Re-Coyle: The Basement

For those of you who grew up living in a home with a basement, this article should recall some fond memories of those treks down the creaky steps into the dim and musky bowels of the house. Like many older homes, the basement was the final resting place for an odd assortment of items.

Old baseball gloves, deflated footballs still bearing the scuff marks of the street, plus an assortment of old table games like “Monopoly” and “Life,” none of which contained all of the pieces to actually play the game. Old clothes and shoes in cardboard boxes nearly covered with mold. All of these items are remnants of an earlier time in life when these things were useful.

But in addition to the stacks and piles of useless junk, there was a terror that haunted the basement of every home. Somewhere in a dark corner, an old washer and dryer waited, half-cocked on the uneven concrete floor, patiently holding their ground until a human form appeared before them.

Remember the nights when your mother told you to go to the basement, remove the wet clothes from the washer and put them in the dryer? Your knees buckled from fright as she pushed you to the old creaky door that opened to the rickety basement stairs. Reassuring you that nothing was down there only made matters worse. Swallowing hard, you gingerly went down the steps knowing the creature was probably going to grab your ankle through the open steps.

The only light bulb, which was hanging on a thin wire from the ceiling, was miles away and ten feet in the air. Who knows if you could reach it before you were devoured by fanged jaws? You mother certainly didn’t care if you got eaten or not, but it was obvious that she didn’t want to risk coming down here either.

Jumping up to snag the string, the light cast shadows on the walls as it swung back and forth. Quickly, you stuff the clothes into the dryer, then turn around slowly to check and see if the creature is standing behind you, his sharp claws ready to shred the tender skin from your body. The swinging light reveals a large moving shadow coming for you and simultaneously the light bulb “pops” into oblivion, throwing you into total darkness.

Your feet are frozen to the concrete, but a noise behind the washer propels you toward the stairs, your feet pumping furiously on each wooden steps trying to avoid the clutches of the creature. Slamming the door and pushing the small locking bolt into place should be sufficient to keep whatever demon was down there in his place.

Then you remember you forgot to start the dryer! You reach for the door knob, but then pull back and head for your bedroom. You can always swear to your mother that the dryer was running. She can deal with it in the daytime, the only time she will ever go down there anyway.

The question remains: What is more frightening? The creature in the basement, or your mother sacrificing you to the underground demons of your house? Sound’s like the beginnings of a horror novel to me.

Brian Douglas Coyle, a graduate of Kent State University in Ohio, has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry. He is currently the Community Development Investment Manager at BB&T, the eleventh largest bank in the country. Brian is the author of Soul Riders and the 2008 release The Devil’s Sanctuary.