#EverydayIsHalloween… Keep the Door Closed

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#EverydayIsHalloween, creepy, ghosts, midnight, story, The Midnight Society

Happy Monday! Or not… depending.

For your enjoyment, I bring you another installment of the great story-a-day challenge, brought to you by The Midnight Society. Go join in the fun here. Contests! Fun tips! Just awesomeness all around.

Today the word is midnight. The hour of all things ghostly I think…

Shadow Man

The minutes ticked by in torturous slow motion as we waited.

“Look, Callie, I’m tired,” Brett murmured. “I’m going to go -”

“No!” I cried. “Midnight. It always happens at midnight.”

Brett sighed and sank further into the couch, remote dangling from his fingers. I perched on the worn brown cushion beside him, waiting, watching. My heart pounded. The scent of paint still lingered in the rooms, colors I had chosen for my first home. Boxes huddled in corners, holding my few belongings that I hadn’t found the motivation to unpack.

My leg bounced, as I scanned the dark doorway leading to the kitchen. Every night, since I moved in, it happened. Every night it got stronger.

And always at midnight.

Fear gathered in my belly as I stared at the stairway, rising up into blackness.

The clock blinked away the seconds, the minutes.

11:39

My hands twisted on my lap.

Brett’s blue eyes slipped shut.

11:47

The red glowing numbers from the stove cut through the shadows.

11:53

The hands creeped across the face of my clock, ticking… ticking.

Brett snored, his head lolling to the side.

11:59

My breath caught in my chest. I rubbed my legs with my hands. Back and forth. Back and forth.

My clock chimed the hour. I jumped.

Then it stopped. Silence crawled through the house. I kicked my sleeping friend in the leg. “Brett,” I said. My voice barely made a sound.

He shifted, grumbling. “What?”

I swallowed, gesturing to the house. “The clocks always stop at midnight.”

He shook his head, glancing at his watch. “That’s weird…”

A bang sounded from upstairs. Then another. And another.

“What the…”

“Then the doors close, one by one.” My words punctuated by slamming doors. I pointed a trembling finger at the stairs. “Then a few nights ago…”

Footsteps thundered from the second floor. I gasped. “That.”

Brett stood. I grabbed his arm, pulling him beside me.

He yanked his arm from my grip. “Someone’s here, we have to do something. Call the police.”

Tears stung my eyes as I shook my head. “There’s no one there. There’s never anyone there.”

A chilling breeze trickled down the stairs, creeping along the floor and wrapping around my legs. Brett shivered.

“Every night the footsteps get louder… they get closer.” I forced the whisper out. Terror wrapped claws around my chest.

“Then yesterday -”

The stairs creaked and groaned.

A whimper tumbled from my lips. “He came down the stairs.”

“He?” Brett turned to me.

Over his shoulder, a black mass came into view. “Tell me it’s real. Tell me I’m not crazy.”

Brett placed his hands on my shoulders. “We need to leave!”

“I can’t leave.” My fear calmed. Coldness of death settled in my body.

The black figure engulfed the room, wrapping shadowy fingers around Brett’s shoulders. His eyes widened with fear.

“And now neither can you.”

End

For a sec I had no idea how that was going to end. I think I need professional help.

Four more to go…

#EverydayIsHalloween… Keep One Eye Open

Tags

#EverydayIsHalloween, autumn sky, creepy, ghosts, story

Happy Monday, all you lovers of the written word, all you readers of the strange and fabulous!

Anyone else joining in on the pic or story-a-day challenge set by the Midnight Society? Go read about it here and help spread #EverydayIsHalloween fun.

This post is a bit late, but I took myself to see the movie Annabelle today. EEEEEKK! I will admit that I jumped (and possibly swore) more than once.

Focus, me! Anyway…

Today our inspiration is autumn sky, two words that do not scream terror. They don’t really scream at all, more of a pleasant sigh. Well, let’s just see what we can do about that…

Unfinished Business

The pain ended as the suns final rays painted the autumn sky red.

Confusion wraps around my thoughts as I stare at me… my body lying in the dirt, the colors of sunset caught in my eyes’ blank gaze. A dark stain spreads across my shirt, my new white blouse purchased for my new job – one I had been forbidden to have.

Dead.

No white light shines from above. No angels sing. I hover, lost. My gaze drifts to the sky, where once gray clouds now glow like the fires of hell. A ripple of fear courses through my consciousness. Does forever burning wait? But only silence surrounds me, the ground does not open up and swallow me.

I snap my attention back to me as my body jerks. My husband grumbles about how much weight I have gained as he drags me across the driveway of our home, our shack. A gun sticks out of the back of his ragged jeans.

I’m not the one who deserves the eternal fire.

Heaven nor Hell waits for me, not yet. Hot revenge tears through my mind.

The demons can drag my soul to the Devil’s darkness after my dear husband learns his lesson.

End

Suddenly that peaceful autumn sky has lost a bit of wonder… O.o

Tomorrow, I have a treat for you! Two posts. I will continue my blogging story adventure, but I also have the privilege, the honor, of revealing the cover to the much anticipated anthology of twisted fairy tales, which will be released on October 31st by Reuts Publishers! Eeeeekk!

Until then, my lovelies! Watch out for ghosts.

 

A Magical … and a Bit Creepy… Short Story

Tags

Believing, demons, fae, fantasy, fiction, ghosts, Guillermo del Toro, stories, thoughts, writing

My short story ‘The Day after I Died’ is now complete and posted – please check out all three parts in my menu at the top.

*bows* Thank you!

This story was my attempt at a bit of humor mixed with my favorite kind of weird … demon, faeries, or whatever you want to name it.

I believe in that stuff. Ghosts, demons, faeries, angels, and the other generally unexplainable exists behind a veil that most people’s limited vision can’t penetrate. All there and all the same, just given different names. Each person, who comes in contact with that other side, experiences something different. The person dying might witness an angel because they need comfort. Someone who is scared out of their mind will call it demon or ghost. Faerie isn’t a term as widely used anymore *points to my sad face*. But they’re there too … I recommend Guillermo del Toro’s movies ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’  or ‘Don’t be Afraid of the Dark’ for truly creepy fae.

Some people out there in the world, can see them. No not me. (I know! So depressing.) Some people are born with the gift and others gain it. When you die, I believe the veil lifts allowing you to SEE … all questions are answered, everything becomes known. So, when you die and are brought back, thanks to medical genuis, the veil remains gone.

I’ve watched ‘A Haunting’ on TV for years. I’ve seen ‘Paranormal Witness’. Encounters with these things from beyond don’t always go well, but I want my own experience. I want to see!

In my story, Beck dies, but is saved. Yea! Maybe. Now the veil has lifted for him. What is the thing he chases wildly through the city in his hospital gown? Demon? Faerie? Angel?

Anyone ever see a ghost? Anyone want to? Anyone think I’m crazy? *yells at hubs to put his hand down* *laughs* I’m not crazy.

The Magic of Why Not

Tags

books, demons, ghosts, horror, magic, monsters, movies, Oculus, Stephen King, thoughts, why not, writing

The monster under the bed, the demon lurking in the dark corner, the ghosts in the attic, all the unknown existing on the other side of our reality fascinates me. Why? I don’t know. I’d blame my dad, but really I think the interest was always in my head. I was born this way! Some people are. Some people look at me like I am insane.

And that’s okay.

My dad handed me my first horror book when I was 17. ‘The Talisman’ by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Something new! Why not? I found myself scared to death, sitting alone upstairs in my room with a single lamp on, staring out into the dark hallway. I raced out of my room, through the dark hall, down the shadowy staircase to reach the lighted rooms and normal sounds of my family. I LOVED IT! I was hooked. And will read anything Mr. King writes. ‘The Shining’ is one of my favorite books. Hedge animals … *shudder*

I always liked scary movies. If my dad was watching it, I wanted to know what it was … cause, you know, he watched the COOLEST stuff. So when, at the drive-in, he said, “You might not want to watch this part.” My sister hid her eyes, but I stared at the screen as a creepy clown doll attacked a kid, as a tree tried to kill him, and when a closet ate poor Carol Ann. Yes. Poltergeist. That one still haunts me.

Monday I saw Oculus. One … hello creepy horror movie. Two … Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Katee Sackhoff are in it! Love them. I didn’t quite know what to expect. The commercials offered a haunted mirror. Cool! I’ve always held onto the belief that mirrors don’t just reflect. They watch. They drink in the images of life playing before them. (Yes, I’ve been hoping to find just the right book idea to use this.) So I went. I watched perched at the edge of my seat. Losing the defined line of what is real and unreal … the tangled mess of a terrifying past experience melding with the present as a brother and sister face an evil that tormented them as kids. Both had moved on … one preparing to destroy the evil and the other working hard to believe it hadn’t been real. If you like creepy, you’ll like this movie. All the way home, my head buzzed with aftereffects. Don’t you love it when a movie, or book, takes you away from real life so much so that it is difficult to return? I do.

And the new movie The Quiet Ones is next on the list.

Horror has been on my mind lately. I’ve always loved it, but never gave much thought to writing it. My stories never go there, I assumed it wasn’t in my head to write. Then last November, I participated in Reuts Publishing’s contest called ProjectREUTSway. Why not? Each Sunday, they gave an assignment to add something such as ghosts, demons, vampires, shape-shifters, etc. to a story inspired by a fairy tale. I turned in a story every Thursday that month! And had SO MUCH FUN! The brainstorming! The rereading of so many fabulous Grimm fairy tales! With this contest, horror worked its way into my writing. From a blood drinking demon, to a killer ghost, to a fallen angel becoming pure evil, and a shape-shifter, I found my creepy side. Two of these stories were chosen to be published in an upcoming anthology (I will certainly share new information about this when I know) and one was chosen to be published on Reuts’ blog! The final one I sent not too long ago to a magazine and await news.

So, finally my love of the fabulously weird and creepy has gone a step further. Really, scary scenes and images have shown up into my manuscripts. That’s how my brain works. So now, my desire to write what I consider a full horror novel grows. Will my head go all the way there? I don’t know, but I am getting closer to wanting to try. Why not? There is this idea swirling in my mind … scary, weird, maybe fabulous. One can hope.

Have you ever loved something, but thought no way could you ever do it? When does an obsession, something you love, become something you do? Horror fan or no … I think everyone must have at least one time where they say, “You know THAT would be so cool to do … if only I could.”

Well, why not?