The Haunted House: A Short Story

Today is Halloween and my friend, Maggie, and I are planning on going into a haunted house this evening. The haunted house we’re going to is the scariest house on the block and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. The only reason why I’m going is because Maggie really likes doing these kinds of things, and I want to get closer to her. I had been waiting in my costume hours in advance and was waiting nervously for my friend to arrive. Suddenly I heard the doorbell ring and I got up, took a deep breath and went to answer the door. 

“Hi, Eve!” 

Maggie squealed. She had a fairy costume on while I had a magician costume on. “Ready to go to the haunted house?”

“No,” was what I was going to say, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. “Yeah, let’s do this.” 

I stepped out the door while saying goodbye to my mom and left with Maggie to go to the haunted house. 

                                                                               ~Timeskip~

When we got there I was shaking slightly, and Maggie noticed this. “Are you okay?” she questioned while looking at me. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay. Even though I’m scared I want to see why you enjoy doing things like this.” I said while looking at her determined.  

“Okay, but if it gets to be too much, you tell me and we’ll leave.” she said while agreeing reluctantly. After she said that we head into the haunted house. 

The first thing we saw was a long, dark corridor that had fake spider webs on the walls. My breathing quickened and sweat dripped from my chin. I wanted to bolt out the front door and go trick or treating but I reminded myself why I was doing this. We went down the corridor and there was a door that looked like it belonged in a dungeon from medieval times. Maggie went to open the door while I stayed behind her. Right after she opened the door a figure wrapped in a black cloak with glowing red eyes jumped out at us. I let out an ear piercing scream and fell on my back as the figure moved out of sight. Maggie looked over at me in concern and was about to help me up but before she could I quickly got up on my own and steadied my breathing. 

“Are you okay?” she asked me with a look of concern. “We can stop and go back, I don’t want you to do something you aren’t comfortable with.” I quickly shook my head and walked through the door before my momentary burst of courage died. 

We entered the room and looked around. I was creeped out by what I saw. There were fake human skeletons sitting next to the wall on the right and fake human body parts floating in jars on the shelves that were on the left side of the room. There was also an eerie green light that came from the corners of the room. All of a sudden we heard a soft clank. We quickly whirled around and found that the door we had entered from was now closed and locked. As we advanced forward toward the door that was directly opposite of the door we came in from, we heard a chilling cackling sound. Right after we heard that a secret door opened up from the shelves and a person that was dressed like a witch jumped out and shook a broom at us. I let out a shriek of terror and stumbled backward. Maggie caught me from falling down and pulled me back up. 

“Are you okay?” the witch inquired as she looked at me in concern. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just got a little scared is all.” I said while taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. 

“You know, I might have some advice that might help you.” the witch said thoughtfully. “I suggest that instead of thinking about the haunted house as some sort of scary, mysterious place, you should think of it like a real life movie. None of the stuff in here is real and instead of an actor playing a part in the movie, you get to be the one who experiences everything.” the witch said. As she finished what she wanted to say I felt completely shocked, I had never thought about it like that before. As I thought about the advice the witch gave, I couldn’t help but think that she was right. There was no reason to be scared and I could be the one experiencing these things instead of someone else! When I had this thought, a huge grin split my face and I thanked the witch for her advice. She said it wasn’t a problem and she was glad to be able to help. When Maggie and I finally moved onto the next room, I was determined to take the advice the witch gave to heart.

                                                                                 ~Timeskip~                               

As we were leaving through the back door of the haunted house I looked at Maggie with a huge grin plastered on my face. “I can see why you like doing that type of stuff!” I exclaimed with a happy expression. “Even though I was scared at first, I really enjoyed it in the end. I’m really glad I came with you tonight.” I said. 

“I’m glad you got over your fear and enjoyed yourself!” Maggie said, skipping down the sidewalk. I laughed and jogged a bit to catch up with her. Tonight was very fun and I can’t wait to do this again next year. I’m glad I was able to not only overcome my fear and try something new, but also find something I enjoy doing. I can’t wait for next year’s haunted house!