Can you write a HAUNTED WEEKEND story, just 4 the fun of it, and include as many of these titles as possible?

Question

(Do you know the common factor of all these tiles?)

1. The Dead Zone

2. The Woman in the Room

3. All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

4. They're Creeping Up On You

5. Desperation

6. Autopsy Room Four

7. Graveyard Shift

8. Storm of the Century

9. The Dark Half

10. Sometimes They Come Back

11. Secret Window

12. Sorry, Right Number

Answer 1

Many people hope that their secrets will be forgotten. Lost forever in the endless sands of time, with so many other mysteries of the universe. Sadly, I have news for those who truly believe this is true. Despite all that you do to hide your secrets, sometimes they come back (10)

You see, in our hometown, there was a house that people called The Madd House. The reason for the name is up for debate, but most of the older folks would say that it was named after the builder of the home, Bartholemew Madd. Sadly, the night we planned to break into The Madd House, we found out another reason for the name.

It was just a little after midnight when we crept up to the house. I remember Joey saying how any time after midnight was the dark half (9) of the night, since it’s half of the night that farthest from the sun (too far away from sunrise to have light and too early for the sunset to have an effect).

There were four of us that night, though we had originally only planned for three. Joey was our leader and the bravest one. I learned from him that the different between bravery and psychosis is paper thin. Behind him was Isaac. Strong as an ox, but without enough smarts to even fill the head of a pin, Isaac was your basic muscle head. I was the last scheduled person to go on this trip. Being new to town and a definite loner by nature, I would have done anything that these two asked in hopes of some friendship despite the fact that I knew better.

Coming behind us, cursing us as we went was Joey’s little sister Katie. Though she was actually only a year younger that Joey and Isaac, and the same age as me, we all still called her Joey’s baby sister. She was rather attractive, though, since she was my friends sister, I too great efforts to make sure I did not notice this. The only reason that she was here was because she saw Joey sneak out and followed him.

Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah, the house. We got to the front of the house and I think all of us had shivers run down our spines as we looked at it. Built in the ancient gothic style of sharp edges and dark towers, I could not help but imagine some gigantic beast looming before us.

Strangely enough, it was Katie who broke the silence first, “The door’s probably locked Jojo.” Her voice, coming from very close to me, split the quiet night air so suddenly that it caused my heart to race.

“Don’t call me that,” Joey said, turning to her. “All that we have to do is find the secret window (11).”

“Secret window?” Katie said, obviously skeptical.

“Randall told me about it last week. It’s always unlocked and that’s how his crew broke in last weekend.” Isaac told the girl.

“Oh and did Mr. Flagg happen to mention where this secret window happened to be.” Katie asked.

At this, Joey went to a basement window and tried it. After pulling for a second, we kicked it in desperation (5). The shattering of the glass sounded like a cannon shot as he turned to his sister. “There. Our way in.”

We all crawled through the broken basement window without serious incident, though Isaac did cut his shirt on the broken glass. Since the window was a few feet from the floor, we knew that we would have to us the front door to get out of the house.

Pulling out a flashlight, Joey put it to his face in that eerie way that tellers of ghost stories do. A psychotic grin was on his face. “The ghosts are here, Katie. They’re creeping up on you.(4)”

“Jerk. This was a bad idea. Let’s just get out of here.” She said, grabbing the flashlight and looking around the room. After a moment, the beam focused on a doorway. “That’s probably the way. Come on.”

We all followed her to the doorway, but she froze the moment that she reached it. Inside the doorway there was a blank white room. Inside the room was a noose. Hanging from the noose was a pale woman dressed entirely in white.

Katie and Isaac both screamed, while Joey and I just looked on in shock as the woman in the room (2) spoke. Though her voice was calm and quiet, it was simultaneously louder than the two screaming people. “All that you love…All that you love will be carried away(3)…Carried away to the lowest level…The room below…Where it all happened…Not the gentle experiment of Autopsy room 1, 2, or even this room three… No… He did his worst in Autopsy room 4 (6)"

To be Continued

Answer 2

I probably should have know better than to book a room, sight unseen, at a hotel called (1) "The Dead Zone" but all the other hotels in the area (all two of them) were booked so, in (5) desperation, I took the only thing available.  I didn't think the quarters I stayed at would matter much, as most of the weekend would be spent driving around the countryside enjoying the spectacular foliage of New England in the fall.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was shocked to see it appeared to be a converted funeral home.  I found this a bit creepy, but it was too late to turn back now.  

The desk clerk was also caused me so discomfort as his face was very pale on one side but very dark on the other.  On  (9)  the dark half he appeared to be smiling, but the pale half bore a constant frown.  He handed me a key he removed from a hook labeled (6) Autopsy Room Four and led me to a room on the second floor at the end of the hall.  As I entered, I noticed that it did indeed to appear to have once been an autopsy room, although some effort had been made to disquise it.  I started to realize I probably wasn't going to sleep too well here, but at least it was only for a couple of nights.  I had gotten use to sleeping only a few hours a day when I worked the (7) graveyard shift at a local factory when I worked two jobs.

I left my bags in the room, and went for a nice drive in the country.  By the time I came back, I had forgotten all about the creepiness of the hotel.  However, when I lay down to sleep, the eeriness of the place kept sleep at bay.  On top of that, what looked like the (8) storm of the century broke shortly after I retired to bed.  I had to laugh as I thought how appropriate it was that the thunder and lightening were enough to "wake the dead" if there were any sleeping here.  In fact, I started to think that is exactly what happened when I suddenly heard (2) the woman in the room next door start moaning.  Now I KNEW I was never going to get to sleep.  

Her persistent moaning finally compelled me to go check on her.  I knocked quietly on her door actually hoping she would not answer.  Just as I turned to go back to my room, secretly relieved that she had not responded to my knock, I heard the door creak open behind me.  Turning, I saw an old woman peering through the crack in the door.  

"Are you alright ma'am?" I asked.  "I heard you moaning and was concerned."  She replied "I'm OK now, they're gone now."  I had no idea what she was talking about but as I got ready to inquiry about who they were she glanced over my shoulder while saying "But (10) sometimes they come back."  I immediately looked behind me half expecting to see some ghoulish fiend, but there was nothing but shadows in the empty hallway.  I was quite spooked already when she added "Sometimes they come in through the (11) secret window hoping to take you by surprise.  If you are not careful, the next thing you know (4) they're creeping up on you, and it is too late to save yourself.  The next thing you know you are in The Dead Zone, and escape is impossible."  

Totally creeped out by her voice and her words, I backed away slowly from her room, returned to my room, and quickly bolted the door.  The rest of the night was pretty much spent lying on my back with my eyes wide open, periodically looking under the bed, and praying for the hours to pass quickly.  Of course they did not pass quickly, but eventually the sun cast dim light into my room.  Checking again to make sure nothing was creeping up on me, I packed my bags and headed for the checkout desk, cutting my trip a day short.  

The two-faced man at the front desk seemed to have not moved since I had seen him when I returned the night before.  I informed him I wanted to check out and prepared to pay my bill but he took no steps to assist me.  He just stood there smiling and frowning at me.  As I began to fume, I suddenly felt something slither around my legs, and wrap itself around me.  As I began to be dragged down the hall the two-faced man just stood there smiling and frowning, making no comment at all.  I was dragged up the stairs and down the hall to the room I had just left.  As the door opened and I began to be dragged inside the old woman I had seen the night before appeared at her door and said "I told you sometimes they come back." and began to moan again.  

It was then that I woke up sweating profusely, sitting up straight in bed, a scream beginning to escape my lips.  Realizing I was not really about to become a permanent resident of "The Dead Zone" I swore I would never eat another anchovy pizza before going to bed again.  

These are Stephen King titles.  You should try this with titles from my favorite "horror" author, Dean Koontz.