Frightmares: A collection of scary and disturbing tales

A collection of four short stories to scare and shock you. First is a story about a young boy and his imaginary friend. Tommy's mother believes that her son's friend is pretend, but after some strange happenings in their house she is not so sure. Next up is a story about a guardian angel. Sara always thought that she had a guardian angel watching over her. Ever since she had been a child there had been numerous times that she narrowly avoid getting hurt or even killed. Was it really her guardian angel keeping her safe, or something else entirely. The third story is about a small town in Tennessee that had a curse placed on it by a witch over 200 years ago. Some people say that it is a story told to keep strangers away. You can make your own decision after hearing the Legend of Heaven Hill. The last story takes you deep inside the mind of a serial rapist. Hear in his own words why he chooses to live the life he does. What happens when one of his victims parents finds out who he is? Do they contact the police or make their own justice?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

FRIGHTMARESA collection of scary and disturbing talesBy Scott D. BarberAuthorHouseCopyright © 2009 Scott D. BarberAll right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4389-8789-7Contents1. PRETEND...........................................12. GUARDIAN ANGEL....................................253. CURSE OF THE WICKED...............................37Prologue.............................................39A Brief History......................................40The Curse............................................422008, Head East......................................44Welcome to Heaven Hill...............................46New Surroundings.....................................50The New Kid in Town..................................52The Visitor..........................................54Secret Lovers........................................57Familiar Faces.......................................59Boredom..............................................61On Hallowed Ground...................................64Regrets and Revelations..............................67The Call.............................................71Snowed In............................................74Family Secrets.......................................75Eight Weeks Later....................................78Birthday Wishes......................................80Mistaken Identity....................................834. CONFESSION OF A SERIAL RAPIST.....................85Inside a Twisted Mind................................87The Annonymous Package...............................96A Family's Revenge...................................98Chapter OnePRETEND Tommy sat in his closet eagerly waiting for his mom to bring in his lunch. He ate all of his meals there; in fact, that is where he spent most of his time. There was nothing particular about the closet; just somewhere Tommy told his mom he felt safe. He was a quiet six-year-old boy who seemed to keep himself entertained. He never had any friends at school or in the neighborhood. His mom, Karen Fields, walked in carrying a tray, which had two plates; each contained a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and two glasses of milk. Tommy always asked for an extra plate of food for his pretend friend. He told his mom that he had a friend who lived in the house with them and that he was the best friend ever. "He is the only friend I need," Tommy often said. His mother didn't think it was strange that her son had an imaginary friend. After all, she had one when she was a little girl herself. What was peculiar was that almost every time she let her son eat his dinner in the closet, Tommy ate both plates of food! He has such a big appetite for a young boy, Karen thought to herself. One spring day while Karen was doing the dishes, she glanced into the backyard to make sure Tommy was alright. What she saw made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Tommy was on the swing set swinging, and the swing next to him was moving too-almost like someone or something was sitting in it. It's just the wind, she thought. It was a breezy day, after all. The thought seemed to satisfy Karen, and she went on about her housework. This wasn't the first time Karen had gotten a little freaked out. She often heard strange sounds coming from the basement and the closet Tommy played in most of the day. She would usually hear them when it was quiet in the house. Sometimes she would swear there was someone upstairs, but every time she would go and check, there was nothing. Frequently, Karen would awaken late at night and hear the faintest sound coming from the basement. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it sounded to her like something scraping against concrete. Just the pipes, she told herself. The house was over 110 years old after all. Eventually Karen had grown accustomed to the sounds and didn't seem to notice them much anymore; at least she didn't acknowledge them. "Tommy! Where are Mommy's car keys?" She had just come into the house and was certain she had set them on the table by the stairs. "I don't know, Mommy," Tommy told her. Things always seemed to come up missing in the house. Common things like keys, the remote to the television set, even Tommy's toys and books weren't where they would leave them. They wouldn't stay missing for long. Most of the time she would find them hidden under a couch cushion, inside the pocket of a jacket hanging in the front entry closet, or back right where they should have been in the first place. Tommy likes to play hide-and-seek with me, she thought. What other explanation could there be? "Your house is haunted!" Ann told Karen, adding a chuckle at the end. "Your house is inhabited by evil spirits who like to torment you by hiding your belongings and eating your food!" With that, Ann burst into laughter. Karen gave a half-hearted laugh herself. She tried to not let it show, but something made her think Ann might not be far off from the truth. Ann was Karen's best and only friend. They grew up together, went to school together, and even dated each other's boyfriends back in their early twenties. Karen told her about Tommy's pretend friend, about how she would have to make two plates of food and Tommy would come out of his closet later with the empty plates and glasses. She also told her about how he would hide her car keys and then they would show up later in the strangest spots. Of course Tommy would always say that he had nothing to do with it. "You know," Karen said to Ann, "I'm not saying this house is haunted, but something is going on here." "Have you ever looked into the history of your house?" Ann questioned Karen. "You should find out who lived in it before you, or if anything ever happened out of the ordinary." "No, I haven`t, but maybe I should," Karen replied. The next day, Karen took Tommy to the county library. "Let's go get some new books to read at bedtime," she told her son. Really she needed an excuse to give herself. She figured she would take Ann's advice and look into the history of her house. She wasn't expecting to find anything really, but decided it wouldn't hurt to check. "I thought we were going to the library, Mommy?" Tommy asked as their car stopped in front of a big brick building he had never seen before. "I just have to stop here for a few minutes first, sweetie," she told him, not wanting to give away what she was really doing. Strolling into the Stone County Courthouse, Tommy looked up in awe at how high the domed ceiling was. "Can we go all the way up to the top?" he asked excitedly. "We will, as soon as I'm finished here," she told him. Karen checked with the registry of deeds and soon found her address: 427 Red Creek Road. The three-bedroom house was built in 1897 by a man named Benjamin Brass. He and his wife, Martha, lived there until 1937. A young man of only eighteen bought the house from Mr. Brass. The second owners were Frank and Lily Johnson. In 1944, the deed to the house was in the name of William and Lily Wright. It remained in their names until Karen's husband, Phillip, bought the house in an estate sale in 1991. Nothing unusual here, Karen thought. Maybe she could find something out at the library. "Let's go, Tommy," Karen called out to her boy. "But, Mom, you said we could go up to the top!" "I almost forgot," Karen told him as his eyes gleamed with excitement like a boy on Christmas morning. Karen let Tommy play in the children's section while she went into the reference room to look up more history on her house. She sat down at the computer, pulled out the list of names of people who had lived in her house before, and began typing the first name. Benjamin Brass: It seemed like Mr. Brass was a carpenter by trade who built most of the house himself. He lived there with his wife Martha until 1937. They had a daughter named Abigail, who was born in 1901, and another daughter named Mary, born two years later. Karen looked up Martha, Abigail, and Mary, but there wasn't much about them, so she went to the next names on her list. Frank Johnson: He and his wife, Lily, bought the house in 1937 from Mr. Brass. In 1938, his wife gave birth to his only child named Joseph. Frank enlisted in the service the next year and died in WWII in 1942. Lily Johnson: Mrs. Johnson was married to Frank Johnson in 1936. Her husband died in the war, and eventually she remarried a man named William Wright. There was nothing to say that Lily had any more children with her second husband. In fact, the article never even mentioned her son Joseph. "Not too much out of the ordinary," Karen mumbled, glancing over at Tommy to make sure he was alright. She tried to find information on Joseph Johnson, but his name wasn't even listed. There was only one more person Karen had to look up. Maybe he can shed some light on what is going on in my house, she thought to herself as she began typing his name. William Wright: Mr. Wright was a very successful businessman in the furniture industry. He was a bachelor until he married Lily Johnson in 1946. There were some random articles about the various awards and donations he made throughout Stone County, but nothing of interest. Maybe there was a fire or even a murder at the house! She thought to herself as her imagination began to run wild. She looked at all the old newspaper clippings she could find, but nothing. It seemed 427 Red Creek Road was just like any other house in town. For a few weeks after the visit to the library, nothing much happened. Karen had hardly given her investigation into the house a second thought. Life had seemed to return to normal at last. "Mommy, can me and Joe have a Popsicle?" Tommy called out to his mom after coming in from the backyard. "Sure you can, but who is Joe?" Karen asked. "My friend. Who do you think?!" he blurted back. Oh, his pretend friend, thought Karen as she handed two Popsicles to Tommy while he quickly hurried back out the door. Joe? Never had Tommy called his imaginary friend by name before. "Where have I heard that name before?" Karen asked herself out loud. RING-RING!!! Karen jumped as the phone rang. "Hello?" It was Ann. She was calling to invite her and Tommy to her son's tenth birthday party. Ann's boy was a few years older than Tommy, but she thought it would do him some good to play with other children. "We'll see you on Saturday," Karen told Ann. "Tommy, it's time to go to Adams' birthday party! Tommy! TOMMY! TOMMY, ANSWER ME!" Karen screamed at the top of her lungs up the stairs. "I don't want to go!" Tommy shouted back down. "We need to be there by noon. Now let's go!" Karen stomped up the stairs, growing impatient with every step. "Tommy, where are you?" She could hear him inside his closet, his favorite place. Grasping the handle, she stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear Tommy speaking to someone. "I have to go ... I promise I won't find another friend. You are my best and only friend, Joe." Opening the door, she found her son standing by himself. His face was beet red, like he had been arguing with someone, and she became very angry. "Who were you talking to?" Karen asked. Tommy remained silent, not even looking his mom in the face. Karen asked him again, this time more stern. "Joe. I was talking to Joe. He doesn't want me to go to Adams' party. He says he needs me here and that I need to stay his friend forever," Tommy finally confessed. Karen stood in the closet dumbfounded, not sure what to say next. "I've had about enough of your pretend friend! He's not even real!" Karen shouted back. DING-DONG! DING-DONG! Someone was ringing the doorbell over and over. DING-DONG! DING-DONG! It went on, without stopping. Karen had lived in the house for a couple of years, and the doorbell had never worked before; now it was going off over and over. DING-DONG! DING-DONG! Karen swung open the front door, expecting to find some salesman trying to sell her something she didn't need or a girl scout selling cookies, but no one was there. DING-DONG! DING-DONG! There it was again. Karen stared at the button for the doorbell, even pressed it to make sure it wasn't pushed in and stuck. DING-DONG! DING-DONG! Karen was frantic. The doorbell, which never worked before suddenly wouldn't stop ringing. She grabbed a chair, reached up, and yanked the box off the wall where the music was coming from. Silence. Finally the ringing had stopped. Relieved, but still confused, she headed out the door to Ann's house. Karen didn't even realize, as she lay the door chime down, that there weren't any batteries in it! "What a morning!" Karen exclaimed to Ann as she told her all that had happened: the doorbell that wouldn't stop ringing, hearing Tommy in his closet talking to himself, and his calling the imaginary friend by a name, "Joe." Suddenly Karen remembered where she had heard that name before. The Johnson family who once lived in her house had a son named Joseph. "Am I going insane, or is it just a coincidence that there was a little boy who had lived in my house before with the same name as Tommy's imaginary friend?" Karen asked Ann. "It does seem a little strange," Ann told Karen after she heard about the trip to the library and the history on the house. "I wonder what Tommy meant, that his pretend friend needed him there?" Ann asked Karen. The next morning, Karen decided to ask the only neighbor who had been around when Joseph would have lived there. Maybe she could remember the Johnsons, Karen thought as she walked out the front door of her house. Mrs. Randolph was a quiet and friendly eighty-nine-year-old lady who had lived down the street her whole life. If anyone knew about the people who had lived in Karen's house in the past, it would be her. "Good morning," Karen greeted Mrs. Randolph, holding out a tray of fresh-baked blueberry muffins. "I was wondering if I could ask you about the people who lived in my house before me." Mrs. Randolph looked puzzled but invited her in, happy to see a familiar face. It had been quite a while since she had any visitors, and she was grateful for the company. After settling down on the sofa, Mrs. Randolph began, "I was a very young girl when Mr. and Mrs. Brass lived in your house ..." "After them," Karen interrupted. "What about the family who lived there after the Brass'?" "Well, there was a young couple who moved in the year I graduated from high school. They were not much older than I was at the time," she said, stopping long enough to take another bite of the muffin Karen had brought her. After a short pause, she exclaimed, "Frank Johnson." Mrs. Randolph looked dreamy eyed speaking his name. "Such a handsome young man! He had the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen." Karen could tell Mrs. Randolph was once smitten with Frank Johnson by the look on her face as she tried to remember him. "I had the biggest crush on him," she continued, smiling and blushing at the same time. "He was only a year older than I was, and was married to a girl named Lily. She was a few years older than him, and I'll be honest, I was jealous of her. She was thin, beautiful, and had long straight black hair down to her knees. I went off to college, and after I graduated, I came home to find out Frank had died in the war. Lily was left to care for their four-year-old son, Joe." "You mean, Joseph," Karen corrected her. "Well, yes," Mrs. Randolph confirmed, "but everyone called him Joe." Suddenly Karen felt weak. A strange feeling had come over her. "Whatever happened to Lily and Joe Johnson?" she asked, hoping for something that might put her mind at ease and stop the ridiculous thoughts that were running through her head. "A few years after Frank passed away, Lily started dating a horrible man," Mrs. Randolph went on. William Wright was his name. Such a hateful person!" "What was so horrible about him?" asked Karen, now horrified by what she was hearing. "He was just a heavyset, mean, nasty man," Mrs. Randolph replied. "He was in his mid-forties and was dating Lily who had barely turned thirty and was recently widowed. Everyone knew Lily only began dating him because of his money, even though he hated kids." "He hated kids?!" Karen exclaimed. "Wasn't he dating Lily who had a seven-year-old?" "Well, yes," Mrs. Randolph agreed. "But he never had anything to do with Joe. He wouldn't even come around unless Joe was staying with relatives at the time. People used to say he was the reason that Joe disappeared." "DISSA ... WHAT?" Karen yelled, startling the quiet-spoken Mrs. Randolph. "I guess I should have said went away," Mrs. Randolph explained. "I heard he was sent to live with his grandparents in Oregon. No one has ever seen or heard from him after that day. My mother told me that Lily sent him away so that William would marry her. And sure enough, not long after Joe was gone, he did." Karen sat in silence, taking in every word her elderly neighbor spoke. "My dad used to think that William and Lily murdered Joe so they could be together." "Why would he think such a thing?" Karen inquired, now thoroughly captivated by the story. (Continues...) Excerpted from FRIGHTMARESby Scott D. Barber Copyright © 2009 by Scott D. Barber. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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