Synopsis/Details
The blistering summer heat of July 1982 beat down upon the sleepy town of Brisby, Iowa. For Ethan Caldwell, Natalie and Tim Clemente, and Marvin Lott, the end of the school year meant one thing - freedom. These four inseparable teenagers looked forward to whiling away the long, sultry days however they pleased. Little did they know the terrifying chain of events that one reckless decision would soon set into motion.
Brisby was the quintessential small town, population 1,200, where it seemed everyone was related in some way. Local lore and superstition held a lot of sway, with certain places taking on an ominous mystique for the town's youth. Chief among these was the decrepit Blackwood Manor on the outskirts. For decades, parents had warned their children to never set foot on the accursed grounds, telling tales of three kids who had ventured inside over sixty years prior and simply vanished without a trace.
On one particularly scorching afternoon, boredom got the better of the rebellious teens. Ethan, the ringleader at fifteen, hatched a plan to defy the chilling taboo and explore the forbidden manor's shadowy corridors. Spurred on by youthful bravado, the four friends trekked to the edge of town, giddy with a sense of exhilarating trepidation. As they approached the manor's towering, decrepit facade, Marvin's nerves began to fray, but the unstoppable force of peer pressure propelled them over the threshold and into the gloom.
What started as a lark soon took a turn for the nightmarish. As they delved deeper inside the decaying manor, the air seemed to grow thicker, heavier with something...unnatural. The teenagers began hearing faint noises, like whispers carried on an unseen wind. Marvin grew increasingly agitated until, rounding a corner, they came face-to-face with a horrific sight - the desiccated remains of three small bodies crumpled on the floor. In an instant, rational thought fled as sheer, primal terror took over. They ran, panic driving them deeper into the hellish labyrinth, until the friends became separated in the chaos.
In time, three of them managed to escape outside, but there was no sign of the missing fourth - Marvin Lott. For hours, they scoured the grounds, screaming his name into the encroaching darkness until their voices were raw. But Marvin was simply gone, swallowed up by some unspeakable force within those damned walls. When the authorities eventually arrived, their search of the premises yielded no clues as to the teenager's fate.
Sixty years later, the three survivors remain haunted by the memories of that fateful night. Having taken the secret of what lurks in Blackwood Manor to their graves, the dreadful mystery endures. And somewhere, the anguished echoes of a boy's screams still reverberate through the halls, where Marvin's indelible presence lingers as a reminder that some places should never be disturbed.
