Short Story | Writing Prompt Response

The House

Hallowe’en is coming. Enjoy a seasonal tale! 👻

This short story is a response to my own spooky prompts (idea #1) at The Fiction Writer’s Den.

The prompt: Write a piece of flash fiction in which one or more travellers stumble upon a haunted (or at least creepy and dilapidated) house. What kind of horrors lurk within — or is it all in their mind(s)? Do they escape, or are we witnessing their final moments?

“Should be around here somewhere,” said Marilisa, looking up from her phone at the narrow road. “No, wait… this doesn’t look good.”

“It looks really cool,” said Kate from the back seat.

“It’s fine,” said Jimmy, getting out and slamming the driver’s door. “It’s totally fine. The place is abandoned.”

Marilisa got out of the other side, and looked up at the house, nodding slowly as she peered towards the property, partly silhouetted in the fading evening light. The two-storey house was apparently unoccupied, though she wouldn’t have said abandoned. The yard was very overgrown, though large and flat.

“We could sleep under the stars,” Jim said, looking around.

“Yes,” chirped Kate, grabbing his arm with both hands. “A campfire?”

Marilisa eyed the pair of them coolly. Nisa could get far too touchy with Jim for her liking. “That all sounds good,” she said at last. “But the forecast is rain.”

“Perhaps…” Jim looked at the house again.

“Surely not!” Marilisa replied, eyebrows rising. “There could be anything lurking in there...”

“Come on, Mari,” said Kate, now taking the other woman’s hand and leading her towards the house. “You gotta be open minded, honey. What are you afraid of? Bats? Bats ain’t so bad, you know.”

“Hmm.” Marilisa scowled, and looked at the other woman. “I’m not afraid of anything, Kate.”

Jimmy pointed. “Is that… a gravestone?”

The others looked over; tombstone-like shapes could be seen at the far side of the house, but were wreathed in mist.

“Can’t make it out. The weather’s turning, sure enough,” said Marilisa, then raised her face to the sky as if sniffing the air. “There’s something portentous about this place.”

“We have to take a look inside at least,” said Kate.

“But…”

“Well,” put in Jimmy, “you were the one that didn’t want to sleep outside, Mari. So let’s do it.”

“I was assuming we’d push on to a motel,” Marilisa replied. But the other pair were walking towards the dilapidated house. She watched them, hands on hips, then followed.

Jimmy held the door to the dwelling as Marilisa stepped through. As it swung shut with a bang, he looked between the two woman to with an boyish grin, his face lit up by the torch of his phone. “This is spooky.”

Kate sniggered.

“Pfft,” responded Marilisa. “I hope you don’t expect me to look around. We can find a secure room, then settled down for the night. Agreed?”

“C’mon — we have to explore!” said Kate.

Jimmy was already walking away. His torch lit up strangs of peeling brown wallpaper, and a single half-collapsed wooden cabinet. “Are those… vines?” He pointed up towards some dark tendrils that snaked along the ceiling of the space.

Kate had followed him, but now hesitated as a door at the far end of the corridor swung open with a bone-wrenching creak, and all at once, the temperature in the area seemed to drop.

“Or… we could just stay here near the door,” added Kate.

“Huh. I believe you said we have to explore?” said Marilisa, walking past her companion. “So let’s do it. Then we can all get some rest.”

“That was weird,” said Jimmy, stepping further. “I didn’t touch that door.”

“There’s a good explanation for everything,” replied Marilisa, lighting her own torch and briefly inspecting the door’s hinges and latch before looking into the room beyond. It was a large, square room, blood-red, with a half-collapsed line of bookcases at the far side, and boarded up windows. A peculiar wooden statue was the only feature on the side of the room closest to the door.

Jimmy stepped inside and began to shine his torch around. There was a chandelier above, with cut glass which — perhaps due to a trick of the light — looked like tiny glass skulls. Spiders large and small dominated the heights, each with their own webbed territory.

Kate was still in the hallway outside. “I don’t think the stairs are safe,” she called out, her voice wavering.

“Well, don’t worry,” said Marilisa. “This room looks promising.”

“You kidding?” said Jimmy nervously, still at the threshold. “It looks… absolutely freaky.”

“Hmm…” Marilisa ran her hand gently over the dusty bookcases.

Kate peeked in the door, her face pale, wide eyes staring. “Maybe we should go back to the car. Drive on for a bit.”

Marilisa spun around. “We are here now, aren’t we?” she replied, taking a secretive joy in Kate’s discomfort. “And this is large, and dry. Isn’t it perfect, other than the absence of your beloved bats?”

Kate stepped inside, moving close to Jimmy, who was still just a yard from the door. “What is that… thing?” she asked, pointing at the statue.

“It’s kinda magnificent, isn’t it?” replied Marilisa, walking over to the carving. It was made of dark wood, very smooth, and showed a goblin-like creature with distorted, demonic features, holding a jagged knife in one hand, a noose hanging from the other. A pentacle was engraved in copper around its base.”

“Beautiful artwork,” Marilisa murmured. “Just…”

“That thing is not beautiful,” said Kate sharply, coming to her side. “It’s fucking freaky. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to sleep in here.”

“You won’t have to,” said Jimmy, coming closer and putting his hands on Kate’s shoulders.

Marilisa turned, and as she stared back at the pair, her eyes starting to glow red. Her feet rose from the ground. “No,” she said. “You won’t have to.”

The goblin figure beginning to move, raising its dagger and noose. Above, the spiders scrambled towards the doorway. Jimmy and Kate gasped and then screamed, clutching one another, as the glass skulls began to cover them.

Thanks for reading! The prompts are right here if you want to have a go.

You can also find more of my fiction and poetry here, as well as articles about creativity writing and author skills here.