Haunted(Shelly Garrod) Author's note: I'm trying something new. In this story I begin with one word. Then add another word to the second line and so on up to ten. Then I go backwards from nine words to one word. Hope you enjoy.

Haunted

House
on corner.

I
know not.
Shall I enter?

Eerie
outer appearance.
Dark gloomy windows
mysteriously speak, “Come Hither.”

Feet
slowly moving
ever so closer.
Anxiety building dreading within,
pulling me near impending fear.

Heart
beating faster.
Panic is escalating.
Inhale deeply and again.
Thunderous beats stab my ribs
wanting release from its adrenaline surge.

Chills
creeping slowly
throughout my body.
Spiking spine-tingling goosebumps
adhering upon trembling body appendages
causing dark unsettling feelings deep within.

Standing
I shudder.
Door to enter.
Grasping the metal handle,
grip cold as death itself.
“Creeaak!!!” swiftly a dark abyss awaits.
A heavy fog lies in its doom.
Calling me in deeper to its forbidden web.

Voices.
Distorted everywhere.
Penetrating my brain.
Cackling laughter so wrenching.
“Step inside, if you dare!”
Crossing the threshold into imminent terror.
“Slam!” behind me the entrance is barred.
Inhuman shrieks emerge from every crack and crevice.
Snarly growls mix with weeping and distressed cries entangle.

Walls
closing in.
Suffocating. Can't breathe.
Suddenly a moving spiral.
Flickering lights mask my vision
encasing my surroundings with gross obscurities.
Flitting shadows bounce from wall to wall.
Around every bend emerges grotesque beings lacking form.
Clashing together images of ghoulish, gruesome and ghostly creatures.
Gnashing teeth, piercing eyes, sinister glares, and twisted limbs intertwine.

Pupils affixed and focused on a dimly lit corridor.
Watchful as I approach the grim passage unknown,
unaware of what lurks in its blur.
Cobwebs hang from perilously decaying rafters.
Bent nails hang pictures high.
Persistent mischievous roaming eyes
harbor a shrewd
evil ominous
stare.

Long hall forks, go right or go left.
Drawn to lights glowing in the coolness.
Creepy sounds radiating from dead ahead.
My body hugs the wall.
“Aaaah!” slimy creepy hands
grab my neck.
I turn.
Gone.

Suddenly a strange coldness wraps around me.
Fright has encompassed me, running incoherently.
Slipping, falling in something gooey.
Feel a clammy hand
pull me up.
I rise.
Alone.

Unrecognizable figures sprint quickly toward me.
Creatures cascading to the door.
Need reach escape first.
Panic strickens me.
Must leave.
Now.

“Crash! Bang! Clang! Crunch! Boom!”
“Grunt! Screech! Shriek! Hiss!”
Bloodcurdling nonstopping hypnotic.
Otherworldly chaos.
Unearthly.

Hordes of creatures moving.
Uncontrollably fiercely fast.
Open door.
Out.

“Best Haunted House!”
“So Fun!”
“Yaaaaa!”

“Happy Haunted”
“Halloween!”

“BOOOO!”

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