Did847 Haunted House, Part 1

Part one of three. The Steeles were a perfect family: Rachel was an elegant, beautiful mom, Mike a good-humored father, and Brad a clean-cut son with a promising future. These three, growing weary of the bustle of New York, decided to move to a quiet house in the country. Although there were rumors that the place may be haunted or possessed, the Steeles dismissed them as nonsense. They all fell in love with their new home the moment they saw it. The place was enormous, had great facilities, a lovely view of the lake and a soothing aura of solitude. Inside the house, however, there were a few strange things. On one wall was a large painting of a sexy brunette in a red dress. Rachel and her son both noticed it and felt it bore an uncanny likeness to Rachel when - during her naughtier days - she had been an exotic dancer. In one of the spare rooms there was also an oddly arranged black coverall and white hockey mask on the wall. It gave Rachel a serious scare when she saw it. For a moment, with its eerie, scarecrow like crucifixion pose, it had seemed alive to her. Those things were nevertheless forgotten about when the Steeles turned their attention back to unpacking. Over the next several days, all was going great for the family. They were all infected with happiness and optimism, and dad was once in such high and frisky spirits that he opted for some spontaneous love-making with his beautiful wife on the bedroom sofa. Then, with no seeming reason, everything seemed to go sour. Dad's mood changed overnight. He became sullen and withdrawn. When Rachel approached him about making-love again, he rejected her brusquely and hurled such uncharacteristic obscenities at the woman that she was deeply shocked and hurt. Trying to make sense of what had happened while she lay in bed scantily clad in a sexy black slip, a figure came in wearing the overalls and mask she had seen in one of the rooms. Rachel jumped a little, but then decided that it must be a bizarre prank by her husband.