FOR MY HORROR WRITERS! A STORY WITH A MORAL TO IT.
THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT IS BASED ON TRUE AND ACTUAL EVENTS AS TOLD TO ME BY MY BEST FRIEND CLETUS OVER A GAME OF CHESS. CLETUS KNEW THE PERSONS INVOLVED PERSONALLY AND GAVE ME PERMISSION TO TELL THEIR STORY ON THE CONDITION THE NAMES WOULD REMAIN ANONYMOUS AND CERTAIN DETAILS WOULD BE…LET’S SAY…SANITIZED.
A FAMILY OF FOUR PURCHASED A HOME IN COLORADO. A TWO-STORY MID CONTEMPORARY WITH A FURNISHED BASEMENT. IT HAD FIVE BEDROOMS, FOUR BATHS AND A MEDIA ROOM. THE BASEMENT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS CONVERTED TO A HOME OFFICE/MAN CAVE FOR THE PREVIOUS OWNER. THE LIVING ROOM HAD A DARK BROWN SHAG AND PLUSH CARPETING. THE OUTSIDE WAS PAINTED A DRAB CANARY YELLOW, BUT THAT WAS OKAY, THE FAMILY DIDN’T MIND. THE LARGE QUARTER MOON WINDOWS HAD THAT SYMETRICAL LOOK. AT NIGHT THEY LOOKED LIKE EYES THAT FOLLOWED YOU AS YOU WALKED BY. AS THOUGH IF YOU STARED AT THE HOUSE LONG ENOUGH, IT WOULD STARE BACK. IT WAS FOR THAT REASON THE KIDS ON THE BLOCK WOULD CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET RATHER THAT PASS BY THE HOUSE AT NIGHT. IT WAS LATE 90’S CONSTRUCTION, BUT THE REALTOR SAID IT HAD “GOOD BONES”, FOR WHATEVER THAT MEANT. THE FAMILY GOT THE HOUSE AT $80,000 BELOW ASKING. WHICH IN THE DENVER AREA WAS PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF.
SINCE I PROMISED CLETUS I’D KEEP THE NAMES CONCEALED, I’LL REFER TO THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AS MOTHER, DAUGHTER, FATHER AND SON. SON WAS ENTERING HIS FRESHMAN YEAR AT THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL. DAUGHTER WAS SOMEWHERE IN ELEMENTARY.
SETTLING IN WAS EASY ENOUGH. SPRING AND SUMMER HAD COME AND GONE. FRIENDS WERE MADE AND KEPT. THE FAMILY WAS THE SOCIALIZING TYPE. DAD WAS IN SALES. MOM RAN A P R FIRM, SO FITTING IN WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD CAME NATURALLY.
BUT THEN THE FALL HAD ROLLED AROUND. TO CELEBRATE COMING UP ON ALL FOUR SEASONS IN THE NEW PLACE, MOM AND DAD WENT TO A HALLOWEEN PARTY HOSTED BY THE FAMILY LIVING AT THE END OF THE BLOCK. WEED BEING LEGAL, AND DENVER BEING DENVER, THE TWO ENJOYED EDIBLES WITH THC AND CBD.
LATER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AT HOME, DAD WOKE UP TO USE THE BATHROOM. PASSING BY THE STAIRCASE, HE SAW A SHADOWY MOVEMENT DOWNSTAIRS. PUTTING THE BATHROOM VISIT ON HOLD, AND WISHING HE HAD SOMETHING USEFUL IN HAND, DAD CREPT SILENTLY THE STEPS. HE SAW A CREATURE OF SOME SORT SHUFFLING ABOUT IN THE LIVING ROOM. THE CREATURE WAS HUMAN-ISH AND FREAKISHLY TALL. BONY THIN WITH LONG LIMBS. GRAY SKIN, GRAY STRAGGLY HAIR, AND WAS COVERED IN BLACK MOLDY STRIPS OF CLOTHS AND FABRICS.
DAD KEPT LOOKING AT THIS STRANGE DEFORMITY BUT SAID NOTHING. THE HALLOWEEN PARTY WAS THE FIRST TIME MOM AND DAD HAD EVER PARTAKEN OF SUCH RECREATIONAL ITEMS. SO, AT FIRST DAD THOUGHT IT WAS A FAKE APPARITION CAUSED BY EDIBLE OVER-INDULGENCE. THAT IS, UNTIL THE CREATURE TURNED AND SAW DAD. THE CREATURE SNARLED AND DAD SAW A MOUTHFUL OF SHARP AND JAGGED TEETH. THE CREATURE RUSHED HIM. THE TWO FOUGHT. DAD WENT FULL OUT TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY WHILE AT THE SAME TIME TRYING HARD TO NOT TO WAKE ANYONE TO SUCH A CHILLING SIGHT. HE WAS THE MAN OF THE HOUSE. THIS WAS HIS FIGHT. HIS FAMILY NEEDED DREAMS, NOT NIGHTMARES. THE STRUGGLE WAS INTENSE BUT ONLY LASTED A FEW MINUTES. BECAUSE THEN THE CREATURE JUST STEPPED BACK INTO THE SHADOWS AND DISAPPEARED.
DAD FELT HIS BODY. NO CUTS, NO BRUISES. JUST SWEAT, A RACING HEARTBEAT, AND THE SMELL OF CANNABIS OIL OOZING FROM HIS PORES. IT WASN’T UNTIL AFTER THE FIGHT THAT DAD REALIZED THE CREATURE NEVER SPOKE. IT DID NO MORE THAN SNARL IN ANGER. BUT THOSE EYES. THOSE GRAY EYES. THE WAY THEY LOOKED AT HIM. LIKE AN ANCIENT EVIL. LIKE DEATH. THE RAGE. LIKE A PREDATOR STALKING PREY. DAD WOULD NEVER FORGET THAT LOOK.
DAD WANTED TO WAKE MOM. BUT WHAT IF IT REALLY WAS A SIDE EFFECT OF THE DRUGS? MOM WOULD PROBABLY JUST LAUGH AND GO BACK TO SLEEP. SO, HE TRIED TO DO THE SAME. HE FELL ASLEEP WITH THE IMAGE OF THE CREATURE SHUFFLING DOWNSTAIRS.
THE NEXT MORNING DAD CHECKED OUT THE LIVING ROOM. NOTHING WAS DAMAGED. A CHAIR MOVED OUT OF PLACE, A COUCH PILLOW ON THE CARPET. THAT WAS ABOUT IT. DAD SPOKE NOT A WORD TO HIS FAMILY, THINKING THAT IT REALLY WAS ALL IN HIS HEAD DUE TO THE THC. THE LAST THING HE WANTED WAS TO BE THAT GUY. THE ONE WHO COULDN’T HOLD HIS LIQUOR. OR IN THIS CASE, AN EDIBLE GUMMY.
FAST FORWARD A BIT.
SO ONCE AGAIN, THE SEASONS ROLLED AROUND AND MADE THEIR WAY BACK TO FALL.
IT WAS THE FINAL WEEK OF OCTOBER AND DAD HAD TO FLY OUT OF TOWN FOR BUSINESS. SON AND DAUGHTER WENT TO A HALLOWEEN PARTY AND STAYED OVERNIGHT. SO THAT LEFT MOM HOME ALONE. WITH THE KIDS OUT OF THE HOUSE, MOM USED THE PRIVATE TIME TO PARTAKE FROM HER FAVORITE STASH OF COLORADO KUSH. LAZING ON THE COUCH AND INTO HER SECOND JOINT, SHE WAS READING A BOOK ABOUT THE SO-CALLED TRUE ACCOUNTS OF THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. SHE THOUGHT IT A WEIRD COINCIDENCE THAT THE WAY THE WINDOWS WERE DESCRIBED IN THE COLONIAL STYLE AMITYVILLE HOUSE WAS SO MUCH LIKE THE WINDOWS IN HER OWN HOME. HER THINKING ABOUT THE WINDOWS CAUSED HER TO LOOK UP.
IT WAS THEN SHE SAW THE SAME CREATURE DAD HAD SEEN (KEEP IN MIND, DAD NEVER TOLD ANYONE ABOUT HIS ENCOUNTER). IT STOOD IN THE CORNER, A TALL MONSTROUS SILLOUITTE AGAINST DARK LIT WALL. FOR A GOOD WHILE IT STOOD THERE IN SILENCE. THE ONLY THING STANDING OUT WERE THOSE PIERCING EVIL GRAY EYES. MOM WONDERED IF IT WERE A TRICK OF THE MOONLIGHT CASTING SHADOWS FROM THE BRANCHES OF THE TREES OUTSIDE. BUT SHE HEARD BREATHING. HUFFING BREATHING. FOLLOWED BY A SNARL. WAS SHE HEARING THINGS? SHE GOT UP TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. AND THAT’S WHEN SHE SAW THE TEETH.
THE CREATURE ATTACKED MOM. MOM TRIED, BUT THE CREATURE WAS STRONGER. THE STRUGGLE TOOK THEM INTO THE KITCHEN. SHE GRABBED THE FIRST THING SHE COULD. A CAST-IRON SKILLET. SHE COMMENCED TO WHALING ON THE CREATURE. BEATING IT BACK. SHE KEPT SWINGING, BUT THE LAST STROKE SHE PUT TOO MUCH INTO IT. SHE MISSED AND HIT HERSELF INSTEAD, THE IMPACT FROM THE SKILLET KNOCKING HER OUT.
SHE WOKE UP ON THE DINING ROOM FLOOR JUST BEFORE THE KIDS GOT HOME THE FOLLOWING MORNING. SHE HAD A KNOT ON HER HEAD, BUT HER HAIR COVERED IT UP. REMEMBERING LAST NIGHT, SHE PULLED TWO KNIVES FROM THE KITCHEN DRAWER. ONE FOR EACH HAND. SHE WENT FROM ROOM TO ROOM. OPENING CLOSETS, TURNING ON LIGHTS DESPITE IT BEING DAY TIME. SHE SAVED THE BASEMENT FOR LAST. SHE’D NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO GO DOWN THOSE STAIRS BEFORE. BUT NOW. NOW IT FELT LIKE EVER HORROR MOVIE THAT HAD A BASEMENT IN IT WAS COMING TO MIND. IT TOOK FOREVER TO LOOK AROUND EVER CORNER AND IN THE CRAWLSPACE UNDER THE STAIRS. STILL, MOM SAW NOTHING. HER CONFIDENCE GREW. THINKING IT MAY HAVE BEEN A HALLUCINATION BROUGHT ON BY THE WEED, SHE SAID NOTHING WHEN THE KIDS CAME HOME. NOR DID SHE SAY ANYTHING TO DAD. EVER.
EXACTLY ONE YEAR AFTER THAT (YES, HALLOWEEN), MOM AND DAD WENT TO THE ANNUAL PARTY THROWN BY THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE BLOCK. LEAVING THE NOW SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD SON TO WATCH HIS SISTER. SON COULDN'T SLEEP, SO HE DECIDED TO IMMERSE HIMSELF INTO A HORROR MOVIE. A BUCKET OF POPCORN, A BOTTLE OF SODA, AND HIS FAVORITE SPOT ON THE LIVING ROOM CARPET. THE HORROR MOVIE WAS ABOUT A HAUNTED WOODS AND A WENDIGO. IT WAS TOLD IN "FOUND FOOTAGE" FORMAT. YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU SEE IN THOSE HOME VIDEOS.
THE MOVIE WAS ABOUT TWO YOUNG KIDS (MAYBE 8 OR 9) WHO WERE SEEN GOING INTO INTO THE WOODS BUT NOT SEEN COMING OUT. THEY WERE MISSING FOR DAYS. A MANHUNT FOLLOWED, BUT THEN MEMBERS OF THE SEARCH PARTY GOT SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. ALL TWELVE OF THEM. EACH WERE NEVER SEEN AGAIN. TURNS OUT, THE WOODS ITSELF WAS POSSESSED. ANYONE WHO VENTURED IN, NEVER CAME OUT, UNLESS THE WOODS CHOSE TO SPIT THEM OUT. BUT THERE WAS A REASON FOR THIS. THE WOODS WERE BOTH HOME AND PRISON TO THE SUPERNATURAL CREATURE CALLED THE WENDIGO, A MONSTER CURSED WITH A NEVER-ENDING HUNGER FOR HUMAN FLESH. THOSE TRAPPED IN THE WOODS DID THEIR BEST TO ESCAPE. SOME EVEN CAME CLOSE. SEEING THE WAY OUT, BUT NEVER BEING FAST ENOUGH TO OUTRUN THE CREATURE TO THE OUTER TREES. SO ONE BY ONE, THEY WERE EATEN ALIVE.
AS SOON AS THE MOVIE CONCLUDED, THE SON GOT UP OFF THE CARPET TO FIND THAT SAME ANNUAL CREATURE, PACING THE FLOOR AS IF WAITING. TO THE SON IT LOOKED EERILY SIMILAR TO THE MONSTROUS WENDIGO IN THE HORROR MOVIE.
THE SON WENT ON THE OFFENSIVE. PUNCHING, KICKING, GRAPPLING, YELLING UNTIL HE WAS ABLE TO BEAT THE THING BACK INTO THE SHADOWS. THIS COMMOTION WOKE UP THE DAUGHTER, WHO WENT DOWNSTAIRS TO SEE WHAT THE MATTER WAS. THE SON, SEEING NO EVIDENCE OF THE THING HE JUST FOUGHT, AND REMEMBERING IT LOOKED LIKE THE WENDIGO FROM THE FLICK, CONVINCED HIS SISTER HE WAS SIMPLY IMMERSED IN THE MOVIE AND THAT IT JUST SEEMED SO REAL. HE SAID NOTHING THE NEXT DAY OR ANY DAY AFTERWARD.
A YEAR LATER, THE DAUGHTER, NOW TEN YEARS OLD, COULDN'T SLEEP. HER STOMACH HURT FROM TOO MUCH TRICK OR TREAT CANDY. SHE WENT DOWNSTAIRS FOR A GLASS OF WATER. ONCE AGAIN, THE CREATURE WAS THERE. IT SAW HER, SHE SAW IT. THIS TIME THOUGH, BEFORE IT COULD ATTACK, SHE SCREAMED AT SUCH A HIGH PITCH IT STUNNED THE CREATURE. THE THING TURNED AND RAN TO BLEND BACK INTO THE SHADOWS. THE DAUGHTER'S SCREAM WOKE UP EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE. THEY ALL MADE A MAD DASH DOWNSTAIRS. WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS WRONG, DAUGHTER DIDN'T TRY TO CONCEAL. INSTEAD, SHE DESCRIBED THE MONSTER IN FULL DETAIL, RIGHT DOWN TO THE GRAY SCRAGGLY HAIR. MOM, DAD, AND SON EACH LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, THEN AT THE DAUGHTER.
FOUR WEEKS LATER THE HOUSE WAS SOLD FOR $30,000 BELOW ASKING PRICE. THE REASON GIVEN FOR SUCH A MARKDOWN? THAT DRAB CANARY YELLOW EXTERIOR.
