Black Ice - A Supernatural Thriller by Charles Dewandeler

By Charles Dewandeler

From the creative mind of award-winning filmmaker Charles Dewandeler, comes a thrilling novel about severe winter weather conditions in our Nation's Midwest. Every year, 800 Americans are killed (and thousands more injured) in accidents caused by cold weather. But what if those disasters are not always "accidents"?

 

After the mysterious deaths of his sister and his best friend, local teenager Rob discovers a dark force is terrorizing his town. He vows to stop the devastation by any means necessary, even if that means his death could be next!

 

Though this book is a work of fiction, it is inspired by a real life fear we all experience. If you're the parent of a new driver, you know the anxiety of watching your child drive off. Worrying if you'll receive a phone call from police saying they were in an accident.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leading cause of teen deaths is motor vehicle accidents. The reason teenage drivers cause more accidents, is a combination of inexperience and overconfidence. Additional factors which contribute to teen driving accidents are speeding, distracted driving (cell phones), drunk drivers, and cold weather.

 

Michigan born author Charles Dewandeler has first-hand experience on the dangers of driving in cold weather. He believed his screenplay "Black Ice" would make a genuinely scary movie, which would not only entertain but also help save lives by raising awareness of cold weather safety.

 

However, when Charles pitched the script he was told Hollywood film executives couldn't relate because they lack experience driving in cold weather. Further, Tinseltown has no interest in "educating" audiences. As Hollywood continues producing movies which glorify illegal street racing, Charles decided he needed to publish his story. So he turned his screenplay "Black Ice" into a book.

 

"Black Ice" has been described as "A fast-paced page turner" and "Amazing book, kept me on my toes." When you read this book, you'll be genuinely scared, entertained, and better informed. When you buy this book for a family member who is new to driving, you will rest a little easier knowing it will help prevent a dreaded phone call from police. Order your copy today in paperback or eBook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Dewandeler
• Release date: Oct 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386848349

Charles Dewandeler

Charles Dewandeler is an award winning Director and Editor. From 2001-2007 he worked at CTTV in Michigan, Producing and Editing various TV shows. He moved to LA in 2008. where he currently works as a freelance editor. One of his favorite Editing gigs was Martin Lawrence Present's 1st Amendment, a standup comedy show on the Starz Network. He has edited Talk/Variety shows (Way Black When), Reality TV (various), Gameshows (Popular Opinion), Clip Shows (Whacked Out Sports), sizzle reels and scripted content. He wrote, directed and edited the feature film 'Parody Movie' (2011) now available on Amazon prime. and he's the author of comic book 'MotorCity Saint' and the thrilling novel 'Black Ice'. In addition, he has directed and edited over 100 sketch comedy videos on YouTube, which have been viewed over 25 million times.

Book preview

Special Thanks

A.M. Sawyer

and

Leilani Terrell

––––––––

Edited by

Caroline Vandenbree

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons or events are purely coincidental.

Copyright 2017-2022, Charles Dewandeler, Hollywood, CA

For My Parents

Who raised me with the belief that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up.

Contents

Author’s Preface

Dear Reader,

Thank YOU for your taking the time to read my book ‘Black Ice’ inspired by the real life road condition known as... black ice.

First let me introduce myself. I was born and raised in Metro-Detroit, Michigan, USA. Ever since the 5th grade, my dream in life has been to make movies (and TV shows) specifically action/adventure and comedy. I studied film in college and shortly after graduation I moved to Hollywood, CA to make my dreams a reality. Thus far I’ve been working primarily as TV editor, editing TV shows like Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment for Starz, as well as reality TV, talk shows, documentaries and more. I’ve also written 14 screenplays, 4 books, 2 comic books, a children’s book, produced a feature film Parody Movie (2011), and I have a YouTube channel called Spoof Troupe with 100 sketch comedy videos, which have been viewed over 40 million times.

I’ve turned three (3) of my screenplays into books, the first was ‘Black Ice’, followed by ‘Upon A Time’ and ‘Frank Kennedy: Operation Freedom."

If you grew up in a location with cold winters (like I did) you’ve probably heard the term before. For those of you wondering what it is, black ice is what they call a thin layer of ice over a road, driveway, sidewalk or any paved surface. The ice can be clear (like glass) and unnoticeable, looking like gold ol’ black pavement. Hence the term black ice.

A few years ago I was watching some scary movies like Jaws (1975) and I thought to myself, As good as that movie is, in real life not many people are killed by sharks. In fact, one American is killed by shark attack every two years. So sharks really aren’t something we need to be afraid of. Growing up in Michigan, I knew what we really needed to be afraid of was car accidents and bad weather. Every year 30,000 Americans are killed in car accidents, 800 of them are caused by cold weather. That’s 800 people per year who would still be alive if they could have prevented the accident caused by cold weather.

Black ice isn’t just limited to the United States either. The danger exists all around the World in countries with freezing temperatures! I thought, If I make a movie about people getting killed in accidents caused by cold weather... THAT will be a truly scary movie because it’s based on a real danger most people encounter!

I also thought if I could include important information in the film about the dangers of cold weather... maybe... just maybe... the movie could educate viewers and help save lives! Thereby lowering the number of people killed in cold weather accidents all around the World.

So I wrote a screenplay called... wait for it... Black Ice. It takes place in Coolidge, Michigan where a mysterious force is killing the town’s inhabitants. Enter Rob Peterson, a local teenager determined to stop the killings by any means necessary, even if it means putting his own life on the line!

I still plan to produce Black Ice as a feature film but first I need money... like a lot of it... so I can afford to pay the cast and crew AND film all the nail-biting action sequences I want in the movie. In the meantime, I decided to turn the screenplay into a book. The book you’re about to read right now. A book, which might one day save your life! Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little... or maybe not. In the event you ever need to drive in cold weather with the possibility of black ice, here are a few safety tips that could save your life!

1.)  Drive slow, much slower than you normally would.

2.)  Increase the space between you and the car in front of you, this gives you more distance to stop.

3.)  Pump the brakes; do not slam on the brakes. Slamming on the brakes can cause spinouts.

4.)  If your car starts to skid, don’t overcorrect. Turn into the skid and always avoid swerving into oncoming traffic.

5.)  Check the tread on your tires. Don’t drive on bald tires. Or better yet, use snow tires in the winter.

6.)  Keep a winter emergency kit in your car, including a blanket and flashlight.

For more info, please watch my video on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/G9d79P—D9U

Alright, those are the bullet points. Please enjoy the book. I hope it entertains you, makes you laugh, makes you scared and maybe even saves your life.

Sincerely,

Charles Dewandeler

Hollywood, CA

PS. If you’re interested in checking out my other books, please visit my website:

www.CharlesDewandeler.com

Chapter One

It was a day I’ll never forget. The day my world changed forever. It was the day my sister died.

I had grown up in Coolidge, Michigan. It was your typical Midwest, working class, town. Most of the people here had blue-collar jobs and the neighbors actually talked to each other. We’d work during the week and have barbecues on the weekend. We enjoyed swimming in the lake during the summer and skating on the lake during the winter. In winter, people mostly stayed indoors, watching TV, playing video games, or went bowling.

It was five years ago, a brisk winter afternoon, and a slight breeze was blowing on the lake. I was playing hockey with my best friend Ed who I’d known practically since I was a baby. I was testing out my brand new hockey gear, a perk of growing up middle class. I could tell Ed was a little jealous, Hey Rob, nice gear! He said, What did you do with your old stuff?

I replied, Donated it to charity.

You could have donated it to me.

It wouldn’t fit you.

He huffed, My gear doesn’t fit me now.

Ed was wearing his worn out gear from three years ago that didn’t really fit anymore. He was short, stocky and didn’t have much money. A product of growing up in a broken home where his single mom was trying to pay bills she couldn’t afford. We used to tease him a lot, for being out of shape, for being poor, for being anything less than what we were. I know now it was wrong, but hey, we were thirteen; that’s what thirteen year olds do.

It wasn’t a full hockey game; there were just two of us. Ed was the goalie and I was the shooter. Did I say it was just the two of us? I meant the three of us. My little sister Melany was there, playing off in the distance. I didn’t want to bring her but my father made me. He said it was my responsibility as the older brother or something like that. I guess I wasn’t really listening. I didn’t listen much then. I was only 13, and listening wasn’t my strong suit. I just wanted to have fun.

He shoots! He scores! I shouted proudly as if I was calling my own play-by-play, Chalk up one more for the champion of the ice, Rob Peterson!

I want to play! I turned to see my sister by the side of the lake staring at me with that pouty little sister face. She was tired of playing with her Barbie and Ken dolls and wanted to play with the big kids, but she was three weeks shy of her sixth birthday and we were thirteen. Also she had no hockey gear, and let’s face it, she was a girl. She was no match for us.

Melany, it’s not safe, I tried to explain. Just play with your dolls.

But dad said...

As your big brother, it’s my job to make sure you’re safe. And the safe thing for you to do is play with Barbie and Ken.

Okay, Melany pouted as she returned to her dolls. I turned back to Ed to continue our game, so I didn’t see what Melany was doing behind us.

Ed chimed in, Let me shoot a few. You can be the goalie.

No Ed, you’re built for a goalie. You gotta play the role you’re made for.

In hindsight, maybe I could have let Ed take some practice shots, but I didn’t want to be goalie. So I made up the best excuse I could think of so I could keep doing what I wanted to do. I could tell it wasn’t enough, and Ed didn’t want to be goalie anymore. Would you rather play with Barbie? I asked.

Maybe, Barbie is hot.