This prompt came to me by a site that loves the horror genre. If you wish to visit the site, click the following link:
https://terror.ca/game/writing-prompts
On that page, there is a button you press that randomizes four aspects to create the prompt. It’s imaginative and different. Most of the prompts I run into are in graphical format.
So, let’s see how fun this adventure with a gangster is going to be.
Laurie opened a shoebox whose colors had faded long ago. There was a rectangular plastic object in it with a sticker on top. On the sticker was written, “My stash”. She took it out of the box and went upstairs to her dad.
Richard was sitting in his chair reading when he heard his daughter come up the stairs. She stopped when she got to her dad’s easy chair and held up the object, “Dad, what’s this?”
He took the object from her, “This is an old VHS tape. That’s what we used to record videos on and watch movies with. You need a player for it.”
“It’s clunky.”
The right corner of Richard’s mouth turned up, “Hey now, it’s all we had when I was growing up.” He stood and started toward the basement stairs, “Let’s see if we can find the player. I know I have on down there. I forgot what was on here.”
They made their way back to the basement and the moldy boxes stacked here and there.
“I really need to get plastic containers to organize the stuff down here. The smell is awful down here.” Richard handed Laurie a mask and placed one on his face.
He made his way to the rear corner of the basement and started rummaging through boxes. He pulled out one and opened it, “Ah, here it is.”
Laurie’s eyes were wide, “That thing is huge! Where did you put that thing?”
“In the living room, of course. There is a small TV over here.”
He placed the TV on an old table and wired up the VHS player. He plugged the TV into the wall and then the player. He placed the tape into the machine. The screen flickered and started to glow.
Laurie started to feel odd, “Dad, I don’t we should be doing th-“
The next thing both of them knew was they were facing a large home with a circular driveway.
Richard looked at Laurie, “Now, I remember this tape. I wasn’t supposed to put it in the machine. We need to find a way out.”
“Dad, what kind of Jumanji stuff is this?”
“You’re gonna wish that’s all this is.”
Laurie looked around at the house, the yard, and the cars, “Dad, this isn’t a gangster’s house, like mob guy?”
Richard slowly nodded, “Yeah, this is a ‘mob guy’s’ house. We’re going to need to get through this.”
“How?”
“Follow my lead.”
“Dad, you didn’t use to be…”
“We don’t talk about that.”
…that’s all I’ve got for now.
House of Geek 