I grew up in a semi-rural area of New York’s Hudson Valley. While my grandparents were our nearest living neighbors, the closest house to ours—the actual “next door” neighbor—was this tiny, derelict house.
Last April when I was back visiting family, I went on a short walk through the woods to take some pictures of its current state of decline.
Long abandoned by the time I was a kid, it was a benign presence when I was growing up.
We worried more about local wildlife or neighborhood kids getting up to mischief inside it more than we ever felt anything creepy or otherworldly about it.
But as the woods have reclaimed it, it’s hard to deny that it looks like anything but the perfect setting for a good Halloween story.
Happy Halloween, everyone.
