Short Stories Collection

8. The Curse of the Ouija Board (Halloween Short Story)

There is an old town called Sleepy Hollow, which is right outside another town called Salem. The coincidence is that both towns are haunted by their legends and myths, from the Salem witch trials to the ghost of a Hessian soldier from the Revolutionary War who was beheaded in battle and who continued to haunt the town. Each town is known as one of the "most haunted places in the world" and one of the "best places to visit during the spooky season of Halloween." Many people from all around the country or even around the world come to visit, either to learn about the history or even get scared by the townspeople. Sometimes people like to visit both towns during the spooky season. I mean, who wouldn't want to visit both and experience what it is like to live in the haunted towns of America? There are many warnings for tourists that come to visit the towns, especially on Halloween. For example, there is a legend about Salam. If you visit on Halloween night, you will be kidnapped by one of the witches from the trails and burned at the stake for being out while the witches are doing black magic and their secret rituals.

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According to legend, on Halloween night, someone will go missing in the old haunted abandoned house and will never be seen again. I live in Sleepy Hollow, and I love Halloween. You can say I am a history nerd about each town, and I love learning about all kinds of things about the towns, especially the legends. This year, I am checking out the haunted abandoned house on top of the hill of the creepy old cemetery, which was built when the town was slowly building and coming together as a brand-new town. I asked a few of my friends to come with me on Halloween night to prove a point: the house is not haunted, and you will not go missing.

It was Halloween night in Sleepy Hollow. The weather was very stormy, with a huge severe thunderstorm. The cold, crisp air filled my lungs like a frozen popsicle stuck together. The old iron gate of the cemetery swings back and forth with a loud, creeping sound that makes you feel like something is going to happen. The wind makes the leaves swirl around grave headstones; a black cat hisses in a warning to turn back. The full moon shines brightly like a flashlight. The old stone pathway up to the top of the hill is cracked and very weak to step on, where you can fall and break a bone. My friends told me that I was crazy for asking them to come to the house with me. They stood behind me with a look of horror on their faces and were ready to turn around and run back home crying. I told them

"Hurry up, guys; we need to make it to the top of the hill and take cover before the storm gets worse."

"What about the warning signs?" "You do know this place is haunted, and what about the old creepy groundskeeper catching up?" One friend said as she hugged her bookbag,

"Well, if we get caught, we might become his next meal." "I heard he is a vampire, werewolf, or even a zombie," another friend said while hiding behind the girl with the extra bookbag.

Another friend yelled, "I heard if he catches you, he will make you into a witch stew—like what they did in the witch trials, but with real witches."

"Shhh, guys, we have to be quiet and watch our steps." "You can fall and break a bone or something on the old stone path," I told them, and they began to walk up the hill first.

"I don't like this at all, especially when I have to use the bathroom." "Are we almost there?" the guy holding the umbrella asked.

As soon as we get up the hill, you can use the bathroom. Okay, now let's get out of the storm before we end up in the "Wizard of Oz" with a tornado. Oh, look, it's a few monsters doing the graveyard monster mash. "I told them while joking."

It took us about ten minutes to walk along the jagged, broken stone path and onto the house. The house looked like it was hit by the tornado from the movie, and in the back of my mind, I was thinking about where the evil witch was going to pop up to scare us. As I reached for the rusted old doorknob, the door slowly opened with a gust of wind, and then, boom, the door flew open as soon as a thunderclap sounded in the sky above us. It sent chills down our bodies and gave us goosebumps. We entered the forbidden house with flashlights while the lightning hit the mailbox. That made a sound that sent us into shock. Once we were inside the house, safe from the storm, we walked into the living room and saw a very old picture of the headless horseman in Salam with the witch trials.