I have lived in Michigan all my life. As a child, I lived in a town called Houghton Lake. It is a resort town for the most part, but there were many year round residents that chose to reside there, as my family did beginning in 1969. I lived on what is called the North Shore, across the street from the lake, in a little red house. The house was small, but full of love, and good times. It was cool in the Summer as we got a breeze off the lake, and we about froze in the Winter thanks to that same breeze coming across the frozen water. Fall was a very cold season back then as well. One day it would move in, the leaves would change, and within days, the wind is howling, and it is threatening to snow. I can remember many Halloweens that I wore my snowsuit under my costume, in order to stay warm as I walked around the neighborhood to collect my bounty. There is one particular Halloween that sticks out in my memory more than any other, and that is why I am writing today. Think back to a simpler time. When little sleepy towns rolled up the streets at night after dark. Dinner was served the same time each day, and you heard your Mother calling you to come home to eat. When it was unheard of to be out after dark as a child. Ahhh, yes, I remember those times well. I also remember the one exception to that rule was in fact......Hallowenn Night. Halloween night was special. You looked forward to it all year long, at least I did. That was the night we were given permission to walk the neighborhood in our homemade costumes (store bought costumes were just starting to appear in stores) after dark, to knock on peoples doors, and collect as much candy as you could. Now, a little more about my street. It was rather far in-between houses. Nothing but dark dense woods seperated these houses, and I am not ashamed to tell you, the woods frightened the daylights out of me. Even during the day they were frightening. They seemed to swallow daylight as soon as you ventured into them the slightest bit. My older siblings had forts and trails that lead back into them, but I never went in those woods, not even with them.If you go about three quarters of a mile down my street you came to a fork in the road. To the right was the way to town, and the only way I was familar with at this age. If you took a slight left, it took you to a area that was rather, shall we say, off limits to most of us. All I knew is that we were not allowed to go that way. It was Private Property. I could scarcely read at that age, but I knew what those signs meant. Stay out...period. I never wanted to venture that way anyways. It was more woods on both sides, and try as you might to look down that road, it just seemed to lead to more and more darkness. ( Yep, even in the day!)So...back to Halloween night...I am with my three Sisters. My oldest Sister was 15, and was left in charge of the rest of us with strict orders to stay on the main road while we were out trick or treating. To head home by such and such a time, stay together, and have fun. All was going well, we were walking along, collecting our candy, our pillow cases were filling up nicely, regardless of the fact it was far in between the houses. I felt safe with my sisters, and anytime I might start to feel secretly afraid, it wasnt long that another house would appear with a warm porch light glowing, and a pumpkin smiling at me. Time went fast, and before we knew it, we were at the fork in the road. I was getting tired, and knew we had a long walk all the way back home. I was looking forward to seeing Mom again, and dumping out all my goodies on my bed for better inspection. Suddenly...I heard these words come out of my oldest Sisters mouth, and it sent shivers down my spine. Lets go this way. I looked up in time to see her pointing into the darkness towards the left. Ohhhh nooooo, I silently screamed to myself. Was she crazy? Maybe she was just kidding. Didn't she hear what Mom had said? Didn't she know it was private property, and no one, ecspecially kids, were allowed down there? To make matters even worse, if I thought one of my other Sisters was going to save the rest of us, I was wrong. I look from face to face, and my other two Sisters were in agreement to head down that road. I wanted to die right there. It was obvious I was out numbered, and I ethier went along with them, or faced a even longer walk home, alone, in the darkness, all by myself. There were no cell phones back in the day. No way to call my Mom and say Hey, Denice is being a brat, and is going to do exactly what you said not to do. Nope. I was stuck. We were about to go down the road that I had avoided my whole young life. The fear I felt, even with my Sisters, was more than I knew possible. As we started up that road, all the talking we had done suddnely stopped. If one of us said anything, for some reason, it was now in a whisper. It even seemed like our footsteps were trying to be lighter. The road was not kept up well, like the main road, and the tree limbs literally came out into the path and if you were not careful, you walked into them. It felt just like arms reaching out, in the dark, to try to snatch me away. We were far away from any light from the street lights now. All we had was our own eyes, hoping they would adjust just a little better so we could see. Thats how we walked, for awhile, not talking, I myself was barely breathing I was so scared. I found I could see where I was going better if I watched the path, verses watching in front of me. Not to mention, if I kept my head down, I was less likely to get smacked with another branch in the face. I was going along, listening to my own heartbeat in my ears, when suddenly I walked right into my Sister in front of me. She had stopped. They all had stopped. I was about to whisper Why are we stopping? But it came out.... Why are........ we..................................
What I saw, in front of me, at that moment was the scariest thing I had ever seen in my life. I took a quick glance around at my Sisters, for reassurance, yet they too seemed equally frightened. The woods suddenly stopped, and we were on the edge of a clearing. In front of us, stood.....A monterous house. This house was the biggest house I had ever seen. I didnt know houses were ever made so big. It was at least three floors, and a big tall pillar looking thing in the middle of it. It spread out on the grounds to the left and the right for what looked like forever. You could of fit our little house inside of it many times over. Some other things about this house...It was literally black in color in the moonlight. There were sooo many windows. It was completely dark looking at the house. Not even a hint of a lightbulb to be seen from inside. It looked abandoned to me, and I was certainly hoping that it was. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my oldest Sister spoke. I had no idea this house was here. she whispered. We all agreed none of us had ever seen it or even heard of it. Yet I wondered how no one could possibly know about a house like this and it's existance. After we stood there for awhile, I began to calm down a bit. The house was scary for sure, but once you realized it was just a house, it was better. Then, I have no idea what possessed my oldest Sister to do what she did next. Before any of us knew what had happened, she had picked up a small rock, and threw it as hard as she could at the front of the house. It hit almost perfectly, as if she had aimed for it, the front door. It made a sickening hollow, smacking noise that echo-ed thru the woods like a charge of dynamite went off. No one moved. I heard my oldest Sister let out a small chuckle at her handy work of stone throwing, when all of the sudden, the place lit up. Literally, a light came on in that house, in every window, at the same time. Not just one or two lights, but a light in every window they had. If I thought I was scared before, after all I had been thru this Halloween night, it was nothing compared to when I saw those lights come on in that house. We ran. Plain and simple. No one needed to tell me to run. I didnt look back for my Sisters to see if they were following, as honestly, I didnt care if they were. I had had enough. I need not of worried, they were close behind me all the way back down that dark path that had taken us to the spooky old house in the first place. Finally we reached the fork in the road. We were all out of breath. Our costumes were dirty and torn. I spilled half my candy down the path I had just came from and didn't care. I was tired, scared, and angry at my Sisters for such a dumb idea. I wanted to go home. Finally, just when I thought I couldnt walk another step, I saw the lights of our house, we were home. We went in, like nothing had happened, and although I wanted to tell my Mother so bad, I knew if I ever wanted to see tomorrow I better not, or my Sisters would kill me. My Sisters secretly shared their candy with me, as they knew it was their fault I had lost most of mine. It was days before I could sleep without dreaming of that darn house. Weeks turned into months, and I tried my best just to forget about the whole thing. Yet each time my Mother would drive past the fork in the road, I was secretly shaking inside. One day...many months later, when it was just my Mother and I, I finally asked her about what exactly was down that path. Mom? What is down the other side of the fork in the road? She looked at me, and hesitated for a bit. I could tell she was considering what she was about to say very carefully. Well, many years ago...a very wealthy family lived here in town, and they owned a beautiful house down that path that says Private Property There was a Mother, Father, and two little twin girls a little older than you. From what I know, the Father was away on business when there was an accident with the Mother and one of the little girls. The lake comes up to their property, and the little girls were swimming. The Mother went to get towels for the girls, when she returned, one of the little girls was gone. She jumped into the water looking for the little girl, but it was to late. One of the little girls had drowned by swimming out to far past the safety bouy. She continued, as I hung on every word. The parents were devistated, as well as the other little girl who blamed herself for her Sisters death. They all became reclusive in that house, and hardly came out at all after that. It was such a shame. This went on for a few years I guess, and then one day, the house was discovered by a utility worker to be abandoned. There was no power to the house according to him, and hadn't been for some time. No one knew if they family had moved away or what happened to them. All their belongings were still in the house, as if they were out on an errand, but they never came back. I know there was a search for them, but it never turned up anything. The Father was said to of had family in Ohio, but they too, when asked, were dumbfounded as to what had happened to them. They had not heard from them in a very long time.My Mother finished by saying... Last I knew, the bank owned the property, and was going to tear down the place and put up a restaurant on the lake. The place is old and dangerous, and that is why it is so important for you to stay out of there. It is no place for children. No power? I asked. My Mother looked at me , and simply shook her head at my question. No, no power. She stated again. I shared with all my sisters later what our Mother had told me that very day. About the accident, about it being abandoned for a long time, and ecspecially the part about it being discovered to of had no power to it. We all looked at eachother for a second or two, before we all pretty much voiced the same thing outloud. But we saw lights come on. Yes, we all agreed, we had most definitley saw lights come on that Halloween night. Alot of them. That was the last time we spoke of that house, or that night. When we would pass the fork in the road, the left fork was just a fading memory. Sure enough, within a few years, the dump trucks and bulldozers moved in, and in a matter of days, the place and much of the surroundong woods were gone. My friends and I watched from a safe distance as they hauled away truckload after truckload of the house and surrounding grounds that were no longer wanted by anyone. When they were done, just a few months later, If I hadnt seen the old house with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it ever existed. What had once been dark scary woods was now, a huge open space that lead up to a new restaurant, just like they promised, right on the waters shore. At this part in the story, I would like to be able to say that when the house was taken down, the crew members found the family that disappeared, but they didnt. I would also like to of been able to say that during construction, many wierd things went on, but truth is, if they did, I never heard about them. Things seemed to go off without a hitch. All I know is that night, I saw lights come on in that house and turn night into day they were so bright. With the house to of been without power for many years before this happened, I cannot explain it. I know what I saw, and have my three sisters who experienced it with me, to back me up. After all this time, they still remember it well. I can tell you that the restaurant burned to the ground, less than a year later after it was built. They never replaced it with anything else that I am aware of. It is a beautiful piece of property, yet no one seems to want it for some reason. Houghton Lake is a big money town now for tourists and people moving there in retirement to be by the water. Lake front footage is in such demand they actually build the houses longer from front to back, instead of side to side so they can get more properties in. However, this piece of property, still sits there vacant. Someone out there knows why, someone out there, must know something. By the way, they never did find the family that disappeared. Not a trace. Thanks for reading.....Happy Halloween...... Pam
