Never Leave
The room was changing colors. From red to blue, from green to yellow, until everything became pitch black. Brothers Jeremy and James stared at the abyss and heard the witch’s voice for the first time.
“You don’t want to leave. This is your house now.”
“Yes,” they said in unison, kneeling in their own blood.
I recently started watching Mike Flanagan’s version of The Haunting of Hill House, and I’m enjoying it so far even though I’ve only seen the first three episodes. Shirley Jackson’s novel of the name same was one of the first pieces of horror literature I’ve read in English and it’s great. My initial thought for today’s piece involved the infamous Red Room but, since it didn’t pan out the way I wanted it, I decided to go for something different even though there’s still a hellish house involved. Still, I couldn’t forget the initial source of inspiration, hence the mention.
Halloween Pet
Barry shuddered when the tiger jumped on the sofa.
“How are you allowed to have an animal like this in your apartment?” he asked.
“I’m not. It used to be my landlord,” Marcia grinned.
“I see…”
“What were you saying about not wanting to be my pet this Halloween?”
Barry was silent all night long.
This piece was partially inspired by a dream. Last night, I dreamed I was passing by a garden close to my house when suddenly I felt these furry paws on my back and heard people screaming. As it turns out, I was being hugged by a tiger that had appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t move even though I was scared like hell. Then, two men appeared, one of them calling the tiger with some sort of whistle and the other making sure I was okay. I woke up shortly after. Don’t ask me what it means because I haven’t got a clue but I thought of tigers all day long, go figure!
Anyway, having a tiger place its paws on my back wasn’t exactly story material for this particular challenge so I thought of different ways to use such a majestic animal and another Halloween-related piece was born. Marcia is a nice witch, I promise.
Like this Post
Dave stared at Mara’s latest blog entry, trying to resist her suggestion. After an arduous struggle, he finally caved and hit the “like” button.”
“Fuck!” he said.
“Still think hypnosis is fake?” she whispered.
“No… You win.”
“Good, for this is what you’ll learn to like next,” she placed a dog collar in his hands.
Random lunch break impromptu or perhaps a not-so-covert way to get you all to hit the “like” button on this post, too. Have you ever felt completely powerless to resist a hypnotic suggestion placed in your mind no matter how much you tried? Well, this was definitely inspired by that overwhelming sensation that causes you to lose control just like that. Stop fighting. Everything will be better the moment you surrender to your desires.
Renovation
Henry was amazed. Everything was clean and tidy.
“You actually did it!” he said.
“Yes,” Gretchen replied. “I got rid of the clutter and gave you the extra storage you needed. What do you have to say now?”
“I’m yours, Goddess.” He kneeled before her.
“Good answer.”
His mind never looked better. The renovation continued.
Having fun with a bit of misdirection. Admit it, you thought at first I was talking about an actual house, didn’t you? Well, that was certainly the idea. However, the human mind is like a house, too. It can get messy, everything out of place, etc, and, sometimes, it takes a hypnotic woman to put it all back together. That’s what happened with Henry and now he obeys. Perhaps the same thing can happen to you.