Frightened by a Ghost

Every year, since before I was born, and that was twenty-six years ago, my family has created a haunted house for Halloween. People would come to our home from all over so they could submit themselves to being frightened, and my family could laugh about it over cider and donuts afterwards. As our family grew we started a new tradition. The first year the adults would build the haunted house, however they wanted, and the kids would have to go through it. The next year, the kids would get their chance to get even, and the adults were forced through our own creation.

Every year I was left out. I was the youngest, and the smallest, and so was considered useless. The adults would let me help stuff dummies. The kids would tell me I was in the way and wouldn't let me participate. At first, I was okay with this. I was only a kid. As I got older I started feeling left out. The family was always talking and laughing about the haunted houses, and I wanted a part in it.

When I was finally deemed old enough to help, at ten years old, I begged my siblings and cousins to let me be the host. The host was the person who guided the victims through the haunted house. They had the best view, able to watch the scared guests scream. I wanted to be able to tell the stories of when someone freaked out or jumped a mile in fear. I assured everyone that I would not get scared, because there was nothing to be frightened about. Everyone who played a part in the haunted house was someone I knew, and I would remember that. I was given the part, and I was ecstatic.

For weeks, the kids worked on the haunted house. We wanted to take it a step beyond the barn, which was the building we usually used. Our haunted house was going to start in the workshop, move to the kennel and the playroom upstairs, and then go through the barn, finally ending at my grandmother's house. A huge spiderweb was built, spanning an entire room that the victims would have to climb through. There was a maze built with hay bales, and the victims would have to crawl through the maze where there was someone hiding within, waiting to scare them. My brother would be wandering outside in the dark, and he would start up his chainsaw when least expected. We had butchers chopping up body parts, people hiding beneath floor boards, and dummies that were really people waiting to jump out.

But our best idea was mine. I said we needed someone to dress up as a ghost, and they would follow the host and the victim around. We would never know when the ghost would appear. They would be waiting in a corner, and then after scaring the victim, would take off and hide somewhere else. At every turn, in every shadow, the victim would be waiting, wondering, when the ghost would appear again. Just the fear of not knowing when it would happen would be wonderful. It was a genius idea. I knew I would have plenty of stories to tell with my ghost idea.

Halloween night finally arrived. I was excited and ready. While the kids got settled into their places in the haunted house, the adults and I waited in my grandmother's house. When I got the signal that we could begin, I asked who wanted to go first. The first volunteer was a family friend, Tom, and I began to lead him out from the safety of the house and into the darkness and unknown beyond.

I made it as far as the kennel. Upstairs there was a playroom. The first area had the giant spiderweb, and the only light was from a flashing strobe light. I stood in the doorway while Tom waited for me to tell him what to do. I was frozen in place. My eyes were wide, I knew, and in the other room I could see the ghost. It was waiting for us in the corner, unmoving and quiet. I knew that the moment we stepped close to it, the ghost would yell out to try and scare Tom.

I was afraid of that ghost.

Embarrassed, I told Tom that I didn't want to be the host anymore. He nicely took me back to the other adults, and my sister, who had been playing the ghost, had to give up her role and take mine.

I never wanted to play host again.