Massive congratulations to Jakob Burke, the winner of our Halloween Writing Competition. Find his spooky entry below:
It was a cold dark night, everyone was going from door to door in their scary costumes, but no one dared to go to the house up the end of the street; a dark big house sat on a hill surrounded by metal gates. The lights flickered through the windows. Rumours were that the house was haunted by the owner’s wife, who vanished suddenly years ago. The owner is a slim, elderly guy who never leaves the house. People were scared of him because he sometimes just stares out his window. But tonight was the night all would be discovered.
Me and my friend crept up towards the gate. We glanced at each other, rethinking our decision but we knew it was too late to back out now. Suddenly, the gate creaked open. It was a sign. We carefully stepped forward, making our way up the driveway. The property was silent, the leaves crunched beneath our feet as we kept walking. We had arrived at the door. The lights had begun to flicker. I was now terrified, hands shaking I reached for the doorbell. And as it rang, the door swung open. I took a step back but my friend stepped forward through the doorway. He looked back at me, signalling for me to follow him.
AS I stepped into the house, I was hit with a breeze of cold air. Every step I took, the floorboards made an annoying creaking sound. I shouted: “Hello, is anybody there?” But no one replied. And then “BANG.” A loud thump came from upstairs. My soul jumped out my body and I could feel my heart beating faster. I turned to my side to say something to my friend but he was gone. He had just vanished.
I called out his name but he was gone. I reached to my pocket to grab my phone to call him but there was no signal. I was now panicking, but I could hear heavy footsteps coming towards me.
As I rushed upstairs I noticed blood on the steps, but I just kept running. I needed to find my friend. Upstairs was a lot colder than the first floor and there was a weird smell. A gut-wrenching smell that made my nose twitch, almost like something was rotting or decaying in this spooky house. I ran into the room closest to me. There was an even stronger smell in this room. The room was empty with bloodstains on the wooden floor. But something even more horrific lay in the corner.
In the corner lay a pile of bones from a decayed body. I let out a gasp as my stomach turned upside down. I had never felt more sick in my life. I knew I needed to get out of the house but I couldn’t just leave my friend. As I rushed out the room I met eyes with the old guy, He let out a furious grunt as he made his way towards me. I ran downstairs into the living room, filled with precious antique furniture but the fireplace was covered in dust. It seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned in years.
I heard my friend scream. I knew he was in danger and was somewhere in this house but I had to escape and get help. I sprinted to the door but it was locked. Suddenly I felt a cold hand grab a tight grip on my shoulder…
By Jakob Burke