We had only recently heard about my uncle's new job, and when he said that he was willing to pay for our expenses to tag along with his kids, we were pretty excited! Though…I was somewhat unsure of the news.
I wasn't a total wuss, but hearing about us going to a haunted house unnerved me, even if I knew that it wasn't haunted by any real ghosts or ghoulies. But I figured that I was old enough not to be scared by such things, that may be it wasn't all that bad. It was my uncle after all.
"In the end, I told my parents that I was old enough to go, and they actually took my word for it. Great parenting, am I right? But yeah, soon enough, I found myself in the family van; my parents, my sister, and three of my cousins all on our way to Carnie's. Even at the gates, I could already see two billboards telling the newcomers of the newest haunted house"
"Murton Murder's House of Horror" was written in an old slasher movie font. The whole billboard looked like a poster from a monster movie, with only an artist's representation of my uncle's face. Even so…he looked really menacing in that poster. The way he was staring down at us had already made me think that staying in the house with a babysitter wasn't all that bad of an idea.
"Uncle Pat took notice of us, and he lead the way to his haunt. Back then, the house was on this one corner. Away from most of the rides and attractions. It was weird seeing it there, like it was something that just popped up out of nowhere. Which…I guess is what they were going for, to be all spooky and mysterious" that, or the higher-ups of the carnival still weren't too sure about the haunted house being a hit.
The "House" looked more like a large box with tons of paint and decor on it to give the illusion of being a family home. The two ways in and out were right next to each other too, separated by only about five feet. The entrance did look like a front porch at least; wooden stairs, a small fence surrounding the landing, and even a brass knocker in the shape of an angry bat.
"After a few minutes of my uncle and dad talking, Uncle Pat told us that he needed to go, and gave us all tickets for the ride. We were soon waiting in line like the rest of the visitors"
"What? No free cutsies with those tickets?" a guy beside me asked.
"Haha, nah, we didn't get any cutsies. My dad even asked that before he left, and Uncle Pat said that customers who got there first should have their right to go first. Or…something like that anyway"
"This didn't mean we got bored while waiting though…"
Since the exit was right next to us, we were able to see the people that went in eventually coming out. And…let's just say most of them weren't happily skipping out of there either.
Screams of kids, teens and adults alike could be heard whenever the doors would burst open. Letting the customers that paid admission escape whatever they were running from. I even recalled a man, who may or may not have been drunk, stumbling down a few paces from the exit doors, both his friends and part of the security crew helping him get to their car.
"It was like watching those reality TV programs, the ones that showed random people falling down on their asses while getting chased by people in costumes, hehe" I remarked. "Only difference was, we never really got to see who or what was chasing them…that is, until this one moment…"
An hour had passed, we were finally next in line for the haunt. The family members that I had with me did not look bored at all. My dad still had a wide smile on his face, as did my cousins; who each exchanged their theories on what their father had in store for us--It was a little unnerving to know that my uncle didn't even tell his own kids about what he was doing in his job…
And as per usual, the last band of people who went in clambered outside in a hasty sprint to escape, practically tripping over themselves as they did.
Only difference was…one of them did not look like he was a customer…
"And I know this sounds beyond stupid…but the killer lumberjack wearing a bear mask scared the piss outta me!" I exclaimed.
It took a while before someone--a classmate of mine named Martin--said
"W-wait, what?" hints of laughter desperately trying to get out of the guy's system as he did.
I nodded very slowly. "You heard me, a guy about as tall as my dad ran out, wearing a flannel jacket and a bear mask, with a hatchet in his hands" explaining it like that made it sound all the more ridiculous.
"That…that sounds like a freaking Squidy-Jo's mascot!" Martin exclaimed before bursting out laughing. As did the rest of the crowd. Although, I could clearly see some of us were simply cackling along. Looking all awkward and uneasy.
I couldn't help but laugh along myself as they did. "Yeah, it does sound like that, doesn't it? But believe me guys, the guy looked really spooky! The bear mask he was wearing had what looked like actual black and white fur, and the wide smile on the thing just made things worse. And the way he just stopped at one moment, then slowly turned his head to look at us, specifically me and my family… It gave me enough nightmare fuel for an entire month!" I explained, mimicking the same wave I saw years ago and trying to get things back into perspective.
"So it's like when we saw Mr. Bateman shaving his legs in class" a guy to my left stated. Immediately, the laughter flared up yet again. I could only put my hands on my forehead and wait, quietly snickering to myself along the way. It honestly did sound eerily similar, and that was what scared me…
"Right, right, that's enough. Good joke there man," I said, and he briefly replied with a thumbs up. "Now, I'm guessing ya'll are thinking of what the inside of the house was like? Well…hate to disappoint, but it wasn't really anything groundbreaking. It was…kinda like any other haunted house, folks in costumes jumping out at ya left and right, freaky looking mannequins and animatronics moving around, the works. They did one hell of a job on it though!" I exclaimed.
And that wasn't just me patronizing my uncle and his crew. For what little they had in both location and money, they turned that little cramped box into a house filled with ghouls and ghosts wearing incredibly well done costumes and makeup, mechanical zombie arms that reached out at you with each of their long and grimy fingers moving, and eerie music and sound effects that had me thinking they may have been coming from the monsters themselves instead of the speakers on the walls. Every second and every room we passed felt like the nightmare only got worse and worse for me…
"But that wasn't what drove me to remember that particular night for many years to come. Out of every room that we had gone through, there was one room that turned into something that I look back to whenever I think of my uncle's haunted house…and would you believe me if I told you that it was the very first room we came in?"
Before we got bombarded with hideous banshees and maniacs in chains, we had to wait in this one room by the entrance. Out of what was ahead, this first room stood out like a sore thumb. Mostly because of how seemingly barren and empty it was. Four flat and grey walls boxed us in, a single lightbulb waving back and forth in the middle, its light revealing another door opposite to the one we came in. To top it all off, my uncle's voice, greeting us and giving a long monologue on how stepping inside his house was a very, very bad idea.
"I remember my dad shouting something funny at the disembodied voice in the middle of his speech. We were all surprised when it talked back. My dad didn't say anything else to it after that, hehe"
In an ironic twist, I actually felt more at ease hearing my uncle talking through the speakers. Knowing that it was him gave me a sense of familiarity, making me think that he wasn't someone who'd let a kid like me get traumatized by what he made…
Then…
The light went out…
The door eerily creaked open--at least the speakers made it sound like it was creaking--revealing a long and narrow hallway filled with different portraits stuck to the walls. I already knew the people inside them weren't gonna stick to one place…
"How did this room scare the piss out of you then?" the smart-ass soon asked me. I was tempted to do a sarcastic comment myself, but managed to kill the feeling just in time.
A low chuckle escaped my lips, one reminiscent to the Grinder of the Grind movies himself. "Because I found myself running back there, by my own lonesome…"
I couldn't exactly remember what made me turn back. All I could recall was that I got scared in between two rooms, and I started running back to the entrance. I don't know why I kept running either, I knew that nobody was meant to go back a room, you had to keep moving forward until the end--the screaming people that ran off from the exit from earlier was enough proof of that.
But I kept going and going. Weirdest part was, nobody seemed to have seen me. Every room that we passed through was devoid of people. Not even the crazy zombie hands reached back out at me.
I never felt safe. Despite the inactivity, seeing everything that we passed by not too long ago made me uneasy. Very uneasy.
It didn't take me too long before I reached the first room again. The whole room was still dark, still deserted. Nobody there but me, which I couldn't really say made me feel any better.
The red lights of the hallway with paintings behind me made it possible for me to see the two doors we first passed through. Doors that could lead back to the safe sanctuary outside. I reached for the knobs and tried to open them…but of course, they wouldn't budge.
For some reason, I kept staring at these two doors, occasionally trying the knob again for any sign of compliance. I didn't know if I was just in denial or had simply run out of ideas.
I stayed there, hearing nothing but the faint horror music behind me and the sounds of my own breathing. Every time I tried to turn the knob, I got closer and closer to breaking down. I wanted out. I wanted to go home. I wanted to leave that house forever and bury this memory deep, deep down in the depths of my brain. To never hear, see, or remember whatever I saw in that house…
And that was when I heard it…
As I was reaching for the knob again, I found myself petrified at what I was hearing. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. I frantically looked everywhere to find out where it was coming from, but I couldn't tell. It was too dark, and somehow, that whole room felt as if it was shrinking as it went on.
And just as sudden as it had started…it stopped. In a way that I would never, ever forget in my entire life…
"That's it? Just a scream?" a girl with messy blonde hair asked me.
"It…it wasn't just any scream…" I replied. She didn't look too happy with my answer though.
"I'd like you all to do something for me real quick, nothing too complicated" I requested before anyone could say anything else. "I just want all of you to imagine a scream you heard in a horror movie. Any horror movie, the longer the scream the better. Replay that scene where the girl stumbles down and screams for her life as she sees whatever monster or serial killer was chasing her finally catch up. Replay it over and over again until you remember how terrified the actress tried to sound when she was screaming…"
I gave them a long moment to picture it in their heads…
"You can hear it now right? Because whatever you heard in that movie…the scream I heard that night did NOT sound anything like that, no, no…it just…it didn't sound like it was supposed to be there. Hell, I wasn't supposed to be there…"
The whole crowd went silent for a while…until finally, one of them spoke up and asked "What did it sound like?"
I let the flashlight fall down to the ground, letting its ray of light wander off, as I said…
"Like a little girl screaming…and then getting her throat sliced open"
Even if it was a little muffled, hearing how whoever had let out that shriek of pure terror was desperately gasping for air made the insides of my stomach churn. I Needed to get out of there.
I turned to the doors again, mustering up all the strength that I had to pull or push them open. Even with the horrible sounds slowly fading away, I did not stop. I wanted to get out of there. To be able to finally leave that nightmare once and for all…
It still wouldn't budge. After many countless attempts, I finally broke down, falling to my knees and still clutching to one of the doorknobs. Crying and whimpering. Silently praying for a miracle to happen that would whisk me away and make me forget I'd ever heard that scream…
A miracle never arrived, and what was worse…what sounded like another door opening made its way into my ears. Followed by faint footsteps that seemed to stop halfway. Prompting me to slowly turn to look at whoever or whatever was now behind me…
Within moments, I found myself face-to-face with a familiar sight. A tall man, wearing a plaid long-sleeved flannel stood in a newly opened doorway at the far left corner of the room. A man who wore a bear mask that had a wide toothy grin. The same person that ran alongside the people who ran away from the exit doors and looked at us, now towered over me…
Except this time, I could clearly see the dripping of red from his fingertips…
I passed out.
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