"How far is this place?",asked Eugene.

"The forum said that it should be somewhere here", said Ryan as the two were walking around in a forest in the night, searching for a mysterious place mentioned in the forum.

Ryan and Eugene both work in the same office. They share some similarities, so it took them no time to become friends. Among the similarities they share, the interest for haunted places is also included. One day, as Ryan was scrolling through the posts on #Haunted on the forum, he came across quite a bizarre post shared by an anonymous writer. The post was written this way...

" Theater of Horrors

I know that many of you will think that the post I have written is some sort of joke as it is not possible for such things to actually happen in real life. But I can guarantee that what I am actually writing is no joke.

In a forest on western hills, the ruins of a theater lies. Upon inspecting the ruins, my friends and I came to the conclusion that the ruins are of a theater of the 1930s. We found a kamishibai board with a few hand drawn papers. For those who don't know Kamishibai means paper theater which was popular in Japan during the great depression of the 1930s. We took a look at a few of the pictures and left on our way home. When it was about to hit midnight, the lights in my house suddenly went off. Then I heard the sound of a gong. I was pretty much surprised because no one uses gong in the current era. And that was when I heard his voice.' Step up and have a look, and be prepared for a few handpicked stories to steal your sleep, and your soul.' I thought that it was probably a storyteller wandering around until I fell unconscious. When I opened my eyes, I was in the forest and the Kamishibai board was placed in front of me as if I was the audience. I tried to run but my hands and feet were tied. Then he came. A slender middle-aged man with a creepy mask on his face. He started narrating the story. As the story progressed I could feel my body getting numb. It was as if something was being drained from me. I was getting more and more afraid. I fell unconscious once again when the story ended. My eyes found me to be in my apartment when I opened my eyes. But I would get no news from any of my friends. Those who knew them acted as if they never existed. I don't know why that is so... That's why as a fellow explorer my only advice is to not go anywhere near the Ruins of that theater."

Ryan forwarded this post to Eugene, and they planned to visit the place. They both wandered in the forest for about half an hour until they reached their destination. The ruins of the theater. They scavenged there for a bit and found the Kamishibai board mentioned in the post. Ryan was having an uneasy feeling as if someone was keeping an eye on them while they were near the runes. He tried letting Eugene know about this hunch, but Eugene said that it was just him being paranoid.

It was around 11.59 pm when the post started to come true. The lights went off and Ryan became unconscious. The same man mentioned in the post appeared in front of him. But this time, the encounter was different. The man moved closer to Ryan and said,"Seems like fate decided that you should be the next storyteller." Ryan was confused as he didn't remember such things being mentioned in the post. That was when the man started telling a story. It was more rules than stories as if he was being instructed about something. After the instructions were given, Ryan lost his senses and fell unconscious only to wake up amidst the forest. It was already morning.But...

Ryan could not long remember his past and the only command he could remember was to spread the stories and horrors of the Theater of Horrors...

-------- THE END -------

This is to inform the readers about the fact that the further stories are gonna be shorter than the last one...This is due to the reason that the 1st chapter was an introductory chapter with a little bit of a backstory added.The character Ryan mentioned in the first chapter is going to be the narrator of the next ones...

"Step up and have a look, it's time for a few handpicked stories to steal your sleep, and your soul..."

The story is about a newly married couple who had just moved into the countryside. The husband is Nan and the wife is Rem.

" Seems like we managed to find quite an affordable living place here in the town... Don't you think so, Rem?"

"I agree. It's impossible to find such a place for this cheap.... Why can I hear a kind of rattling? "

" Rats maybe. The landlord did mention that rats are quite common in this town. "

" Are you serious ? Rats? " *Shudder*

" Seems like my darling is scared of some rats, huh? " *laughs*

"It's not like I am scared of them but... "

"They won't make much trouble if you can put up with them "

"I will try..."

[2 Days passed by, and the rats would always make a mess. Rem would always complain about this to her husband, but he would just ignore it. Soon after he was assigned for a business trip for about 2 weeks. ]

"Are you actually going to leave me here alone? "

"I have no other choice to be honest..."

"Very well"

[2 weeks passed by and Nan returned from his business trip. He went to his house, rang the doorbell a few times but would get no response from inside. Later he noticed that the gate was already unlocked. Feeling uneasy, he hurried inside Thee interiors were all in their usual condition but yet an awful smell would linger in their house. He thought what it would be and he hurried inside to look for the cause. Soon after he reached their bedroom. A skeleton, completely eaten was lying in their bed in a posture, quite familiar to Nan. ]

" R-Rem? "

He muttered those words as he started feeling nauseous. His eyesight started going blank, and he fell on the floor on his knees. He felt devastated. He could hear loud rattling getting louder and louder. That was until hundreds of rats crawled out of their holes. Nan noticed that few of the rats were covered in blood. He understood how Rem died. He got petrified and fell unconscious. Then a loud chewing and rattling could be heard from their house.

*A few years later*

"Wow ! This house is just epic for living... How much is it?"

"It's $25 a month... "

" Quite affordable I would say, I would love to make the rental contract. "

" Of course sir, as you wish. "

" But I have something to ask you... "

" What sir? "

"What is this awful stench I am getting and why are there some red marks on the walls... "

"Nothing sir, It's just the painting marks left behind by the children of my previous tenants."

"Is that so?"

"Yes sir"

"What about this awful stench then? Of course the children would not leave that behind."

"You must be joking sir. There is no way we would have such a stench behind."

" Why is there a hand hanging out of the wall then ? "

--------- THE END --------