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Okay, so all of your campfire stories have been pretty good. But now, I am about to knock your socks off with a true story. Hold onto your marshmallows.

My story is called “Backyard Party.”


We were the first to arrive. Lisa had already ordered a couple of pizzas and laid out some snacks. It looked less like a study session than a party, but I was excited about that. I had expected to see her parents there, but they had left for a bit on a date night to give Lisa some time to hang out. Most of us were still in our early 20s, so it was a nice gesture to the study group.

Lisa gave us a tour of the house and the property; it was a pretty ideal spot. It wasn’t overly large as nice two-story houses go, but it sat in a two-acre clearing practically carved from the woods. It was surreal to see a wall of trees that cut so clearly against the manicured lawn, and the trees were packed tightly enough that it made me a little uneasy.

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After the tour, Lisa had Ken and I set up the firepit, and while that was happening, Jason and Anja arrived. We all took a seat outside with our textbooks we’d dragged from the trunks of our cars and started studying. The pizza arrived shortly into that, with Kerri arriving after.

The later afternoon was mostly uneventful, and as the light outside began to die down, we opted to quit studying and just hang out around the firepit. Soon enough, night fell, and we were pretty happy working through a case of beer Jason had brought.

Throughout the night, I kept looking across the yard. The tree line at the rear of the house was about 50 or 60 feet away. Eventually, everyone noticed my attention was elsewhere, and Lisa mentioned she hadn’t gotten used to the trees either, having been raised in the city. She said on windy nights that the woods seemed to sway.

As though to lend color to her story, the wind picked up, and in our silence, we heard the trees of the woods sway behind us. We all burst into nervous laughter at the timing of it.

What we heard next almost made me piss myself.

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As our laughter faded, we noticed distant laughter coming from the woods. We were quiet and listened to it die out.

Ken, as a joke, yelled out to the trees, “havin’ a laugh, mate,” in his fake-British accent.

We waited for a reply, and just as we collectively shrugged off the sounds as an echo, we noticed a man emerge from the woods, shirtless and shoeless, with a stringy beard and long hair.

Lisa asked the man who he was and if he needed help. He said nothing, staring at us.

By now, Anja and Kerri had risen from the seats around the firepit and backed toward the sliding glass door. Ken and Jason stood up and stepped toward the stranger a few feet from the pit. I followed not of an inclination toward bravery but because I was probably expected to.

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The stranger didn’t move. He stood there, staring at Lisa. Even given the distance from us, we could see his gaze was on her, even as she got up and made her way to the screen door. It was all in the head tilts.

Lisa called us inside with the girls, and we followed, Ken quickly smothering the fire with the metal lid. Inside she called her parents and told them what was going on. They were a couple of towns over. They would be back within an hour and a half. They told her to call the police.

Lisa, Kerri, Jason, and Anja went to each window, drawing the shutters, as Lisa made her call. Ken and I stood at the glass door, and, without saying a word, Ken shut off the lights in the kitchen. The darkness made me nervous. But, it allowed us to look into the backyard. Ken yelped as he saw the man standing at the firepit, about 10 feet from the screen door. I did the same thing when I noticed it, and within a few seconds, I made my way past the breakfast bar and pulled a larger knife from the block.

The man didn’t react to me coming back to the sliding door with a knife. He stood there next to the fire pit, staring into the house, searching for something with his eyes. As much as we could tell in the moonlight, his skin was dirty and pockmarked, and his pants, his only clothing, hung loosely off his thin hips.

Lisa appeared behind us, still on the phone with 911, and screamed when she saw him out the window. Her scream caught me off guard, and I dropped the knife. By the time I had reached down to pick it back up, the stranger had already moved from the firepit to a different spot around the house. I took a few steps back and sat at the kitchen table as Ken and Lisa darted to the windows to catch a glimpse of where he was going. I just sat in shock, listening to everyone say they had seen him walk past and Jason screaming that the stranger was tugging on the front door.

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After twenty minutes of confusion and sporadic sightings, we noticed flashes of blue and red against the trees on the side of the house, followed by a knock at the door. The cops arrived, and as we told them our story, they agreed to check around the area. We waited for them in the backyard, near the firepit, as they cast pale beams of light into the woods. One cop came around from the side of the house and asked which of us was the homeowner. 

Lisa answered. The cop asked her if she knew the house had crawlspace access, and Lisa admitted she didn’t but assumed there was due to a removable floor in one of the closets. The cop seemed annoyed by this and began to search the house’s base from outside. Sure enough, he found one, a wooden panel that he slid out of the way.

He flashed his light beneath the house and, content he saw nothing, conferred with the other officers that the coast was clear. The cops offered unhelpful advice to keep an eye out and left. We agreed as a group to stay with Lisa until her parents came home.

Within a half hour, we seemed to be okay. The stranger was still on our minds, but in one room with locked doors, we felt safe enough not to worry as much. I decided to use the restroom, and Jason volunteered to accompany me, as Lisa didn’t want anyone wandering the house alone.

Jason and I made our way to the guest bathroom on the first floor, and he waited outside while I did my business. Once done, he asked me to keep watch as he took a turn. I agreed and stood far from the door to give him some privacy.

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That is when I heard some shuffling in a closet. I kept my distance and was silent, my eyes locked on the door. I thought I saw it open slightly for a moment, but it may have just been nerves. I didn’t even hear Jason come out of the bathroom.

He touched my shoulder, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. I pointed at the door, and his eyes grew wide.

Just then, he yelled for everyone to come to the bathroom, and while he was yelling, I swore I heard the click of the closet door. When the others arrived, we made out way to the closet door, throwing it open, ready to fight.

The closet was empty, but Lisa shrieked when she saw that the wooden panel on the floor was open, the crawlspace exposed.


The participants of the 2022 summer fiction series at Haunted MTL hope that you have enjoyed this batch of original creations. If you have missed the previous installments, you can find them all linked below.

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David Davis is a writer, cartoonist, and educator in Southern California with an M.A. in literature and writing studies.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Jennifer Weigel

    August 25, 2022 at 8:28 am

    This was a good one, and that’s quite the study group you have going…

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Original Creations

Religious Icons Revisited for the Second Second Coming

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Those religious icons really get around. This time it’s a journey to visit the Deep Ones. And Dracula’s Castle. Because everyone has to be a tourist now and then, and what’s the point if you don’t pick up a souvenir or two?

New religious icons - Jesus Christ visits Cthulhu and the Deep Ones
New religious icons – Jesus Christ visits Cthulhu and the Deep Ones

This was a gift for a friend for their sea life monster theme bathroom. It started as one of those old school wood plaques where the picture is waxed on. And the eyes were originally that creepy – all I did was add the tentacles. So don’t blame the overall weirdness on me, it wasn’t all my doing.

Bloody Mary goes to Transylvania
Bloody Mary goes to Transylvania

Oh, and apparently Mary wanted in on the action, so she’s gone to Dracula’s Castle for a bite. She even brought back her own religious icons souvenirs…

Repainted faux wood plate by Jennifer Weigel

So this one isn’t as old, nor is it real wood. But it still totally goes with Mary’s journey. And it’s also a little blacklight reactive with the flowers.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.

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Original Creations

Repaint Porcelain Figs Plus by Jennifer Weigel

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So I just keep on going… Here are some more repaint porcelain figurines and other madcap painting. OK maybe some of them aren’t porcelain, but still totally redone.

Pennywise It Clown repaint by Jennifer Weigel
Pennywise It Clown repaint by Jennifer Weigel

This Pennywise clown started as some plastic figurine from Italy. I was drawn to this because of the pretty marble base. It’s a nice touch, don’t you think? I’ve seen others in this series and honestly they’re all kind of creepy to start with, so they really lend themselves towards repaint prospects. Perhaps I’ll pick up more to redo in similar ways later on… Oh, and the eyes are blacklight sensitive, in case he wasn’t creepy enough already.

Lydia the Beetlejuice Bride repaint by Jennifer Weigel
Lydia the Beetlejuice Bride repaint by Jennifer Weigel

With all of the new movie hype, I couldn’t resist a throwback to the classic Beetlejuice, and this little bride figurine and teddy bear were just too perfect. Featuring more blacklight sensitive accents, like her veil flowers. And I don’t know why she only has one glove, I blame it on the 1980s… Or maybe she was just that drunk (you’d have to be for that wedding)…

Zombie Apocalypse Prepper repaint by Jennifer Weigel
Zombie Apocalypse Prepper repaint by Jennifer Weigel

So yeah, all those preppers ready for the zombie apocalypse – you know some of them are gonna get bitten. It’s in the script, what can I say? More blacklight eyes, cause why not?

Abigail vampire ballerina repaint by Jennifer Weigel
Abigail, vampire ballerina repaint by Jennifer Weigel

I admit I haven’t seen this film, but it sure looks fun. Mathilda, eat your heart out. Literally.

Sexy Sadie by Jennifer Weigel
Sexy Sadie by Jennifer Weigel

OK so this isn’t a repaint. Nor is it porcelain. What is it even doing here? Well, she’s cool and ready for a party and kinda reminded me of Abigail, so she sort of just tagged along. Sexy Sadie started as an Avon perfume bottle with a fragrance I didn’t care for (I think it was called Head Over Heels). Because honestly the bottle topper was all that mattered. And now she has her own disco dancing platform. What more could a vampish vixen want?

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.

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Original Creations

Beyond the Veil: Video Script by Jennifer Weigel

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I wrote this script for Beyond the Veil awhile back, exploring the bond between two twin sisters, Edith and Edna, who had lived their lives together. There was a terrible car crash and someone didn’t make it.  The other is trying to contact them beyond the veil…

Spirit Witch altered doll sculpture by Jennifer Weigel
Spirit Witch altered doll sculpture by Jennifer Weigel

Beyond the Veil Setting:

Two women reach out to one another individually in a séance setting.

One sits on one side of a dining table.  The other sits at the other side.  Each studies a candle just beyond her reach; there is darkness between the two candles.  The long table is barely hinted at in the interstice between the two but it is clearly present.

The camera is stationary showing both in profile staring through each other.

The women are both portrayed by the same actress who is also the voice of the narrator, who is unseen.  All three voices are identical so that it is impossible to tell which of the two women the narrator is supposed to represent.

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Both women are spliced into the same scene.  They are together but apart.  The two candles remain for the duration of filming so that the two halves of the film can either be overlapped (so that both women appear incorporeal) or cut and sandwiched in the middle between the candles (so both women appear physically present).  It is possible to set the scene thusly using both methods in different parts of the story, with both women seemingly flickering in and out of being, both individually and apart.

Script:

I. Black, audio only.

Narrator:

I was riding with my twin sister.

We were in a terrible car crash.

The car drove over the median and rolled.

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It spun off the road where it caught fire.

There was smoke everywhere.

My sister didn’t make it.

II. Fade in to the long table with two lit candles; flames flickering.

Two women are just sitting at either end.

They stare blankly through each other.

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Call and Response

                        Edith: Now I’m trying to contact her…

                        Edna: …beyond the veil.

Simultaneous:

                        Edith: Edna, do you hear me?

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                        Edna: Edith, do you hear me?

Together (In Unison):

                        If you hear me, knock three times.

Narrator:

Knock.

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Knock.

Knock.

Call and Response:

                        Edith: I miss you terribly.

                        Edna: I miss you so much.

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                        Edith: Do you remember…

                        Edna: … the car crash?

                        Edith: We rolled…

                        Edna: … over the median.

                        Edith: There was fire.

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                        Edna: There was smoke.

                        Edith: I could hear the sirens.

                        Edna: They were coming…

                        Edith: … to rescue us.

                        Edna: But they were so far away.

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                        Edith: So far…

                        Edna: … away….

Simultaneous:

                        Edith: Are you okay?

                        Edna: Are you hurt?

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Together (In Unison):

                        Knock three times for yes.  Knock once for no.

Narrator:

Knock

– pause –

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Knock

  – pause –

 Together (Syncopated):

                        What’s it like, on the other side?

– long pause –

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   Simultaneous:

                        Edith: I miss you, Edna.

                        Edna: I miss you, Edith.

  Together (Syncopated):

                        It’s so lonely here.

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 Call and Response:

                        Edith: There’s no one here.

                        Edna: I’m all alone.

                        Edith: Without you…

                        Edna: …the spark of life…

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                        Edith: …is gone…

                        Edna: … so far away.

                        – pause –

Together (Entirely Out of Sync):

                        It’s so dark.

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III. Fade out to black

Narrator:

I was riding with my twin sister.

We were in a terrible car crash.

The car drove over the median and rolled.

It spun off the road where it caught fire.

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There was smoke everywhere.

I didn’t make it.

Close up of sculpture
Close Up of sculpture

I had planned to actually turn this into the video for which it was written, but quickly discovered that my plans for recording required a space that was too drastically different from my new house (and new large gaming table) and that my vision for filming could not be well-fully executed or realized. So now it exists as a script only.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.

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