The Strange Case of Madame Web

The Strange Case of Madame Web -

The house on Cider Hill grew from the shadows like a tumorous lump on the landscape.  Its menace greeted new comers to the sleepy suburb; the once prominent family household sat on a hill overlooking the interstate exit leading into the town; for many it was the first thing they saw coming into town and the last thing they saw leaving.  For many winding down the interstate road the house itself piqued the curiosity and stirred images of the ghostly inhabitants in the mind’s eye.  Weary travelers might imagine some yellow eyed ghoul peering from behind the slats of one of its boarded up windows; a chill running down their spine.  It was the house the children always pumped their bike pedals a little faster as they rode by, fear triggered by a silent animal alarm within.   The elders of the town, who could still see farmland where municipal buildings now stood, would offer strange stories of a lone widow that used to live there, but even their fanciest yarns and wildest recollections would not do the true story any justice.  The being that denned inside the house on Cider Hill, the one the dead called “Madame Web” in whispers spoken into the midnight wind, was a night creature without comparison, the only kind on this continent and certainly this century.