The Ghost House of Main Street Read online

THE GHOST HOUSE OF MAIN STREET

  by

  M.W. Stevens

  Copyright ©2012

  Adelphi is a small exurban town with a growing population. As more jobs come into town, more people are moving into new housing developments. However, the town also boasts one of the oldest, most haunted neighborhoods in the region. Along Main Street in Historic Adelphi is a large house known to the locals as Jameson Mansion. This house bears one of the great ghost stories of Adelphi. Everyone in the town, whether or not they believed in it, knew the story well.

  The legend is called “The Ghost House of Main Street.” This house was originally owned by the wealthy Jameson family of Adelphi, and was built to showcase their great wealth. Exactly 100 years prior, on Halloween, Mrs. Jameson suffered from a massive nervous breakdown after her husband died of mysterious circumstances. As a result, she stabbed herself repeatedly and died shortly thereafter. After her death, their butler was quoted in the newspaper, saying that “she claimed her spirit would return in exactly 100 years to bring back gifts from the afterlife.”

  For those of us who did believe in this tale, one of our greatest wishes was about to come true. It was announced only a few short days before Halloween, that there would be a guided expedition of the Jameson Mansion to coincide with this day in history. We finally got the opportunity to prove once and for all that this story was real!

  My best friend Jason organized a small group to go on the expedition. We both asked our gal friends Lisa and Samantha to go with us, since we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to take two gorgeous ladies to the ultimate haunted house experience!

  When we got to the house, there was hardly anywhere to park the car. Jason ended up driving to a few blocks down the street, and leaving his car in the modern stretch of homes on Main Street. We got out and walked several long blocks to get to the old mansion. By the time we got to the front gates, there were already at least a dozen other people lined up to get inside. Jason wasn’t kidding; word of mouth spread very quickly.

  “Wow, this is a lot of folks,” said Samantha. “Jason, this was a great idea for Halloween!”

  “I have been waiting for this night for years,” said Jason excitedly.

  “I can’t believe we might actually get to see the spirit of Mrs. Jameson!” shrieked Lisa.

  “I’m optimistic,” I said.

  “This is going to be the greatest night of our lives, just wait and see,” quipped Jason.

  It was starting to get quite cold standing outside the main gate of the old house. The chilly October temperatures, along with the shear excitement of the night, led us all to shiver intensely. It was such a fun feeling, better than any horror movie!

  Just as the sun had gone down, an awkward, bearded old man in a wool sweater and jeans crept his way out of the front door slowly.

  “Good evening my friends,” he said, and everyone looked over at him. “My name is Henry. I am the caretaker of Jameson Mansion, and planner of tonight’s event. I hope you all are as ready as I am to discover just exactly what gifts from the afterlife Mrs. Jameson’s spirit had promised us exactly 100 years ago tonight.”

  Just then there were a few people hooting and applauding.

  “I must ask that we remain in a state of calm during this expedition,” said Henry. “I will assume all of you here know the story of tonight, so I will begin by laying out the ground rules. There will be no yelling out loud. There will be no horseplay. Most importantly, there will be no music of any kind. The toll of the old church bell during her husband’s funeral was speculated to be what drove Old Lady Jameson crazy in the first place, so no music of any kind! On that note, let us head inside.”

  Our nerves were all over the place as the large group of us, mostly late teen and early twenty-something young adults, walked inside the house. The first thing I noticed about the house was how aged it truly felt. It looked like it had not been touched in 100 years. The interior reeked of mold. The stone walls were gray and cold. Whatever light there was, had been provided by a well-placed series of candles. It had the general aura of a haunted house, there was no denying that.

  “If you see or hear anything out of the ordinary, please remain calm and address the rest of the group in a way that wouldn’t scare away Mrs. Jameson. Since this is a large house, and it’s easy to get lost in, you are to remain in this group for the entirety of the evening.”

  “This is so cool,” whispered Samantha.

  “Don’t stray too far from me,” I said somewhat flirtatiously.

  “Never,” said Samantha, playing along. I smiled back at her quickly as we continued to walk through the house. We walked around for close to half an hour, just anxiously awaiting something to happen. Anytime someone walked into a piece of furniture, or made a sudden motion, it caused the rest of the group to jump. It was as if we wanted this night to turn into a real life horror movie. But what happened next was well beyond anything I would have ever expected.

  Just as we were starting to get comfortable in the house, almost seemingly out of the blue, Henry stopped walking. It was very random, as if something or someone had stopped him. “Woah,” he said quite loudly. “Did anyone else feel that?”

  “No,” said some. Others nodded.

  “Is the room spinning?” he asked rhetorically. Just then, all the candles started flickering on and off. It was if they were being blown out and relit supernaturally. Everyone started taking this night far more seriously at this point.

  “What’s happening?” asked Lisa.

  “This has to be it,” replied Jason.

  “Mrs. Jameson, if this is you, please show yourself to us!” yelled Henry. Just then, all the candles went out at exactly the same time for at least five full seconds, and then all came back at the same time. Something very strange was happening, and all of us were about to freak out.

  “It certainly is you!” yelled Henry loudly. We all wanted to get out of there, but at the same time, Henry’s behavior had become so erratic, no one wanted to leave him.

  “Henry, are you okay?” asked one of the younger girls. “We have to keep calm, remember?”

  “I hear you! Loud and clear!” screamed Henry, as if he had faded into another dimension. “Have you brought the gifts from the afterlife? Mrs. Jameson, if you can hear me, we want to know what gifts you’ve brought!”

  There was an extremely uneasy feeling going throughout the rest of the group. At this point, none of us were truly sure how to react to this. “This is really weird,” said Samantha.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  Just then, Henry’s voice had changed. It was far deeper. Far deeper. Almost demonic. “Mrs. Jameson,” he said with his voice at least a full octave lower. “Where are you? Show yourself!”

  The rest of us huddled around each other tightly. Everyone in the room was horrified by what was happening to this poor man.

  “No,” he growled, shaking his head. “You can’t do this to me! I will not let you get the best of me!”

  “Henry,” said Samantha stepping a bit closer to him, “We don’t have to continue with this. We can go outside.”

  “Yes, please,” said one of the college kids in the group. “Henry, we’re all here for you.”

  “I am not Henry!” he said as his voice continued to drop in timbre. “I am the lost soul. My sins have gotten the best of me, and now I must serve my master in the bowels of Hell.”

  Just then, Henry walked over to the hutch in the corner of the dining room, and pulled out a small handgun. Everyone in the room panicked and ducked for cover.

  “Quiet!” Henry shouted. “Satan is calling me to rejoin him
at his side. My sins will strengthen me to an entity far stronger than your mortal brains can even begin to understand!” He cocked the gun, and placed it up to his temple. Samantha ran up to him, trying to be strong but fighting back tears.

  “Henry,” she said calmly. “You are a human being, no one is perfect. We’ll gladly get you all the help you want. But how about you set the gun down first and we can talk about it outside in the fresh air.”

  “Not a chance! Not for your beloved God!” yelled Henry with his voice now beastly, as if Satan himself is speaking through him. “I cannot continue serving your God. I must now return to my true master in Hell. Goodbye, foulest creatures of Earth!”

  BANG!!!

  The gun fired and all the lights went out. Everyone shrieked in shock. Lisa collapsed in my arms, and Samantha fell to the floor. “Someone, call the police!” yelled Lisa through the tears. But just then, a set of modern florescent lights came on. Henry stood up like nothing ever happened. There was no blood, nothing.

  “Good evening everybody! I hope I didn’t scare you too badly with my array of special effects,” said Henry, smiling brightly, with his normal voice. “You know, I’m willing to wager that for the first time in your young lives, many of you were actually scared of Hell.”

  “What is this?” asked Lisa under her breath.

  “I think we got punk’d,” Samantha said, still coming down from the adrenaline rush.

  “Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Dr. Henry Clarke, the author of numerous books on the true word of the Lord. And today, I am releasing my latest book Gifts From the Afterlife, which presents the only real options on how you can get into heaven.” Just then Henry walked over to a table set up with an overstocked display of his brand new paperback book. The image on the front is a big beautiful photo of himself and his award-winning smile. “This book will explain in great detail exactly why your soul needs saving and how you can still find your way to Heaven when you leave your earthly remains behind.”

  “Your book indeed will save us all,” said Jason has he stepped behind the merchandise table. “This is your lucky day, friends. Gifts from the Afterlife would normally fly off the store shelves for $35 per copy. But today, it is being offered to you on sale for only $25. Personally, I think that’s a great bargain for the one and only tool that will let you in the pearly gates.”

  “Jason is right,” added Henry. “Don’t be shy ladies and gentlemen! I accept cash, check, and Visa!”

  EPILOGUE

  Lisa, Samantha, and I walked home. Fuck Halloween.

  THE END

  THE GHOST HOUSE OF MAIN STREET

  Copyright ©2012