September 2, 2023 • 14 mins
Tell your friends about Micro Terrors – and find more family-friendly frights and creepy games to play on our website - http://MicroTerrors.com! And be sure to subscribe to the podcast at https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors!
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Visit our website: https://MicroTerrors.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/microterrors
Other stories, novels, and more from author Scott Donnelly: https://amzn.to/3LymHaU
Other narrations, podcasts, and audiobooks from voice artist Darren Marlar: https://WeirdDarkness.com
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Weird Darkness®, 2023. Weird Darkness©, 2023
“Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids”™ 2023
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/archives/17045
#scarystories #halloweenstories #halloweenkids #storiesforkids #kidsstories #scarystoriesforkids #microterrors
Visit our website: https://MicroTerrors.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/microterrors
Other stories, novels, and more from author Scott Donnelly: https://amzn.to/3LymHaU
Other narrations, podcasts, and audiobooks from voice artist Darren Marlar: https://WeirdDarkness.com
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Weird Darkness®, 2023. Weird Darkness©, 2023
“Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids”™ 2023
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/archives/17045
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Welcome to micro Terrors, scary storiesfor kids where it's always the spooky season,
full of chills, thrills, andspine tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are
(00:35):
family friendly frights for those ages eightand up, and while our stories are
for younger ears, we are stilltalking about things that go bump in the
night, and some children may notbe able to handle what others can.
Parental consent is recommended now for tonight's micro terror. My little mad brain,
(01:08):
it is a house that haunts you, a house that draws you near,
entangling its specters with your own.It is a house that begs for
you to come inside. Will youcome inside? This will be your only
invitation. I just stared at thenote in my hand. It was within
(01:30):
an unmarked envelope taped to the frontdoor of my house. When I walked
home from school, I brought theenvelope inside and that's when I opened it.
I read the note over and over, not completely understanding what it meant.
It was like a poem or something. Behind the note was an old
(01:51):
black and white photograph of a castle. I didn't immediately recognize the castle,
but on the flip side of thephoto was an ad for Castle Shade.
According to Google Maps, Castle Shadewas located in the Catskill Mountains of New
York and only about a mile frommy house. I read the last line
(02:12):
again, this will be your onlyinvitation. Invitation for what a party?
A tour of the castle? Iread more from the note, It's a
house that haunts you, a housethat draws you near, begs you to
come inside. He was starting tosound like a haunted house attraction, and
(02:37):
with Halloween only weeks away, maybeit was a grand opening for a seasonal
haunted attraction. I checked my watch. It was only a little after three.
My parents wouldn't be home from workuntil closer to five. Castle Shade
would be a quick bike ride.I thought I could check it out and
then let my parents know about thenotes and the invitation. Maybe we could
(03:00):
make it a family outing or something. When the attraction opened, I looked
across my bedroom at Scratch, adoll that I had had since I was
born, and after thirteen years,he was finally starting to show his age.
His brown hair was matted down,his eyes, which were once perfectly
painted on, were now feeding intheir vibrants, and his clothing smelled musty.
(03:23):
And old. Sometimes I thought Iwas too old to hang on to
Scratch, But when I thought backto how many times over my childhood that
I was able to confide in him, I knew I just couldn't bail on
him. He would never bail onme. He was my trusted confidant.
What do you think, Scratch,Should I check it out? I asked
(03:46):
my doll, and just like always, he stared blankly back at me.
I tossed my backpack over my shouldersand wheeled my bike out of the garage.
A distant rumble of thunder brought myattention to the sky. The day
had been mostly clear, but nowthere were dark, gray clouds moving in.
For a moment, I thought aboutjust going back into the house and
(04:08):
forgetting the whole thing, But thenI remembered the last line, this will
be your only invitation. I couldn'tpass this up. I hopped on the
bike, pedaled down the driveway andonto the main road that cut through a
seemingly endless sea of trees. Ittook me fifteen minutes to reach the iron
gates of Castle Shade. The gatesswayed, opened creakily in the wind,
(04:31):
as if it had been awaiting myarrival. Another distant rumble of thunder maybe
dropped the bike to the ground andhurry through the gates. I jogged up
a dirt road, a thick foreston either side, and may blocked out
whatever light of day the incoming stormclouds failed to I rounded a corner on
the dirt road, and that's whenI saw it, Castle Shade. It
(04:54):
was much larger than the picture madeit seem. It was made of black
stone, looked slick like, itwas covered by an wheelie glaze, and
dark green moss was present on mostof it. I saw the front door,
an arched wooden doorway reminiscent of thatbelonging to a medieval castle. Gripping
(05:15):
the straps of my backpack, Iapproached the castle door and pulled it open.
The hinges creaked loudly as I entered. It was dark inside. Only
the hindered daylight from outside snuck throughtiny square windows along the walls. I
stepped into the large empty room.Each step I took echoed. Then a
(05:35):
thunderous boom from the sky outside wasfollowed by a howling wind. Dad leaves
spun in through the front door beforeit slam shut. I ran to the
door and tried to open it,but couldn't. The heavy slam must have
damaged the handle or lock or something. Hell. I called out, only
(05:56):
hearing my little voice echo through theroom and return Swad helped me. When
no one responded and no one showedthemselves to help me, I realized something
that made my skin crawl. Therewas no one here. There was no
help coming. I had been luredto castle shade, and now I was
(06:17):
trapped. But why. I droppedmy backpack to the floor and pulled out
my phone. There was no signal, but I was still able to use
the flashlight. I flipped it onand aimed it around the large room from
one corner to the next. Theroom was decorated in spider webs and old,
(06:38):
dusty furniture, some of which werecovered by white sheets. I heard
the hiss of air coming in fromsomewhere above me, a ventilation system perhaps.
I walked through the room to geta closer look at a door across
the way. I reached for themetal knob, but just as my palm
touched its cold surface, I heardsomething rustling behind me. My heart stopped
(07:01):
and I slowly turned around I didn'tsee anything at first, but when I
trained the light on my backpack sittingon the floor, I saw it moving.
Something wriggled inside of it. Itrembled, unsure as to what would
emerge. Then a small hand rippedthrough the side of the bag. Another
(07:21):
hand came out along with it,and eventually I watched Scratch pulled himself out
of the bag and stand up.He just stood there, motionless and stared
at me. Scratch, I calledout. I rubbed my eyes, knowing
my mind was playing tricks on me. Scratch was just a doll. I've
(07:42):
had him for thirteen years and neveronce had he done anything like this.
He was a doll, and nowas he stood in the room across from
me, I felt a fear ofhim. It was a feeling I had
never had before. Get go,I shouted it at him, but he
just continued to stand there. Asoft, disembodied voice then spoke from the
(08:07):
shadows of the room. This housesongs you. This house will entangle its
specters with your own. Do youfear this house? Do you fear me?
Was that Scratch? Was Scratch tryingto speak to me? I chose
(08:28):
not to answer, because now Iwas convinced that Scratch was the one who
lured me here. He was theonly one home before I arrived after school.
He was the one who left thenote on the front door, and
come to think of it, Ididn't remember even putting him in that backpack.
Why are you doing this, Iasked Scratch, looking ahead, though
(08:50):
I no longer saw him standing infront of the backpack. I panned the
light from one side of the roomto the other. Nothing. Scratch was
gone. I looked up to theceiling next, but all I saw were
small vents that were blowing cold airinto the room. I heard something scamper
in the shadows next to me.I aimed my light but saw nothing.
(09:11):
Scratch, I called out. Hewas choosing to ignore me. Now he
knew that I knew, and thatwas going to thwart his evil plan,
whatever it was. I heard thedoor behind me creak open by itself.
I turned and aimed the light intothe darkness. A crack of thunder and
(09:35):
blinding flash of lightning exploded all aroundme, rattling my nerves. I pushed
forward, knowing Scratch was in thenext dark room, but I didn't expect
to fall When I crossed through thedoorway. I fell down a flight of
stairs, smacking the stone floor atthe bottom. I groaned in pain and
reached for my light, but someonepicked it up before my hand could reach
(09:58):
it. When the light glowed onhis face, I saw it was Scratch.
Let my specters tangle with yours,he uttered, without moving his mouth.
Just then I was lifted up byunseen forces. They held me tightly.
Torches along either side of a longhallway burst to life, letting me
(10:18):
see the forces that held me sotight. They were white and whispy,
transparent and evil looking. They wereghosts, horrible ghosts. I screamed,
trying desperately to pull myself away fromthem, but they held on. They
weren't going to give up so easily. I screamed again, kicking my legs
(10:39):
at Scratch. Eventually I made contact, knocking the doll down. I'm not
afraid of you, I shouted,and I meant it. After being filled
with such fear, I conjured upevery ounce of survival instinct I possessed.
I wasn't going to let this dolland his ghosts take me. I'm not
afraid, I shouted, and withthat the ghosts all let go. I
(11:03):
raced up the stairs and through thelarge entry room under ward outside and lightning
lit the room with blinding flashes ofblue and white. I hurried for the
arched doorway, but just before Ireached it, it flew open. I
skidded to a stop as a flurryof dead leaves and rain blew in.
Standing outside the door, with aswarm of police cars behind them, were
(11:24):
my parents, mom dead. Iscreamed and ran into their arms. That
night, after the storm passed,my parents tucked me into bed. Turns
out, one of my neighbors,who was on their way home from work,
(11:45):
saw my bike outside the gates ofCastle Shade and called my parents.
A man named Hector Shade, theowner of the castle, was arrested that
night. It was him who leftthe note on our front door. He
left notes on a lot of doorsaround town, but I was the only
one who irresponsibly accepted the invitation.Hector told the police that he inherited the
(12:09):
castle from his grandfather and planned toopen a one of a kind haunted attraction
for Halloween. But instead of fillingthe castle with faked body parts, animatronic
monsters, and creepy sound effects.He chose to use a chemical agent that
his grandfather had perfected years earlier underthe orders of a secret government assignment.
(12:31):
The chemical agent was called Madness andwould be filtered in through the vents,
causing the willing participants at the attractionto see and hear terrifying things that weren't
actually there. In hindsight, itwas kind of an ingenious idea. It
was a way to experience a hauntedattraction like never before. To actually believe
(12:56):
the things you were seeing and hearingwere real would dress raised the bar for
Halloween thrill seekers. But without myknowing consent, Hector Shade was arrested for
alluring me to his castle of horrorsin the woods. My parents turned off
my bedroom light and closed the door. When I left, I took a
(13:16):
deep breath and tried to erase thehorrible things that experienced from my brain.
As I lay in bed with myeyes closed, breathing fresh air instead of
madness, I couldn't help but noticethe silence, the silence that was just
begging to be broken. I imaginehearing something scampering around in the dark,
(13:39):
giggling and asking me if my specterswanted to tangle with his specters, tangle
with yours. I imagined that Scratchwas back, followed me back home,
that little creep. Thank you forlistening to micro Terrors. Join us each
(14:07):
Saturday for another scary story. Formore fun, visit our website at micro
terrors dot com, where we willalso have spooky games you can print out
and play like wicked word searches,mysterious mazes, and more. Micro terrors
dot com is also where you canfind us on your favorite social media and
(14:31):
even sending your own scary story forus to tell. Plus, you'll learn
more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young
and old. I hope you'll joinme again soon From micro Terrors Scary Stories for Kids
Welcome to micro Terrors, scary storiesfor kids where it's always the spooky season,
full of chills, thrills, andspine tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are
(00:35):
family friendly frights for those ages eightand up, and while our stories are
for younger ears, we are stilltalking about things that go bump in the
night, and some children may notbe able to handle what others can.
Parental consent is recommended now for tonight's micro terror. My little mad brain,
(01:08):
it is a house that haunts you, a house that draws you near,
entangling its specters with your own.It is a house that begs for
you to come inside. Will youcome inside? This will be your only
invitation. I just stared at thenote in my hand. It was within
(01:30):
an unmarked envelope taped to the frontdoor of my house. When I walked
home from school, I brought theenvelope inside and that's when I opened it.
I read the note over and over, not completely understanding what it meant.
It was like a poem or something. Behind the note was an old
(01:51):
black and white photograph of a castle. I didn't immediately recognize the castle,
but on the flip side of thephoto was an ad for Castle Shade.
According to Google Maps, Castle Shadewas located in the Catskill Mountains of New
York and only about a mile frommy house. I read the last line
(02:12):
again, this will be your onlyinvitation. Invitation for what a party?
A tour of the castle? Iread more from the note, It's a
house that haunts you, a housethat draws you near, begs you to
come inside. He was starting tosound like a haunted house attraction, and
(02:37):
with Halloween only weeks away, maybeit was a grand opening for a seasonal
haunted attraction. I checked my watch. It was only a little after three.
My parents wouldn't be home from workuntil closer to five. Castle Shade
would be a quick bike ride.I thought I could check it out and
then let my parents know about thenotes and the invitation. Maybe we could
(03:00):
make it a family outing or something. When the attraction opened, I looked
across my bedroom at Scratch, adoll that I had had since I was
born, and after thirteen years,he was finally starting to show his age.
His brown hair was matted down,his eyes, which were once perfectly
painted on, were now feeding intheir vibrants, and his clothing smelled musty.
(03:23):
And old. Sometimes I thought Iwas too old to hang on to
Scratch, But when I thought backto how many times over my childhood that
I was able to confide in him, I knew I just couldn't bail on
him. He would never bail onme. He was my trusted confidant.
What do you think, Scratch,Should I check it out? I asked
(03:46):
my doll, and just like always, he stared blankly back at me.
I tossed my backpack over my shouldersand wheeled my bike out of the garage.
A distant rumble of thunder brought myattention to the sky. The day
had been mostly clear, but nowthere were dark, gray clouds moving in.
For a moment, I thought aboutjust going back into the house and
(04:08):
forgetting the whole thing, But thenI remembered the last line, this will
be your only invitation. I couldn'tpass this up. I hopped on the
bike, pedaled down the driveway andonto the main road that cut through a
seemingly endless sea of trees. Ittook me fifteen minutes to reach the iron
gates of Castle Shade. The gatesswayed, opened creakily in the wind,
(04:31):
as if it had been awaiting myarrival. Another distant rumble of thunder maybe
dropped the bike to the ground andhurry through the gates. I jogged up
a dirt road, a thick foreston either side, and may blocked out
whatever light of day the incoming stormclouds failed to I rounded a corner on
the dirt road, and that's whenI saw it, Castle Shade. It
(04:54):
was much larger than the picture madeit seem. It was made of black
stone, looked slick like, itwas covered by an wheelie glaze, and
dark green moss was present on mostof it. I saw the front door,
an arched wooden doorway reminiscent of thatbelonging to a medieval castle. Gripping
(05:15):
the straps of my backpack, Iapproached the castle door and pulled it open.
The hinges creaked loudly as I entered. It was dark inside. Only
the hindered daylight from outside snuck throughtiny square windows along the walls. I
stepped into the large empty room.Each step I took echoed. Then a
(05:35):
thunderous boom from the sky outside wasfollowed by a howling wind. Dad leaves
spun in through the front door beforeit slam shut. I ran to the
door and tried to open it,but couldn't. The heavy slam must have
damaged the handle or lock or something. Hell. I called out, only
(05:56):
hearing my little voice echo through theroom and return Swad helped me. When
no one responded and no one showedthemselves to help me, I realized something
that made my skin crawl. Therewas no one here. There was no
help coming. I had been luredto castle shade, and now I was
(06:17):
trapped. But why. I droppedmy backpack to the floor and pulled out
my phone. There was no signal, but I was still able to use
the flashlight. I flipped it onand aimed it around the large room from
one corner to the next. Theroom was decorated in spider webs and old,
(06:38):
dusty furniture, some of which werecovered by white sheets. I heard
the hiss of air coming in fromsomewhere above me, a ventilation system perhaps.
I walked through the room to geta closer look at a door across
the way. I reached for themetal knob, but just as my palm
touched its cold surface, I heardsomething rustling behind me. My heart stopped
(07:01):
and I slowly turned around I didn'tsee anything at first, but when I
trained the light on my backpack sittingon the floor, I saw it moving.
Something wriggled inside of it. Itrembled, unsure as to what would
emerge. Then a small hand rippedthrough the side of the bag. Another
(07:21):
hand came out along with it,and eventually I watched Scratch pulled himself out
of the bag and stand up.He just stood there, motionless and stared
at me. Scratch, I calledout. I rubbed my eyes, knowing
my mind was playing tricks on me. Scratch was just a doll. I've
(07:42):
had him for thirteen years and neveronce had he done anything like this.
He was a doll, and nowas he stood in the room across from
me, I felt a fear ofhim. It was a feeling I had
never had before. Get go,I shouted it at him, but he
just continued to stand there. Asoft, disembodied voice then spoke from the
(08:07):
shadows of the room. This housesongs you. This house will entangle its
specters with your own. Do youfear this house? Do you fear me?
Was that Scratch? Was Scratch tryingto speak to me? I chose
(08:28):
not to answer, because now Iwas convinced that Scratch was the one who
lured me here. He was theonly one home before I arrived after school.
He was the one who left thenote on the front door, and
come to think of it, Ididn't remember even putting him in that backpack.
Why are you doing this, Iasked Scratch, looking ahead, though
(08:50):
I no longer saw him standing infront of the backpack. I panned the
light from one side of the roomto the other. Nothing. Scratch was
gone. I looked up to theceiling next, but all I saw were
small vents that were blowing cold airinto the room. I heard something scamper
in the shadows next to me.I aimed my light but saw nothing.
(09:11):
Scratch, I called out. Hewas choosing to ignore me. Now he
knew that I knew, and thatwas going to thwart his evil plan,
whatever it was. I heard thedoor behind me creak open by itself.
I turned and aimed the light intothe darkness. A crack of thunder and
(09:35):
blinding flash of lightning exploded all aroundme, rattling my nerves. I pushed
forward, knowing Scratch was in thenext dark room, but I didn't expect
to fall When I crossed through thedoorway. I fell down a flight of
stairs, smacking the stone floor atthe bottom. I groaned in pain and
reached for my light, but someonepicked it up before my hand could reach
(09:58):
it. When the light glowed onhis face, I saw it was Scratch.
Let my specters tangle with yours,he uttered, without moving his mouth.
Just then I was lifted up byunseen forces. They held me tightly.
Torches along either side of a longhallway burst to life, letting me
(10:18):
see the forces that held me sotight. They were white and whispy,
transparent and evil looking. They wereghosts, horrible ghosts. I screamed,
trying desperately to pull myself away fromthem, but they held on. They
weren't going to give up so easily. I screamed again, kicking my legs
(10:39):
at Scratch. Eventually I made contact, knocking the doll down. I'm not
afraid of you, I shouted,and I meant it. After being filled
with such fear, I conjured upevery ounce of survival instinct I possessed.
I wasn't going to let this dolland his ghosts take me. I'm not
afraid, I shouted, and withthat the ghosts all let go. I
(11:03):
raced up the stairs and through thelarge entry room under ward outside and lightning
lit the room with blinding flashes ofblue and white. I hurried for the
arched doorway, but just before Ireached it, it flew open. I
skidded to a stop as a flurryof dead leaves and rain blew in.
Standing outside the door, with aswarm of police cars behind them, were
(11:24):
my parents, mom dead. Iscreamed and ran into their arms. That
night, after the storm passed,my parents tucked me into bed. Turns
out, one of my neighbors,who was on their way home from work,
(11:45):
saw my bike outside the gates ofCastle Shade and called my parents.
A man named Hector Shade, theowner of the castle, was arrested that
night. It was him who leftthe note on our front door. He
left notes on a lot of doorsaround town, but I was the only
one who irresponsibly accepted the invitation.Hector told the police that he inherited the
(12:09):
castle from his grandfather and planned toopen a one of a kind haunted attraction
for Halloween. But instead of fillingthe castle with faked body parts, animatronic
monsters, and creepy sound effects.He chose to use a chemical agent that
his grandfather had perfected years earlier underthe orders of a secret government assignment.
(12:31):
The chemical agent was called Madness andwould be filtered in through the vents,
causing the willing participants at the attractionto see and hear terrifying things that weren't
actually there. In hindsight, itwas kind of an ingenious idea. It
was a way to experience a hauntedattraction like never before. To actually believe
(12:56):
the things you were seeing and hearingwere real would dress raised the bar for
Halloween thrill seekers. But without myknowing consent, Hector Shade was arrested for
alluring me to his castle of horrorsin the woods. My parents turned off
my bedroom light and closed the door. When I left, I took a
(13:16):
deep breath and tried to erase thehorrible things that experienced from my brain.
As I lay in bed with myeyes closed, breathing fresh air instead of
madness, I couldn't help but noticethe silence, the silence that was just
begging to be broken. I imaginehearing something scampering around in the dark,
(13:39):
giggling and asking me if my specterswanted to tangle with his specters, tangle
with yours. I imagined that Scratchwas back, followed me back home,
that little creep. Thank you forlistening to micro Terrors. Join us each
(14:07):
Saturday for another scary story. Formore fun, visit our website at micro
terrors dot com, where we willalso have spooky games you can print out
and play like wicked word searches,mysterious mazes, and more. Micro terrors
dot com is also where you canfind us on your favorite social media and
(14:31):
even sending your own scary story forus to tell. Plus, you'll learn
more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young
and old. I hope you'll joinme again soon From micro Terrors Scary Stories for Kids
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