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The Haunted House

Beyond an overgrowth of weeds, I see a house with faded paint. It beckons me. Victorian, its windows are like eyes that hypnotize, and soon I find myself there at its door. I tentatively knock. Though knowing nobody will come to it, to my surprise, I turn the door knob and just walk into this strange but lovely house. I look around at antique furniture grown dingy. Cobwebs decorate the walls. A sudden slam! I run back to the door. It won’t come open. Panic floods my soul. I go to every window. They won’t budge. It’s like they’ve been sealed shut from standing still through many years of never being used. I shiver; from the corner of my eye, I see a figure. Shadowy, it flits across the dining room. I follow it while swallowing my terror, and I go into a small room, where the shadow crept. Surrounding me are paintings on the wall. I can’t take them all in, for there is one that seems to call to me! How can that be? It’s quiet there, and yet my mind is filled with someone’s voice. It pleads to be released. The voice is in the painting! I am led so weirdly to its spot upon the wall. I get right up to it and feel a chill. An evil presence has me in its clutch. I know this when I see the painting’s scene. . . Fresh horror like I’ve never known before now grips my throat and I can’t even scream. Inside the painting is a woman who looks eerily like me! She stands inside a room with many paintings, and behind her is a hooded being. Is she me? I dare not look behind me. . . yet I do. The hooded figure stands behind me too! A scream at last escapes my lips, and I’m inside the painting now and looking out! I’m looking out onto the tiny room with all its paintings. I am caught inside the confines of a frame; I’m miniature! I know the hooded beast has captured me. I see his shadow leave the room and know the door to this big house he has unlocked! Another fool will enter as did I. They’ll get locked in and then led to this room to that one picture where I will await to cry out plaintively to be released. . . (Sorry this is so long; I had to do it this way to tell the story how it formed in my mind.) Aug. 22, 2018 Sponsor- Dear Heart Contest- The Haunted House In Blank verse, which is unrhymed Iambic pentameter

Copyright © | Year Posted 2018




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Date: 7/28/2019 11:14:00 AM
Captivating story Andrea. It reminds me of the Twilight Zone.
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Date: 9/16/2018 7:46:00 PM
Great story ,Andrea, congratulations on your win. Hugs Eve~`*
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Date: 9/16/2018 7:45:00 PM
Great story ,Andrea, congratulations on your win. Hugs Eve~`*
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Date: 9/6/2018 12:49:00 PM
Cool...really took a great turn, intense imagery and amazing control...and not too long at all, we need longer big poems, weird experimental works, as roberto bolano wrote enough of these perfect short works! Where are the masters willing to go into long brutal battle, fuck this sparing shit
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Date: 9/5/2018 10:42:00 AM
Andrea congratulations on your win in my contest with this amazing writing. I was captivated from the first and wanted it to go on and on, well done ~
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Date: 9/4/2018 6:28:00 PM
Long? Yes, but captivating! It kept me spellbound to the very end. You are so gifted, Andrea. That is why you are rated as the # 1 poet on Soup. What an intriguing write this is. Jack Nicholson would be highly suited as the hooded figure in this. Congratulations, great poet that you are!!
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Date: 9/2/2018 7:02:00 AM
Excellent scary write, congratulations on your first place win!
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Date: 9/1/2018 8:18:00 PM
Was a very decent atmospheric read...i liked it
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Date: 9/1/2018 2:45:00 PM
I wasn't sure where you were going with this Andrea but it held my attention all the way through. Kind of reminded me a bit of Dorian Gray but only because of the picture. Congratulations on your first place win! Great writing! : )
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Date: 9/1/2018 12:26:00 PM
Enjoyed! Congrats!
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Date: 9/1/2018 12:13:00 PM
Safe travels to Chicago....Congrats on your win in the contest. A very well told story, Andrea. Great poem...Charlie
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Date: 9/1/2018 11:43:00 AM
I guess the next person will set you free...Congrats on your win Andrea..
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Date: 9/1/2018 11:37:00 AM
This is classical and wonderful..congrats on your well deserved 1st place win in this contest...kudos to you great poet..
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Date: 8/27/2018 11:51:00 AM
Ooh, this is a really scary poem, I wonder that how many years that last shadowy figure waited for his release, perhaps years,anyways, it is Mondayso you are back from your trip, I am sure that it would have been a really nice one, unfortunatelymy school has opened so I am not so active on poetrysoup recently, once things get settled, I will post my poems and will be able to spend more time here, I really enjoyed reading this wonderful poem of yours, good luck and have a really nice day
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Date: 8/26/2018 4:40:00 PM
Truly horrific! Skillfully done. This should not need any luck in the contest, so I will just wish you well! ~ Gershon
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Date: 8/24/2018 10:02:00 AM
Wow, this would make a really good movie. You had me at the description of the house.
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Date: 8/23/2018 11:46:00 AM
Nicely done, Andrea, I agree with Matthew it would make a great Twilight Zone episode. Best of luck in the contest. John
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Date: 8/23/2018 7:00:00 AM
Quite unique..I liked the plot..kudos for your imagination, Andrea.
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Date: 8/23/2018 5:15:00 AM
Fantastic tale my friend...have a great spooky time in Chicago...love & frames...^WW^
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Date: 8/23/2018 1:41:00 AM
Captivating, Andrea and certainly fired my early morning imagination!
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Date: 8/22/2018 9:34:00 PM
read like a dream...beautiful descriptive phrasing
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Date: 8/22/2018 9:33:00 PM
This poem remind me of an episode of The Twilight Zone! Well done! Peace & Love Matthew Anish
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