"Faces In The Audience"

“Faces In The Audience”

By Cody Williams

 

            “Ten minutes until show time!” Terrance Bowman, the set director, shouted into Tanya’s dressing room while holding up his five fingers. It was Tansy’s first ever production. She was cast the lead in the runaround play Wicked. She reached down and put on her long black witch hat. She looked in the mirror and fixed her long wavy brown hair. She turned and walked out of her dressing room and down the hallway.

            Tanya stopped halfway down the hallway. She felt this overwhelming feeling that she was being watched. She turned around and looked down the hall towards the stairway. There stood what looked like a grown woman along with a young girl with their hands linked together. The woman had red hair tied up in a bun and was tall and thin. The young girl had long blonde hair that reached halfway down her back. They both looked as if they were dressed in costume for a play adaptation of A Litter House On The Prairie.

            The grown woman was wearing a long brown colored dress while the younger girl was wearing a red and white-checkered dress reaching just past her knees. Both of their faces were and unusual color pale. ‘They must still be in make up.’ Tanya thought to herself. The two of them turned right and began walking up the stairs. Tanya walked back down the hallway following them. She peaked her head around the corner and looked up the staircase. Nobody was there. She turned around and walked back down the hallway. When she reached the end of it she turned around again. There once again stood the two. She put it out of her mind and walked into the backstage area.

            “Oh there you are! Are you ready for your big moment? It’s your time to shine!” Terrance said proudly. Tanya nodded and looked back out the door. She turned back to him.

            “Terrence was there some sort of play here recently. Like an old timey play?” She asked him. Terrence thought for a moment. He looked back at her and shook his head no.

            “I can’t recall anything like that since it has been rebuilt.” Terrence said. He turned his back to her and began walking off.

            “What do you mean since it’s been rebuilt?” Tanya asked him. Terrence turned back to her.

            “Back in the early 1900s the theater burnt down.” Terrence stated. Tanya sat down on a stool and balanced her chin on the palm of her hand and looked at him engaged. “In fact, I think it was within the first month it was even open. I believe the year was 1922 and I believe the play was The Better Half. It was opening night and the entire auditorium was packed full of people. It was so full people were even sitting in the aisle. The attendance was about 350 people. Something went wrong with the lights. It was an electrical spark or something, ignited the auditorium. 200 of those 350 people died. They burned to death in this very theater.” Terrence said. He turned and peaked out the curtain and then looked back at Tanya. “But that’s just an urban legend. Come on now it’s show time!” Terrence said. Tanya got up and shut her eyes standing behind the curtain.

            “Break a leg everyone! Action!” Terrence declared. The curtain rose up and Tanya stared out into the audience. What she saw sent shocks of fright throughout her body. The usual audience was there, but throughout the aisles and even on the edges of the stage stood a crowed of people. Every one of them had paper white faces and was wearing clothes from the early 20^th century. In the corner of her eye she saw the mother and daughter pair that were standing staring at her in the stairway. Her heart began to thump with fear and beads of sweat began rolling down her face.

            She swallowed hard as she began to feel a lump in her throat. She could no longer remember the words. Tanya just stood there in complete silence.

            “Talk Tanya! Go! It’s your time!” Terrence loudly whispered from behind the curtain. She looked back into the audience. Everything was the same, only now, everyone was pale and looked dead. She began to smell the smell of rotting flesh and she once again looked over to the two girls she saw in the hallway. The two reached their arms out for her and began to walk closer. The audience began to boo and the little girl began to walk closer.

            Tanya knelt down and the girl put her arms around her. In her ear the little girl whispered ‘You’re one of us now!’ She said. A stage light then collapsed and the curtain burst into flames. The audience stood up and ran to the blocked exits. Tanya stood up and leaped off of the stage. A spark from the fallen stage light landed on the central heating system, the propane tank. The windows shattered and the building exploded with force.

Copyright 2013 by Cody Williams

Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

This is an idea I had for a while now. Thanks for reading it! I hope you enjoy it! Please comment and leave reviews!

-CW

Reviews

[M. L. Zane]

Sorry for the slow response Cody. I've got a long list of requests to move down, and my novel is currently undergoing heavy revisions. I will do my best to stay in contact with a bit more haste if possible.

Righto. So, the first suggestion I have is what seems relatively benign, but as you know little details are a big deal. It's actually the stage manager that calls for places, rather than the director. In most shows, the cast members are expected to be in place already at the 15 minute mark. This isn't always the case, but it makes it seem a bit more believable. I remember a very angry stage manager during a run of The Mikado over one of our leads not having props in place by 10 till curtain...the best comparison I can make would be flaming wolverines.

Anyway, I'm going to give you a higher score on concept alone. Theatres in general are damn *creepy* in the dark, with the old ones taking a special place in many nightmares. There's a lot going on here, and this is a good thing. You also take a little bit more time on your imagery, but it needs a dash of sensory thrown in. Those stagelights are really hot. Let's feel the heat. Is there a draft when the dead rise for a show? Let's see it and feel it. Take what you have here and add more meat. Slow her down, fatten it up, and give me more with this concept.

By the way, what's this "True Terror" publication tag I keep seeing on your stuff? I wouldn't mind putting out the occasional short story if it gets my name out there. Anyway, shameless self plug.

Regards,
-M. L. Zane

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading! TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS is just my personal imprint. It appears on anything I publish and will also appear in any books (I'm currently working on a collection of short stories) that I publish. A few other writers on here such as John Smith, Richard Edwards, Joe Price, and Carly Carson also use my imprint for their horror related stuff. I also occasionally use True Crime Press and The Enchanted Press for crime, fantasy, and science fiction. True Terror was named after an essay I wrote and eventually published on here about the horror genre as a whole. If you want to use the imprint go ahead. I won't stop you.

Thanks again for reading!

-CW

[M. L. Zane]

I won't use your imprint, but if you'd like a story or two for your collection, I'll happily do so pro bono in exchange for publicity and the occasional review. I wasn't sure if you were representing a literary magazine or something. I sort of miss editing for periodicals. :( Anything in particular you'd like to see in the collection? My goal right now is networking. Funding comes when Song of Sinai comes out (hopefully).

[Cody Williams]

I'll keep that in mind :) The collection will probably consist of about 20 short stories (I believe I have written close to 50 or so). Some will be horror and some will not (such as "Wilma" which is a fantasy tale). I'm also beginning work on a novella called "Drake". I'll be releasing a chapter each month through December on here and then probably around New Year's of 2015 I'll release it as an ebook.

[M. L. Zane]

Well, I'll write for free, but if you ever want a professional editor I can offer a discount. :) I miss downing entire pots of coffee and sending back files covered in commentary bubbles in Microsoft Word. Ah, memories.

[Cody Williams]

I would be really grateful for your editing! How much would it cost? I don't really know which stories will be in the collection. We'll have to wait and see.

[M. L. Zane]

It depends on the length of the work and how long it'll take. For individual works under 15 pages with only one look over, I charge $3.00 USD per page...in your case, I'd bump it down to $2.00 USD. 15+ pages single look over is $5.00 USD per page, but for you I'll discount to $3.50 USD. For larger works I offer repeat editing and a contract. The last one I did was a dissertation including references at 150 pages over the course of two months and four revisions, which I charged an even $200.00 USD. For your work, we'll talk business and negotiate. If it's a collection of short stories, you'll probably be under 200 pages. In short, we'll work something out should you be interested. My services include full proofing, error correction, suggestions, and a notation wherever I found, fixed, or believe there to be a possible error. It sounds a bit pricey in this awful economy, but I'm used to negotiating my rates on a writer's budget.

[Cody Williams]

I'm currently a college student so you can imagine that I'm on a fixed income. However, your prices look reasonable. Right now, I'm looking into publishing it in ebook format and maybe a few hardcover editions for people close to me published via Amazon and T. Let me check through some of my stuff and decide what stories I want in and I'll get back with you.

[M. L. Zane]

Sounds good.

[Angel]

Whoa! Fantastic concept here, Luv...I like it very much. It needs filling out a bit...and maybe you should do a bit of research on stage production...but it's a damn good story. Old theatres are pretty scary places to begin with, don't you think?

[Cody Williams]

There's a local theater close to my house that is supposably haunted. When I was in elementary school I went on a field trip there and they took us to the basement. Yes! I'd have to say that theaters are very creepy places! Thanks for reading Angel!

-CW

[Michael Stevens]

An excellent story; only the audience seemed a little dead; ah, ha, ha, a little dead? Get it?

[Cody Williams]

lol I get it Michael! Thanks for reading!

-CW

[sonnie ibadah]

this is good cody, but i don't like it as much as the others you've written. i feel like it lacks something... nice work anyways.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Marie]

THis is really good, Cody; one of your better stories. Of course, there are errors to correct, but the style is good; nothing too obscure or out of place.

I kind of like the name Tansy better than Tanya...

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Marie!

-CW

[Dayran]

This I figure may take after the experience of a child going to sleep ... and in the sudden quiet ... after a day of active playing and noise ... suddenly finds himself face to face with himself. Its a disquietening sensation in a young man ... whose sense of quiet may mean the fear being separated from mother and father.

But his defenses take over and he begins a play himself ... on stage sometimes ... and sometimes its a direct reporting of something that took place in the past of his unconscious. I sometimes look up some of these that are suggested in my dreams ... and yes I may have found a theater or two burning down myself. Nicely done kiddo ... keep it up.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[Lyn Anderson]

Interesting and dramatic read - I am assuming Tansy at the beginning is Tanya?

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading KL! And yes, that would be Tanya.

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

I love your stories that are dark and haunting with dead people and ghosts. I like all the suspense aspect too...Ingenious as always...:).....................

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

My pleasure...Any time...:)...................