Still, the part of the narrative that brings most fear to the few friends in whom I've confided it is this. One bright August day, drinking tea in the kitchen, we elders - me, my sister, Nanny and mother - finally admitted that something was happening. We laughed and teased each other but, my God, it was a relief.
Suddenly, a mirror sprang off the wall and shattered. On the back of its glass, in an old-fashioned script, the numbers 666 were repeatedly etched, along with the message: "I'm going to ---- kill you all." I know you won't believe this - I don't believe it. But it happened.
Like you, I am wary of ghost stories: their linear march and relentless building to a crescendo. This is a story with no denouement. Over time, a year or two, events gradually petered out. Again, I am told that this is standard form: ghosts (I can barely type the word) act up with newcomers, then they - and you - adjust. Plus, I like to think that Bettses are far more terrifying.
Today, I love my parents' house with its greenery and servants' bells. It is our home. Yet still it has the capacity to act up. Our neighbour's new cleaner recently informed him that she would not be returning, having seen a woman walk through a wall (our buildings were once joined). On another occasion, one brother's girlfriend remarked that everything in her room had shaken at 4am. Was there some sort of quake?
"Some sort of quake," we replied.
YOU ARE READING
Songs Of The Dead Dream
HorrorThis is a book about fears. Facing them and overcoming them. Ghosts are in our imagination, some people write about them. I am one of those people. Stories that might or might not scare you but will definitely leave a mark. Get ready for this ghost...
