Novel · Kwill Books · 1982
A young man is admitted to a mental hospital after trying to kill himself on a public beach. Soon the therapist assigned to him begins seeing and hearing things that have no rational explanation. His power to make others share his thoughts, feel his emotions and live his nightmares threatens her sanity and throws the hospital into chaos, unless she can uncover the secret behind it.
Also a film: The Sender (Paramount, 1982), from Tom’s screenplay.
My favorite horror movie of ’82.
Tom on The Sender
When Quentin Tarantino met with my producer wife, Carol Baum, he told her The Sender was one of his favorites. “When they showed it on TV,” he told her, “they ran a different version. I cut together a third version, and if Tom will autograph my copy of his novelization of Carny, I’ll give you a copy of my version.” We’ve never seen that version, but I did go on to novelize my script. An excerpt appears as special material in the British Blu-ray edition of the movie.
From the archive: “Why Quentin Tarantino asked for my autograph”
