{"id":1561,"date":"2017-09-21T11:47:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T15:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2017-09-21T11:47:17","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T15:47:17","slug":"local-hauntings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/local-hauntings\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Idea Generation: Local Hauntings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiction story ideas are all around us. It\u2019s not a matter of finding them so much as just opening your eyes and seeing them. A story idea could come from a bit of overheard conversation, a photograph, a brief article\u00a0in the newspaper, or an old family tale.<\/p>\n

Many horror and dark fantasy authors can find inspiration in local legends. You don\u2019t even have to look for something as popular and well-known as the Mothman, Resurrection Mary or the Jersey Devil. Most every community has lots of smaller stories of ghosts and monsters that you can use.<\/p>\n

For instance, Ohio State University is home to many ghost stories. Here\u2019s one I found at the\u00a0Forgotten Ohio\u00a0site:<\/p>\n

The story with this one goes that a girl was stuck in an elevator all night in Hopkins Hall, the art building. This threw her into a nervous breakdown, and for some reason she wrote things all over the walls of the elevator. She eventually graduated but was later killed in a car accident, and it is said that people sometimes find notes or scratchings in the Hopkins Hall elevator.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Based on that little bit of apocryphal history, I wrote the following flash story. I hope it will inspire some of you to try writing your own stories based on a little legend or haunting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still Mad<\/strong><\/p>\n

Britt\u2019s boyfriend Mike led her to a tree-shaded concrete bench by Mirror Lake. It was a beautiful, cool spring evening. She could not imagine more perfect weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, close your eyes.\u201d He was beaming like a kid at Kings Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you up to?\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust close \u2018em, okay? And hold out your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second later, she felt the velvet texture of a small jewelry box in her palm.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, open \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gasped when she saw the glittering diamond engagement ring nestled in the white satin. It had to be worth at least three thousand dollars. Her heart beat faster as she realized what he was doing. \u201cFor real?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor real.\u201d He got down on one knee on the sidewalk before her, wiped his hands off on his Buckeyes sweatshirt and gave his curly blond hair a quick comb with his fingers. \u201cBritt, will you marry me? I know you\u2019ve had a rough time of it with guys who cut out on you, but I swear that I will always be there for you. I will be your white knight. I will be your rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 And my hard place?\u201d<\/p>\n

She couldn\u2019t help but laugh when he blushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m being serious here!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, seriously, I accept.\u201d<\/p>\n

He slipped the ring onto her finger, and she pulled him up for a long, slow kiss.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes my lady wish to celebrate?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure! But I need to go back to the studio … I forgot my sketchbook up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo Hopkins Hall!\u201d<\/p>\n

He took her hand and they began to skip down the sidewalk toward the art building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope nobody grabbed it,\u201d she said. \u201cI really like the paper. It\u2019s nice and toothy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike struck a Superman pose. \u201cIf some scoundrel hath stolen milady\u2019s notebook, I shall take my iron steed forthwith to Dick Blick\u2019s and purchasetheth her a new one. Forsooth!\u201d<\/p>\n

She giggled. \u201cI dub thee Sir MasterCard.\u201d<\/p>\n

#<\/p>\n

\u201cUgh.\u201d Britt stared at the dead bugs trapped in the light cover as the elevator creaked them up to the fourth floor. \u201cI swear if this thing was any slower \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

The machinery made a grinding noise and the car abruptly dropped two feet, slamming to a stop between the floors. The lights went out. Britt used her iPhone as a flashlight to find the alarm button. Nothing happened when she pressed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not good.\u201d Mike\u2019s voice trembled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll call campus police.\u201d Britt touched their entry, and her phone dialed out. The call dropped. She tried again. Another drop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThird time\u2019s the charm.\u201d She jabbed the screen forcefully.<\/p>\n

A click. Had someone picked up?<\/p>\n

\u201cHello?\u201d Britt pressed the phone to her ear. \u201cHello, are you there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still mad,\u201d a girl\u2019s voice whispered back, all static and echo. \u201cI\u2019m still mad for what they did to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britt tried to end the call. The phone slipped through her fingers. Glass and electronics cracked and popped. The screen went black.<\/p>\n

Suddenly it seemed to be absolutely freezing in there. She was sure she\u2019d be able to see her breath, if she\u2019d been able to see anything at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you hear that?\u201d Mike whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHear what \u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still mad.\u201d The faint voice circled above them. \u201cI\u2019m still mad. Still mad. Still mad \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unseen hand scrawled I\u2019M STILL MAD across the ceiling in ethereal red letters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Jesus,\u201d Mike breathed.<\/p>\n

\u201cW-why are you mad?\u201d Britt stared up into the blackness, her heart pounding with terror and wonder. She\u2019d gone to church every Sunday for twenty-two years, never really knowing if Heaven or Hell or God or any of it was actually real. But now\u00a0this<\/em>. This ghost was real. And that meant the world was a far stranger, wilder place than she\u2019d ever imagined. \u201cWhat did they do to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

A skeletal face came out of the gloom, staring at her with abyssal eye sockets that somehow managed to be even blacker than the unrelenting darkness around them. Mike shrieked and dropped Britt\u2019s hand. She was cold, so cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey left me here,\u201d the skeletal face said. \u201cThey knew I was here but they just left me here. They knew I was afraid of the dark. Afraid of small spaces. But they just left me here and let my mind eat itself alive \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britt stared at the specter, mesmerized. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of Mike screaming and scrabbling at the elevator doors. The air smelled like urine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still mad for what they did to me.\u201d If the specter still had eyes, Britt had no doubt that it would be weeping.<\/p>\n

Britt nodded in sympathy. \u201cI\u2019d be mad, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

A shaft of light came into the elevator, banishing the phantom. Mike had muscled the doors open, still screaming. He chinned himself up onto the third floor, scrambled to his feet, and took off running down the hallway.<\/p>\n

Not once did he look behind.<\/p>\n

Britt blinked and gathered up her broken iPhone. She stared at her reflection in the dark glass. \u201cI\u2019d be mad, too, if I got left behind in an elevator.\u201d<\/p>\n

She took off the engagement ring, set it on the floor, and began to pull herself free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fiction story ideas are all around us. It\u2019s not a matter of finding them so much as just opening your eyes and seeing them. A […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38,35,4],"tags":[96,94,95,6],"class_list":["post-1561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-horror","category-writing-advice","tag-setting","tag-short-fiction","tag-short-stories","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/1908203.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8qT6f-pb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15472,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/halloween-horror-fest\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":0},"title":"Halloween Horror Fest at The Book Loft","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"October 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Please join me and authors S. Alessandro Martinez, Maxwell I. Gold, Jason A. Wyckoff, and Matt Betts at The Book Loft of German Village on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 6:00pm. The Book Loft is an amazing independent bookstore located at 631 S 3rd St, Columbus, OH 43206. The event\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing Advice"","block_context":{"text":"Writing Advice","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/writing-advice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/halloweenhorrorfest.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/halloweenhorrorfest.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/halloweenhorrorfest.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/halloweenhorrorfest.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/halloweenhorrorfest.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":610,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/on-horror\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":1},"title":"On Horror","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"October 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Horror is not a genre, like the mystery or science fiction or the western. It is not a kind of fiction, meant to be confined to the ghetto of a special shelf in libraries or bookstores. Horror is an emotion.\"-- Douglas Winter, 1982 As a literary genre, \"horror\" can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "genre"","block_context":{"text":"genre","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/genre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=lookwhatifoun-20&l=ur2&o=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2206,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/ohio-horror-writers-association\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":2},"title":"Ohio Horror Writers Association","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"September 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I and other authors such as David Day, Tim Waggoner, Gary A. Braunbeck, Janet Harriett, and Sarah Hans recently formed the new Ohio chapter of the Horror Writers Association. You can find the new group online at\u00a0https:\/\/ohiohwa.wordpress.com\/ and on Facebook. At present, the group is holding quarterly meetings; the next\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "horror"","block_context":{"text":"horror","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/horror\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15467,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/ohio-horror-writers-spooktacular\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":3},"title":"Ohio Horror Writers Spooktacular","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"October 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Celebrate spooky season with the Ohio Horror Writers Association! On Saturday, Oct. 25th at noon, please join me and other Ohio horror authors for fun, fiction-focused afternoon at the Columbus Library at 96 South Grant Avenue, Columbus, Columbus, OH, 43215. The event is free, but registration is requested. Saturday, Oct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing Advice"","block_context":{"text":"Writing Advice","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/writing-advice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screen-Shot-2025-10-21-at-10.50.02-PM.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1436,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/whats-weird-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":4},"title":"What’s Weird Fiction?","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"July 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Weird fiction can refer to a couple of different types of literature, depending on who's discussing which books and stories. Classic Weird Fiction \"Classic\" weird fiction is the type of late 19th Century\/early 20th Century speculative fiction written by authors such as H.P Lovecraft, Robert Chambers, William Hope Hodgson, Lord\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dark fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"dark fantasy","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/dark-fantasy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/looming-low-cover-spread.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/looming-low-cover-spread.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/looming-low-cover-spread.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/the-call-of-cthulhu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1561,"position":5},"title":"The Call of Cthulhu","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"April 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Call of Cthulhu\u201d is probably\u00a0H.P. Lovecraft's most enduring and influential\u00a0story. It\u2019s been reprinted and borrowed from and adapted in thousands of ways since its publication in\u00a0Weird Tales\u00a0in 1928. Lovecraft, a\u00a0movie\u00a0fan, would probably approve of the faithfully retro black-and-white film of his tale released by\u00a0H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society\u00a0in 2005;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book review"","block_context":{"text":"book review","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/call_of_cthulu_logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/call_of_cthulu_logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/call_of_cthulu_logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/call_of_cthulu_logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1592,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions\/1592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}