Room For Rent

By Johan Michaels

Discover a terrifying tale in the midst of a New England ice storm in Johan Michael's first short story in the Short Tales of Terror series.

 

Review: "The absolute terror this writer illustrates in his writing is outstanding. Not at all how I expected it to end and I'm extremely grateful for that. A brief fistful of suspense. And the door slams shut at the end."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Johan Michaels
• Release date: Jan 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215121009

Book preview

DEDICATION

To the writers that came before me, my fellow humankind and the readers whom

I will never know.

For Belle

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The original story of Room For Rent was hand-written as a college assignment over twenty two years ago in a book that is now long lost.  This version is based on a vague memory of that original story.  Cheers to our faulty brains and creative impulses that drive us forward!

CHAPTER ONE

ABITTER COLD blasted its way through the Northeast United States.

The snow, already two inches thick became iced over and glazed to a slick, reflective surface. A small town that typically conveyed a sense of light-heartedness and joy was frozen in a moment of hollow desperation. Its citizens ran inside their glowing warm homes, trying in vain to shelter themselves from the storm. Shop-keepers closed up early, a mom-and-pop grocery store was dark, and the streets were empty as dusk settled in.

This was the exact moment that Leonard Phipps entered Mason, New Hampshire, driving his white Chrysler Lebaron on his way to Boston. He had watched people scramble from their businesses to their cars with wool scarves wrapped tightly around their necks as he passed through the center of town. His flight was leaving in a few hours and he was making good time for most of the drive.

The GPS attached to his