This story was written over 5 weeks as the final project for the first-year Creative Writing students. It’s their first attempt at writing a short story on their own, combining all the skills they’ve learned through the year.

When Clay pushed open the old wooden door, it made a loud creak.

It was stormy outside, the sky was as black as ink. The trees were swaying back and forth like it was about to fall. Clay was wet, his teeth were chattering. He went into the house. The door slowly shut behind him.

Clay was looking for his dog, Max. During their walk, Max chased a butterfly and ran away. He tried to follow Max but Max ran as fast as the wind. Moreover, Clay found Max’s footprints and followed them to the old house.

Clay looked around the house, his heartbeat pounded faster and faster. The house was large, but its paintings were covered with dust. It was made out of oak and it was dark brown. The long old wooden stairs were full of cobwebs.

As Clay walked halfway up the stairs, a breeze of cold wind was blowing at him. A big shadow that looked like a ghost moved in the corner and disappeared into the darkness.

“Max, are you here?” Clay asked softly.

Goosebumps popped out of his skin. For the first time, he thought, “Is someone following me?”

Suddenly, Clay heard a sound behind the old wooden wall. Then it cracked and Max slipped out. Clay was so happy to see Max but Max growled. However, at the same time, a dark shadow was forcing itself out of the gap. It… it… wasn’t human or a dog.

A pair of pale hands reached forward, trying to grab Clay. It was trying to tell him something. Clay froze.

The dark shadow gave one last shove and got out towards Clay. Clay stepped back and screamed.

Clay and Max ran as fast as they could. However, the dark shadow was gaining on them. Clay and Max ran into a room and slammed the door behind them.

There was an old wooden table in the middle of the room. On the table was a photo album. Clay was driven by curiosity, he flipped through the photo album and found a photo of his grandpa.

A sudden thought came to his mind. “Is this grandpa’s house? Dad had mentioned something earlier.”

Clay’s hands were shaking vigorously and he dropped the album on the floor.

Clay rushed out of the room. His grandpa’s soul disappeared. Clay dashed back home.
When Clayhe got back home, he explained what had happened to his dad and brought dad back to the place where he saw the house, but the house surprisingly disappeared. Clay looked around every corner but there weren’t any hints of the house.

Later, Clay recalled that grandpa told him once he had a house which got burned away in a big fire sixty years ago.

Clay thought, ”Is it the truth?

Clay and his dad shuddered and they never talked about the house again.

The Spooky House