Happy Halloween, LOU-- BYO2023--Writer

We thought it was just an online game but in reality we had summoned something awful. A group of us from some obscure conspiracy site decided we’d participate in an online seance to see what we could manifest. I went along jokingly-- despite a lifelong interest in the paranormal, I really didn’t think a remote seance would result in any real world consequences. I’ve stumbled into many mistakes in similar ways. Maybe one day I’ll learn.

We all gathered around our keyboards at the witchiest hour (according to an agreed upon time zone) and completed the ceremony. I won’t go into details but I’ll tell you candles and chanting were involved, as well as posts on a dedicated thread. (The thread’s still up in the paranormal studies forum if anyone is still around who wants to know how this disaster started). Suddenly a strange force burst through the gates and took control. Things shifted then.

We never bothered to close the gate, either, and all sorts of inimical entities crowded in. They spouted inanity and gleefully ran amok. Those who hadn’t been keeping up with the seance thread were left utterly baffled as lunacy ran free. Every last one was locked out and the entities ravaged the place and a few bewildered stragglers behind to hold the fort. Unfortunately, the chaos was too strong and the place was a filthy wreck in a matter of minutes. It looked like a hoarder’s episode.

The funniest part is that a good ghost was what was needed in order to bring some semblance of order back in. The sly specter went through the walls and opened the gate back up and an exorcism was performed. It took a lot of mopping and trash removal to clean the place up. Grime remains stuck fast to certain spots, no matter how hard we scrub there is still that damned spot.

And the worst part is the entities are with us still. They don’t have control, but we know they’re crowding around just looking for another chance to let loose. Even more disturbing is that these beings always existed, our summoning only served to prove it.

Once you lift the veil, everything looks different.

a reply to: zosimov

Perfect, zosimov! It was so unreal, it truly belongs in the realm of fiction... The scary part is that we know it was real.

a reply to: zosimov

So now we know one of those to blame.
It's zozimov's fault!!!!
JK

I hope.

See: Christmas Every Day at 13:22-14:06 time mark.

a reply to: Encia22
a reply to: FullHeathen

a reply to: Encia22

Great idea for a topic, by the way.

a reply to: zosimov

You're so cute.

Even a horror story needs a happy ending...

a reply to: zosimov

Great story!!! S/F

a reply to: zosimov

That was Scary...............

a reply to: zosimov

We never bothered to close the gate...

Now this one is funny because I swear that my mom (God bless her soul) visited me in my dream three times. For the first time, she kindly asked me not to leave the door open. For the second time, she asked for the same, only she sounded more irritated. For the third time, when I took a nap during my night shift, I dreamt of her pointing to the open door and that one of my patients ran away, got lost in the park. I was running around looking for him but he drowned in the pond. I woke up screaming like stupid. The ghosts are that tricky.

I liked your story not because it metaphorically described the situation on the forum but because it brought that memory back to me.

It's quite natural for people to go over the line when the fear of consequences disappears, when there is nobody supervising them or they don't have to be afraid of losing face. Happens in everyday life, happens online too. I wouldn't call it "lifting the veil." I would be full of conspiracy theories if everyone behaved politely, it would be so unusual and so not human-like.

Anyway, itvwas a good story.

a reply to: zosimov

Deliciously creepy! Does art imitate life, or the other way around? I think it's the latter. Nicely written!

a reply to: zosimov

Great story, liked it a lot, but help me out literary people.

This story says one thing with one tone but conveys an alternate narrative with a different tone.

Is this double entendre or irony? I'd be SO very grateful to know I am another idiot that uses it wrong.

Irony - the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.

A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially awkward, sexually suggestive, or offensive to state directly.

a reply to: Degradation33

Metaphor, I believe, last couple of paragraphs.

a reply to: FullHeathen

That was the simple word I was looking for....

It's nice to feel retarded.

I honestly couldn't think of the name of the device. Allegory works too.

a reply to: Degradation33

It gets worse with age.

That word ... it was right there a second ago! Right there!
Let's see it means "lethologica"
Okay, synonyms ... search.
Oh yeah, "Tip of the tongue", I don't know how I could forget that.