They're dropping like sand through an hourglass.

So is the "Days of Our Lives."

In one of the most ambitious and controversial storylines to hit daytime television in recent years, venerable NBC soap "Days of Our Lives" (weekdays at 1 p.m. on WHDH, Ch. 7) has introduced a serial killer who will slaughter almost a third of its cast before he or she is caught. At least 10 victims are expected.The characters are going out in graphic ways.

A brick to the head.

Bludgeoned with a champagne bottle.

Bloodied and stuffed in a pinata.

The gimmick has worked: "Days" ratings have zoomed dramatically since the "Salem Stalker" story began in mid-September. Among women ages 18 to 49, the audience that networks longs to attract for advertisers, "Days" is often the most popular soap.

In total viewers, "Days" is the third most-watched daytime drama in a pack of nine contenders.

It's truly a reversal of fortune for "Days," which the network considered canceling a year ago because of its cost.

With the cast dwindling and ratings up, a bottom line is being met, regardless, though executive producer Ken Corday contends the storyline is not about cost cutting. It's about raising ratings, he says.

But cost-cutting maneuvers are striking at all daytime soaps these days as ratings decline and production costs rise, causing a change in what viewers see.

Casts are being reduced. Longtime favorites are being written out. Locale shooting is almost non-existent. Special effects and long shoots are being held to a minimum.

Grand traditional weddings -- a trademark of the genre -- are not done as much anymore, given their production costs.

Soaps are also getting inventive.

The "Days' " storyline is reducing the size of its contract player pool from about 35 to somewhere in the mid-20s by the time it ends, Corday said. Most hour-long daytime soaps have around 30 actors on contract.

Even with new characters being added, simple mathematics will tell you that better ratings and fewer cast members to pay would result in savings for the show.

Now that "Days' " audience is hooked, the hits will keep on coming.

The murdered aren't just short-term characters or even those whose popularity has waned. They are longtime favorites, characters who have been on the show for 20 and, in one case, 30 years.

Corday, whose parents created the show 38 years ago, has become the show's real-life Grim Reaper, calling cast members out of the blue to inform them their services are no longer needed.

"The cast is walking on its tiptoes. They don't look for a hug when they see me coming," Corday said.

Traditional farewell parties are taking a somber tone, he said. Some actors, so upset by the sudden turn, are opting to leave without backstage fanfare.

Actress Suzanne Rogers, who played Maggie Horton for 30 years, didn't see the writing on the wall. Corday called about her demise in August. The news floored her.

The serial killing storyline could eventually cause a backlash for a show gambling its future on it, she said.

"Eventually the audience that felt loyalty to the show won't feel as loyal. It's like someone going on strike," Rogers said. "They won't feel valued anymore. If you cut the people on the show that the audience has grown up with, has cried with and loved with, then (the audience) will give up their loyalty."

The deaths won't stop anytime soon. Corday says the story will continue well in 2004, dominating the show's focus.

The killer will be revealed to the audience late this month. His _ or her _ scheming will play out for weeks.

When the killer is caught, the story will go through the confession and a trial, revealing the reasons behind the slayings.

The serial killer story also represents the creative re-introduction of head writer James E. Reilly to the show. Reilly, who has been head writer on "Days" on and off for more than 13 years, has a reputation for his in-your-face plots.

He created daytime's over-the-top "Passions" (weekdays at 2 p.m. on WHDH, Ch. 7), which features witches and ghosts often for comical effect. He also was responsible for a late 1990s storyline in which one of "Days' " heroines was possessed by the devil.

Reilly's stories often mock the tedious melodrama of daytime plots by introducing unrealistic and often graphic elements.

Nonetheless, Reilly's work usually gets viewers talking and ratings up.

Serial killings are hardly new to daytime dramas. Unlike the serial killer plots on "Port Charles" five years ago or even now on "One Life To Live," the targets strike at the heart of why many viewers watch soaps. Beloved longtime characters, the people who have been coming into living rooms for decades are being slaughtered.

Corday and Reilly know who the killer is. The cast does not.

Corday is well aware that the audience will expect a big pay-off to make up for losing longtime favorites. "We have more surprises to come," he said.

The gruesomeness of the deaths will build, he said, though he did not elaborate.

`Each and every one of the victims were important to the show and the viewers,` Corday said.

`So it makes the killer all that more important. It's the best bang for your buck with each murder. That's the only way this story can work so it has to be this way."

`A lot of our viewers are asking: What will be left of (`Days') once all these characters are gone? We hope 38 more years of stories to tell,` said Sheraton Kalouria, vice president of daytime programming for NBC.

When the story's serial killer nabbed three victims recently, the script arranged for a triple funeral, instead of individual services, to save money.

Corday predicts the soap industry will still be struggling with a ratings decline in the next two years and it could be an ominous battle.

He also foresees that the networks will drastically cut its lineup, from the nine existing today to perhaps four or five shows.

NBC, which airs "Days," has the smallest soaps lineup with only two daytime dramas. CBS has four soaps and ABC features three.