Please enjoy this scary story written by yours truly, age 8.
Written by Callie Rebekah Lewis. Illustrated by Callie Lewis. Same person, “Rebekah” is a lot of letters, though.
Also, I appreciate the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” because flowers in soft primary colors with a white background does not really scream, “TERROR.”
I think this is what’s supposed to be the enticing passage on the dust cover and personally, I say, ‘Well done 8 year old Callie.” Who doesn’t want to read about gold?
“Finally, I came to the house I didn’t want to come to.”
Except, I did.
Scary? Check. Makes noises? Check. Old? Check. Who wouldn’t want to go near something with these characteristics?
Can you see the spider webs in each of the corners? Some might assess that I was growing tired, hence the web in the upper right corner that suggests the spider was drunk when she spun it, but now that I am a published author, I see all I was doing was increasing intensity and also confusion. It was a tactic, is all. You’ll also note that the girl is facing that web. That is because we must always face our fears and when we do, we get the jewels, rubies, and diamonds EVERYONE KNOWS THIS.
The story isn’t over, though. A skeleton was found and a bloody one at that, which I think represents long division. It was coming for me, so what I’m also doing here is foreshadowing.
Honestly, the strongest part of this entire story slash novel is how many times I changed my clothes. HOW did I have time for this whilst running away from skeletons that are bloody and carrying jewels, rubies, and diamonds?
So there you have it – The Haunted House. I really don’t know why you would want or need anything else for your Halloween celebrations and festivities, but in the chance you are interested in further reading, here are some suggestions:
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani
The Passage, The Twelve, and City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
I also wouldn’t be surprised if The Haunted House made you want to write. This makes complete sense, and so here are some prompts in the chance you don’t have an idea for a story as good as mine:
Fiction: Rewrite a story from the villian’s perspective.
Creative Nonfiction: write a memory that was scary, sad, upsetting for you, but do it from the voice/perspective of someone else who shared that memory.
Poetry: Legend has it (actually, I think it’s true) that reading and speaking haikus lowers one’s anxiety (and fear) because they are meant to be read during an exhale. This form of poetry is meant to slow and calm you down. What kind of haiku could you write for fear? How can you slow us all down?
Not a single one of you reading my blog is a bloody skeleton. Pure gold, all of you. And rubies and jewels and diamonds, too.
This was great fun. Yes, I believe the young author knew quite a bit about creating intensity (and story structure!). I love how almost, out of the gate, she realizes, “Finally, I came to the house I didn’t want to come to.” Dare I say, inciting incident? : ) And wait. All those clothing changes. Are you expecting slasher stories to be concerned with continuity? lol. Great note about haiku and breathing – I didn’t know that, but it definitely makes sense. Great post; thanks for sharing this with us.