(Click this picture for Halloween ghost stories*)
I love how…innocent this picture is. The cave entrance you see is for Ghost Cave. I fell in love with the picture before I learned the name of the cave, so when I did learn the name, I had to laugh at the irony. It’s the kind of cave I imagine for the story below.
I’ll admit straight up – this story IS GRUESOME. It’s my most disgusting work of writing, but the idea behind it intrigues me. Either way, it’s the story Stephen tells. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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It was a dark and stormy night, and my pals and I were gathered around the campfire telling stories. It was just the five of us: Sam, Caleb, Johnny, Rob and me. Rain fell in torrents, and thunder shook the ground we sat on. We had found shelter from the storm in a cave, and we’d gone so far in that lightning no longer brightened our view. And as I said, we were telling stories – the kind of ghost stories full of gruesome tortures.
It was Sam’s turn, and he had us near frightened out of our wits.
“He didn’t notice until it was too late,” Sam said. “The demon’s icy fingers grabbed hold of his scrawny neck, twisting with all their might, ‘til suddenly…SNAP!!!…his head fell down, sagging like a yoyo. The monster ripped open the man’s neck and drank from the sweet juice that seeped out.”
Maybe it was lucky for me that Sam got no further, for it was then that we heard the piercing scream. It came from somewhere deep in the cave, but a huge boom of thunder interrupted and silenced it. Sam of course went silent as well, and I don’t blame him.
We just sat around the fire for a few seconds, looking at each other and wondering what we had heard. We knew for sure we hadn’t heard wrong though. It was not thunder. The sound was spooky…in a creepy sort of way. We might have put the sound in the back of our minds if not for what happened next.
All of a sudden two rows of bright, white human-like ghost things trailed out from the depths of the cave. I can’t describe them any better because I don’t know what they were. There were twelve of them – I actually counted. They had bald, white heads with human parts at least: mouth, ears, nose and eyes.
Their eyes were solid black, but it felt like they were staring straight at us. They had hands and clawed fingers but lacked legs or feet of any sort. Instead, their bodies flowed down like drapes or curtains blowing in the wind. As terrified as my friends and I were, we lacked the courage to run, or to do anything for that matter. We remained seated in fright.
The ghost things circled around us. We never should have let them do that, but we did. They closed in around us while we watched. Then, one grabbed Rob by the neck. And as Rob kicked and screamed, the beast opened its wide mouth and bit deep into the back of Rob’s head, killing him. This broke these monsters’ silent hold on us as our terror turned into panic.
Johnny ran further into the cave, three ghost-beasts following him. I don’t know what came of him, but I know it wasn’t good.
I think Caleb had lost his mind. He ran to the fire, picked up a burning branch, and started swinging it all around him. The ghosts didn’t care in the least bit. A few jumped on Caleb and started devouring him. I couldn’t watch any longer; his screams were unbearable.
Instead, I ran. And ran. And ran. Some of the things pursued me, but they couldn’t catch me. One clawed at me, tearing deep into my skin. I bled badly, no doubt, but I kept running.
When I had found the cave’s entrance, I rushed out and saw they didn’t follow. They tried alright, but something stopped them. The cuts from the one ghost stung so bad I could hardly see. Drops of rain felt like daggers stabbing my flesh, and when the pain became too much, I fell. The last thing I remember is a flash of lightning striking the mountain.
I awoke the next morning to find Sam, safe as ever, standing over me. Nobody else made it out.
* * *
“That’s so gruesome!” Megan said.
“Of course it is,” Stephen said, “it’s supposed to be. What’s the fun in Halloween if the stories aren’t even spooky?”
“They don’t have to be gruesome to be spooky,” Megan said. “Tell him Jeffrey.”
“You tell him,” Jeff laughed. “Let’s hear your story and we can decide if spooky equals gruesome.”
“Okay, I will,” Megan said, and she launched into the story of