We're currently in the process of moving house. We've sold our place, we've bought a new place, and we're now in that strange hinterland in-between where we have to wait for a whole load of unseen, anonymous people to do things like 'surveys' and 'searches' and 'draft contracts'. We had a brief scare with our new place when a survey revealed a crack in a gable wall, probably caused by a leaking waste pipe, and we got ourselves all riled up about the insurance. Turns out it's all going to be fine, but for a while there all we could think about was pipes, bricks, mortar, and the massive looming presence of hundred-year old houses and all their secrets.
So, when it came time to enter Hannah Kate's annual '3 Minute Scares' competition for North Manchester FM, I put together a little piece called 'It Has a Cellar'. It tries to capture some of that unsettling anxiety about what could well be lurking inside the place that is supposed to be your new sanctuary. As with a lot of my tales these days, it builds itself around a four-beat structure that spirals upwards in terror, and downwards to darkness. I'm finding myself preferring the rule of four over the rule of three. Just push things that one step further, why not?
Happily the story was shortlisted in Hannah's competition and placed as one of the runners-up. You can hear it on Hannah's Halloween special here. I come in around the 1hr15 mark, but if you've got time to listen to the whole thing you'll be treated to a whole bevvy of other 3 minute scares. Quite a lovely way to spend your Halloween, I'd say:
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