Carnival of Souls is a 1962 American independent horror film produced and directed by Herk Harvey and written by John Clifford from a story by Clifford and Harvey, and starring Candace Hilligoss. Its plot follows Mary Henry, a young woman whose life is disturbed after a car accident. She relocates to a new city, where she finds herself unable to assimilate with the locals, and becomes drawn to the pavilion of an abandoned carnival. Director Harvey also appears in the film as a ghoulish stranger who stalks her throughout. The film is set to an organ score by Gene Moore. Filmed in Lawrence, Kansas, and Salt Lake City, Carnival of Souls was shot on a budget of $33,000, and Harvey employed various guerrilla filmmaking techniques to finish the production. It was Harvey's only feature film, and did not gain widespread attention when originally released as a double feature with the now mostly forgotten The Devil's Messenger in 1962. Since the 1980s, the film has been noted by critics and film scholars for its cinematography and foreboding atmosphere. The film has a large cult following and is occasionally screened at film and Halloween festivals. The film's plot resembles that of Ambrose Bierce's 1890 story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Plot In Kansas, Mary Henry is riding in a car with two other young women when two men challenge them to a road race. During the race, the women's car is nudged by the boys’ and plunges off a bridge into a muddy river. Three hours after the police start dredging the water to look for them, Mary miraculously surfaces on the river bank, but cannot remember how she survived. Mary moves to Salt Lake City, where she has been hired as a church organist. While driving through the desert, Mary's radio starts playing nothing but strange organ music, and she has visions of a ghoulish, pasty-faced figure (simply called "The Man" in dialogue). She also sees a large, abandoned pavilion on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. A gas station attendant tells her the pavilion was first a bathhouse, then a dance hall, and finally a carnival before it closed. In town, Mary rents a room. She meets the proprietor, who informs her that there is another lodger staying there. Mary unpacks her suitcase and goes to the church where she will be playing the organ. At the church