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Michael Tighe

The Glowing Light in the back of the Basement

Updated: Dec 7, 2023

My story begins with a boy and his family that had just moved into town and now lived in a big old house. The house dated back to the late 1800's. It was a stately looking manor that had this creepy vibe about it. Steve and I go to school together and had a lot of the same classes. His personality was a total 180 from mine, but we became close friends and would always hang out after school. One day after school he brought me over to this new house that he and his parents moved into. Walking through the front door was like stepping back in time to a different age. There were high ceilings that created an eerie echo as you spoke. The furniture was dark and ornate with handcrafted wood and the rooms were dimly lit. They seemed to cast odd shadows when viewed from certain angles. Big grated metal panels were in each room to let the hot air come up from the furnace. When you looked down through the grates, you could see the basement and sometimes it felt like you were peering in hell itself! And noises.... man did that house have noises. Whether it was the creaks in the floor, rumblings from the furnace, or these barely perceptible mumbling noises, it was all very unnerving.

We spent most of our time upstairs in Steve's bedroom going through baseball and basketball cards as well as playing with his miniature army guys. There were no electronics back then and TV's were a luxury. The upstairs was like going on an adventure. There were hidden crawl spaces, and a "back hall" that was always cold. There were stained glass windows, a high ceiling and a winding staircase too. This part of the house was at the very back and had the biggest grated panel of all. Unlike the other heat registers in the house where you could see parts of the basement, when you looked in this one, all you saw was blackness.


And so it began... The next day I asked Steve about the basement. He looked at me wide eyed with an odd expression. He said that he had only been in the basement once and that he'd never go down there again. I asked him why and he said, "I heard awful noises at the back of the basement and if that wasn't scary enough, there was an eerie iridescent blue glow!" So intrigued, I begged him to go down there with me, but he was very resistant. Regardless, I decided I had to go down there anyways. There was something about the darkness I saw through that grate that seemed to compel me to look further. The next day I came over to the house prepared with flashlight and mask. I unlocked the old wooden door with the creepiest skeleton key I had ever seen. The existing lighting was very dim so I turned on my flashlight and pointed it forward. It led to a narrow set of stairs that seemed to go on forever. As I made my way down the air began to smell very musty and moldy. Even with my mask on, it came through. At the bottom of the stairs was a dirt floor and multiple wooden poles that were holding up the house. Being down there felt like I was in another world... the underworld. There were little crawl spaces and rooms that were just plain old creepy. The only noise I heard was from an old refrigerator in one of the corners.

As I began to get my bearings, I could see what almost appeared to be a long hallway leading to a pitch black part of the basement. This MUST have been the very back that I could see from above through that steel grate. Did I really want to do this? I had such an uneasy ominous feeling, but I had come this far, so I had to keep moving forward. Halfway down the hallway the dim lights went out, the refrigerator stopped running and my flashlight died. I was in complete darkness. I yelled for Steve but I got no response. I was alone in the blackness of the back of the basement. I would have given anything to be back upstairs on the second floor.


Just as I was about to turn around and try to walk or crawl back to the stairs, I saw a dim neon blue light ahead. I'm not sure why, but it just seemed to draw me in. I went forward and reached an area that was full of Halloween decorations. I knew they were just decorations, but being down there alone, my mind started to play tricks on me. The blue light was just bright enough to see old props, costumes and masks. I tried to look straight ahead but it was so hard to keep my gaze off all that was around me. The props looked incredibly realistic. I finally made it to the very back of the basement and in the corner was a big circle on the floor that almost looked like a hologram. I peered into it and saw all types of ghouls, demons, werewolves, vampires and the prince of darkness himself. It was eerily mesmerizing. I felt like I could hear those mumbling noises in my head. I could them getting louder and loud and louder. I heard Steve call out for me and I immediately snapped out of the trance. I'd had enough. I had to get out of there and it had to be fast. I turned around and bolted down the hallway banging into walls to get out of that darkness. Suddenly, I saw that blue light again, but all I could see clearly was an old tattered vampire costume hanging on the wall. The light was just bright enough to get me back to the cellar stairs and to the main floor. Steve was very inquisitive as to what I found down there. I knew he wouldn't believe me so I just gathered my things and left.

Whew, was I glad that was over..... until that night. Still pretty shaken up, I hopped in bed after my usual routine of doing homework and watching some TV. It took me longer than usual to fall asleep which was odd, but I told myself I was still rattled from my experience at Steve's house. I just knew being home safely in my own bed was comforting....until I fell asleep. I seldom had dreams that I remembered, and if I did they were usually about really random things that made no sense. That night was different. The dream I had that night was very lucid and I remembered every detail. I had somehow become a vampire and ravaged the town I lived in. People knew me as the "ripper". It seemed like the dream went on forever when in reality I had no idea how long it lasted. As I ripped my way through the town I came to a large hill and could see an old regal looking house off in the distance. A blue light emanated from behind the windows and doors. It snapped me out of my bloodlust and just like that I woke up. I was terrified and didn't go back to sleep. I laid away for the rest of the night petrified of what I had just experienced in my dream and oddly though I had this unusual metallic taste in my mouth. The following day after school, I went back over to Steve's house. He pressed me about what happened yesterday in the basement, but I was on a mission to figure out what was down there. As much as I didn't want to, I had to go back into that cellar. I made my way down and the same thing happened. The old lights and refrigerator went out as well as my flashlight. I again made my way down the long hallway past those creepy costumes. Feeling the overwhelming sense of De Ja Vu, I continued on. The same dull neon blue light was in the corner. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I could see for miles into that light. What was that place? Some type of portal? I saw a claw creep out from the side of the portal reaching out to me, but same as last time Steve's voice called out to me and snapped me out of my trance. Completely panicked, I turned around and headed down the long corridor. This time I saw that dim blue light shining on a really creepy werewolf costume. I immediately noticed the bloody teeth and fingernails. When I got back to the second floor I slammed the door closed behind me and Steve had a panicked look on his face. I told him what I had seen and what had happened in my dream. With a worried look on his face he said, "That has to be just a co-incidence right? I mean I have dreams related to things I was thinking of right before I fell asleep! And you ran out of here in a hurry last night so it makes sense you'd be scared and have a dream like that!". While I couldn't really argue with his logic, I was frustrated that he seemed to shrug it off without much thought. I took off again and was very sure that would be the last time in that house. I headed home to the security of my own house..... or so I thought....



This night I was really hesitant about falling asleep. I had totally psyched myself out from the night before. It took even longer to fall asleep. As I slowly drifted off, I remember feeling pulled into a creeping darkness where all I could hear was this guttural snarling. The next thing I remember, I was in the woods. This time I was a werewolf swiftly moving through the brush looking for unsuspecting campers. As I hopped and sprinted towards a different section of the woods, I saw a campfire emitting this eerie blue light. I suddenly woke. My heart was beating so fast I could barely catch my breath! I got out of bed to get myself a glass of water. As I made my way downstairs, everything was silent. the only sound I could hear was the low hum of the refrigerator. The only source of light was the small light that kicked on when I went to put water in my glass out of the fridge. I started to make my way back upstairs, but I soon I noticed foot prints of dirt leading back to my room. I looked down and my feet were covered in dirt. What was going on? This had become all too real for me. Not knowing what else to do, I dug around in my room for an object I hadn't worn for years. That was the first time I put on my cross on in a long time. I know I said I would never step foot in that house again, but I had to press Steve for more information. So again after an unfocused school day, I made my way over to Steve's house. As I arrived, Steve was already outside on the large wraparound porch and it seemed as if he was expecting me. I told him of the experience I had last night, but this time he didn't brush it off like I thought he would. I said, "Steve I need to know what is happening to me and the answer is in that basement.". This time he said he would make the journey down there with me, which was very odd. As I donned my mask, with flashlight in hand we went into the Abyss. I told Steve I would lead, but he insisted he go first. Like clockwork, the already dimmed lights as well as my flashlight went out. Curiously, the only thing I could hear was the hum of the refrigerator in the distance. Steve and I made our way to the hologram or whatever it was in the very back of the basement. He peered in and the mumbling started to get louder almost as if they recognized him? What the hell was happening?!


The pull to that area was more intense now than ever. It felt like my body was a magnet being sucked towards another magnet. Steve stood up and said, "we should get out of here...". He took me a different way this time. I could hear the hum of the refrigerator getting louder and louder. We finally reached it. Steve looked me dead in the eyes and said, "you've done well my friend" as he opened the refrigerator. The smell hit me first and as I turned my head to look, I was appalled at what I saw. Bags of blood and what looked like chewed human limbs. I looked at him and screamed "Who are you"! "What have you done"? The room began to get very hot and then a dark red glow enveloped the room. I leapt up the stairs and ran for the door. It was locked!!! I could hear Steve slowly making his way up the stairs. He seemed possessed; his body contorting as he walked up the stairs towards the door. He looked at me with "fire" in his eyes and again said, "you've done well my friend, but now you can serve me no longer". As I was frantically banging on the door it finally opened! I ran as fast as I could, cross dangling around my neck. I bolted out of that house faster than a bat out of hell. I don't think I stopped sprinting for a solid two miles. I didn't look back. I couldn't. The only thing I noticed was that it was now night time after what only felt like an hour. I finally made it to my house. That night I slept as well as I had in many months. Steve must have transferred to another school because I never saw him again after that. It took weeks before I worked up the courage to even think about walking near that house again.



You know that old saying curiosity killed the cat? Well, one Fall day after school, my curiosity got the better of me. I made my way down vacant streets and eventually came up to the hill where Steve used to live. To my utter shock, the house wasn't there! I looked for public records on that property and found nothing. Like it never existed. Anyone I asked about it and Steve, looked at me funny and then slowly backed away from me. Was I losing my mind? So many questions, so few answers. What about those terrifying dreams? Was any of it real? Dumbfounded, I went home for the day and crawled into bed. I felt so glum and couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. I fell asleep way earlier than I normally do. You know how some dreams continue on night after night? Not like recurring dreams, but ones that seem like they've been paused only to be thrown back into it the next night? Well, I was dropped right back into the basement of that house. The red glow, the severed limbs, the costumes... it all started to replay in my head. I ran down a random hallway and as the red faded away, the blue light came back. The portal. I glared at it from far away. Some contorted figure emerged, disfigured and discombobulated now limping towards me. It was tall and lanky with long arms and legs. As it inched closer to me I heard a distorted voice call out and say, "Hello my friend... we've been waiting..."


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