As I write, my dog comes and nudges my hand and with that jerk my pen falls down. I look below the table, and it's dark in there, I probably don't want to wake up my family at this hour. I am getting a bit thirsty, so I blindly start searching for my pen, with my bare hands, digging inside the plethora of dust. I suddenly, find a pair of hands holding my hand, I move back, and fall down with a thud on the bed stand. While those eyes from down there stare back at me. There is a black shadow, beneath a lot of dust, moving around, but I remember the eyes. It was his eyes.....
Lot of people ask me, why have you suddenly started to write horror, and I say, well I feel, darkness listens to me the most and that's why I want to return the favor as I start listening back and paying heed to the darker nights, the darker roads, the darker thoughts. If you haven't ready my stories, feel free to check out my "2 Min Horror Stories", that I write everyday and publish it via "JustUtter", and for real-time story updates follow my instagram via "https://www.instagram.com/thoughtswithinnocence/"
This Halloween, I am planning to publish the first part of JustUtter's Horror Book Series - Bhoota Gappa (Ghost Stories in Odiya). "Bhoota Gappa", means "Ghost Stories", in the Odiya dialect, and that's my native language from where my roots are from, it's from the land of Lord Jagannath, Balabhara & Subhadra (2 brothers & a Sister) also called Odisha, Kalinga Rajya, Orissa.
It all started back in 1985, when we used to visit Buxi bazar, Cuttack, our grandparents house, during summer holidays. Here is a glimpse of how life back with my grandfather used to be. Innocent Thoughts About Servants of India Society.
Back in the 80s and 90s stories where one key component of our childhood as it was the cheapest method to push the kid into a portal of imagination, where they can visualize and have innumerous immersive experiences.We were narrated an infinite number of stories, by my grandmother (father's mom), most of it in the genre of ghosts, spirits, black magic, which either she had experiences of her own or she narrated experiences of someone close to her that she was narrated from her childhood days. She called it "Bhoota Gappa", being an expressive storyteller, she always made sure to keep the thrill till the end and gave us the after lingering effect as well. I remember waking up amidst a dense jungle, or an isolated pond filled with shadows flying upto me as I tried hard to get up from my slumber.
I have named this exciting book series in memory of her, as she despite of her being married at a young age, continued to inspire me everyday, of her life as she read books from multiple languages and made sure, she kept her knowledge compilation to the maximum. So that her daughters, grand daughters, will never feel that she missed out on education, because she was a home maker, as that life clearly didn't stop her from reading and exploring more.
Each book in this series, will consists of 7 exciting short horror stories, followed by a snippet of a bigger horror story happening in parallel, with all the characters from these shorter stories. Some of these experiences are being shared for the first time and are stories inspired by an amalgamation of true stories and events. This will make your heart beats faster, your eyes get bigger and your minds a bit foggy, while you feel chillier as you walk deeper into the darkness of these haunting experiences. Hope you read it all and publish some honest feedback after you read.
To keep learning more, and unfolding more about these stories, subscribe to "JustUtter" and visit - https://www.pratikshamisra.com.
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