My House of Horrors

“but i have no experience! i am not that good a liar. i will be so easily exposed.” xiao sun had a helpless smile on his face. this was the first time he had been so valued greatly in his ‘life’.

“there is no need for you to act. you only need to be yourself.” chen ge had great expectations for xiao sun. he planned to train this young man well. “after ol’ zhou is done with the shoot, you should go and ask him for some pointers. he is one of the most experienced employees here, and he has a lot of experience acting as part of the visitors.”

“okay.”

“good luck, i believe in you.” chen ge had xiao sun familiarize himself with the scenarios while he carried the white cat to continue inspecting the ghost fetus’ scenario. “ol’ zhou and duan yue have become far too popular for their own good. many visitors become alert once they see someone similar to them in their midst.

“in fact, i was told that some of the more experienced visitors purposely ask for the names of their teammates before entering the haunted house. if there’s a member with the surname zhou in their team, they stay far away from them. this has greatly increased the difficulty of ol’ zhou and duan yue’s work. a new employee joining the big family is a good thing. i believe that xiao sun will be given his chance to shine in the haunted house and greatly showcase his unique talent.”

the cursed seed that was abandoned by the ghost fetus found a new ‘job’ at chen ge’s place. after assigning the posts for all the ghosts, chen ge personally taught him the tactics to scare people, and at the same time, chen ge himself was getting more familiar with the ghost fetus’ scenarios. the ghost fetus’ scenarios were slightly bigger than the scenario for the school of the afterlife. the nine sub-scenarios were already extremely scary, and that was not counting the hidden scenario that was the scariest—the world of the black fog.

chen ge realized that the biggest difference between a three-star scenario and a four-star scenario was that all four-star scenarios appeared to have a hidden scenario embedded within them. the hidden scenario at the school of the afterlife was the red specter’s art room. the school compound where the art room was located was dyed completely red, and it was a perfect replica of the world behind the door. the hidden scenario at the ghost fetus’ scenario—jiu hong apartments—was a perfect replica of the world of the black fog.

wandering souls and negative emotions that morphed into the black fog shrouded the scenario. the only difference here compared to the world behind xiang nuan’s door was the lack of man-eating monster fleeting through the black fog. wading through the black fog, chen ge closed his eyes. he tried to seriously sense the terror that was brought on by the black fog around him.

“what exactly is this black fog? why is my heart still palpitating even though i know that i am in a perfectly safe state? it feels like i have been brought out of the real world and deposited into someone else’s nightmare. everything is an unknown, and nothing is familiar.”

the world of the black fog was filled with abandoned memories. the black fog was brimming with pain, despair, and terror. walking through it, one would have the sense of being assimilated by the atmosphere within it. as one continued to walk, one would subconsciously be sucked into being a part of the black fog and become a walking vessel for pain and despair.

“if a visitor is able to walk out from the world of the black fog with their own determination, then they must be someone incredibly powerful and impressive,” chen ge commented as he walked through the black fog and entered jiu hong apartments. the few buildings there were located in similar positions to the world behind xiang nuan’s door. the ghost fetus’ most important memory and most painful past were all buried there. chen ge even found the rag doll’s broken body. similar to the jiu hong apartments behind xiang nuan’s door, the rag doll’s body was cut into many different parts and hidden within different buildings.

“i could have the mission be the collection of the rag doll’s body. after the visitors have found all of the body parts and successfully bring them all out from the scenario, they will have cleared the scenario.” with that in mind, chen ge started to find the body parts of the rag doll himself. the original intention was to take a picture of the compiled rag doll to use as part of the mission explanation, but who knew an accident would happen.

when the rag doll was fully collected, the whole ghost fetus’ scenario started to change!

crying children appeared from inside the black fog, numerous haunted spirit flickered in and out of the darkness, and various curses climbed over all the buildings at jiu hong apartments like some kind of dark vines.

“what the… what the hell is happening now‽” chen ge quickly summoned the red high heels. he was worried that he had triggered some kind of trap left behind by the ghost fetus. after the red high heels examined the situation, she gave chen ge a clear answer. the ghost fetus’ soul had already been destroyed. his consciousness was no longer of this world, and he would not return anymore. the reason the scenario had changed was because the malice of a demon god was so heavy that even though the ghost fetus had been destroyed, because he had suffered and carried all the sin behind the door, something of the ghost fetus would be left behind. that was the difference between a demon god and a top red specter.

the ghost fetus’ scenario had recorded everything there was about the ghost fetus. this place would be a location that was closest to hell for any unsuspecting visitors, but it was heaven for the red high heels. she was treading the same path as the ghost fetus. her expertise was also similar to the ghost fetus. furthermore, she had consumed most of the curses left behind by the ghost fetus. this scenario that recorded the process of how the ghost fetus became a demon god would be incredibly helpful for the red high heels in her journey to become a demon god herself.

“then, you shall stay at this scenario. with a top red specter like yourself watching over this place, i will not need to be worried.” after chen ge said that, the red high heels who was covered in bandage walked over to him. waving her hands, the woman used multiple black threads to weave out an army of ghosts and monsters. these monsters that were formed from pure curses were extremely scary. they were about as powerful as half red specter.

“you plan to use them to scare the visitors?” chen ge wiped away the cold sweat that slid down his forehead. “that won’t be necessary. that’s too much overkill. calm down! you only need to guard this scenario so that nothing goes wrong. please do not use the curses to harm the visitors.”

chen ge did not make use of the red high heels’ idea, but it had given him a reminder. “i have memorized the features of many monsters from inside the black fog. when i have time, i should go and make mannequins for all of them. a perfect haunted house scenario needs to have a mixture of mannequins and actual ghosts.”

leaving behind zhang yi to aid the red high heels, chen ge followed a hidden path and left the hidden scenario. this was another difference between the ghost fetus’ scenario and the scenario for the school of the afterlife. at the ghost fetus’ scenario, every sub-scenario had a hidden path that could lead to the hidden scenario. whether they could be found depended fully on the visitors’ capability.

the employees busied themselves with their chores. those who were involved in the movies were busy with their scripts, and those who had just joined the haunted house were studying to get familiarized with their new identities. chen ge did not sit idle either. he entered the prop room and started to draft the blueprints for the monsters in the black fog and planned to the go to the mannequin workshop to customize yet another set of equipment.

when dawn had almost arrived, chen ge returned to the staff breakroom. he lay in bed, but no matter what, sleep eluded him. after spending almost every night the past week working through the night and risking his life, he was rather unused to the fact that he was suddenly given a chance to take a breather. with his mind wandering about, chen ge could not tell when the drowsiness overwhelmed him, but when he opened his eyes again, a new day had begun.

the group of people that director luo had cautioned him about still had not appeared, but the amount of visitors who decided to challenge the four-star scenario, the school of the afterlife, had a drastic increase. many of them came from very far away, and their sole purpose was entering the school of the afterlife to experience it. these people did not appear like they were there to create trouble for chen ge. they were so polite that some of the employees felt too embarrassed to scare them. when they encountered a ghost, it was like they had met their seniors. they were so obedient and reserved. but even so, none of them were able to clear the scenario.

“this is too strange. something must be behind this. most of the visitors that came to visit the four-star scenario today bought their ticket in a group via the internet, and they appeared to know each other fairly well.” chen ge took a glance at the haunted house app that was designed by director luo. he noticed that in the past few days, someone had madly been collecting all the information about the school of the afterlife. in fact, there were threads on other forums and platforms where people had given out hard cash to purchase information related to the school of the afterlife. chen ge reflected this to director luo. around noon, director luo confirmed that this was probably ma feng’s doing.

a real general would never fight an unprepared war; that was from the art of war. the heavy collection of information conducted by ma feng was probably to rechallenge the scenario that had made the people from the futuristic theme park greatly lose face.

as the idiom goes, pick yourself up where you fell down.

the plan was to regain the face that jiang jiu had lost. in a way, there was nothing wrong with what ma feng was doing. if he was up against a normal foe, he probably would have succeeded, but the key problem was that chen ge already had a new scenario. this kind of speed where a new scenario was unlocked surprised everyone in the haunted house industry, including ma feng.

“have you finished your scouting? when you are all prepared, i will then announce the opening of a new scenario, the ghost fetus.” chen ge watched from the sidelines as the batches of ‘visitors’ entered to challenge to the school of the afterlife and were eventually wheeled out in the carts. he was feeling quite proud with himself. “i am surprised that a mere haunted house operator like myself could help raise the income of the nearby medical facilities. i am truly a stand-up citizen.”

it was a peaceful day, and it passed without much fanfare. chen ge carried his backpack and left theme park to continue to help the suicide victims complete their dying wishes. actually, during this process, chen ge had gained some small epiphanies. the bridge between life and death was uncrossable. the rules of the world were that harsh, but sometimes, a gentle person would be able to ease the harshness a little.

he busied himself until sundown. by now, zhang wenyu owed chen ge more than ten favors. his attitude toward chen ge was turning better, his tone was no longer that stiff, and occasionally, he would let his real self peak out. when he called chen ge on the phone, it began to feel more like two old friends catching up on the phone. the more chen ge got to know zhang wenyu, the more he realized how scary this red specter was. northern jiujiang and southern jiujiang used to have the presence of many scary specters, but in the end, only zhang wenyu was left watching over these two locales.

chen ge returned to new century park at around 6 pm. he had just finished getting an update from ol’ zhou about the daily operation when chang gu rushed out from the underground scenario. “director chang, are you looking for me? how can i help you?”

“the film has been finished. do you want to take a look at it?” chang gu’s eyes were bloodshot, and his face was as pale as a sheet of white paper. even his body had turned more transparent compared to a few days ago. it felt like the man had just been through a harrowing battle.

“you finished the movie in just a few days? that is incredible!” chen ge could not hide the shock on his face.

“be it tv series or movies, making one is not as simple as you think. based on the rules, we first have to get affiliated to a management unit who possess a movie-making permit and then apply for a movie-making request form from the local film industry unit with their name. after the request form is approved, it will be passed above. the government will issue the permit after they have gone through the request and found no problem with it. but all of that is just getting project approval. in other words, that’s just the first step.” chang gu’s tirade had successfully confused chen ge.

“so, what did you mean earlier when you said that the film has been finished?”

“the film i am talking about is a concept film. i suppose you can see it as an online short film that contains the main points of the main plot. as long as this concept film can get enough traction on the internet, it will naturally grab the attention of related companies. we have a lot of wiggle room then. after all, all of our actors are very special.” chang gu was a member of the industry, so naturally, he understood the ins and outs better than chen ge. “but i do not wish to raise your hopes too high. this might not end up as anything. but at least everyone has enjoyed the shooting process, and they are eager to see the final result.”

“there is no living audience, but there is a bunch of eager dead viewers. i wonder if the author will accept this kind of result or not.” chen ge followed chang gu underground. they entered the temporary theater. when they arrived, the theater was already bustling with the employees.

“the film itself is not that long, but every frame is exquisite. this is the hard work of everyone combined.” after saying this concluding statement on the stage, chang gu walked down the stairs. then the lights went off, and the film started to play. the source material was called ‘summer that year, i was eighteen’. the main plot was about a female high school student walking out from the influence of depression with the aid of her family and school to welcome a new chapter of her life. this was supposed to be a high school comedy filled with positive energy, but the feeling captured by chang gu’s movie was a bit out of place. before the image even appeared, just as the background music started to play, chen ge could fill the hairs on the back of his hand stand on end.

“what do you think of this melody? it is an original by xu yin. the man is a genius. he is incredibly handsome, good at acting, and knows how to compose music and play various instruments. how i wish i had an actor like him when i was still alive,” chang gu whispered softly. his tone was gushing with admiration for xu yin.

“the melody was composed by xu yin. then, who is the singer? how come it sounds so horrifying?”

“the singer is a student at the music club from the school of the afterlife. her nickname is monitor. she’s actually quite a cute girl.”

“the melody is already scary enough, and you even found a ghost to help add to the singing?” chen ge felt that the song was scary enough to be used as the background music at the haunted house as it was.

“is it scary? i personally felt the atmosphere that it created is quite comfortable! the aim of a comedy is to make the viewers feel comfortable and at ease.” chang gu stared at the screen. the director appeared to be quite nervous.

“big brother, you are already dead. what seems comfortable for you will be a wildly different concept for the audience.”

“but even the audience thought it was not bad. alright, the show is starting. the short is about to begin.” chang gu shushed chen ge and signaled for him to focus. honestly, chang gu had done a good job. he had expressed his talent as a horror movie director to its maximum. chen ge only watched the short for about one or two minutes before he was completely sucked in by the plot.

however, the whole short was no longer focusing on the positive story of a girl with depression overcome her psychological illness. instead, it turned into a journey through the macabre and absurd where the girl accidentally found herself living inside a world of illusions. she ran, she escaped, and she went through many inexplicable scenes like alice through the looking glass before she finally woke up from her nightmare. the moment she woke up, it was also the moment where real life echoed with the nightmare. all the clues and symbolism had matched up.

at the last scene of the short, the girl looked at the version of herself in the nightmare and yanked out the rose that grew on her heart in the nightmare. the rose pricked the girl’s finger. the blood dripped from the nightmare into real life, and as if through mist, the gentle and familiar voice of the male main character could be heard. “is it painful?”

even though the ending was left open for interpretation, the story was well constructed. even chen ge was quite shocked after he finished watching it.

“it is far better than anything that i could have imagined. job well done… but wait a moment. what was the plot of the source material again?” chen ge turned to chang gu.

“the girl with depression overcoming the ordeals brought on by her illness. however, i have adopted a more visual approach to explore this whole project. high school, drama, youth, positive energy, all these elements could be found! the plot is basically left untouched, but the plot is merely moving at the same time in both real life and in the nightmare world. the nightmare world is the representation of the depressed girl’s inner world, and the real world is, well, the real world. the two worlds intertwine and influence each other. it is, if i do say so myself, perfection!” chang gu took out the author’s book and specially marked out the changes and description to the girl’s inner turmoil.

“a normal shooting method is very difficult to express this kind of inner change, but we are different. you should understand the concept of hiding the shortcomings and highlighting the positives.” chang gu had great confidence in himself.

seeing the rowdy bunch of employees who had started to celebrate, chen ge also did not know what to say. “in any case, copy the short for me. i will give it to the original author to take a look. if he gives his approval, we will directly upload it onto the internet.”

after he got the copy, chen ge hurried without stopping to northern jiujiang. he saw zhang wenyu again. this red specter looked just like a normal person. there was no trace of negative energy around him. he was very different from the rest of the red specters that chen ge had encountered in the past. the author was given a private screening of chang gu’s short and gave chang gu a very high review. he appeared to be saying that chang gu had managed to capture so perfectly the inner essence of his work.

“these people who are in the arts, they are impossible to understand…”

after getting the approval of the original author, chen ge rushed back to the haunted house. he had a very long discussion with chang gu before deciding to upload this concept short on many different platforms for short videos or platforms that chen ge had used in the past to promote his haunted house. the idea was to use the popularity and the number of fans that chen ge’s haunted house had amassed to garner a kickstart for the short.

his personal account, the biggest website for short videos, platforms for video-sharing, and the livestreaming platform that chen ge was a part of as well as the haunted house app that director luo had designed—chen ge decided to release the short on all the platforms that he could think of. he did not care about the money that he might need to burn. as long as this short could gain popularity and attract the attention of a potential investment company, he would have completed the dying wish of the author. in just ten minutes after the short was uploaded, the views, comments, and shares started to skyrocket. this was far beyond chen ge’s wildest expectation.

“what in the world‽ a haunted house is releasing a movie about high school comedy and romance‽”

“what kind of black hole script is this‽”

“the moment when the female main character confessed her love to the male main character, why did the head of the red-dressed extra in the background suddenly fall from her shoulders? what is the meaning of this? is there a symbolism behind this?”

“have you ever seen a movie where the extra committed suicide simply because a love confession had occurred between the main characters‽”

“are you sure this is supposed to be a comedy‽ the female teacher who led the two main characters into the classroom, when she turned around, her legs disappeared! what the f*ck! what kind of comedy is this?”

“the ending is godlike! jesus, i’m still trying to get over it!”

“the main male character is so damn handsome! xu yin fan club incoming. come and join. as long as you profess to guard xu yin with your life, we will be brothers and sisters from different parents!”

seeing the data that continued to rise, both chen ge and chang gu were stunned. most of the editing and cutting was done by chang gu alone, and due to the restriction of time, there was bound to be some mistakes in some of the frames. but these mistakes taken in chen ge’s haunted house would be real special effects in other horror movies, and they were special effects that needed a lot of money to simulate.

“what do we do now?”

“i feel like we are wandering further and further away from the category of comedy.” before chen ge could finish what he had to say, his phone rang. seeing that it was a call from director luo, chen ge quickly picked it up. “director luo? what’s wrong? is there anything i can help you with?”

“you know how to make movies‽”

“it was my employees’ handiwork.” chen ge did not even know how to explain himself. “director luo, have you seen the short that we’ve made?”

“it was an old friend of mine who called me up to inform me of it. he said that he had noticed a video that had gone viral on the internet. the production company of the short was listed as new century park’s haunted house. he thought about it and realized, wasn’t that my theme park? so, he quickly called me to confirm it with me.” director luo’s tone had calmed down a bit.

“is that friend of yours from a film and television company?”

“in any case, he comes from an impressive background. chen ge, once your short was uploaded, its data directly steamrolled over all the shorts of the recent horror films. their website has a ranking for overall data. your short has already broken the record for their horror-type shorts and movies, and it is still setting new records as we speak!” director luo’s voice was laced with surprise and admiration. “chen ge, you have given me too many surprises.”

“it’s good thing to break records, but i have something to reinstate and reaffirm.” chen ge scratched his head. “we are actually shooting a high school teen romance. it is supposed to be a comedy filled with positive energy.”

“comedy? then why is your comedy breaking the records of the horror shorts and movies ranking?”