Jessie got out of her red Honda Civic and closed
the door. Fumbling in her large bag for her house keys, she barely
noticed the yellow post-it on her door. Holding her bag in her teeth as
she unlocked the front door, she read the note.
Hi, I found a black Labrador with a red collar down by the river, is this your dog? Call Justin on 555-5381.
"Oh shit," she said, as she finally got her front door open.
Dropping her bag on the floor, she pulled out her mobile phone and dialed her boyfriends number.
"Hi, it's Robert, leave a message at the beep,".
Silently cursing him Jessie left a message.
"Robert the dog got out again, a man has her, he left us a note. Ring when you get this."
With a sigh, Jessie picked up her bag and went into the living room. Any
chance Shannon got to make an escape and run to the river, she took it.
Looking again at the post-it, she dialed the number. A man answered on
the third ring.
"Hi, my name is Jessie I'm looking to speak to Justin please"
"Speaking,"
"You left a note on my door about my dog?", Jessie asked.
"Oh right, her ID tag had your address. I'm actually busy at the minute but I can drop her over in a half hour."
"That would be great. If it's any inconvenience I can collect her---"
"No no, that's fine see you then." With that Justin hung up the phone.
Jessie made her way into the kitchen to fix herself a coffee and saw a note on the fridge.
Hi Babe, working late tonight, won't be home until after midnight xxxxx.
"Great, thanks a lot Rob," Jessie spoke to herself as she rooted in her
wine cupboard for a cheap bottle of wine, for the man who rescued her
dog.
She was getting too used to the long evenings spent on her own in their
newly bought home. She knew that Robert needed the extra hours to pay
his half of the mortgage, but it grated on her all the same.
Finding a bottle of red she won at work in the back of the cupboard,
Jessie made a quick cup of coffee, grabbed a book and retired to the
porch to wait for her dog.
-------------------------------------------------
About 20 minutes later, a black Volvo pulled up into her drive. A man in
a woolen cap and jumper climbed out and opened his trunk. Shannon
jumped out and bounded over to where Jessie was standing, waiting to
greet her good Samaritan.
"Hi Justin, I'm Jessie, thank you so much for taking care of her. We
just moved in and she seems to be able to find different ways to get out
of the yard everyday."
"That's no problem. I found her down the end of the river, she was
soaking wet and shivering so I brought her home. I have dog too, so she
had company." Justin looked resolutely at the dog as he spoke to Jessie.
Jessie thrust the bottle of wine towards Justin, "Please take this, I really do appreciate your help. Do you live around here?"
Justin took the bottle and tucked it under his arm. He glanced quickly
at Jessie as they made the exchange but averted his eyes again. Jessie
guessed he must be in his early forties but he hadn't shaved and his
clothes were anything but modern, so it was hard to tell.
" I live out the road not too far away. Do you live on your own?"
Jessie was taken aback by the bluntness of the question but smiled at
Justin to hide her discomfort. "No, my boyfriend and I live here
together. He works in the city."
"Ok thanks." Justin turned abruptly on his heel and stalked towards his car.
What a strange man, Jessie thought. His appearance definitely didn't
show any evidence of a woman's touch, so maybe his people skills are
rusty because he's lonely.
Shannon started jumping up excitedly, interrupting Jessie's' ponderings.
Putting her strange new neighbour out of her mind, she brought her dog
inside.
------------------------------------------------
After dinner, Jessie and Shannon retired to the living-room to watch
some TV. Jessie lit the fire, pulled her curtains and poured herself a
glass of wine. The autumn evening was chilly and dark and Jessie heard
the wind begin to howl.......Continue reading
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Monday, 27 July 2015
Abandoned House Photo Shoot
Some shots from a recent excursion to an abandoned house.
Sally in the corner of the burnt room
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Real Life Encounters Series: *John's Story
Note: All stories in this series are exactly as told to me. No details are added for entertainment purposes. Names are often changed when people request not to be identified. Any names with * beside them have been changed.
I moved into an apartment in a large old building that was owned by my boss because he offered subsidised rent for employees. I had heard rumours over the years that the house was haunted before it was turned into apartments, but I never believed in ghosts or the supernatural so it didn't bother me.
One evening, my girlfriend *Emma was staying over and my friend *Michael and his girlfriend *Sarah called over for a drink. The topic turned to the building and it's history as a haunted house. My girlfriend was uncomfortable with the conversation as she was staying over. Sarah joked that there was only one way to find out for sure- use a Ouija board. My girlfriend freaked out and said no way and Sarah teased her that she had one in her car that she had made with a friend. For the laugh, I told her bring it in.
The board was the top of a pale wooden table so it was quite big. The alphabet and numbers from 0-10 were written in semi-circles in black permanent marker and the words yes, no and goodbye were written down the bottom. Sarah told us how she and her friend had tried it out but nothing had happened. Curiosity got the better of me and we decided to try it. My girlfriend wouldn't play and actually left the room and told us to call her when we finished.
Sarah's boyfriend wasn't interested in playing either so the two of us sat down in front of the board, using a glass tumbler instead of a planchette. We called to the ghosts of the building, people we knew who had died and eventually anyone at all who wanted to talk to us. Nothing happened and we all had a laugh and threw the board outside in the skip.
Several nights later, I woke up to Emma frantically shaking me. She was pale and shaking and she whispered that there was a man in the apartment. I jumped out of bed, grabbed a golf club and went to investigate. The apartment was only three rooms so it quickly became apparent that there was no one there. I blamed her overactive imagination or that she was dreaming and it seemed real but she was adamant that there had been a man outside the bedroom door saying something in a low voice. She stayed awake for the rest of the night and refused to stay there again.
The next week, I was cleaning the apartment and I had a large glass-encased candle burning on the shelf and I blew it out as it had been burning for a while. As I stood with my back to the shelf washing dishes, I heard a loud bang and then a smash. Whirling around, I saw my candle smashed to pieces on the ground. I grabbed the dustpan and swept up the broken glass, thankfully the wax had hardened slightly so the mess wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was very confused, how could a large heavy candle move from a secure position on a shelf to be smashed to pieces on the ground? I placed the dustpan with the broken candle on the table to show Emma and turned back to doing my dishes when there was another loud bang and a crash. Incredulously, I turned around and there was the broken candle all over the floor again. It was like the dustpan had jumped off the middle of the kitchen table. I tidied it up again and this time I put the pieces in the bin.
Soon after that incident, I was chatting to a neighbour who told me about how he had thought there was a man in his apartment and that he heard footsteps on the stairs outside his apartment and there was no one there. As Emma was too uncomfortable to stay after everything that went on, I moved out soon after. The building is empty now, all the residents moved out and some pipes burst when the building was empty, causing a lot of damage. So now it stands empty on the top of a hill in my small hometown and every time I see it, I wonder what else might have happened if I stayed.
I moved into an apartment in a large old building that was owned by my boss because he offered subsidised rent for employees. I had heard rumours over the years that the house was haunted before it was turned into apartments, but I never believed in ghosts or the supernatural so it didn't bother me.
One evening, my girlfriend *Emma was staying over and my friend *Michael and his girlfriend *Sarah called over for a drink. The topic turned to the building and it's history as a haunted house. My girlfriend was uncomfortable with the conversation as she was staying over. Sarah joked that there was only one way to find out for sure- use a Ouija board. My girlfriend freaked out and said no way and Sarah teased her that she had one in her car that she had made with a friend. For the laugh, I told her bring it in.
The board was the top of a pale wooden table so it was quite big. The alphabet and numbers from 0-10 were written in semi-circles in black permanent marker and the words yes, no and goodbye were written down the bottom. Sarah told us how she and her friend had tried it out but nothing had happened. Curiosity got the better of me and we decided to try it. My girlfriend wouldn't play and actually left the room and told us to call her when we finished.
Sarah's boyfriend wasn't interested in playing either so the two of us sat down in front of the board, using a glass tumbler instead of a planchette. We called to the ghosts of the building, people we knew who had died and eventually anyone at all who wanted to talk to us. Nothing happened and we all had a laugh and threw the board outside in the skip.
Several nights later, I woke up to Emma frantically shaking me. She was pale and shaking and she whispered that there was a man in the apartment. I jumped out of bed, grabbed a golf club and went to investigate. The apartment was only three rooms so it quickly became apparent that there was no one there. I blamed her overactive imagination or that she was dreaming and it seemed real but she was adamant that there had been a man outside the bedroom door saying something in a low voice. She stayed awake for the rest of the night and refused to stay there again.
The next week, I was cleaning the apartment and I had a large glass-encased candle burning on the shelf and I blew it out as it had been burning for a while. As I stood with my back to the shelf washing dishes, I heard a loud bang and then a smash. Whirling around, I saw my candle smashed to pieces on the ground. I grabbed the dustpan and swept up the broken glass, thankfully the wax had hardened slightly so the mess wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was very confused, how could a large heavy candle move from a secure position on a shelf to be smashed to pieces on the ground? I placed the dustpan with the broken candle on the table to show Emma and turned back to doing my dishes when there was another loud bang and a crash. Incredulously, I turned around and there was the broken candle all over the floor again. It was like the dustpan had jumped off the middle of the kitchen table. I tidied it up again and this time I put the pieces in the bin.
Soon after that incident, I was chatting to a neighbour who told me about how he had thought there was a man in his apartment and that he heard footsteps on the stairs outside his apartment and there was no one there. As Emma was too uncomfortable to stay after everything that went on, I moved out soon after. The building is empty now, all the residents moved out and some pipes burst when the building was empty, causing a lot of damage. So now it stands empty on the top of a hill in my small hometown and every time I see it, I wonder what else might have happened if I stayed.
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Movie Review: Megan is Missing
Ahh Megan is Missing. People have been telling me to watch this movie for a long time, that it was the creepiest thing they had watched in years. So this weekend, I sat down and did just that.
This movie isn't your typical horror movie. It doesn't rely on jump scares or things that go bump in the night. This movie is a psychological horror that creeps under your skin and into your subconscious and makes you think about it long after the credits roll.
Amy and Megan are best friends forever and although popular Megan tries hard to involve her more innocent and slightly dorkier friend in her social circle, Amy is universally mocked by all the cool kids. The girls show us their world through their web cam chats, cell phone videos and video blogs. The start of the movie explains this is the true story of the disappearance of Megan and Amy, so we have a fair idea where the film is going.
The writer and director Michael Goi uses the girls recordings and video chats to bring us into their lives, we see their Skype sessions where Megan tells Amy about her childhood abuse and compare her home-life to Amy's' home videos of her idyllic family life. The first hour of this film is similar to Thirteen, with Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed. We watch these thirteen and fourteen year old girls call each other bitch and whore while they casually drink and take drugs and give out sexual favours to pay for their buzz. The way the girls speak in this film is frighteningly true to life even if the acting of some of the supporting actresses leaves a lot to be desired.
Megan is introduced to a new on line friend called Josh. They Skype but Josh has no picture on his broken web cam, but it's OK, he proves he's legit by sending Megan some snapshots of himself. Megan arranges to meet Josh behind a diner, but never comes back. Michael Goi uses fake TV and news channel footage to document the search for Megan, which brings a further sense of realism to the story.
If you've got this far, you're probably wondering why this movie is being reviewed on a horror website, surely this is more lifetime movie than a horror film? I thought so too, but the last twenty two minutes of the movie document what happened to Megan and then to Amy, at the hands of Josh. It's graphic and disturbing on many levels, mostly because of the use of the handheld camera footage and (SPOILER ALERT) that picture of Megan.
Michael Goi made a very interesting and thought provoking film Although it has a slightly dated feel, (It was released in 2011) this movie feels like something that could really happen. Amber Perkins (Amy) and Rachel Quinn (Megan) both give solid performances, although it is hard to believe that they are thirteen and fourteen years old.
But is it the true story it claims to be, I hear you ask. Well, sort of, but not really. Michael Goi claims that the script is based entirely on true occurrences, but he actually took elements from seven true life incidents and spliced them together to make Megan is Missing. Worryingly, he also claims that there is not a single incident in the film that he made up from thin air.
Verdict
Megan is Missing is worth a watch, if only for the last 20 minutes or so of graphic horror. The main actresses perform well, but some of the younger actors can be slightly wooden. Michael Goi skillfully weaves the story of the two missing girls using found footage camera work but his claims it is a true story is slightly embellished.
Have you watched Megan is missing? Let me know your thoughts is the comment section.
This movie isn't your typical horror movie. It doesn't rely on jump scares or things that go bump in the night. This movie is a psychological horror that creeps under your skin and into your subconscious and makes you think about it long after the credits roll.
Amy and Megan are best friends forever and although popular Megan tries hard to involve her more innocent and slightly dorkier friend in her social circle, Amy is universally mocked by all the cool kids. The girls show us their world through their web cam chats, cell phone videos and video blogs. The start of the movie explains this is the true story of the disappearance of Megan and Amy, so we have a fair idea where the film is going.
The writer and director Michael Goi uses the girls recordings and video chats to bring us into their lives, we see their Skype sessions where Megan tells Amy about her childhood abuse and compare her home-life to Amy's' home videos of her idyllic family life. The first hour of this film is similar to Thirteen, with Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed. We watch these thirteen and fourteen year old girls call each other bitch and whore while they casually drink and take drugs and give out sexual favours to pay for their buzz. The way the girls speak in this film is frighteningly true to life even if the acting of some of the supporting actresses leaves a lot to be desired.
Megan is introduced to a new on line friend called Josh. They Skype but Josh has no picture on his broken web cam, but it's OK, he proves he's legit by sending Megan some snapshots of himself. Megan arranges to meet Josh behind a diner, but never comes back. Michael Goi uses fake TV and news channel footage to document the search for Megan, which brings a further sense of realism to the story.
If you've got this far, you're probably wondering why this movie is being reviewed on a horror website, surely this is more lifetime movie than a horror film? I thought so too, but the last twenty two minutes of the movie document what happened to Megan and then to Amy, at the hands of Josh. It's graphic and disturbing on many levels, mostly because of the use of the handheld camera footage and (SPOILER ALERT) that picture of Megan.
Michael Goi made a very interesting and thought provoking film Although it has a slightly dated feel, (It was released in 2011) this movie feels like something that could really happen. Amber Perkins (Amy) and Rachel Quinn (Megan) both give solid performances, although it is hard to believe that they are thirteen and fourteen years old.
But is it the true story it claims to be, I hear you ask. Well, sort of, but not really. Michael Goi claims that the script is based entirely on true occurrences, but he actually took elements from seven true life incidents and spliced them together to make Megan is Missing. Worryingly, he also claims that there is not a single incident in the film that he made up from thin air.
Verdict
Megan is Missing is worth a watch, if only for the last 20 minutes or so of graphic horror. The main actresses perform well, but some of the younger actors can be slightly wooden. Michael Goi skillfully weaves the story of the two missing girls using found footage camera work but his claims it is a true story is slightly embellished.
Have you watched Megan is missing? Let me know your thoughts is the comment section.
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Welcome to Horror Land
We all like to be scared every now and then, but when is the last time you were truly terrified? The kind of terror that makes your chest tighten and your heart skip a beat? Chances are, it was when your life was in danger, a close miss in the car, a narrowly avoided accident or your friend jumping out at you in a darkened room.
Horror Land is a home for people who like to recreate that feeling for fun. I review horror movies and books, to find the best ones to make you scream and share creepy videos and pictures that I make myself or source for you online. Check out the true life encounters section where you can read about others' true life horror, or send me your own stories to share with others.
Thanks for taking the time to check out Horror Land and don't be shy, leave me some comments.
- L.J
Thursday, 16 July 2015
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