Meet Zachary Donohue, screenwriter of the new supernatural horror film, Passenger (2026), out on VOD 07/07/2026
Zach, thanks for chatting with us today!
Can you tell me how this project first came about, where did the idea for the script come from?
I have always been fascinated by the scary and terrible things that can happen on roads. I grew up in a small town that had a lot of backroads that were very eerie to drive late at night. My own driveway was a half-mile dirt road through the forest, which we sometimes needed to walk in the winter because of the snow. And when I was 7 or 8, my mom and I broke down on a back road (pre-cell phones) and had to hitch-hike right as the sun was setting — this was incredibly terrifying to me at the time. All that’s to say — I have always been a little freaked out by driving at night, especially in the isolated backroads where there’s not a lot of people or traffic.
I also love the ghost stories and folklore that we attribute to certain roads all around the country. But to me, these disparate roads with their own ghosts aren’t quite universally scary because, in some ways, you can usually find a detour and drive a different route. PASSENGER came out of this idea of trying to make ALL the roads haunted by ONE thing… something bigger than a ghost, more unknowable. This idea that if you’re out driving long enough, you might have the bad fortune of crossing paths with evil.
How much work did you do looking into actual folklore/legends, is the Passenger a real piece of lore and what influenced it?
I did a lot of research, looking into the various ghosts and legends of things that haunt different roads around the world. Stories like Clinton Road, Dead Man’s Curve, and Crawford’s Road (King’s Road) were all loose inspiration. And there is, of course, the story of the Ghostly Woman in White on the side of the road — but with all this, I was looking to find something beyond just being a simple “ghost who haunts the road” story.
At a certain point in development, the producers and I locked in on St. Christopher, the patron saint of Travelers, having some protective powers. And in researching St. Christopher, there is a story where he was roaming the roads with a nomadic monk when they happened upon a big cross standing on the side of the road. The monk freaked out when he saw the cross and left St. Christopher, and it’s here that Christopher realized he wasn’t traveling with a man of god — but the devil. We used this ancient story to inform a lot of what unfolds in the end of PASSENGER.
What was the process like? You filmed in the Pacific Northwest?
We filmed in the state of Washington in 2025. We mostly filmed exterior scenes, outdoors, at night, in the cold, fighting against rain, snow, hail, wind, and any and all manner of precipitation that you could imagine. It was a challenging yet rewarding shoot that I was fortunate enough to have been there for, providing on-set writing help.
Was there a particular scene in Passengers that was the most difficult to write or get right?
The Roman Holiday scare sequence. We always knew there was going to be a movie that they watched on a makeshift projector screen — but from there, the scare underwent so many different versions. I always loved the idea that the movie would be playing over the trees, but it took a few versions to arrive at the idea that Maddie would use the projector as a flashlight — and then a few more versions to get to the moment where Gregory Peck’s face lines up with the Passenger’s. A lot of iterations lead to what I think is a really standout moment.
Did the story change significantly from your first draft to the finished film?
The story’s shape always stayed relatively the same, but the individual scenes and sequences underwent lots and lots of revisions. So I guess in a way yes it changed a lot.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring horror writers, what would it be?
Write the movie you would love to see that doesn’t exist. Someone once framed it like: you’re in the video store (imagine those still exist), or you’re scrolling a streaming app and looking for a movie to watch — what is the kind of movie that you’re craving to see, but it’s not there because it hasn’t been made yet. That notion always stuck with me because it means you’re being true to yourself when considering how you approach your art.
Are there any horror tropes you love, and any you try to avoid?
I love the research scenes – they used to be called “microfiche scenes” where the characters go to a library and find a microfiche where they pull up old newspaper clips. Those are fun. But now those have been replaced with internet research scenes. I think some movies try to gloss over these scenes and are almost afraid to do them because they’re a bit cliché. But if you respect those scenes and try to inject them with some authenticity, I think they’re fun little moments. Heck, THE RING is basically one long research movie, and it is top ten for me.
I try to avoid the trope where in a haunting movie, the other person doesn’t believe the protagonist is experiencing anything supernatural (if I can’t avoid it for story purposes, then I’ll try to keep that period of time as brief as possible)
What scares you personally?
Situations that are out of my control and the feeling of helplessness that comes with them. For instance, if I’m driving on a mountain highway and there’s no shoulder and no turn-off or exit for MILES, and I’m just stuck on this road indefinitely — that makes my heart beat pretty fast.
Did you grow up watching scary movies? What started the love of the genre?
I watched CARNIVAL OF SOULS late at night with my dad when I was about 4. I loved it, and there’s definitely a little bit of inspiration from that movie in PASSENGER.
But I also watched TWISTER in the theater as a kid, and there’s a scene where they’re watching THE SHINING at a drive-in… and immediately after watching Twister, I went to the video store and rented THE SHINING (then bought the book!), and my love of horror only grew from there…
What inspires your ideas?
Most of the times is trying to write what I know – things that scare me in real life that are fairly common (like going on road trips, or riding in an airplane), and then I try to turn my “worst-case scenario brain” on overdrive… which sometimes involves adding a demonic spin to it.
What’s your favorite scary movie?
The Shining
Where can people follow you?
On Instagram! @donohuezach