The Haunted House that Traumatized me

The book blog All Ups and Down asked me if I've ever had a spooky encounter with a ghost. I haven’t had the luxury of meeting ghosts, but I did have a traumatic experience with a haunted house.

I was about five-year-old when Grandma Diane asked me and Auntie Dee Dee to walk to the store with her. We were hanging out at Auntie Carolyn’s house and thought it was a good time to go get some snacks. I hadn’t been over in a while, so I was eager to walk or even race around the neighborhood. At that age, I discovered I was the fastest kid amongst my friends, so I took every opportunity to show off my newfound talent.  

As we walked, Grandma asked, “Hey, did y’all hear about that house we pass by to get to the store? It burnt up about a week ago.”  

I went wide-eyed, thinking about how horrible it must’ve been for the people inside. With that bit of news, I thought we would take the longer route, which would’ve taken us up the street and around the corner. But as we approached the house, my heart raced.  

We stopped in front of the house and stared at its abysmal condition.  

The air around the house smelled like a freshly lit charcoal grill and chunks of wooden and plastic debris littered the sun-bleached yard.  

The once red, two-story traditional style house sat blackened in the summer sun. Every double-paned window busted, leaving glass shards in the driveway and on the cement porch steps. Pink insulation seeped through the cracks of the split siding. The awning across the top of the porch sunk, cracked down the center. The sun gave way to the inside, showing the overturned couch and chairs, which rested on what I imagined to be a black floor.  

“Wow,” Dee Dee said.  

“Yeah,” Grandma said. “The firemen were out here for a while that night. But I don’t think they got everyone out in time.”  

I glared up at her, wincing to see through the bright sun rays. “You mean someone died in there!” 

She nodded. “Well, yeah. Or maybe…” 

“Maybe what?”  

“When I passed by here yesterday, there was a boy standing at the window, staring down at me. He had to be about twelve or thirteen.” She frowned.  “I don’t think he likes people walking by this house.” 

“You didn’t help him?” I yelled.  

“No, because, based on the way he stared at me, I could tell he didn’t want to be bothered with strangers.” She looked down at me. “And based on his blistered face and burnt white t-shirt, I don’t think he needs my kind of help anyway.”  

I gasped as chills ran through my body. “Is he…a ghost?” 

She nodded with all seriousness in her brown eyes. 

“Well, why are we standing here?” I said. “Let’s get away from here before he…” A loud creak sounded from the house. I shuddered and threw a horrified glance at the subtle disturbance. It came from somewhere on the first floor. 

“Ky, we’re still taking this shortcut to the store,” Grandma said.  

I frowned. “W—w—what? Why?”  

“Because no ghost is going to tell me where I can and can’t walk. We’re going this way.”  

I shook my head. “No way! I don’t wanna go!” Worry consumed me, pushing me to tears. It was bad enough that the house was in such poor condition, but the thought of someone burning to death in their own home was too much to imagine. I backed away, keeping my eyes on the windows along the front of the house. Nothing but darkness met my eye. I turned and peered up the street, trying to remember how to get back to Auntie Carolyn’s house. All I could remember were the many turns and the streets we had to cross to get to the burnt down house. I was clueless on how to get back. 

“Come on, Ky,” Dee Dee said. “We’re almost there. Just stay close to us and it’ll be fine.  

I shook my head, wiping the tears from my cheeks.  

“You don’t have a choice.” Grandma chuckled and put her hand out. “Now come on. I won’t let anything happen to you.”  

I looked at her hand and then up the driveway. The store was just past the backyard and across the alley, conveniently placed on the other side of the haunted house.  

I sucked in a deep breath and took off, speeding past Grandma and Dee Dee. I ran up the driveway while holding my breath and begging my shoes to stop making so much noise whenever they slapped the pavement. A heavy weight rode my shoulders as heat pierced my body.  

What if the boy is watching me? I thought as I rushed along on quickened feet. 

Dee Dee and Grandma laughed raucously at my haste. But I didn’t care because I wasn’t interested in seeing a burnt boy or hearing any more eerie sounds from that house. What if the boy pushed the side door open and snatched me? What if the house caved in and fell as we walked by it? The thing was already on its last leg.  

I darted through the burnt grass that made up the backyard and shoved the steel gate open. I ran across the cement alley and stopped in the store’s parking lot.  

Breathing heavily, I put my hands on my knees and glared at the ground. Dee Dee and Grandma had just approached the opening of the backyard when Dee Dee yelled, “Dang, Ky! I’ve never seen you run so fast!”  

I ignored her laughter and walked up to the storefront. How could they walk so carelessly? How could they laugh so loudly in the driveway? Weren’t they afraid of the boy? That house?  

When they finally met me at the double glass doors, I grunted, then asked, “What’s so funny?”  

Grandma wiped the tears from her eyes as she came down from her hysteria. “I was just playing, Boo.”  

I frowned. “W—what?”  

“She was just messing with you,” Dee Dee said with a delighted smile across her face.  

I huffed, rolled my eyes, and gave them the silent treatment for an hour or so. 

Even though they assured me that it was all a story, I still ran past that house the next three times we went to the store by Auntie Carolyn’s house. I couldn’t stop myself from seeing the boy who never existed. He was probably standing in the second-floor window, watching us use his destroyed family home as a shortcut to the store. 

Although I haven't seen a ghost before, my new book, The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel is full of them. With historical elements, angry spirits, and a cast of controversial characters, it's sure to leave you with nightmares. Check it out!

USeBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BZSQKB4

US Paperback Book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MTRC2C3/

International eBook:mybook.to/Gallagherhotel

International Paperback Book:mybook.to/gallagherpaperback