A Halloween Story

One Halloween evening a group of teenagers enter a spooky abandoned house to fulfill a dare. What fate awaits them in the old home: a homeless person? A criminal's hideout? A murderer? An evil presence? Or some decaying floorboards? Read on to find out.

The full moon shines in the darkening blue sky over the little town of Fogmeadow. It's a busy evening; the neighbourhood streets are filled with kids and adults in costumes going door to door. It's a cool Halloween night and trick-or-treating is in full swing throughout various neighbourhoods. The sidewalks are full of zombies, witches, mummies, princesses, and various other movie characters and Halloween monsters.

Outside the house, at the end of Tapper Crescent, three sixteen-year-old guys chat on the sidewalk. One of them leans on a nearby tree wearing a brown leather jacket over a beige shirt along with brown cargo pants and black boots. To complete his Indiana Jones look, he has a brown fedora in his hand. “How much longer are you two going to take?” He complains.

“Ryan just chill; this is the last house.” his friend replies. He leans on someone’s car spinning his white earphones in his hands. He wears a plain white t-shirt with a black and grey varsity jacket over it accompanied with black jeans and black Converse shoes. A pair of black sunglasses hang on his t-shirt collar. “Scott and I just have to drop our brothers back home and then we can go to Chloe’s party.”

“Yeah, and you can’t rush this. It’s probably going to be Sean and Vince’s last Halloween trick-or-treating. They’ll both be twelve next year and think they’re too old for this anymore.” Scott adjusts the sleeves of his black blazer. Under the blazer, he has on a white tuxedo shirt and black bow tie along with black dress pants and shoes. His hair is slicked back, and he has plastic fangs in his mouth. His face looks pale courtesy of some makeup.

“Alright,” Ryan sighs. “But this isn’t the last house on the street.” They all glance at the opposite house: an old, grey, run-down two-story home with boarded-up windows. “You guys think it’s really haunted?” He asks.

“Nah,” Scott replies. “I think parents just tell their kids that, so they don’t go exploring it.” The three of them stare at the rundown building.

“In that case, I dare you to go inside.” Ryan orders. Alex and Scott look at him surprised. “That is unless you’re too chicken.” Ryan teases.

“Alex, head’s up!” comes a voice from the house they stand in front of. The guy dressed like Baby Driver leaps to his right and catches a soccer ball before it nails a kid in her head.

“I told you to watch where you kick your ball, Vince.” Alex says slightly annoyed. He tosses the ball back to a kid wearing a soccer uniform.

“Yeah but I know that I got nothing to worry about when I have the best goalkeeper around.” Smiles Vince. He wears a red Manchester United jersey with black shorts and red soccer turf shoes.

“So, what are you guys talking about?” asks the kid to Vince’s left wearing black jeans, blue shoes and a white shirt splattered with paint. He has a satchel of art supplies hanging on his shoulder.

“I just dared your brother to enter 211 Tapper Crescent.” Ryan smirks proudly. Sean laughs claiming that Scott’s too much of a chicken to even walk up the porch to which Ryan offers a high-five of agreement. Scott tries thinking of something to say that wouldn’t make him seem scared but came up with nothing.

“If you’re not chicken why don’t you join him, Ryan.” Alex suggests breaking the silence.

Ryan shoots Alex a frustrated look. “Well, in that case, why don’t we all go!” He blurts out. Sean and Vince immediately chime in agreeing it would be cool which is immediately met with protests from Scott and Alex.

After a lot of arguing they all eventually make their way across the unkempt lawn of 211 Tapper Crescent. Scott completes Ryan’s dare by being the first one through the door. The five of them gather at the entrance of the abandoned house. The floorboards creak under their feet. Scott shines his phone’s flashlight around. Straight ahead on the right is a staircase leading upstairs and to the left of the stairs a hallway leading to a back room. To either side of the entrance are wide arches leading to empty rooms.

Ryan and Scott step into the empty room on the right discussing what might have happened here that caused the house to be abandoned. Sean goes up a couple of steps and shines his phone’s light to the top of the staircase. Alex notices Vince looking nervous and decides to take him outside.

As if on cue the door slams shut with a crash. They all jump startled. Alex tugs at it, but it's either locked or jammed. They all look around nervously. Scott says he’ll go check for a back door that's accessible while Ryan checks the nearby windows. “These ones are all boarded up.” He calls from the left room.

Suddenly the house creaks and groans like it's stirring from slumber. A crash comes from the top of the stairs. The floorboards shake. A large bed slides down the stairs almost crushing Sean who had been standing in front of the staircase; luckily Alex pulls him out of the way just in time.

More sounds come from the above level implying more furniture is mobilizing. Alex rushes the boys down the hallway with Ryan just behind them. The backdoor is boarded up. To the right, Scott looks down another staircase leading to the basement. He turns around to face them and the door swings shut pushing him down the staircase. They hear him screaming as he tumbles down the stairs. Alex rushes to the door and tries to pull it open to no avail.

“This place is haunted!” Ryan screams. “Let’s get the hell out of here then we can get Scott some help.” He rushes into the room on the right that none of them had been in yet. The other three follow him only to see a large rotting bookcase collapse on him. Ryan howls in pain. Alex tries to lift the bookcase to allow Ryan to crawl out. Pieces of the ceiling fall showering them in white powder. The floorboards creak and move out of place making the ground unstable.

Sean points to a window leading out to the front lawn. The lower boards had fallen off and a couple of them look loose. Alex picks up a piece of a broken floorboard and breaks the glass shards at the lower edges of the windowpane. He knocks out the lowest board and helps Vince squeeze through. He turns around to help Sean whose foot is stuck in a broken floorboard. As Alex steps toward Sean more of the floor around the eleven-year-old begins to break. Alex reaches out to pull Sean up just as the rest of the floor around him collapses. Alex lets out a horrified scream.

“Go get help!” Ryan orders. “He’s probably in the basement with Scott.”

Alex nods to him and crawls through the window. He finds Vince waiting for him on the porch. Holding hands, they leap off the porch onto the wild grass. They run for the street. Halfway there the ground gives way below Vince’s feet and he plummets underground. Alex almost gets pulled down with him but he loses his grip on Vince’s hand.

Alex stares down the hole. It must be six feet deep. He glances around but he saw nothing nor nobody that could help. The night has set in and it's completely dark. The closest source of light is a street light. He shines his phone down the hole and sees Vince’s face streaked with tears.

“Vince, I don’t have anything to get you out and the hole is too deep,” Alex calls. “I’ll go get help and come back for you, I promise.”

Vince acknowledges that with a sob and Alex rushes off to find the nearest adult. What will his parents think of him losing his brother in a six-foot hole in an abandoned yard?

***

Alex stares up at the old, dark, two-story building. He wears blue jeans, black boots and a black jacket over a white t-shirt. His stubble blends in with his crewcut. It's been ten years since that night when this house consumed his friends and brother and seeing the place again fills Alex with resentment.

Alex finishes his beer and tosses the can. He picks up a gas can and walks up to the old house. He douses the porch in gasoline and drops a lit match on it. He steps back and watches the house go up in flames. For a moment he thinks he can hear the evil entity howl in pain from within the house and he smiles walking back to the street.

Sirens blare as police cars pull up behind Alex. The officers handcuff him and push him in the back of their car just as a fire truck pulls up. Soon Alex is back in his cell at Fogmeadow Asylum where the doctors explain the reason behind Alex torching the house.

“He believes the abandoned home is haunted and killed his brother and friends ten years ago whereas he was the one who committed the four murders.” They glance at Alex grinning in his cell.