A Haunted House - PART 2

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10/12/2022

A HAUNTED HOUSE - Part 2

Season 4  - Episode #30

SUMMARY
 Mason Rogers was a scaredy-cat. He was so terrified of the old Karloff Estate on Ravenwood Road that his schoolmates nicknamed him “Scooby Doo.” Nothing could make him walk down that creepy street. Well, maybe one thing could. Thad Thompson was the hottest hunk in town and lived next door to the old, abandoned manor. Every morning, Thad was shirtless in his driveway, tinkering with his motorcycle. The sight of him working was just too yummy for Mason to pass up. Even though the old haunted house taunted him, he wondered, was this steamy stud worth mustering the courage to walk past the most haunted house in the town on Halloween Eve? Mason decided, yes it was. 

*  Steamy Stories Official Website: https://www.SteamyStoriesPodcast.com

ABOUT STEAMY STORIES
Steamy Stories podcast is a mm romance fiction podcast. Each episode is a sexy, short gay story told playfully. Steamy Stories is the podcast where bromance becomes bromosexual. A new story monthly!

EPISODE CREDITS
STEAMY STORIES is written by JC Calciano and narrated by Casey Alcoster.

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Transcript

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“Beginning of part 2.” Welcome to - PART TWO of THE HAUNTED HOUSE. I’m glad you’re back and ready for the rest of our STEAMY STORY. What’s that smell,  you ask? I smudged. I don’t know about you,  but I’m sitting here while Mason goes into that haunted house without a bit of protection.  Here, put on this garlic necklace. I know there are no vampires in this story,  but you can never be too careful. So, if you’re ready, Let’s pick up where we left off... A procession of cars had arrived at the Karloff house. The old estate was  eerily quiet for a Halloween night. Often kids would pass the house and taunt the  spirits that resided there, but it was dead silent tonight, perhaps because it was late. The house was dark and recessed from the streetlamps. The great lawn caught precious  little light on its path. An impenetrable stone wall protected the old manor with wrought-iron  gates at the entrance that freely swung in the breeze. The house was an odd green color,  the color that Mason imagined the ghosts within were made of, and the dead trees  that lined the path ominously dared anyone who entered to get closer to the estate itself. Mason was all too familiar with the Karloff house’s extensive and disturbing history. The home was the site of the Karloff killings in the late 1970s.  It was when an escaped serial killer named One-Eyed Carl,  on the run from authorities, attempted to find refuge in the large manor.  

The story has it: 2:06

he found the front door of the home left carelessly open, and soon the owner,  Brendan Karloff, an esteemed statesman, and his family would lie victim to the madman on the run. It’s a tragic and terrifying tale that kept Mason up at night as a child.  The chilling account of the horrors that had transpired in that house was as follows;  Carl would come out of the attic through the crawl space at night, eat the families’ food, and then  go out in the town looking for townspeople to murder. These strange and random killings  baffled the police since they had no leads to who it was or where the killer’s hideout was.  It wasn’t until noon on Halloween 1978 when Mr. Karloff went up to the attic to  put a jack-o’-lantern in the window and found One-Eyed Carl sleeping. He attempted to retreat  quietly from the attic to call the police, but the creaky floorboards of the old house gave him away.  One-Eyed Carl woke up and chased the entire family throughout the house with an ax. He threatened  to cut them up into pieces, but rather than chop them up like his other victims, he left the family  tied in the basement to die. Old One-Eyed Carl continued to live in the house for weeks without  anyone suspecting foul play until the utility man came to check the meter on the side of the house.  The screams from the mother were blood-curdling, and the smell of the rest of the decomposing  family was horrendous. The city worker finally got the police to the house, but it was too late  for Brendan and the rest of the Karloff's; they had all died by the time the authorities arrived. Although the police sent out a county-wide search for the escaped convict,  One-Eyed Carl was never found. Legend has it he hid in the attic while they searched for him,  and he still lives in that house to this day. People say that if you look in the window at dusk,  you’ll see his one eye peering out from behind the dark, tattered curtains at passersby. Now it was Halloween  Eve. The night that One-Eyed Carl killed the Karloff family. Mason needed to go into the house  to prove he was not a scaredy-cat and forever to rid himself of his terrible nickname, Scooby Doo. As half the town teens gathered in front of the old estate to cheer him on,  Mason became more and more terrified and sick to the stomach about the fate that awaited him. Bob placed a soberly concerned arm around his shoulders.  “Dude. If you go into that house, we’ll never call you chicken again. Damn, dude.  It takes some cajoles to walk up to that house, let alone go into it. Mad props to you, bro.” More than a dozen cars were parked in front of the haunted house; it was dark, and a dense  mist filled the chilly night air. The rusted gates faintly whistled from the wind gusting  through them, and the dead branches of the trees echoed distressing sounds like distant screams. The crowd chanted. “Do it. Do it. Do it” at first, then as Mason hesitated  to enter, they clucked like chickens, repeating, “Scooby, Scooby, Scooby.” He knew that this was a do-or-die moment for him. He tried to convince himself that the One-Eyed  Carl story was fifty years ago. Carl can’t still be alive;  if so, he’s surely not still living in the house. There had been no murders in  the town in Mason’s entire life, so obviously, a serial killer wasn’t living there anymore.  Mason felt better about the house being abandoned.  As for ghosts, even if the Karloff family haunted the house, who was to say they weren’t friendly? Mason convinced himself that it was nothing more than an old house with a terrible past.  He fortified himself with the idea that just walking in and spending a  minute inside the front door would be a big gesture to prove that he was not chicken.  That would surely rid him of the nickname he’s loathed since childhood. “FINE. I’m GOING!” Mason yelled to the blood-thirsty crowd. A hush fell over the group as Mason pushed open the rusty old gate at the street’s edge.  The old metal hinge screamed for grease as it swung open with a heavy heave.  As Mason hesitantly walked toward the gloomy house, he could feel his heart pounding in  his chest. With each painful step, his dread and fear grew more crippling as he repeated,  “It’s just a silly old abandoned house. There’s nothing to be frightened about.” As misfortune would have it, it was now midnight. The witching hour and  the exact moment that Mason’s hand reached for the doorknob. He again quietly pleaded,  “Please, God, make this door locked. Everyone will see that I tried but couldn’t enter the house.” Mason had barely touched the door. In fact, he may not have even touched it when it  slowly and menacingly screeched open, as if daring him to enter. A lump formed in his throat. A scream seemed appropriate, but no noise would come from  his mouth. It was no matter, since no sound could have adequately expressed the terror in his heart. A collective gasp from the group on the street could be heard. The encouraging chant, “Scooby  followed their gasp. Scooby. Scooby.” Are they taunting me or encouraging me to muster the courage to go in? Mason wondered. Either way, he knew he was at the point of no return.  All that was now required of him was to enter the estate, then turn around and leave. That simple,  quick act would make him a hero. Indeed, no one would challenge his courage then.  Who among the group would even dare come this far? No one, Mason brazenly surmised. A deep breath accompanied his proclamation and rationalization.  “It’s just an empty old house. There’s nothing to be afraid of!”  Mason closed his eyes and stepped into the doorway of the old estate.  Once inside, he slowly, carefully, took a peek. The darkness made it almost impossible to see,  but soon, his eyes adjusted to the big, empty room, now vacant, cold, and desolate.  He nervously chuckled to himself. Not so bad. It’s pretty cool in a macabre kind of way. He again attempted to convince himself that everything was fine and took a heavy series of  breaths to lower his heart rate. Immediately, a heavy, cold gust swept through the rafters  of the home. Instantly, the front door slammed closed and locked behind him. HOLY CRAP, WHAT THE!? Mason screamed loud enough to wake whoever may have been sleeping  or dead nearby. Instinctively, he grabbed the doorknob tight and furiously attempted to  exit. The steely old doorknob wouldn’t budge. The house was intent on keeping him hostage.  On cue, the wind howled like a sickly laugh throughout the room. Oh, hell no! I’m not staying in here for another second! The windows were covered in dark, heavy fabric. Mason was quick to attempt to open them and climb  out. Was it the years of paint that cemented them shut or the crusty old locks that refused  to relent? One thing was evident as he ripped at the window frame; he needed another way out. An eerie purple glow illuminated a long, foreboding hallway across from him. There’s got to be another exit here somewhere. Possibly a back door? Mason made haste down a long corridor that seemed to lead towards the back of the house. Out of all the possibilities given to him, this seemed the most reasonable in finding an escape  route. There were terrible, horrific shadows cast on the walls as he stumbled through the entry.  At first, Mason didn’t notice them. He dismissed them as innocent silhouettes  cast through the trees as the wind blew, but upon closer inspection,  he realized there was no light coming in from outside. The dark shapes were sinister and alive!  He quickened his pace, but then felt the floorboards shift below his feet. The wooden planks under his feet taunted him. From the far end of the corridor,  a room was clearly within sight. Mason prayed he had reached the back of the house and a door that  provided an exit. He darted towards the space, eager to escape the hallway that taunted him. Once inside the room at the estate’s rear, he noticed the space was filled with  antique medical apparatuses. Although not originally intended as objects designed  for torture, they looked threatening and painful.  It was then that it occurred to Mason that he was now in One-Eyed Carl’s hideout.  Perhaps the old psychopath was still alive? Could Mason have walked into a trap he had set  to capture trespassers? Mason quickly turned to head back down the hall he had just escaped from. Returning to the front of the house seemed the only way to go since there was no way he’d allow  himself to remain in One-Eyed Carl’s lair. As Mason turned back down the hall, a menacing shape  manifested in the distance. It was enormous, imposing, and carried an unwieldy weapon. Mason panicked and retreated. As he stepped backward, he stumbled over a footrest in  the center of the room. With his compromised balance and his weakened, sprained ankle too  tired to hold him up, his leg buckled underneath him. Mason hit the floor like a bag of sand. Mason knew standing would be impossible, let alone escape,  laying on the floor like a bag of sand. The dark, daunting shape quickly approached as it  held what was clearly an ax in his hands. It was impossible to see his captor’s face. But  he knew it was One-Eyed Carl coming for him as he wielded the same weapon of death that he killed  all the local townsfolk with thirty years prior. Mason emphatically crawled backward,  away from the shape. He looked desperately around the room. Perhaps these old tools  from yesteryear could provide him with a weapon so that he might protect himself?  Mason knew it was futile, but he needed to try. He instinctively called out, pleading with the  killer, “Please, don’t kill me. I shouldn’t have entered your house. I’m only a student.” The screams and cries seemed only to excite the ghoulish shape. It now approached faster and  became more menacing. “Please, let me live!” Mason wailed one more time in desperation. The hulking figure was now upon him. The ominous identity loomed over Mason, seemingly about to  overtake him as he lay helpless on the floor. The terrifying, massive creature spoke loudly,  “Dude. Don’t be afraid. Chill. It’s just me. I’m here to help you.” Mason’s eyes were now closed as  he was sprawled out on the floor in terror. What did I just hear? Is One-Eyed Carl sparing my life?  Cautiously, Mason looked up to see the demon showing him mercy. Again, the figure spoke. “I’m so sorry, man. I tried not to scare you.” Not only was Mason confused, but he knew he recognized the voice. Could it be that  the figure standing over him was not a ghoul? As Mason peered through the darkness, he was shocked  and relieved to see that it was Thad standing by him. Rather than brandishing an ax or weapon,  he held crutches for his ankle. He kneeled next to Mason. “I told you to stay off that ankle.  What are you doing in the house? Were those kids in front who dared you to come in?” Mason  was ecstatic to see Thad but was confused about why he was there and what he was talking about.  He knew he lived next door; perhaps he’d heard his classmates out front and came  into the house to rescue him?“Let’s get you off the floor  and out of this place. I’ll explain everything once you’re out of here.” Mason could feel his heartbeat lowering. He was now breathing easier, and his mind was growing  clearer. Thad reassuringly smiled as he lifted Mason in his muscular arms. “Let’s get you next  door and off that foot.” Thad effortlessly lifted Mason and carried him out the rear of the house. The two young men made their way through the bushes until the passageway became  more groomed and manicured. Behind the trees and bushes, far away from the view from the street,  was a path that connected the Karloff manor to Thad’s home next door. It wasn’t more than  one hundred feet until they entered the large, beautiful backyard of Thad’s parents’ home. Thad and Mason entered the back door as he called out to his father and brother.  “The coast is clear; I’ve got Mason out of the house now. You can reset the house and do what  you want with whoever enters tonight. We’ll be in my room. Try not to bother us, please.” Thad sweetly looked Mason in the eyes and whispered,  “Mind if I bring you to my room so you can rest?” Mason certainly was okay with that suggestion. Thad’s room was on the outskirts of the back area of the house.  Besides being unusually large, it looked like any young man’s room, except for motors,  lights, engine parts, and various mechanical devices strategically placed on shelves. Thad gently sat Mason on the edge of his bed.  He knew more explanation of the house next door was needed to satisfy Mason’s curiosity.  “I know my family is weird. We got it from my grandpops. My mom’s maiden name was Karloff.  He loved a good ghost story, and when my grandmother died, he moved in with us.  People started making up stories about the house being haunted since no one lived there anymore,  and it got kind of worn down. Pops found it hilarious that folks thought it was haunted,  so he leaned into it. Now it’s kind of an inside joke for my family. Plus,  it’s something we all love doing together. We tinker with making devices to scare anyone  who trespasses into the house. We made all those things with the front door slamming,  the shapes on the wall, and the floor moving. I love anything mechanical. My dad and I created  all those effects to scare off the kids who came here wanting to trash the place.” Mason was shocked. He then asked about One-Eyed Carl. Thad laughed innocently. “My brother made up all that stuff about One-Eyed Carl. He  wanted to see just how crazy of a story people would believe.  We all find it fun. I think the kids in the town like it, too. It makes Halloween even  more exciting. Who doesn’t love having a haunted house in their town? Right?” Mason had never thought about it quite like that before. It was true he grew up terrified of the  house and its stories. He realized the myths around old One-Eyed Carl and the Karloff estate  were probably where he developed his love for scary movies and why he’d walked down Ravenswood  Road well before he knew Thad lived next door. Now that he knew the haunted house was no longer  occupied by ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and serial killers, he was a bit saddened to know the truth.  Discovering a haunted house wasn’t haunted on Halloween was kind of like finding  there is no Santa Claus on Christmas. Thad slid closer to Mason on the bed.  “I’ve noticed you walking by my house every day to go to school. That’s the reason that  I’m always outside, tinkering with something. I’ll admit it’s my lame excuse to say hello.  I can’t tell you how happy I was when you fell over that rock the other day.”  Mason laughed. “That’s an odd, but sweet thing to say. But I know what you mean.” Thad sat closer to Mason and leaned to whisper in his ear, “Hey, that ankle looks pretty bad;  I’d suggest staying off your feet. What do you think about lying down for a bit? Mason leaned forward and gently kissed Thad. Their lips touched softly, tenderly.  It was sweet and honest. Mason didn’t expect this macho stud to be so thoughtful and compassionate.  Thad pulled off his black tee shirt, revealing his chiseled, sculpted body. Now it was Mason’s turn to show off how much effort he had put into the gym the  last few months. Although he wasn’t in his Hulk costume, he felt proud of how defined  his body was and was eager to share it with Thad. Mason flirtatiously teased.  “I think I need to elevate this foot.” Thad breathed heavily, clearly turned on.  “You just suffered a traumatic experience. Especially after all you’ve been through.  Best to stay in my bed and let me look after you.”  Mason agreed he should remain in the care of a strong, caring man tonight. The two men kissed, cuddled, and made love throughout the night. It wasn’t the Halloween  Mason expected, but it was undoubtedly the one he had fantasized about for the last several years. When morning time came around, Thad gently woke Mason with a nibble on his earlobe.  He leaned over and said, “Your friends are still in front of the house next door.  I think they’re waiting to see if you exit this morning. They’re probably worried sick. Maybe  now’s the time to prove to everyone that you no longer should be called Scooby Doo.  Should we prove to them you’re not chicken?” Mason smiled as he agreed and made haste to get dressed. Thad escorted Mason through the backyard and into the back entrance of the house. Now,  the once terrifying place looked oddly beautiful and majestic in the light. The two young men made  their way through the house and prepared for Mason’s triumphant exit through the front door. “Before seeing your friends, would you be available for dinner tonight? I know an amazing  little restaurant nearby. It will be a proper first date if you’re up for it,” Thad asked. Mason kissed Thad deeply and answered, “I’ll be by at eight. Thank you for  last night. It was the best Halloween I’ve ever had… for a lot of reasons.” Thad smirked humbly. “I enjoyed it, too. See you tonight.” Mason opened the front door of the estate and stood for a minute.  He took a long, leisurely breath  and began a confident stride across the porch, through the front lawn to his friends’ cars. Rebecca was the first to spot Mason exiting the house. She started yelling,  “It’s Mason! He spent the night. He did it! Here he comes.” Mason strutted with a hobble across the dry, dead grass and through the rusty,  squeaky gates towards the smattering of students who spent the night waiting for him. Bob excitedly called out, “I can’t believe you spent the night in there! Dude, you’re the boss.  What brass balls you’ve got!” Rebecca was equally impressed. “I have to admit; I never thought you’d  enter, let alone spend the night. You’re easily the bravest guy in town.” Mason casually stated,  “No biggie. A few creepy ghosts, goblins, and a serial killer… I managed.” Without another word,  he strolled away, strutting towards his house, leaving his friends bewildered and amazed. The word soon spread around town about how Mason braved the dreaded Karloff estate, despite all  the terrifying, otherworldly threats the haunted house had taunted him. Mason was undoubtedly the  bravest guy in town. He wasn’t frightened off by the terrifying demons and goblins within. Besides the good fortune of never hearing the nickname Scooby again,  Mason found an additional reason to love Halloween. Every year, he and his boyfriend,  Thad, watched the neighborhood kids attempt to do what Mason did that infamous  Halloween night–spend an entire night in the haunted Karloff estate.  The few who dared never seemed to get past the front room before running out terrified.  They know that deeper inside that old estate,  One-Eyed Carl and his army of ghastly ghouls and demons awaited them.< End Music > It sounds like the “things that go bump in the night” were Thad and Mason!  Well, good for them! They definitely “bumped pumpkins” that Halloween eve.  That's a phrase, Right? We hope we have shown you  a scary a good time tonight – if so, we’d be grateful if you share one more treat with us  this Halloween- and that would be showing your support for STEAMY STORIES by treating us to a  coffee by clicking on the “buy us a coffee” button in the description of this episode, or find it on  our website steamystoriespodcast.com – that’s it for now. If you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back to  the graveyard. I want to see if I can tickle someone else’s funny bone before midnight.  If nothing else, maybe I could find a skull, everyone enjoys a little head, right? Later, bro