House of Horrors
I notice it immediately. There is something quite different about this House of Horrors. All the usual motifs and banal imagery are gone from the façade; it is modest and unembellished. Entering, I expect to see the usual ghouls and goblins, but instead, darkness greets me; silhouettes of flames flicker across the walls and the hiss of steam escaping from a valve greets my ears. Rounding a bend, I come face to face with a giant projector screen with images of the Holocaust; a defiant Hitler and Stalin shaking hands, both grinning in a most evil way; death camps–unbelievably emaciated human forms, their voices begging for mercy or death; mounds of the dead uncovered by the Allies, removed from pits and laid out in rows for identification–all flashing across the screen, accompanied by chilling screams and barking German soldiers. I run from the room in sheer despair, knowing that the truth of history is far more repulsive than anything man can dream up.
Good one, Paul! True, too.
Comment by mike whitney — October 22, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
Nicely done!
Comment by Bob Eccles — October 22, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
Whewww! Dead on, dude. What a scary truth.
Comment by KAWFEEE — October 23, 2009 @ 12:48 am
Frighteningly true, great and powerful piece.
Comment by Leehughes — October 23, 2009 @ 9:21 am
Wow! What Lee said…that was fantastic and heart-breaking.
Comment by suzie bradshaw — October 24, 2009 @ 10:58 am
“Horror Movie – it’s the six-thirty news!” Nice one Paul, so true.
Comment by Ian Rochford — October 24, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
That is true
Comment by Oonah V Joslin — October 25, 2009 @ 7:24 am
The truth is always scarier than anything the imagination can conjure. Well done, Paul.
Comment by Laurita — October 28, 2009 @ 8:30 am
Very good, if a little preachy.
Comment by JonnyKelly — November 1, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
From alisa rynay haller:
Feel free to add for me: Paul, this piece is chilling to the bone, as you said, the truth is more horrific than history. Everybody should read this story, and everyone should have this “haunted house” on their street.
Comment by Paul Phillips — November 2, 2009 @ 3:35 pm