The Haunted House's Terrifying Debut

The haunted house practice in the old school building had left everyone impressed by Seoyeon’s ghostly performance, but she wasn’t satisfied. Something felt off to her, like she hadn’t fully grasped the essence of fear that a ghost should evoke.

“It’s probably because I haven’t fully understood the fear that comes with being a ghost,” she thought to herself.

She recalled the emotions she’d felt while playing that horror game—the tension, the atmosphere created by the creatures. Seoyeon wasn’t sure if she had successfully conveyed that same eerie presence during practice. Appearing suddenly to scare people was more like the jump scares she had always hated in games.

“Jump scares aren’t bad,” she mused, “but maybe I should reference a proper horror movie.”

Horror movies were a genre Seoyeon had never fully explored, even in her previous life when she consumed various media to learn about human emotions. The premise of a horror movie is based on the idea that people experience fear, something Seoyeon hadn’t naturally felt, making such films less appealing to her.

“Right,” she nodded, realizing that the fear she had felt while playing the game was because it was so unfamiliar to her.

“If I watch a few movies or play a few more games, I’ll get used to it.” Seoyeon, the girl who didn’t know fear—now she did, and if it was something she could get used to, then it was just a matter of time. The memory of screaming and panicking during the game made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“That won’t happen again,” she vowed.

Determined to improve, Seoyeon began searching the internet for horror movies to reference. She focused on classic films that had changed the horror genre, especially scenes that were particularly memorable.

One scene that caught her attention was from a movie where a possessed girl crawls down the stairs, upside down, on all fours.

“...” Seoyeon studied the scene intently, and that night, she went to bed shivering.

Over the next three days, Seoyeon practiced the move in the old school building, alone, determined to perfect her ghostly role.

“Alright,” she nodded at her reflection in the mirror. Her classmates had done their best to create a scary look for her. Seoyeon had wanted something more terrifying, but they settled on heavily applying black mascara around her eyes and using powder to give her skin a pale, ghostly appearance. Her naturally fair skin meant that the makeup wasn’t as dramatic as she’d hoped.

Thunder rumbled outside, and Seoyeon looked around the second floor of the old school building. Other students were stationed there too, dressed as ghosts, but unlike Seoyeon, they didn’t need to move around. She was assigned to scare students as they moved from the second floor to the first and then back to the second-floor teachers' office.

The rain outside was pouring down, and the blackout curtains made it feel like night, even though it was still daytime.

“It’s so stuffy,” Seoyeon muttered as she lifted the blackout curtain to peek outside. It was still daylight, though you couldn’t tell from inside the building.

“The haunted house is supposed to start at ten,” she reminded herself, checking the time. She had about ten minutes left. Wanting to get some fresh air, she opened a window to let in the cool, wet breeze.

The window creaked open, and rain and wind immediately blew in, soaking her face and hair.

“...” Seoyeon quickly closed the window, wiping her face with a handkerchief. The wind outside had picked up, making the windows rattle. The atmosphere was perfect for a haunted house but made Seoyeon uneasy.

But she wasn’t just anyone—she was Seoyeon, who had now familiarized herself with horror movies and had trained herself not to be scared. This was nothing she couldn’t handle.

Seoyeon headed toward the central staircase, knowing it was almost ten o’clock and the first guests would soon enter the haunted house. What she didn’t realize was that the makeup she wore wasn’t waterproof, unlike her usual makeup. The rain had smeared it across her face, making her look even more terrifying than she intended.

***

Most students turned back after encountering the ghost on the central staircase, but a few brave souls made it up to the second floor.

“Maybe we should’ve just left,” one boy said nervously.

“What, are you scared?” his friend teased.

“Nah, it’s nothing to be scared of,” he replied, though his voice shook slightly.

Three boys made their way up to the second floor, trying to convince themselves it wasn’t that bad. The staircase ghost had been scary, but the rest of the haunted house hadn’t been too terrifying.

“Yeah, we can handle this.”

“Ji-seok ran out after seeing that ghost, didn’t he?”

“What a wimp. There’s nothing scary about this.”

They clicked their tongues dismissively, but their voices betrayed a hint of fear. They finally reached the last stop: the teachers' office. They’d heard that the ghost from the central staircase—the one with the red eyes who crawled down the stairs—would appear here.

“Hey,” one of them said.

“What?”

“Can we, like, scare the ghost instead? You know, give them a taste of their own medicine?”

“It’s just a bunch of high schoolers running this, right? They’re not pros or anything.”

“Wouldn’t it be fun to scare them back?”

“Nah, if I get startled, I might punch someone. Better not risk it.”

The boys, trying to act tough, entered the office with the intention of turning the tables on the ghost.

But as soon as they stepped inside, they froze.

A girl stood in the center of the room, her back to them. The room was dark, save for the faint light filtering in from the windows. The only sound was the rain and the occasional clap of thunder.

‘What was the mission again?’ one boy thought, struggling to remember. All they had to do was open a drawer and retrieve a bracelet.

“Hey, she’s not moving. What are you waiting for?” one boy urged.

“Yeah, yeah,” another replied nervously.

They moved cautiously, staying as far from the girl as possible. As they opened the drawer, the girl’s body began to move. The boys froze.

‘Is she going to turn around?’ one of them wondered.

Instead of turning around, the girl’s body bent backward, her spine arching at an unnatural angle.

“Ahhh!!! Shit!!!” one boy screamed, yanking the drawer open to grab the bracelet.

They didn’t have time to think about how amateurish the setup was. The human mind instinctively fears what it doesn’t understand, and seeing someone bend backward instead of turning around was beyond what they could comprehend.

Her makeup had smeared, leaving black streaks down her face, and her red eyes glowed in the dim light. Her gaping mouth added to the sense of dread.

The girl—Seoyeon—began crawling toward them on all fours, but faster than any of them expected.

“Run, run!” one of them shouted.

The boys bolted for the door, with the sound of Seoyeon’s eerie voice echoing behind them:

“Give me back my bracelet, give it back, give it back.”

They didn’t stop running until they reached the central staircase, finally pausing to catch their breath.

“Hah, hah, that was insane.”

“She was crawling so fast...”

“Wait, I thought she was at the back...”

They looked back, only to see that Seoyeon had somehow closed the distance.

“Why is she so fast?!”

Panicking, the boys raced down the stairs, figuring there was no way she could chase them down a flight of stairs on all fours. But Seoyeon proved them wrong—she was fast, too fast.

‘Is she even human?’ one boy thought as they sprinted down the hallway.

As they reached the first floor, they collided with a group of girls who were just entering. Seoyeon, who had been chasing the boys, stopped abruptly.

“...Ju Seoyeon.”

The name was spoken in a voice dripping with exasperation.

***

“Wow, the atmosphere here is intense. Jiyeon, are you really going in?” a friend asked.

Jiyeon nodded.

“There’s nowhere else to go right now anyway.”

“True, but still...”

Jiyeon’s friends, Youngmi and Sunhee, trailed behind her, clearly nervous.

“It’s just a haunted house made by high school students. What’s there to be scared of?”

“It wouldn’t be scary if the weather was nice.”

“But it’s pouring rain with thunder and lightning... Walking through the old school building alone would be terrifying.”

Jiyeon tilted her head, pondering her friends’ concerns. Sure, the weather made it spookier, but she was more worried about something else.

“I couldn’t even get to the second floor.”

“Did you make it to the end of the first floor?”

This was the type of conversation Jiyeon overheard from trembling girls, while boys tried to sound tough:

“Damn, that was embarrassing.”

“I saw you run. You’re fast, dude.”

“Shut up.”

“I was so scared I almost kicked someone.”

Most of the boys’ bravado was clearly exaggerated. Especially the last comment—if one of them had actually kicked Seoyeon, they might have ended up with a broken leg.

Jiyeon remembered the incident during their middle school retreat and couldn’t help but worry.

‘The line is long.’

Despite the scary setup, the haunted house was popular. Students formed a long line to get in. Only two teams could enter at a time, with one team heading to the second floor while another remained on the first.

The rain had forced most other booths to close, leaving the haunted house as one of the few attractions still open. The creepy atmosphere only heightened the appeal.

“Seoyeon’s performance must be amazing. People keep running away at the central staircase.”

“Not many have made it to the second floor, huh?”

“Nope.”

As Jiyeon listened to the students from Seoyeon’s class managing the line, she thought:

‘Seoyeon probably did more than just show her face.’

During practice, it might have been enough to just appear and scare people. But Jiyeon knew Seoyeon too well. If Seoyeon felt the need to step up her game, she’d find inspiration from horror movies or games, imitating a character or scene.

‘If she gets too into it... there’s no telling what she might do.’

Seoyeon had a boyish streak. If someone gave her a strong reaction, she’d often get carried away, pushing things further without thinking.

“Ugh, it’s our turn.”

“I’m sticking right behind you, Jiyeon. No way I’m going first!”

“Got it.”

Jiyeon sighed as they entered the old school building. After handing their tickets to the student at the entrance, they walked inside.

‘It’s definitely eerie in here.’

The dark, abandoned school building had an unsettling vibe. But that was all it was—a vibe.

Following the map they were given, they completed the first-floor tasks, encountering a few scares along the way. But nothing was genuinely terrifying.

But then, they reached the central staircase.

This was where Seoyeon was supposed to appear.

Jiyeon paused as she reached the staircase, just as a group of boys came running down, screaming in terror.

Right behind them was the ghost with the red eyes.

The figure crawled down the stairs on all fours, the same way it had chased the boys.

“...!!”

Jiyeon’s two friends gasped, too scared even to scream.

The sight of the upside-down woman, her face smeared with black makeup and her red eyes glowing, was terrifying enough to make the girls’ legs give out beneath them.

Then, Seoyeon and Jiyeon locked eyes.

Without hesitation, Seoyeon started crawling back up the stairs, heading towards the second floor.

“Don’t leave us!” the two girls cried desperately, reaching out for Jiyeon as she chased after Seoyeon.

“Ju Seoyeon, you’re crazy!!!” Jiyeon shouted, her voice filled with a mix of anger and disbelief.