Ghost Shadows by Thomas M. Malafarina

Author:Thomas M. Malafarina [Malafarina, Thomas M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Stephen King, horror, short stories
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-03-13T04:00:00+00:00

What's Wrong With Our House?

The past is never dead. It's not even past.

—William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

The white-haired woman stood by the window pulling the drapes carefully aside, attempting to sneak a look out into the street. It was October 31st, another Halloween night, and just like every previous Halloween, trick-or-treaters were busy going from house to house in search of the precious goodies they all so desperately desired. But for some strange, unknown reason they seemed to be avoiding her house; almost deliberately so.

"What's wrong with our house?" Gladys Millbury asked of her husband, Harold, who was sitting quietly in his recliner, reading the sports section of the local newspaper and paying little attention to his wife, as was typical of him. The room was clean and tastefully decorated with furnishings they had acquired throughout their forty-three years of marriage.

Harold said, "How the hell should I know, Gladys? Who really knows what goes on inside of the minds of young kids these days? Heaven knows I don't have a clue. But what's the big deal anyway? If they show up, they show up and if they don't, they don't. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't really care if they ever come around. Young kids can often mean nothing but trouble these days. In fact, they're often more trouble than they're worth. Good riddance to bad rubbish as far as I am concerned."

"Oh, Harold," she replied, "that's no way to talk for pity’s sake. You sound like such an old fuddy-duddy. It’s Halloween night and you know the children in our neighborhood are all good kids. We’ve always opened our doors to them on Halloween. In the old days we would have been overrun with trick-or-treaters by this time of night. Remember how they always said I gave them the best candy? I was always so proud of that. But now they won’t even ring our doorbell anymore. I wonder what happened. It’s almost like they seem to be deliberately avoiding us this year. What could possibly be the matter? What in the world do they think is wrong with us?"

"Funny you should ask,” Harold replied. “I was starting to wonder what might be wrong with you myself. The way you’re standing there staring out into the street. You look like a desperate, starving lost little puppy. For heaven’s sake, Gladys, just let it go. So what if the kids choose to ignore us this year? It just means more candy for me."

“Like you can eat all of this candy,” Gladys replied looking down into her enormous basket of goodies, “you with your blood sugar issues!”

Gladys and Harold Millbury had been living in the same house at the end of Maple Street for well over thirty years. And for as long as either of them could recall the neighborhood children always flocked to their house for treats faithfully, every Halloween. So Gladys knew something definitely must be amiss to cause them to behave in this fashion.

As Gladys

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