It was almost midnight when they drove down the crooked, lonely country road and stopped outside the old log cabin. A chill wind was blowing and the moon was full.

The boy and girl stepped out of the car and made their way towards the cabin. They opened the door and peered inside.

“Is this it?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “This is the place. Let’s go in.”

“You first,” she said.

He stepped inside and she followed. The door creaked shut and the darkness closed around them.

“Did you know that tonight is the darkest night of the year?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Is it?”

“Yes,” he said. “They call it The Blackest Night. Do you know why?”

“No,” she said.

“OK, I’ll tell you,” he said. “It was 20 years ago. Even back then, the cabin was abandoned and falling apart. Sometimes, hunters who were going to go to the game in the surrounding woods. It was also used as a make-out place by young couples like us. They say this broken-down shack has seen a lot of hugs and kisses. But all that came to an end, one cold October morning…”

“What happened?”

“They found the body of a young girl inside the cabin. She had been murdered and it was an extremely brutal scene. They said her eyes had been gouged out and she was gutted like a fish. Her body was ripped open, from her belly up to her chin. Her guts were strewn all around the cabin. The killer also chopped off one of her hands. She bled to death… It was slow and painful…”

“How horrible!” she exclaimed. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, that’s how the story goes,” he said. “The murderer was never found. They say that, ever since then, the cabin has been haunted. Every year, on the darkest night of the year, the night this terrible crime took place, if you listen very closely, they say you can hear the screams of the dying girl. That’s why they call it the blackest night of the year.”

“You’re making all this up just to scare me.”

“Not at all,” he replied.

“You love to intimidate me.”

“I swear! It’s the truth,” he said solemnly, but she could see a hint of a mischievous smile around his lips.

“You never heard this legend? I thought everyone knew about it.”

“No, I never heard it before,” she said. “This place is giving me the creeps. Let’s get out of here.”

“Come on, this is interesting!”

“If you told me all this before, I would never have agreed to come. And the thought of that poor girl crying… I don’t even want to think about it!”

“Shhhh!” he said. “Let’s wait a little longer. Maybe we’ll hear her scream.”

“I don’t want to,” she protested. “I’m already trembling like a leaf.”

“Well I’m the one with the car,” he said. “Maybe I’ll just go off and leave you and you can spend the night here alone…”

“No!” she cried. “Don’t even joke about that!”

She grabbed the door handle and pulled. The rusty hinges creaked and the handle came off in her hand. She let out a shriek of surprise. Ger surprise turned to panic and she began pushing and shoving and banging on the door. It wouldn’t open.

“Is this your idea of a joke?” she cried, her eyes welling up with tears. “Let me out!”

He didn’t answer.

She turned around.

He stood there in the moonlight, a faceless black silhouette.

“Are you scared yet?” he asked sarcastically.

She looked down at his hands. He was unscrewing his right hand, turning it around and around. He pulled it off, revealing a rusty metal hook.

“What’s happening?” she cried.

As he got closer, she saw that he looked much, much older. His hair wasn’t blond anymore, it was grey and his face was lined and wrinkled.

“I love this night,” he said. “It’s a shame it only comes once a year.”

“No,” she begged. “Please don’t!”

“For 20 years, they’ve been coming out here,” he said. “The faces change, but the girls are always the same… silly and naive… vulnerable and stupid… waiting for me…”

“No,” she whispered as her knees buckled and she slid to the floor.

He grinned. “This is my night,” he said as he raised his hook.

On that cold October night, the loney cabin was filled again with the horrifying sound of a girl’s screams. The eerie sounds were carried on the breeze and those who heard them looked fearfully into the darkness, then hurried home to tell their loved ones about the terrible legend of the blackest night of the year.

Follow us @ twistok/spookyfacts or fb.com/spookyfacts for more exciting series ?