Short Horror Stories

Portraits on the wall

A newlywed couple, looking to start a family together, and find a nice home stumble upon a cozy three story white house. The third floor being the attic.

In the house still hung on the pale blue walls, sit paintings, portraits, if you will, of various people, left, presumably, by the previous owners.

They assume that the paintings were left by the realtor until they could put their own paintings or photos up.

But what makes the paintings so eerie and so out of place are the expressions on the faces of the people in the paintings. Not looks of joy or laughter but of sorrow, fear, and grief.

After a few days of settling in. The husband goes out to look for a job, leaving his new wife at home alone.

She decides to make him a nice dinner and clean up a bit from the move.

As she cuts up the lettuce for a salad and carrots for the roast, she hears, very faintly, a knock. A thump.

Surprised, she thinks it's her husband messing with her, but remembers he is not home. So she decides to ignore the strange sound.

A few minutes pass when, again, a little louder, the noise sounds again. This time, more fearful, she goes to find the source of the noise.

She searches the first floor, then the second, and then the basement, but finds nothing.

She goes back to her chores, convincing herself that she is just nervous about being in a new place alone.

For a third time, the thump sounds again. This time, with more force. So, with a pounding heart and sweaty palms, she headed up the attic steps to investigate, as it is the only place she hasn't searched.

Not long after she goes to check the attic, her husband returns, calling for his wife about how he went to the store for a few things.

He goes to the kitchen to set the bags on the counter and finds no sign of his wife, just the knife and half cut-up veggies.

With a frown, he checks the living room, dining room, and then their bedroom. He even checks the basement and attic, with still no sign of his wife.

He hears the thump and follows the noise into the entrance hall where he first entered the house. Hanging above the doorway, painted in faded colors, sits a painting of the little three story house. In the third story window, where the attic would be, is the shape of a hand painted in the window. The hand bangs on the window, and a woman, looking very much like his wife, yells silently through the painting.