Touch Grass: Haunted Houses
Haunted houses aren’t just run down Victorians. In fact, anything can feel haunted if you happen to catch it at the right moment. With over one hundred years of history, it stands to reason that Reed would hold some hauntings. This goes for the surrounding area as well; even newer buildings hold the stories of so many people, their lost voices trapped in the walls, footsteps still clinging to carpet. Stories are everywhere, spookies are everywhere, if you’re willing to let them overtake you. If you take the time to really sit in a space, to be alone and silent, who knows what mysteries you may uncover?
Wandering down a decrepit brick-walled hallway, blinking LED panels light the space in an orange vignette. The yellow paint on the ceiling tries to conceal the many exposed pipes, but their uneven hammering gives them away. Green carpet turns blue in places, and the floor dips away from your feet a few steps in. Meanwhile, not so far away concrete floors rise into concrete walls locking you in, each footstep echoing on and on into the distance. Harsh white light blares down on you, reflecting on white walls and pushing you forward into emptiness. There too is a version of you that takes shelter from the rain in the dark wood accented hallways of a red brick building, trying to ignore the sounds of invisible feet on stairs, notes drifting in from a distant organ.
Don’t think you’re safe from them, or missing out, by leaving campus. You go home to your house that has had more renters than anyone can count, each creaking floorboard you disrupt is mirrored somewhere else in the house. The light in the corner flashes on, then off again, and the wind rips through the gaps in the windows, under the door, through your clothes. Maybe you wake up in your recently renovated home to the screech of your bedroom door gently pushing open, steps padding along your carpet. Your window AC unit makes various sounds in the night, how do you know which ones are truly from it? How many of your roommates are home, how many are awake? What happens if you let yourself into the fantasy, into the haunting? Located anywhere and everywhere, haunted houses are open after the sun goes down. Wondering how grass features? Well, the best haunted houses are all about bringing the outside in. Wind, cobwebs, moss creeping into what is meant to be a safe space. To learn more visit your local horror movie collection. So, go out and touch grass in your haunted house, if you dare!