One Halloween, I was invited to a party in upstate New York, I was divorced at the time and making up for lost time, so I decided to go to the party in hopes of meeting a woman. I'd never been to this part of the states before, so I was really looking forward to visiting a new part of this great land that we live in. The drive was uneventful, taking me close to six hours to finally get to the town that the house was located. A small farming community, with lots of old mansions, some looking like castles. I checked into a hotel that reminded me of the Bates motel from the movie Psycho, I was relieved when the woman at the counter handed me the key to the one furthest away from the office. She asked me how long I was going to be staying, I told her over the weekend, I was attending a Halloween party at the Harding estate. When I said Harding, her face went pale, thinking she was having a heart attack or something I asked, "Are you ok?"
She shook herself, and replied, "Yes, sorry, its just that place is bad news, the main house is haunted, and so are the grounds. People have gone there, never to be seen again."
I laughed, "Well, I guess this will be one interesting Halloween party then."
I gave the woman a wink, trying to ease her mind that I wasn't afraid. She gave me a weak smile and as I was walking out of the small office she called after me, "Please, just watch yourself out there." I laughed and waved and got into my car and drove down in front of my room.
The room was sparsely furnished, no T.V., a phone, a chair, a table, night stand, and a double bed. This really was Bates motel, I thought to myself, I unloaded the car and took a long hot shower. As I was drying myself I the phone rang, "Hello?" I answered.
It was William Harding, the owner of the estate where the party was taking place, I'd met William or Bill as I called him, while in the Navy. We were overseas on a tour of some old castles, we started talking, and he told me of the estate he was to inherit. Fascinated, we talked during the tour, and went to dinner afterwards, he was a dashing man, and the ladies seemed to flock to him. Something I didn't mind at all, we picked up a couple of girls, went dancing, and then back to his room at a very nice hotel. We continued our party with the girls all night, and some where along the line, we even switched girls. We laughed about this over breakfast, and exchanged addresses and phone numbers when it was time for me to leave. Staying in touch over the years, he'd invited me several times up to the Harding estate, but was never close enough to take him up on his hospitality. This year was different, I was going through some training in Virginia, so I agreed to visit and attend the party.
"Jerry old chap, I heard you'd made it to town." He said. I thought that maybe this was from the woman at the front desk, "I figured you would, how much did you have to pay the woman at the desk, Bill?" I asked. "What are you talking about Jerry?" replied Bill. "The woman at the front desk here at the hotel, I figured the bit about her trying to scare me was your doing, and was expecting your call." I explained. "Not sure what you're referring to Jerry, I got a call from one of the deputies, he saw the out of state tag, ran it and asked if I were expecting you." he said puzzled.
I laughed, "Good try Bill, really, I think its great you're playing this haunted estate thing up to make the party even better." I said. "Huh? What are you talking about." Bill said still puzzled. I explained what the woman had said, and all got silent on the other end of the phone. "Bill? You still there?" I asked. "Sorry, Jerry, Yes, the estate is haunted, there has been some strange things happen over the years. But I assure you that all is well, and everyone will be safe." Bill explained hurriedly. I assured Bill I wasn't worried or scared. He told me to come on out to the house, and I could change out there. I told him that was fine and he gave me directions to his estate. I took down the hang up bag that had my costume, and a small bag that had the makeup in it for the finishing touches. I loaded up in the car, headed out to the road, turned right, and was off following Bills directions. It took almost 15 minutes to reach the place, and I must say, it was a very impressive place.
The gate at the drive up to the main house was fantastic, demons or gargoyles lined the big arch, two lions rested on the ends of the curved walls. A man dressed in a black suit approached the car, I rolled the window down and handed him my invitation. When he saw my name, he said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Brown, Master Harding phoned saying he was expecting you, and to tell you to park in the front of the main house." He reached into the pocket of his jacket, and clicked a device at the gate, it started to swing open. "Thank you." I said, and drove up the long drive. This place was so big, you couldn't see the house from the main road or the gate.
The drive was almost a mile and a half long, and when I saw the house appear, a chill ran through my body. Laughing to myself, I said that this really did look like a haunted house. As I pulled to a stop, Bill came running out, shook my hand, then pulled me in for a brotherly type hug. It'd been several years since we'd seen each other. "Man I'm really glad you got to make it this year. Its going to be a blast, I've got people from all over the world coming." he said with a wink. "Hell even you might have a chance at getting some." he teased. "Thanks a lot!" I said, laughing. We went inside the impressive house, an old house that looked to have been designed after some of the old homes we'd seen overseas. He led me up stairs to a bedroom that made my small one at the Bates motel look like a bathroom. "Why didn't you just come on out and stay here?" Bill asked with fake hurt in his eyes.
"Are you kidding?" I quipped, "This fuckin' place is haunted." We started to laugh, then he stopped and got a funny look on his face. "Jerry, this place is haunted."he said in the most serious tone I'd ever heard him use. Raising an eyebrow I looked at him questioningly. Shrugging his shoulders, he sighed, "What can I say, its been like this since I can remember, and its been this way as long as the Hardings have owned it. The rumors about people disappearing is a crock, they disappear alright, they get so scared they leave not taking their belongings with them. So its no wonder the people in the town think they disappear, they leave and noone sees them leave."