General Store / The Man with the Knives

Ever since I was young, I have feared what I saw that day. Sick, twisted, demented. Nothing can explain the horrors that I have witnessed. I live with the curse of it, implanted into my memories.

I suppose I should start somewhere, so let’s take it back to the year 1989. The month was October, and the Halloween festivities were in full swing. Pumpkins, posters, decorations; you name it, it was there. I was a senior in high school, and I was excited for this Halloween because of a massive party that my dear friend Lucas was holding whilst his parents were away.

“Remember, you bring the drinks, okay?” said Lucas.

“Yeah, yeah, get off my case already.” I respond.

“I just want to make sure you don’t forget; you are very prone to that.” Lucas said, annoyed.

I quickly left. If I wanted to get the drinks on time, I needed to hurry. I walked at a brisk pace nonstop until I reached the general store in the center of town. Of course, to get there was easy. Lucas lived up on a hill, so the trek down was light. Carrying the heavy case of drinks up the hill would be a different story.

When I had finally reached the store, to my dismay, it was closed. Why would it be closed on Halloween? It was only six in the afternoon, so I was at a loss for words. At least I wouldn’t have to lug the drinks up the hill.

House / The Man with the Knives

When I finally reached the house, the spectacle before me was shocking. It was the most festive house that I had ever seen in my life. Lights, skeletons, figures, cobwebs; a shocking amount of decorations. Lucas was waiting for me at the door, expecting a case of drinks. Instead, it was me and my cheap vampire costume.

“So, uhm, where are the drinks?” Lucas questioned.

“No dice. The store was closed.” I responded, sheepishly.

“And you couldn’t go to any other store?” “Lucas questioned.

“Nope.” I responded.

I quickly make my way past Lucas into the house. I wanted to avoid talking to him then. Now all I want to do is apologize to him. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to. As I walk into the house, I see hundreds of part-goers having the time of their lives.

As the party raged on, I saw some familiar faces and conversed with nearly everyone before finally sitting on the couch. It was tiring, especially because Lucas would ask me to clean up his house before his parents came back home. After sinking deeper into the couch, I got up and went outside to get some air when I saw it.

Someone else had a costume on, but it was realistic. A man in a workshop apron, messy masquerade mask, and face coverings. He was holding multiple knives, but I had thought nothing of it. I assumed it was just another person coming to party the night away. I nod to him, and he nods back.

After some time, I heard a scream, then another, then multiple. At first, I had thought that it was simply someone scaring people, but as the screams continued I could not help but want to check the house once more.

And so I slowly approached the house.

Screams / The Man with the Knives

As I approach the house, the ceaseless screams begin to haunt me. It would make sense if it was just someone going around scaring people, but continuous and relentless screams are cause for concern. I reach the front door and hesitate. The screaming had died down, and only one scream could be heard. Then zero. I cautiously open the door to a scene of horror before me. The first thing I noticed blood was on the ground. Not only the ground, but the walls, and even some on the ceiling as well. I instantly jump back, shocked and sickened, before looking closer. The amount of blood had to have been everyone in the house.

The sight was enough to make me sick. I rush outside and try to hold back from vomiting. Everyone I knew, all my friends, was gone. I decided to continue deeper into the house for answers and found bloody footprints leading to the backyard. I go up the stairs and find nobody, seemingly untouched. Strange, but I figured that nobody would have any reason to be upstairs.

I continue downstairs and find even more blood, this time on the door handles. I open the backdoor and hear voices. I hastily crouch down so as to not be seen by the murderer, and I listen closely.

“What do we do with the blood?” One voice says.

“We have to clean it before they see!” Another responds.

“How do we get rid of the body?” Another voice asks.

“Hide it in the forest, I don’t know.” The second voice says.

I had presumed that someone had been murdered, but this confirmed my suspicions. I return inside and slip and fall, loudly, on the blood. The voices outside immediately stop, and one voice says to check what the noise was. I had to hide, but where? I quickly look around, and only find one decent spot inside of a cupboard.

The Man with the Knives / The Man with the Knives

I rush inside and just close the door when the man with the knives enters the house, his boots echoing with each step. I hold my breath in hopes of not being caught. The man with the knives begins to search the living room and cannot find me hidden. He returns outside and says that he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

I had managed to evade him this time, but I don’t know if I could again. Just then, I got a call from one of my friends, casually asking me where I was.

“Hey, where are you? We haven’t seen you since the last house!”

“What do you mean? Someone was killed! There’s blood everywhere!”

“What…? Oh no, nobody was killed, we just spilled a lot of fake blood on accident.”

“What about people talking about a body?”
“The reason the fake blood was spilled was because we saw a rat.”

“So, nobody is dead?”

“No, nobody is dead.”

I felt really dumb after that entire ordeal. I walked outside to see the man with the knives, and lo and behold it was Lucas. He walked into the party saying that he wasn’t going to dress in costume, then sneaked out and wanted to scare people in his costume, but when he arrived, people began to scream, not at him, but at the rat running around the house.

After this, the tale of “The Man with the Knives” was told to everyone I knew. Now, I live with the curse. The curse of my embarrassing story that makes me cringe whenever I even hear the title. How gullible of me.