Little does the man know death awaits. And soon, he will join the spooks of the ancient mannor.

Refrain:

Ever darker grows the soul
Eclipsing shadowed moon
While all the while the poltergeist
Recites its wicked tune.

(I)
Darkened gloom transcends the room
Where eerie curtains hang.
Outside the window’s tainted glass,
A thunderclap’s loud bang

(II)
Erupts in trapped ferocity,
Despondent in its plea.
Within the trappings of the mind,
A bleak eternity

(III)
Sets dimly in, slow inch by inch
Until the empty host
Collaborates enticingly
With haunted, ghastly ghost.

(Refrain)

(IV)
The house, a blackened metaphor
For lucid spirit’s gleaming
Next to an ancient bending bough
Wrought forth from evil’s dreaming

(V)
Recalls the murders, one by one
As midnight’s howling lull
Exposes passers in its trance,
Concealed amidst the hull

(VI)
Of wood and brick and chimney’s sweep,
A belfry full of bats
Conjoined, divided unto all
Who scurry past like rats.

(Refrain)

(VII)
‘T was such a night at such a time
When I sat in the den
Not knowing all that would transpire,
Naïve, unsure back then.

(VIII)
Electrical, the beating storm
Struck lines closing the hit.
With power out, a lantern found
Its wick soon to be lit.

(IX)
Now time stood still, no tick, no tock
Alone with silence screaming.
I felt a presence bringing chills
While lantern light burst, beaming.

(Refrain)

(X)
How long I sat there on retail
Bound leather sofa fleeting
Amongst the notions cradling fear
Caught up in my heart’s beating

(XI)
I did not know, crass in my mind,
Corrupting mental jewelry
Seen as a mocking, trembling chime,
A crusty crop of foolery.

(XII)
Choking fast, I gasped for air
Fighting to thus resist
The supernatural device
That ghosts did not exist.

(Refrain)

(XIII)
With tunnel vision as my guide,
I stood to take a look
And like a reason stolen forth
From some unruly crook

(XIV)
I danced beyond the lantern’s flare,
Seeing the foyer glisten.
Suddenly, my footfall ceased
So I could take a listen.

(XV)
Banshee’s wail collected every
Thought within my head,
And I tread quickly to assess
The things my neighbor said.

(Refrain)

(XVI)
Alas, too late, I did recall
What I sensed ‘twas a joke,
Quite disbelieving every word;
Each word my neighbor spoke.

(XVII)
“Who’s there?” I quizzed in shaking voice,
Remembering with fervor
Two people’s stain had left their mark,
A mark detailing murder.

(XVIII)
“Beware, for all inhabitants
Have met untimely ends.
Hence, heed this warning for your soul
You’ll soon have to defend.”

(Refrain)

(XIX)
In fact, there had been sixteen deaths
Unsolved by the police.
Indented chatter spoiled my teeth,
Unleashing my belief.

(XX)
The house grew ever quieter
As I searched for relief.
Aside from two, no others found
Could offer up their grief.

(XXI)
Since 1890, oh so few
Had purchased to explore
The mysteries surrounding all
From wall to hall to floor.

(Refrain)

(XXII)
When I arrived, I thought it odd
For such an ancient manner
To sell most cheaply, and to note
That my own victory banner

(XXIII)
Should wave, for such a house as this
Crept up appearing new.
And pride had sold me her threshold,
Not caring that so few

(XXIV)
Escaped the confines of its frame,
Great masters of domain,
Where eighteen all together died,
Eighteen to yet remain.

(Refrain)

(XXV)
Creaking door cursed inwardly,
Inviting me to jump.
I hit the floor with pounding feet
As blood, indeed, did pump

(XXVI)
In rhythmic static from within
My body’s crucial trauma.
Yes blood divulged the coward’s plot,
Like acted in a drama.

(XXVII)
I turned in rounds, then pushed abroad,
Watching with every move.
Sadly, I shook with tingling strides;
I shook with my heart’s groove.

(Refrain)

(XXVIII)
Wooden floor etched out the fall
And Rise of stepping slowly.
Room to room, I forced myself
To flee from the unholy.

(XXIX)
No pictures hung, tied to the walls
For I lived all alone.
And while awake, the reverie
Led me to there atone.

(XXX)
Asunder, halting in the spot
Where mirror sketched my face,
Reflection dreadfully my aura
Showed at vision’s pace.

(Refrain)

(XXXI)
What happened next caused me to flinch,
To stiffen human frame,
For there behind me lurked something,
And by the lantern flame

(XXXII)
I saw a multitude of shapes
Fly hastily in blue.
Sprinting into the bathroom, I
Did not know what to do.

(XXXIII)
Shutting door, I hit the ground,
The lantern at my side,
When suddenly a chorus sang:
“There’s no where you can hide!”

(Refrain)


(XXXIV)
Hallucinations, I equated,
Just imagination.
Standing, I cracked loose the door,
A moment’s deviation.

(XXXV)
Light source glowing in my hand
Urged me to pulse and thrive.
I ran out to the front door only
Whishing to survive.

(XXXVI)
I stumbled o’er my coffee table’s
Placement in the dark,
But when I reached the exit, death
Already made its mark.

(Refrain)

(XXXVII)
Locked without the dead bolt’s usage,
I spun back around,
Then turned again to try once more,
Escape yet to be found.

(XXXVIII)
Tugging, heaving, pulling on
The knob with no avail,
Again I heard the queer, vile sound
Of Banshee’s twisted yell.

(XXXIX)
There beyond some fifteen feet
Were eighteen horrors towering.
Gripping lantern tighter, I
Had no time left for cowering.

(Refrain)

(XL)
The leader, she was mutilated,
Drawn like crystal shards.
Behind her lurked the other beings,
Burnt in disregard.

(XLI)
Induced to run a different path,
I looked back one time fleeing.
In their own ways, the ghosts eloped,
Transfixed as demon beings.

(XLII)
Most held a human feature, but
In stance and size was all.
Blue aqua colored motions nearly
Kept me bound in thrall.

(Refrain)

(XLIII)
Arriving in my bedroom’s care,
I closed the door with speed.
Once bolted, I reached for the phone
To satiate my need.

(XLIV)
“How could this be?” I quipped and jibed.
Despair felt like a quirk.
No pulse; no dial; not anything
Allowing phone to work

(XLV)
Cascaded like a reckoning
The end was coming nigh.
Revelations fueled the thought:
“Soon, I guess I’ll die.”

(Refrain)

(XLVI)
As done before, when silence coiled
I ventured from the state
Of shock, remitting me to leave
This nightmare up to fate.

(XLVII)
Ascending pilgrim of retired
Emotions bred in shape
Of other worldly sanctions held
Aloft in flowing drape

(XLVIII)
seen as dilemma carved and pasted
through a weary eye
implied the blinding heat of promise
I could not deny.

(Refrain)

(XLIX)
I fled into the spare room blocking
Entrance, so I thought.
Behind the drape the open window
Came as freedom sought.

(L)
Cawing raven lit the ledge,
As I pushed myself through
Eighteen avenging ghosts eclipsed
The door with shades of blue.

(LI)
The raven seemed to laugh at me
With every sound it made.
Even the rain and thunder scoffed
Within their scant parade.

(Refrain)

(LII)
Closer came the entities,
And once my feet found chalice
I rose up to the ledge to see
The raven full of malice.

(LIII)
If I fell my life would end
And I would forfeit breath.
Just one look back into the room,
And then I thought of death.

(LIV)
Wings of raven flapped and then
My balance birthed askew.
I wobbled back and forth then I
Peered into shades of blue.

(Refrain)

(LV)
Not withstanding longer, I
Hopped back into the room
Not accepting like those dead
This house would be my tomb.

(LVI)
Back to wall beside the window,
Ghosts spun round about
Swirling into something dreadful:
A giant, monstrous spout.

(LVII)
Hues evolved into sea green.
A face, androgynous,
Nurtured fangs from creature’s mouth,
Resounding incubus.

(Refrain)

(LVIII)
Scared and frightened beyond reach
I wished I were alone,
Pupils wide in their dilation perched
Where ere the lantern shone.

(LIX)
Ragged cloth hung from its frame
Like draping on a throne,
Scarred, revealing somewhere underneath
Its imagery like bone

(LX)
Exposed when ribs are snapped and cracked
Akin to breaking puncture,
Knowing racing for conviction only
Failed me in my juncture.

(Refrain)

(LXI)
“There is nowhere left to run;
There is nowhere to flee.
There are none to save you.” Spoke
The demon-ghost with glee.

(LXII)
Kneeling low to place the lantern
I thought in my mirth
To open up my light source granting
Fire a new birth.

(LXIII)
Then I sighed in terror as this
gave the upper edge
And I stepped back beside the raven
On the window ledge.

(Refrain)

(LXIV)
Wailing spirit cursed in rage,
Corrupt in flaming mire,
Passing through the smoky haze
Outstretched beyond the fire.

(LXV)
Suicide I cradled in my
Mind to my dismay,
For there the evil spirit doused
The flames now gone astray.

(LXVI)
Cackled jeering boasted envy,
Then joined in the raven.
In the chamber of my heart,
The walls began to cave in.

(Refrain)

(LXVII)
In mid air, I motioned seeking
Death at my own hand,
But falling down, alas the demon
Would not let me land.

(LXVIII)
I lost my chance there to defy
My current living deco.
In my ears, I met the treason
Of the demon’s echo.

(LXIX)
Agile swiftness in its movement,
Back inside we strode.
Grave suspense convinced my motives
They would all explode.

(Refrain)

(LXX)
Down a spiral case of stairs
Into the cellar’s mold
Escalating my destruction, sixteen
bodies in its hold

(LXXI)
As if saying, “You shall join them.” with
A grin across its lips.
All sixteen looked like some mummies found
On expeditious trips.

(LXXII)
The creatures flew about them as
They evanesced in air.
I knew why no one found them; why
Nobody seemed to care.

(Refrain)

(LXXIII)
Would the morning not come rescue me,
Expelling demon back?
Without holding to my lantern, all
Around was painted black.

(LXXIV)
Chills imploded on the inside breaking
Skin in prickling shock.
Out of nowhere flushed the creature,
Emptying its flock.

(LXXV)
Like the North Star brightly shining, their
Blue haze brought back eighteen.
Then surrounded by components, I
Surrendered to the scene.

(Refrain)

(LXXVI)
Not a word said as they closed in, one
From every side endeared.
Wisps of cool heat lifting me up, grasping
Onto all I feared.

(LXXVII)
Draining soul rushed from the pores
And orifices blending.
My spirit finally dwindled from
The place where I once dwelled.

(LXXVIII)
All at once the meaning crumbled, and
By eighteen where I stood
I thought I had won the battle until
Woes burst as a flood.

(Refrain)

(LXXIX)
Sprawled in tangled mutilation, I
Caught glimpses left to see.
Then I came to the conclusion number
Nineteen must be me.

(LXXX)
Just as quickly as they started, ghosts
Abandoned me to weep.
Now a phantom in my own right, life
Eternal I would keep.

(LXXXI)
Here before you I am pleading, hear
These words and walk away,
Or you’ll end up like this creature, chained
Forever here to stay.

(Refrain)

(LXXXII)
Suit yourself if you won’t listen, for
The other eighteen come.
Your position of unyielding will break
Open and turn numb.

(LXXXIII)
Fade away, I will so do, for I
Cannot bear anger’s crutch.
They will take you and destroy you; you’re
A feast while in their clutch.

(LXXXIV)
Time deems duly for an end to every
Mortal’s dying plenty.
I now leave you here in doubt to soon
Become the number twenty.

(Refrain)