop than a tasteless musical celebrating Hitler.
FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile, but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying, not to mention the nightclubs…
Toulon, a puppet maker, discovers an ancient Egyptian potion and uses it to bring his creations to life. His puppets become murderous little demons and escape. Distraught, the master takes his life. Years later, psychics tune into the existence of the monstrous marionettes and set off to stop them.
In Philadelphia, a small-time bookie who stole mob money is in hiding and he begs a childhood friend to help him evade the hit-man who’s on his trail.
Mickey Gordon is a basketball referee who travels to France to bury his father. Ellen Andrews is an American living in Paris who works for the airline he flies on. They meet and fall in love, but their relationship goes through many difficult patches. The story is told in flashback by their friends at a restaurant waiting for them to arrive.