Being a person who doesn’t do a lot of sight-seeing while I drive, I was quite surprised when I noticed what looked like a haunted house very close to where I live. At first I thought it would be easy to just pick up my camera and stroll around the house, but for some reason every time I wanted to go, someone or something came in the way. Sometimes realtors were showing the house to prospective buyers, or even armed response units parked outside the house.

So every day I drove past that house my curiosity grew. Perhaps it was the For Sale sign that, according to the realtors, has been there for a very long time, or the extremely forsaken and eerie exterior. Or the fact that no one seems to know anything about the history of the house; except of course for the normal rumors that cling to any abandoned house; from the deceased cat-lady to the infamous murder in the master bedroom.

This past weekend my friend and I finally got around to going. First thing I noticed as I climbed out of the car was all the brand new security bars and armed response signs. It didn’t bother me too much; I was just a prospective buyer with a camera. But I couldn’t help but wonder if these bars were there to keep something in rather than out. Let’s hope not.

I was hoping there would be an open door so I could tread through the second floor, but only found a window that had been forced open (Hopefully not from the inside). As you can see it came with a strict warning of an armed response.

We of course started at the back of the house, and I immediately realized a lack of any weird feelings of anxiety or being watched. It was actually a very beautiful house. Yet I have no idea why there were so many outhouses and small rooms separate from the main house. I did however find a huge bee nest in the outside wall, and for those who don’t know this, bees and mosquitoes are seen to have a connection to the spiritual world.

Except for the derelict buildings, dead plants, broken windows, bees and surprisingly a light shining from within the house, I didn’t find much else. I was just about to do a final walkthrough of the gigantic yard, when a loud bang echoed all around us. I wish I could recall whether it came from inside the house or somewhere else. My friend also heard it, so right there we decided to go in. My muscular friend however, or should I say bodyguard, couldn’t fit through the window.

I took a few random photographs and started to investigate the light, immediately noticing it didn’t have a switch.

I made my way into the darker middle section of the house towards the stairs, where for the first time I was overcome with a feeling of dread. Finally! Unfortunately, just before I could take the first step towards the second floor, the alarm sounded. Who’d put an alarm in a building with open windows?

Need I say I climbed out of that window a lot faster than I climbed in.

In the end I was left with more questions about the house than I started out with. I’m still certain there is a rich history behind the house, although I didn’t find any evidence in the photographs. If only I could get up those stairs.

So here’s what I learned from this experience:
Truth kills mystery (That and keep your eyes out for any alarms before you go into an abandoned house). Maybe I don’t want to know anymore about the house. The more I know about it, the less spooky it becomes. If you apply this to writing, it’s easy to see that building suspense comes from withholding information from the reader, forcing them to read on. Just remember to give the reader a worthy ending.

I did eventually get the opportunity to go into the house and up the stairs (at night). Click here to read and see more.

All the best.