The House Next Door is Haunted
This is all true but you don't have to believe it.
The neighbors are always screaming, even when the old ones move out and the new ones move in. It's a compact old house, white with green shutters; sunporch out the front, mudroom sticking out the back. It's got a basement, much like ours, and there a large shed outback that rentees are not allowed to access. Only the landlord has the key.
It's happened three times now. The neighbors that move in are nice. They want to start a garden. They want to have us over for dinner. They borrow a vacuum or some lighter fluid.
Then the screaming starts. They scream at the dogs, that always run away and up the block past our front door. They scream at each other, airing their secrets for the whole block to hear. Hell, even the moving crew screamed when they had to remove the old boiler, a stubborn, cast-iron machine.
I think the house next door is haunted. I think the angry spirits of some ancient time taunt the residents. The house is situated on enough land for four houses but there is just the one.
I think there's something in the shed. Something horrible, maybe Eldrich. Something that instills madness (both of the mind and of the mood). Something that is locked away behind two garage doors I've never seen open. The neighbors always burn something in the yard their first week. In the same spot.
I think I'll burn sage when these neighbors move out. I think I'll home a seance on Halloween. I think maybe... I think maybe... I think maybe...
(maybe I'll look in the shed myself).