User blog comment:CrashingCymbal/Halloween Writing Competition 2013/@comment-24083801-20131023164023

I hate Halloween. Oh, I do. But I didn’t hate Halloween always. Everything changed last year. I can still remember the smell of blood that clung in the air. The sight of so many red. It still haunts my dreams.



 It was October 19th and I was in Holland. I was there on a trip with my mom. We visited Amsterdam and stayed in a hotel. When we heard about an event called ‘Fright Nights’ in some amusement park, we were thrilled. I loved celebrating Halloween and I had never been to something like this, so we ordered tickets and went. At first, it was really fun. There were different ‘scare zones,’ and there were a couple of haunted houses. We’d bought a ticket for one of those houses, and we immediatly went to the house. ‘Psycho shock’, it was called. People were lined up outside, and it took a while to get in. I felt a rush and blood pounded in my head. Oh, how I loved the adrenaline! I loved being scared. Me and my mom entered the house. Once we were inside, the doors closed and were locked, which I found strange. Why would they lock us up? Maybe they were just trying to scare us.



 I shook it off and we walked through an empty corridor. I was wondering when a costumed actor would pop out to scare us. I walked in front, my mom close behind me. I could hear her breathing heavily. Suddenly I heard a horrible scream, and I closed my eyes and staggered back, expecting to bump into my mom. But there was no one behind me. Confused, I turned around, only to find an empty place behind me. A unpleasant feeling came over me and my breathing started to quicken. “Mom?” I yelled. No answer. “Mommy, come on, this is not funny anymore!” I said. “Mom!” Tears began to stream over my face and I started to panic. It was so dark in here, and cold... Darkness seemed to close in around me and I sat on the floor to calm myself. My hand brushed over the smooth underground, but suddenly felt something warm and wet. I brought my hand to my eyes to see... Blood. There was blood on my hands, I realized. There was blood on the floor! I jumped up and wiped my hands on my pants. Was I bleeding? I didn’t thought so, I felt no pain. Only fear.



 I knew I couldn’t go back, only forward. So I started to run. I ran faster and faster, until everything became a blur. Cold hands grabbed me, but I shook them off. Then I crashed into a huge man, with broad, muscular arms. He was holding a knife. A sharp, bloody knife. I held my breath as he lifted something in the air. I saw the blue eyes, blonde hair, small lips and pale skin. The head was covered in blood and blood dripped from where the neck had been separated from the body. It was mom! A feeling of dread filled me as I looked at the head, and then at the man. When he saw the horrified look on my face, he smiled. A terrible smile. I tried to scream, but it caught in my throat as the man started to move towards me. He lifted his knife, to let it crash into my head. This time I did scream, and stumbled backwards.



 He followed me, the knife still held high. I turned around and ran the way I’d came. But then I came at a crossing, and I didn’t remember walking past a crossing. I had to choose fast. Left or right? I heard the man stumbling behind me, felt his warm breath in my neck. Right. I ran true corridors and through rooms, but saw no escape.



 But then, suddenly, I was outside. I didn’t grant myself the time to take a breath. I felt a stab of pain in my shoulder, but did not look over my shoulder. I knew he was close behind me, so I started to run again. I ran right into a ‘scare zone’, called ‘Light, camera, scream!’ When we had crossed the ‘scare zone’ earlier this evening, it had been a scary place. I had seen Jason Voorhees, Pinhead and a couple of other famous horror movie characters. There had also been a man with a chainsaw, I recalled. But now, the sight of the ‘scare zone’ made me want to gag. The place was covered in blood and bodies. I heard people screaming and saw a couple of terrified people run away from Jason, who was chasing them across the ‘scare zone.’ I tried to swallow away the lump in my throat, but failed. The world had gone completely mad. The smell of blood filled the air and also my clothes were soaked in blood.



 I had forgotten about the man with the knife behind me, which was a big mistake. As I looked startled at the slaughtering in front of me, I felt a stab of pain in my chest. When I looked down, I saw the knife. He was behind me. I felt his warm breath in my neck and a cold filled me. I tried to breathe, but blood filled my lungs and I was choking on my own blood. “No...” I whispered, followed by a gulp of blood. Then I felt the knife go down, and he sliced me open. Entrails fell out of my body and a chill went deep into my bones.

 It was cold.

 So cold.



 I hate Halloween. Oh, I do. Every year, I come out to play my bloody game. I don’t need a costume. One look at me will make them running.