Haunted House

It was a bleak October evening as I walked across a sloppy mixture of mud and gravel on a driveway that seemed to stretch on for uncounted miles, the light drizzle overhead gradually evolving into a full-on shower as the holes forming in the clouds above me began to tear much wider, when I finally saw the haunted house that had been advertised on the crudely fashioned wooden sign just outside the property. A gate of thoroughly rusted iron led onto the property, sharp spikes lined up on top of it and all the way across the fence that surrounded the property on every side.
The house was as dilapidated as its surroundings, with a roof of ancient, disintegrating slate that was two good storms away from caving in, and windows that obscured cheesy stickers of grinning jack-o-lanterns and arched-up black cats with cracks that encased them like elaborate spiderwebs, of which there were many around. As I reached the front door, an extremely obese middle-aged man came out onto the front porch to greet me, only barely protected from the rain by a gable roof with a few tiles remaining, wearing a red sweatshirt that appeared to be sweat-stained and dark crimson sweatpants with stains of an origin I preferred not to imagine.
"Welcome to Clayborne Manor, friend! I don't know why you chose to walk here when we have a driveway and a parkin' lot perfectly suitable for vehicles of all sorts!"
I was surprised he was calling it a manor when even my own home looked like a true castle compared to this shack. I looked back at the driveway I'd just walked, seeing the rain starting to accumulate into giant potholes that made the trail look positively polka-dotted, and the mudhole he called a parking lot that more closely resembled one of the La Brea Tar Pits. 
Hesitantly, I replied, "Sorry, but I didn't bring a vehicle. I don't live too far away, and I was already walking down the road when it started raining. I figured I'd check this place out since I need a place to take shelter from the storm."
"Well are ya in the mood for good spooks this Halloween night?"
"It's already Halloween? I haven't been keeping track of the time. I'm at that age where so many days have passed by in my life that the new ones just sort of mesh together."
I watched the man quickly scan my body, patting his incredibly stretched-out stomach with mild confusion in his eyes. "Ya don't look that old, kid."
"I get that a lot."
"Well regardless, I think you should come inside! I'm offerin' ya this experience for free!"
I scratched the back of my neck and said, "Okay, sounds ideal." With that, the man stood aside and gestured his arms toward the doorway, which seemed to lead into a black hole that I was stepping right into. Suddenly, LED lights from overhead that were flashing rapidly enough to cause a seizure fucked with my vision and left me a bit disoriented. I quickly shielded my eyes and looked around. Most the decor was as cheesy as I'd imagined. Apparently, he couldn't hire real actors, so he settled for foam puppets of werewolves and witches, as well as monsters he'd clearly cobbled together himself since they were unrecognizable mish-mashes of things, like the pale, bat-like creature that quickly leapt out in front of me, suspended by a fishing line attached to the ceiling. The only good decorations in the place were the zombies, brittle and rotted enough that they looked more like mummies without wrapping.
Nearing the end of the hall, I found the one and only actor in the "manor." It was the same guy from earlier, still wearing the red clothing, but also donning a hockey mask stained with what looked like red paint, and an axe that was positively splattered with the stuff. He ran at me swiftly, despite his immense body weight, and I stepped backward, shocked by his speed. He took a wild swing just ahead of me, and I wasn't sure whether to shout or laugh watching the axe descend, seeing how dedicated this man was to his acting.
The next swing went directly into my right shoulder.
I crumpled to the ground without so much as a gasp, the man now looming over me with a newfound hunger in his eyes. He kneeled down, and I saw his almost impossibly wide grin, dementedly gleeful. Like this was all just sport to him. His face looked whiter than I remembered, though mine must have been whitest of all by now.
"Well, kid, I'm sorry. A guy's gotta get his kicks in somehow. But I hope you rest peacefully, soooAAAAAAAHHH--"
His thoughts trailed off a bit when I sank my fangs, now fully grown, into the side of his neck, savoring the taste of the blood that freely poured into my mouth. Once I had my fill, I stood up and yanked the axe out of my shoulder. I was a bit annoyed by the gap it left, though it would heal quickly with a good day's rest. I watched his expression, vision floating from me into nothingness as his brain shut down, and his body as it fell backwards to the rotten floor, which cracked mightily underneath his weight. I chuckled softly to myself as I effortlessly picked him up and slung him over my shoulder, walking past all the corpses that I'd sucked dry long ago. I had enjoyed this guy's work while it lasted, but I was really hungry as of late, and I needed a body big enough to sustain that hunger.
I stepped back out into the rain, and cursed under my breath. This guy was too heavy for me to become a bat and fly off with him. But the trouble wasn't too severe. Fortunately for me, I didn't live too far away.
Category:HWC23
Category:Monsters
Category:Places
Category:Halloween
Category:Postuhenin