Night of the Living Dread

Night of the Living Dread

Year: 2021

Runtime: 12 mins

Language: English

Director: Ida Melum

AnimationComedyHorror

A sudden power outage disrupts Ruby's evening, unleashing uncomfortable echoes of her past selves. To find rest, she must face these spectral visitations and learn to embrace her true identity. It's a journey of self-acceptance and confronting past regrets to achieve a peaceful night.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline – Night of the Living Dread (2021)

Trace every key event in Night of the Living Dread (2021) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Tragic cemetery attack

Barbra and Johnny drive to their father's grave in a rural Pennsylvania cemetery. A pale man in a tattered suit appears and kills Johnny, then assaults Barbra. Barbra manages to flee, setting the stage for the nightmare to begin.

Cemetery, rural Pennsylvania
2

Barbra seeks shelter at a farmhouse

Barbra runs to a nearby farmhouse in a rush for safety and discovers the resident's corpse lying half-eaten on the stairs. A growing horde of ghouls begins to surround the house. A stranger named Ben arrives and initially mistakes Barbra for the homeowner.

Farmhouse, rural Pennsylvania
3

Fortifying the farmhouse

Ben takes command, boarding up the windows and doors to keep the ghouls at bay. He searches the house for supplies and eventually locates a lever-action rifle to use against the undead. Barbra remains largely catatonic as the siege begins in earnest.

Farmhouse
4

New survivors join the shelter

The farmhouse cellar becomes a refuge for several others: Harry, his wife Helen, and their daughter Karen, along with Tom and Judy who joined after hearing an emergency broadcast. The group consolidates in the cellar as the army of ghouls closes in on the aboveground refuge.

Farmhouse cellar
5

News of the catastrophe

From radios and televisions, the refugees learn of a nationwide wave of brutal killings by cannibalistic corpses and the existence of armed patrols trying to exterminate them. Reports confirm that the ghouls can be killed by head blows, bullets to the brain, or fire. Scientists speculate radiation from a returning space probe might have reanimated the dead.

Farmhouse
6

A plan to move to safety

Ben devises a plan to obtain medical supplies for Karen and transport the group to a rescue center. He teams up with Tom and Judy to refuel his truck at a pump on the farm while the others hold off the ghouls with torches and Molotov cocktails.

Farm, pump on the farm
7

The pump explosion

Gas spills at the pump, causing the truck to catch fire and explode. Tom and Judy are killed in the blast, and Ben returns to the farmhouse to find the others still trapped inside. The disaster intensifies the group's peril.

Near the farm pump / on the road
8

Harry's obstruction and death

Harry tries to bar Ben from re-entering, creating a tense standoff. Ben eventually breaks down the door and confronts him in a lethal struggle. Harry is shot by Ben and dies, later found in the cellar beside Karen.

Farmhouse
9

Karen's demise and transformation

Karen dies from her injuries and rises as a ghoul. She consumes her father's remains and, in a shocking moment, she stabs her mother Helen to death with a masonry trowel. The family tragedy deepens the horror in the house.

Farmhouse
10

Barbra's fate sealed by the undead

Barbra, still attempting to aid Ben, is grabbed by a reanimated Johnny and dragged away from safety. The remaining survivors scramble as the ghouls assault the doors and windows.

Farmhouse
11

Ben takes cover in the cellar

Ben retreats to the cellar, using his rifle and improvised defenses to fend off the encroaching ghouls. The others are either dead or missing, and Barbra remains in danger as the siege worsens.

Farmhouse cellar
12

Nightmare continues into 3 a.m.

They pause to watch a 3 a.m. news update before the power fails. The darkness allows the ghouls to press their attack, and the defenders struggle to hold the line.

3:00 a.m. Farmhouse
13

The posse arrives and a fatal misjudgment

In the morning, an armed posse arrives to dispatch the remaining ghouls. Ben emerges from the cellar, but the group mistakes him for a ghoul and shoots him. His body is then discarded with the other corpses by being placed on a bonfire.

Morning Farmhouse vicinity
14

End of the nightmarish siege

The morning bonfire burns Ben's corpse along with the others, marking the bleak culmination of a desperate struggle for survival. The farmhouse and its survivors are left to the dawn without a clear rescue in sight.

Morning Bonfire area near farmhouse

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:24

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Night of the Living Dread Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Night of the Living Dread

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