Walttriznastories's Blog

UNHOLY GROUND, A HORROR SHORT STORY, CHAPTER V

July 28, 2025 at 4:12 pm Leave a comment

                                                  UNHOLY GROUND

John Taylor’s son, Simon, age eight, heard his father tell his mother of the mysterious disappearance of the Young family.  “They are simply gone.  They left behind everything.  All their tools, clothes – everything is still in the barn.”

Simon had spent some time in the Young’s barn playing with Jake.  He remembered a ball that Jake had.  I wonder if that ball is still there, Simon thought.  His excitement over finding the ball overshadowed any bad feelings he had for the disappearance of his friend.  He decided that that night he would sneak out of his room and visit the barn.

It was two in the morning when Simon climbed through his window and headed for the Young homestead.  The full moon made finding his way easy.  As he came within sight of the barn Simon realized that his father had been mistaken.  There, before the barn, stood Zeke Young.  Zeke studied his property, and then suddenly focused on the spot where Simon stood.  Simon noticed that Zeke appeared to glow, brighter than the moonlit countryside.  Then Zeke jumped into the air and began to fly directly to Simon.  The boy screamed and ran for all he was worth, stumbling over bramble and bushes, daring not to look back.  After running a good distance, he finally found the courage to look in the direction of the barn.  There, hovering above the building was the glowing specter.  Simon never set foot on that property again.

                           Chris Walters

Zeke Young’s barn stood as a sentinel in the dense forest for two hundred years, pristine, untouched by time or the elements.  Over the years there had been disappearances of those who thought the haunted barn a legend and chose to investigate.  It had been one hundred years since the demons occupying the unholy ground claimed their last victim.  The stories of the property became myths, part of the legend of the area, one that none of the locals dared to test. 

Development had yet to march through these rolling hills of Pennsylvania, leaving the countryside spotted with farms and stands of virgin forest.  The surrounding communities shared the legend of the barn from generation to generation.  There was talk of mysterious light and phantoms flying through the sky.  Each generation produced boys seeking to test the legend and dare each other to visit the barn.  Those that made the pilgrimage experienced a strange presence as they approached the structure.  And no matter how brave and daring they felt before they reached the site, no one would walk up to the barn, and they never ventured there after dark.  The barn was left alone for years, that is, until Chris Walters moved into a neighboring farm community with his family.

Entry filed under: free science fiction and horror stories, free stories, PUBLISHED WORKS, READER'S OPPORTUNITIES, READERS AND WRITERS FORUM, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories. Tags: books, fiction, horror, legends, Native American legend, short story, Walt Trizna, writing.