The Red Room

by Musether

The Red Room. Horror story set in the 1880s. Victoria Slighcarp visits the manor of a friend and experiences increasingly bizarre visions. Is this real, or is something far more sinister at hand? What is stalking her, and can she stop it?

1. Prologue

The Red Room

Prologue:

Mist hung in the air, like spectral phantoms from the netherworld, encircling Glebe Manor in its cold, icy tendrils. Dark storm clouds gathered overhead and from far away, the first faint clap of thunder could be heard. The mist grew thicker, obscuring the stable house, which was viewable from the main mansion in icy whiteness. The baying of several hounds belonging to the Master of the estate: Lord Gladstone, rose to a pitch as a large and relatively luxurious carriage approached the wrought-iron gates of the estate, and drove up the circular gravel drive. Night was falling, rapidly and the manor was light up by the intense lights of the gas lamps in each room. Servants sped around the manor, tiding up and closing curtains before retiring back to their quarters. The carriage stopped, and the driver courteously opened the door of the carriage for the mysterious occupant. A cloaked figure stepped out, silhouetted against the bright light of the porch gas-lamp, before a mild-mannered lady's maid answered the door. The figure entered, and with it brought the mist which had clung to the stranger's cloak like a baby to it's mother's breast. The door closed and the night was shut out, or was it?

Darkness had arrived at Glebe Manor.