I am a sucker for a good scary story. What amazes me, is that I don't have to go too far to find one. They tend to land in my lap, whether I want them to or not, like salmon jumping into a grizzly's mouth.
I just went up to the Georgetown Christmas
Market to participate in my third year at the annual Book Nook. The event spans across two weekends in December and I always try to both days on both weekends. Georgetown isn't all that far from Denver, about an hour in dry conditions with no traffic, but
it made sense to me to stay the night on Saturday rather than drive back and forth, up and down, the mountain.
Local Bed & Breakfasts book up really quick in these quaint mountain towns, but I was able to find lodging at the - we'll call it the
Black Mountain Inn - for the night. It is a two-star hotel if I'm being honest: old, rickety, poor insulation, chipped paint, and the first hotel that I've stayed at that required a real metal key in a very, very, long time, but the sheets were clean, the
water was hot, and beyond that I don't really care.
The next morning, I get up, get dressed and ready, and head out to another day of book selling glory! Only, I can't get out.....
(Now, because I am writing about this, you know that I survive
this, but try to imagine the perspective of a single traveling female while you read to achieve the proper perspective.....)
I turn the knob to the right. Nothing. Turn to the left. Nothing. Try rebolting and unbolting the deadbolt. Nope. Still locked
in.
Okay..... don't panic. I'm sure this happens all the time in these old hotels, just call the front desk. I walk over to the phone on the night-table, pick up the receiver, no dial tone...... Yep. This is how I die. Uh-huh - que the wide-eyes, and
panicked breathing......
I pick up the phone..... no cord. NO CORD!
I look behind the table, where the phone jack would be, well - where it would be there is a hole in the wall..... A HOLE IN THE WALL!!!!
Norman Bates, or the modern equivalent,
is next door I just know it! I'm looking at the mini-fridge and wondering, am about to be chopped up into little pieces and shoved into that tiny refrigerated receptacle? I'm definitely NOT stepping into the shower - that's for sure!
I grab my cell
phone, which in these mountain towns service is spotty, and after two failed attempts I finally get it ringing to the front desk........ No. Answer.
I'M GOING TO DIE.
Fortunately for me, before I have a chance to call 911, or pray, my phone
rings.
"Hi there, this is (we'll call him Jeb) Jeb, at the Black Mountain Inn, I think I missed a call from you."
"Hi, Jeb, this is Rebecca in room 49 and I can't get out of my room. The door won't open," I'm trying so hard to be calm and patient,
and hoping this is all a misunderstanding and that 'Jeb' isn't standing outside my door with a large kitchen knife.
"Ah, okay, turn the knob, lift up and pull to the right."
I do as instructed, and like a charm, the door opens right
up!
"Okay, that worked." I start to relax, now that I know I'm going to live. "Thanks! You know, a note on the door with those instructions might be helpful for future guests, Jeb."
"Yeah, that's a good idea, you're probably right."
"Uh-huh...."
I get to the event and share my story with the other authors, and they all listen in awe. Once I finish, they all shout out, "That would be such a great story!"
Right!? It would be a great story! Single traveling female comes to an off the path,
old Inn, where she meets a mysterious, brutal, and fatal end…… There can't possibly be a horror story that follows that murderous plot, could there?.......