THE FORBIDDEN HOUSE
An Original Listener Terror
Written by Zainab Ali, age 14
Story Art by Zainab Ali

Once there was a girl named Zainab.
“Zainabbb!” Mom exclaimed. “Get in the car! We’re going to be late!”
Today is the day, I thought. I have to be ready and prepared.
Zainab and her mom were moving to a new town and had bought a new house. I sat next to the window, shaking my leg.
Breathe, Zainab, breathe.
“Are you excited about the new house, Zainab?”
“I guess, Mama. I’m a little nervous about this house though,” Zainab says.
Mom looked through the rearview mirror; her eyebrows furrowed.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the house?” Mom asked.
“Well, the thing is, I wanted to brainstorm about what my room would look like, so I put the address into Google search and found something sinister. The house is haunted,” I told my mom.
She looked at me through the rearview mirror.
“You shouldn’t believe all of the things you see on the Internet,” said Mom.
“But, Mom,” Zainab said, “It was on CNN as well.”
“ Zainab, calm down. It can’t be that bad,” Mom rolled her eyes.
Zainab got upset and decided to listen to music. After 4 hours they finally made it to the town; a town called Devil Kill Hill Town.
I grabbed my suitcase from the car and went up the stairs to the new house. The house was big and black. Mom got the keys out from her bag and unlocked the new house. When Zainab and her mom entered the house, the door closed behind them. Mom and Zainab looked at each other.
“Don’t worry, Zainab,” said Mom. “I think it was me by accident. It’s okay. Calm down.”
“Okay, Mom. If you say so.”
I decided to go upstairs to check the rooms. I found a big room and decided it was going to be my new room. I sat on a rusty, old chair and Googled the house again to find more details to convince my mom that something was wrong about this house. As I was searching about this house, I found a new news report about the house. The name of this house is called The Devil’s House.
I froze.
“No way…”
As I was going downstairs, I saw a dark figure standing on the side of the door. And the moment I fully turned around, it vanished. What is going on with this house? I run down to my mom who is smiling at me. But her smile was sinister. A shiver ran down my spine.
“Mom, why are you smiling so weirdly?” Zainab asked with a questioning tone in her voice.
The mom just stood there and said in a deep voice, “Oh, Zainab. Haven’t you noticed this house is on a hill?”
“Oh No…” Zainab had just remembered — Devil Kill Hill Town. The Devil’s house is on the hill. This is His house.
“It’s a shame,” said Zainab’s possessed mom. “This is my house, and you knew and entered anyway.”
The Devil laughed and all of a sudden, Zainab’s mom fell.
“Mom!” Zainab said, running to her mom.
Her mom got up and said, “Tricked you!’
The mom smiled evilly, and then Zainab and her mom disappeared.
Turns out that the house is the Devil’s house. And whoever enters the house disappears, and is never to be found again.

Coming Soon to the Micro Terrors Podcast! Release Date: To Be Determined…