During the Halloween season, one popular activity is to visit a haunted house. As a child, some of my earliest and most frightening memories happened in a haunted house at Halloween.

So, let me take you inside a real haunted house. This short story also gives you vocabulary and idioms for describing something scary.

We begin as many scary stories have: It is a dark and stormy night.

You walk alone down a desolate street. The rain has been falling steadily all night and is only getting worse. You are soaked to the bone and need to get out of the rain.

Then you see a house. "Thank heavens!" you say out loud. But at second glance, your relief is chilled by the look of the place.

It's dark. Only a lone street lamp casts a dim, yellow light on the sad features of the house. It looks as if no one has lived here for many years. The windows are broken. An old, ripped curtain blows from a third-story window.

Now, you remember where you are.This house is from your childhood. Neighborhood kids talked of ghosts, from a family long dead, walking through the house at night.

The front yard is tangled with overgrown weeds and vines. A pathway lined with broken stones leads to an old house.

You follow it.

As you walk down the sidewalk, tree branches seem to lean into your path. They grab at your hair and clothes. Spider webs stretched across the branches get caught in your eyes and mouth. As you wipe them away, you hear something behind you.

What is it?! You turn around. Nothing. It was probably just a cat, you tell yourself. Although, you don't believe it.

Just as you step onto the sagging front porch, the door creaks open. Suddenly, two bony hands push you inside. The door slams shut!

From the shadows, things start to come toward you! You can't see anything, but you can hear them coming closer. You run, but running only takes you farther into the nightmare. Your heart beats wildly. Hoping to hide, you open a door, but a skeleton falls into your face. Screaming, you fight with the bones as they entangle your arms and legs! Finally, you break free and run for your life down a hallway.

For a moment, you think you're safe. Then a deathly white hand reaches out from under a table, grabbing at your ankles! You run faster, this time up a flight of stairs. But a half-human, half-bat creature hangs from the ceiling. It flies toward your neck with blood dripping from its razor-sharp teeth.

As you try to escape, you trip down some stairs and fall into a cold, dark basement. From a small window you look outside and see a crazed man holding an axe. He's looking right at you, laughing.

Fear takes over your whole body, as you run out of the house only to find ...

... a bowl of candy. If you're lucky, maybe a plate of cupcakes, too. You dig your hands into the candy bowl and fill your pockets with sweets. You deserve it. You made it out alive!

That is exactly how I remember the first haunted house my parents took me to. To this day, the thought of it still sends shivers down my spine. And I still love being scared out of my wits!

I'm Anna Matteo

Do you remember a time when you were scared out of your wits? Practice using the words and expressions you heard in this story by describing it in the Comments Section.

Anna Matteo wrote and produced this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

haunt – v. to visit or inhabit as a ghost

desolate – adj. lacking the people, plants, animals, etc., that make people feel welcome in a place

soaked to the bone – idiomatic expression : to be extremely or completely wet, especially through the clothing

glance – n. a quick look

chill – v. to become cold

weed – n. a plant that tends to grow where not wanted and to prevent the growth of more desirable plants usually by taking up space

vine – n. a plant whose stem requires support and which climbs by tendrils or twining or creeps along the ground

dim – adj. not bright or clear

creak – v. to make a long, high sound : to make a sound like the sound made by an old door when it opens or closes

shadow – n. a dark shape that appears on a surface when someone or something moves between the surface and a source of light

nightmare – n. a frightening dream that usually awakens the sleeper : something (such as an experience, situation, or object) having the monstrous character of a nightmare or producing a feeling of anxiety or terror

skeleton – n. the structure of bones that supports the body of a person or animal

scream – n. a sudden sharp loud cry : v. to voice a sudden sharp loud cry

entangle – v. to wrap or twist together

run for your life – idiomatic expression : to run very fast because you are in danger

razor-sharp – adj. very sharp

sends shivers down my spine – idiomatic expression : to cause an intense feeling of fear, nervousness, exhilaration, or excitement in someone

scared out of my wits – idiomatic expression : suggests one is frightened enough to lose one's mind