Scary Stories and Urban Legends

Peephole

A 15-year old girl named Donna
lived with her father in a small
house in the suburbs. Ever since
her mother died, Donna had
depended on her father for
everything. They had a wonderful
relationship and loved each other
very much.

One morning, Donna's father was
leaving on a business trip. As they
ate breakfast together, he told her
that he would be home very late
that night. With that, he kissed
her on the forehead, grabbed his
briefcase and walked out the front
door.

Later that day, when Donna came
home from school, she did some
homework and watched some TV.
By midnight, her father had still
not returned so she decided to go
to bed.

That night she had a dream. She
found herself standing at the edge
of a busy highway. Cars and
trucks whizzed by at an alarming
rate. She looked across the
highway and saw a familiar figure
standing on the other side. It was
her father. His hands were
cupped around his mouth and he
seemed to be shouting something
to her, but she couldn't make out
what he was saying.

As the traffic whizzed by, she
strained to hear. Her father's eyes
were sad. He seemed to be
desperately trying to
communicate something to her.
She could barely make out the
words: "Don't... Open... Door..."

Suddenly, Donna was awoken
from the dream by a strange
tapping noise.

Tap Tap Tap.

Then somebody began to ring the
doorbell downstairs.

Ring Ring Ring.

She scrambled out of bed and put
on her slippers. Then, dressed
only in her nightgown, she ran
downstairs and went to the front
door.

Looking through the peephole,
she saw her father's face outside.
He was staring right at her. The
doorbell kept ringing insistently.

"OK, hold on! I'm coming!", she
shouted.

She pulled back the deadbolt and
was about to unlatch the door
when she stopped.

She looked through the peephole
at her father again. Something
about his expression didn't look
quite right. His eyes were wide
open. He looked terrified.

She slid the deadbolt back into
place.

"Dad!", she yelled through the
door. "Did you forget your keys?"

Ring Ring Ring.

"Dad, answer me!"

Ring Ring Ring.

"Dad, please! I need you to answer
me!"

Ring Ring Ring.

"Is there someone else out there
with you?"

Ring Ring Ring.

"Why won't you answer me?"

Ring Ring Ring.

"I'm not opening the door until
you say something!"

The doorbell kept ringing and
ringing, but for some reason, her
father refused to answer her
desperate cries.

For the rest of the night, the
frightened girl cowered in a
corner of the hallway, helplessly
listening to the ceaseless ringing
of the doorbell. It seemed to go
on for hours. Eventually, she fell
into an uneasy sleep.

At dawn, she woke up and
realized that everything was
quiet. She crept over to the door
and looked through the peephole
again. Her father was still there,
staring at her.

She cautiously opened the door
and was confronted with a sight
that filled her with unimaginable
horror.

Her father's severed head was
hanging from a nail above the
door. There was a note attached
to the doorbell.

It read: "Clever Girl".