I have never believed in ghosts in this world, and Halloween is just an opportunity to provide entertainment for children and teenagers.
But it’s still fun to go out and on Halloween and enjoy people’s fancy costumes. Girls in black dresses, girls in white dresses, boys in black dresses, boys in white dresses …… you can simply feel the diversity like never before.
I went to eight parties on Halloween Saturday this year, and I didn’t really fit into any of them. I just stood next to one and watched them while looking up at the stars in the sky. I tried to count whether there were more stars in the sky or more people at the party, and I came to the conclusion that I blinked more than both combined.
It was two o’clock and time to go back. I opened the door, started the car, and drove to Beall Ave, which I had passed more times than I had blinked, where the red light temporarily blocked my way at the intersection called Born-Bissman-Compton-Gault.
I rolled down my window to take one last look back at the Halloween party spectacle, but a man stood at the side of my car, about to stick up, blocking my view in its entirety.
He looked like both my 70-year-old professor and my 17-year-old freshman classmate, and his hair had the aesthetic appeal of both a conch and a light bulb. He couldn’t have been dressed more normally, but on a day like today, it was so out of the normal. “Can you give me a ride home, my legs aren’t so good,” he asked me, “it’s only a mile away.”
Rolling up the window and stepping on the accelerator was probably the best choice I could have made at that moment. But I couldn’t control myself anymore, and the only response I made was, “Yes, please get in.” This may be the power of the supernatural.
“You know that most famous cemetery in all of Wooster,” he said with a smile, “my home is there.”
What should I do? Is brake hard and get out of the car and scream for help? It’s no use, real ghosts can find you even if you run to the other side of the world. Please don’t ask why someone who doesn’t believe in ghosts would know so much about them, when you experience such moments, you will understand too.
I think that maybe honestly spilling your thoughts is the best solution.“I sincerely apologize for all the disrespect I have shown to ghosts in the past.” However, these were just words in my head, and when I tried to say them, the supernatural forces once again came into play and I only said“I’m sorry”.
“You’re driving slowly, but you certainly don’t have to apologize for that. I’m not in a hurry.” He said in a reassuring tone of voice.
Finally, we arrived, and although only two minutes had passed in reality, I had already thought about thousands of things that had happened in the past and might happen in the future. He opened the car door: “Thank you, young man, enjoy the holiday where you belong!”
Belong? What do you mean by a holiday that belongs to me? Had I now become a ghost? I observed my own body and found nothing different, but when I looked out the car door, I couldn’t see any figure. The man, no, the undefinable figure, had completely disappeared.
Escaping from here was of course the best option at the moment, but supernatural forces were acting on me for the third time, and I was ready for the final judgment when I heard the scream.
“Which asshole left the manhole cover open!”
Zhongting, I really like how you combined uncanny valley/horror with unexpected humor! Your description of the stranger (“He looked like both my 70-year-old professor and my 17-year-old freshman classmate … He couldn’t have been dressed more normally, but on a day like today, it was so out of the normal”) reminds me of a short story by Joyce Carol Oates called “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” In the story, a teenage girl is visited by a cryptic boy named Arnold Friend (an old friend) who tells her she’s going for a ride with him in his car. At some point, she realizes he’s not really a young man but an old man disguised as a teenager. Her description of the man, like yours, really hits the uncanny valley and creeped me out. It would’ve been cool to see more uncanny description of him, especially once he gets up close in the car.
I really enjoyed this Halloween story! I liked the description of the man, as Emily noted, and also the reoccurring uses of “supernatural forces” acting on the narrator. I agree that it would have added to you story to include more description about the man, but the ambiguity of his age and out of place attire made me get an uneasy feeling towards him and feel the uncanny vibe. Finally, I really enjoyed the ending humor. It was unexpected which made it work so well!
I loved your post! I really thought that the narrative perspective you took was very unique. I think your first person narrative made it more suspenseful for the reader – leaving us in the unknown of what your story was really revealing until the very end – but even then I think that you still leave readers in the dark in a way. I think that also putting your story setting in Wooster – a place we are all very familiar with – makes it that much scarier!! It could happen to anyone…. so scary….
Overall a great story and great usage of narrative voice and setting! 🙂
I wanted to comment that I laughed out loud in the library about the second paragraph line. It is such a cool narrative and was incredibly humorous. I enjoyed how you described everything; the sarcasm reads well.