Reader Beware...

When I was seven, I watched the film adaptation of "The Yellow Wallpaper"-- a short story about a woman whose husband locks her in the attic of their summer home to keep her from her own big ideas. (Read it here... if you dare).

The woman goes mad and begins to see the eyes of someone trapped behind the wallpaper. Eventually, to free that person she tears the paper from the walls in harsh noisy shreds. The last scene leaves her crawling on all fours around and around the tattered room. Only, pan out to include her thoughts and she's crawling through the dead leaves of a forest floor, that attic hell already a memory off in the distance.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" haunted me for years. I spent the rest of my childhood sharing a bed with my sister(s) because I was too afraid to sleep alone.  

Fast forward to February 26, 2013. The following is an excerpt from my journal--I've been saving it for a spooky occasion.

Jensie was delirious tonight. She shouted my name again and again until I ran to her bed to comfort her.

She began sobbing, "It's itchy. I have to get her. I have to peel her skin off, it itches so bad. Over there, she itches. Look at the wall! Its skin is peeling. She itches so bad, I have to help her. I want to get up to help her."

Creepiest moment of my life.

Happy Halloween!