Secrets of the Turret Room

By F. Lee Chambers

The turret room has a cozy appearance and a fantastic view, but when she stepped into it, Julie shook with chills to the point of nearly screaming. Strange happenings make her feel that someone besides her and her husband must be in the old house that they have just purchased. If it weren’t for Julie being so sexy, Jim would have gone nuts from all the strange happenings that were engulfing them. Does the disappearance of the deranged and frightening old man who lived there have anything to do with it? Jim has installed new locks on every door and window. He has searched every inch of the house, including the attic and spiderweb-infested crawl space. The old carriage house out back feels weird and spooky. A search for cameras and recording devices also reveals nothing. Yet a pair of eyes may always be watching. Uncovering the secret could reveal a historical event that could change the history of our country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669858867

F. Lee Chambers

Forrest Lee Chambers has been a book reader all his life, so he decided writing was in order. He has written two books and started two others and has also written many newspaper articles and letters. He is an army veteran and resides in Indiana with his wife and their dog, Max.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Oh, Jim! The turret room is such a tremendous amenity to the house! I can’t wait to go in it again!

Jim and Julie didn’t have much time when they bought the house because they wanted to grab it since the price was so low and they had to get back home in time to close on their old house. Time was of the essence.

The house is a little scary-looking, Julie, but this will be our home since we have already purchased it. We will get used to it, Jim said.

Jim and Julie had spent most of their savings and, with great difficulty, had gotten new jobs here in town. They had to admit though that the house sure looked different on the bright, sunny day that they came here to purchase it. And, of course, it seemed to be a super bargain price. In addition, they loved the turret room.

Jim, this is exactly what I wanted—an old two-story house that has most of the important updates, Julie said. But yes, I am a little frightened by the way it looks. However, it’s right here on Front Street with houses that are similar, except for the turret room here on a front corner that is great.

The couple had arrived on a gloomy Monday morning, and it made them feel as if something was a little scary or wrong. Julie shivered because she only wore a pretty white dress and a lightweight brown coat. Jim felt a little cold, but that was mostly from looking at the house and not from the light brown summer suit he was wearing. The crushed-stone drive was rough on Julie’s new white shoes. The house had seemed altogether different in the short time they had been there to purchase it. They knew that it had a gas furnace, air-conditioning, indoor plumbing, and several other upgrades, which were good for a house that was about 180 years old. And the master bedroom on the main floor was something they really wanted. It would be a project to make it fit all the dreams that Julie had in mind, but with the low price and all they knew, they could make it work.

What is strange though is that the realtor was able to find one for such an exceptionally low price. And since I get the chills from just looking at it, I wonder if there is something about it that brought the price down that they didn’t tell us about.

I wondered that myself. If I believed in ghosts, then I might think that it could be haunted or something.

You never know, Julie. Old houses can have a lot of charm, but sometimes you get a lot more than you bargained for. But the boxy styling and the second-floor turret room, which has that tremendous view, make it worth it.

They also thought it was neat how they had closed up the two old fireplaces but left them with only minor repairs, so the mantles and hearths reflected the charm of the original house.

Jim and Julie Windell were in their midforties. Both had maintained their looks; Julie’s blond hair and Jim’s coal-black hair and their near-normal weights made them look healthy and full of vigor. Jim’s six-foot-one frame towered over five-foot-three Julie, and they could pass for the king and queen of the sweetheart dance. They learned each other’s mannerisms and got along well—at least most of the time.

Chapter 2

The old house was similar to many others in that area of town with the exception of the turret room. It was the type of house that still left a certain uncomfortable feeling in one’s stomach even when they looked at all the modern features. The boxy styling seemed to have a certain eerie way about it that made some of the people who were more likely to believe in ghosts and strange happenings cringe just from looking at it as they passed by. Yet nothing was present to give a hint of anything being out of the ordinary or of anyone living there being abnormal until the new residents learned about who or what had lived there. Jim and Julie were innocent and not suspicious of most things, but sometimes things just don’t feel like they should, and sometimes that happens for a good reason.

I feel like I will get used to it after a while, Jim. I still want to live here.

Well, it isn’t a haunted house that is set up on a hill by itself. There’s no creaky gate or cemetery in the front yard, and I’m sure that there are no pictures on the walls with eyes that will follow us around. So knock it off.

Here on Front Street, several of the homes had been torn down. The interior looked very nice. When they went inside on their previous visit, it impressed both of them.

I would enjoy it more if it had a basement like I wanted at first. But a basement would probably just encourage us to hoard stuff like at the other house. I always felt safer, though, if I had a basement to go to when we had a storm.

Remember, I’m here to protect you when the storm starts, said Jim.

But why is it, Jim, that you always think that the safest place during a storm is under the covers of our bed?

Did you ever hear of lightning striking anyone while they were in their bed, Julie?

No, but I’ve heard of a lot more things happening while people are there.

What color of wallpaper would you like in the bedroom, Julie?

Don’t change the subject.

Jim thought that all the creepy stuff would go away after they were there for a few days and had gotten used to everything. He remembered that he always felt hot when they had the summer heat, even with air-conditioning, so he was always glad to see ceiling fans, especially when he saw some in the master bedroom.

Julie said, The ceiling fans really will be a lifesaver for you, Jim. You will suffer a lot in this heat.

Yes, but come on, Julie. The storm is about to start, so let’s go in and take a walk through it again and enjoy it more slowly this time. Maybe we missed some things on our first visit.

Wait a minute—did you see the curtain move? The one in that turret room? Is someone watching us? I’m sure that something moved in that side window. The house has been empty for about a year, and no one is supposed to have access to it except the realtor, and I don’t think he would be up there and sneaking around and stalking us. However, I didn’t see a hand or a face, so I’m not sure.

Julie, you are probably just a bit leery because of the way it looks. It was probably just that the air-conditioning came on and moved the curtain.

Jim thought the realtor might have turned the air-conditioning on since he knew they were coming today. Also, there were no other cars there, and he knew that the realtor would have parked his car somewhere where it could be seen.

Well, OK, but I still think it looked very suspicious. When I first saw the turret room as we drove up, I was admiring it because it is such a neat part of the house, but I thought I saw something move in one of those windows.

Very carefully other eyes were watching their every move.

But did Julie really see those curtains move? She was usually on top of everything and was very reliable.

She does have great eyesight and must have seen something, Jim thought. What if someone is in the house and just waiting to do us harm? Wait a minute—here I am, going off on a tangent and not making any sense. Think positive thoughts. If the curtains did move, it must have been the air-conditioning coming on or some other reasonable possibility.

Julie thought that also—that it must have been the air-conditioning blowing a curtain, but could that have been it? It seemed to only move the curtain in that one window and not in any of the others. Since the windows were so close together, that seemed sort of strange to her; if it was the air-conditioning, then it should have moved more than that one curtain.

I have pretty good eyes, you know, Jim.

And very pretty eyes at that.

You’re not getting out of this that easy, buster. If you would just pay attention more, you wouldn’t miss so many things—like that car you almost hit a few blocks back because you weren’t paying attention.

Well, he was swerving all over the place, Julie.

"Only because you were on his side of the road while you were paying attention to that blonde walking down the sidewalk."

You see? Even you admit that I was paying attention.

Let’s go inside.

Chapter 3

Jim had the keys, and he unlocked the door. They proceeded to go upstairs and peeked into the turret room, where Julie had seen the curtain move. There was an air-conditioning outlet near there, but why did it only move one curtain?

Jim retreated back downstairs and assured Julie that it was likely that the air-conditioning outlet had moved the curtains.

Julie said, All right, then. Let’s look at the kitchen next.

The kitchen needed updating. It looked like it had been quite a few years since its last update, and the tiles on the floor were worn and looked pretty bad. It seemed strange that they hadn’t done anything about that since they seemed to look so bad and everything else had undergone some attempt to make it more presentable. Another area looked as though it had been a very large room that was now divided into three areas. Those were the bath off the master bedroom, a half bath off the hallway, and a utility room, although it seemed a little close in the utility room. The entire area had been painted white with a flowery paper border at the top.

The areas could have been a single dining room. Lots of old houses had big dining rooms. With such a large kitchen, what most people then would have considered a nook would be plenty of room to have a dining-room table, and that would be a sufficient area for Jim and Julie.

Of course, maybe this large room was divided up because it was where they held their séances or interviewed the ghosts, but then they went on to something else later.

You are not going to scare me with that. The house will do just fine, Jim.

Jim didn’t want to pick apart the house, but some things didn’t add up, especially the kitchen floor, which most buyers would have turned away from. It was a large kitchen, and it would probably cost a large sum to replace its floor. He had seen houses rejected by potential buyers for a lot less of a problem. So why did this one thing stay as a one out of ten when the rest of the house looked like an eight or nine as far as the modernization of an old house went? The black tile and its worn design not only looked like it had seen many decades of wear but also looked like it had been laid on cement or something that resembled cement or mortar. That just didn’t make any sense. Everything else in the kitchen seemed as it should be, although he was sure that the white cabinets with fancy knobs and the stainless-steel sink and other built-ins were not parts of the original house. But dealing with the kitchen problems would have to wait for another day.

Let’s continue. A lot of rearranging has been done to make the house as modern as possible. But what bothers me is the fact that it had been on the market for quite a while and finally sold for such a low price. I’m sure the realtor knows the real value of the house.

I don’t know, Jim. All I know is that a lot of the inside of the house seems to have been painted recently, and the carpets have been cleaned and—actually, almost everything in here is nice and clean. It looks like we can just move in and not have to do very much right away. Let’s go upstairs and look again.

The upstairs areas seemed to all be in decent condition the other day when they rapidly went through the house.

Something that puzzles me is this bedroom. It has a dead-bolt lock on the door, Jim.

Why would someone want that, Julie? I guess this extra key that we got is for that. I’ll try it. Yes, that’s it. But look at this. How strange. There is no way to unlock the dead bolt from the inside. That is strange. Most locks are not like that. I wonder where someone could have purchased it. Let’s look it over and see if there is something odd about the room.

There was a nice view out of the single window since the next two lots were vacant. The old houses had been torn down in the past. Perhaps they hadn’t been kept up like their new home had been. The room had been painted beige, and there was nothing else in the room except a closet, which seemed very normal, and a picture on the wall.

I’m sorry, Jim, but I get a creepy feeling in this room, like something evil happened here and maybe still lurks here. My hands are starting to shake and perspire, and that never happens to me. The room looks OK to me. I want to get out of here though. And the lock situation does make me wonder. Maybe they had something or some entity in here that they didn’t want to let out or let anyone see.

You mean, like a ghost?

Very funny. A ghost would just pass through the walls.

Jim didn’t believe in ghosts, so he didn’t want to get into a conversation about them, but he did say that he had lived in a hundred-year-old house when he was growing up and never heard one Boo! or saw one unexplainable shadow.

Well, some guys are just lucky enough to not experience it. My dad said that he thought he saw a ghost once, but it was just great-grandma, who was ninety-six and just looked like a ghost. One time, she realized what he was thinking and said ‘Boo!’ Nearly made him wet his pants, Julie said.

You better be nice. You may look like that someday, young lady. Oh, I guess I shouldn’t have said that.

You got that right, buster. If we get that old and I say ‘Boo!’ you’ll do more in your pants than just wet them. Of course, at that age, I probably won’t have to say ‘Boo!’

Chapter 4

OK, let’s get out of here and look at the attic and the turret room.

Jim did like the stairs going to the attic. They didn’t look all that old either. Perhaps they stored stuff up there, Jim thought. Jim wanted to take a peek and see what was up there, so he crept up the steps and reluctantly opened the door slowly. As he peered inside, he almost began to shake but soon saw that nothing was there to grab him.

The attic was empty. He could see the whole area, and it’s just mostly insulation and nothing else. They had probably taken everything out when they had the auction that the realtor mentioned, Jim thought. However, he also assumed that there could still be things stored up here since part of the area had plywood nailed down to act as flooring in order to make it usable.

Julie, when I was a kid, I used to be afraid of attics—always picturing a lot of scary stuff up there and something evil hiding behind an old trunk or some other thing. I must have been in my midteens before I started going into our attic without needing someone with me. There were always weird noises that would come from there, and I never learned what they were.

Maybe the evil thing was checking out what was in the trunk or wanted to lure you up there so it could eat you or something.

Listen, Julie, I remember when you weren’t so brave—like when you actually saw a little mouse and jumped onto the dining-room table. And it wasn’t pretty since one foot landed in the mashed potatoes and the other one flipped your mother’s plate into her hair. Of course, the cooked corn did match her blond hair fairly well.

I noticed that you were laughing so hard that you didn’t see the chocolate pie coming until it was too late.

Let’s move on to another subject.

I thought you might say that.

Oh, Jim, I love this turret room. Look at the view! It isn’t very big, but it would be a great place to sit and read the paper or a book or something.

But Julie got the same creepy feeling in here that she did in the bedroom with the dead-bolt lock. It started making her skin crawl. How can that be? And in such a delightful room, Julie thought. Jim hated to admit it, but he felt the same way.

It was as if something was watching you or waiting for a chance to grab you. It was the same feeling they got in the dead-bolt room. They were sure that these feelings meant something since they were only experienced in certain areas of the house. They wondered what secrets the turret room held. But they wanted to move on and not risk getting discouraged. The other bedroom upstairs was also painted beige and was good-sized with only a closet, but they felt nothing wrong there. It didn’t feel the same as the bedroom with the dead-bolt lock. The closet was about the same size as the other bedroom’s, and nothing looked out of place, just like in the dead-bolt bedroom.

They noticed that almost all the walls and ceilings in all the rooms had been painted. Also, there was a full bathroom upstairs with plumbing fixtures and other such things of an older type. The pipes were exposed along the wall, just like in the bathrooms downstairs. They tried everything, and they knew that everything was there and worked. The revamping of such an old house quite a few years ago had to have been difficult because of its old plaster walls. All in all, it appeared that they had done a pretty good job.

But you know, Jim, thinking back to the turret room, if it feels like that in broad daylight, then what will it feel like after dark? What will the dead-bolt bedroom feel like? Maybe we will get used to it and it won’t bother us after a while. Or if there is some entity there, I’m sure we will find out shortly.

Julie, maybe you are just blowing this all out of proportion. We have seen nothing out of the ordinary except that dead-bolt lock and nothing at all in the turret room.

Well, that is enough to make me wonder.

Chapter 5

A turret room is not found on many homes. They had been lucky to find a house that had one. The fact that this room was suspended out from the house without a foundation or anything under it probably would make some folks feel uneasy when they were in it. Of course they couldn’t see the way it was attached, but it had to have been cantilevered out from the same joists that supported the second floor. They were sure that the builders had the knowledge to make it safe and had probably built turret rooms several times in the past.

Jim, I feel safe as far as the construction of the room is concerned. Everything in the house seems to be built very well. It’s something else that I feel. She had never noticed a room like that turret room before, but you can bet that she would be watching for them now just to see how many of them were around on other houses. She believed that she had seen some that were on buildings in the downtown areas.

A downtown building that had a business on the ground floor and a living space above it was more likely to have one since a turret room takes a lot of craftsmanship to build, and a lot of homeowners might have liked to have one but couldn’t afford it.

It made sense to have a turret room downtown. There was more activity there—all the people walking about and all the vehicles traveling down the street. People could go in there and entertain themselves when they tired of everything else. Of course when TV came along, they probably found that to be more entertaining. But people might go back to the turret room when they didn’t care for what was on the tube.

I might sit in here sometimes, Julie, but not when the football game is on.

"I know you like football, and I have grown to like watching it once