During the Halloween season , one popular activity is to visit a haunted house . As a child , some of my earliest and most frightening memories happened in a haunted house at Halloween . So , let me take you inside a real haunted house . This short story also gives you vocabulary and idioms for describing something scary . We begin as many scary stories have : It is a dark and stormy night . You walk alone down a desolate street . The rain has been falling steadily all night and is only getting worse . You are soaked to the bone and need to get out of the rain . Then you see a house . “Thank heavens !” you say out loud . But at second glance , your relief is chilled by the look of the place . Only a lone street lamp casts a dim , yellow light on the sad features of the house . It looks as if no one has lived here for many years . The windows are broken . Now , you remember where you are.This house is from your childhood . Neighborhood kids talked of ghosts , from a family long dead , walking through the house at night . The front yard is tangled with overgrown weeds and vines . A pathway lined with broken stones leads to an old house . You follow it . As you walk down the sidewalk , tree branches seem to lean into your path . They grab at your hair and clothes . Spider webs stretched across the branches get caught in your eyes and mouth . As you wipe them away , you hear something behind you . What is it ?! You turn around . It was probably just a cat , you tell yourself . Although , you don't believe it . Just as you step onto the sagging front porch , the door creaks open . Suddenly , two bony hands push you inside . The door slams shut ! From the shadows , things start to come toward you ! You can't see anything , but you can hear them coming closer . You run , but running only takes you farther into the nightmare . Your heart beats wildly . Hoping to hide , you open a door , but a skeleton falls into your face . Screaming , you fight with the bones as they entangle your arms and legs ! Finally , you break free and run for your life down a hallway . For a moment , you think you're safe . Then a deathly white hand reaches out from under a table , grabbing at your ankles ! You run faster , this time up a flight of stairs . It flies toward your neck with blood dripping from its razor-sharp teeth . As you try to escape , you trip down some stairs and fall into a cold , dark basement . From a small window you look outside and see a crazed man holding an axe . He's looking right at you , laughing . Fear takes over your whole body , as you run out of the house only to find ... ... a bowl of candy . If you're lucky , maybe a plate of cupcakes , too . You dig your hands into the candy bowl and fill your pockets with sweets . You deserve it . You made it out alive ! That is exactly how I remember the first haunted house my parents took me to . To this day , the thought of it still sends shivers down my spine . And I still love being scared out of my wits !