The Haunted Jail

The building is imposing, massive and fearful, built in 1862 as a jail and gallows for criminals; the conditions were inhumane and appalling, on top floor was death row with only one way out. It closed in 1972 and was deemed to be heritage, renovating was done but the creepiness remains; one hundred and fifty unmarked graves were found there, turned into a hostel for awhile but was closed soon after. Said to be haunted by the dead inmates hanged there, death row rooms can be rented on that top death floor; small cells and narrow corridors, a small window the only light, some have seen ghosts standing at the end of their beds. There are creaking cell doors and heavy footsteps heard, wailing and weeping and praying all the night long; on a dare- I rented a top floor room with black cell bars, I was told the daunting gallows remain not far away. I went to my bunk, not really believing the stories, but in a dream I was being caressed by many hands; "STOP!" I screamed but in the dim light no one was with me, I was restless and started walking the dark narrow halls. There was a man walking also and I wanted to talk, "hello, sir!" I called but he did not stop so I followed; he opened a door and went through, I hesitated a moment, then, I opened the door to the gallows and found him hanging. His neck was broken and his eyes bulged out in fear, I tried to scream but no sound came as hands touched me; the decomposed dead reached out and all had broken necks, I was screaming when my body dropped into an empty void. I was found in the morning, crumpled and weeping, talking hysterically about being hanged by by the decomposed; the mental hospital is not much better than that jail was, where the ghosts hang me every single night in the gallows. ______________________________ Date: September 19, 2016 Poetry/Verse/The Haunted Jail Copyright Protected, ID 16- 1094-834-0 All Rights Reserved. Written under Pseudonym. Contest: Give Me Goosebumps Sponsor: Nina Parmenter Tenth Place