Member-only story
The Spooky Crawlspace
The things you learn about your own house….
This morning a contractor from Climatize did the initial inspection for my heat pump. My quirky house is so complicated. It’s a Cape Cod cottage built shortly after WWII, and it’s had add-ons and updates here and there. My house will get four heat pump units total — two upstairs, two downstairs.
The contractors need access to the crawlspace under the house. I had no idea: there’s an entrance accessible if you unscrew some planks in the back porch floor. We didn’t do that today, but he shone a flashlight in the little space between the deck floor and the house wall, and even through that narrow view, it looks like there’s a spooky little cave down there. A screen is supposed to close off the crawlspace, but it’s open.
I realized my cats have been going inside that crawlspace all this time. I’ve lived here since September 2016. I know they love going under the back porch. From indoors, sometimes I’ve heard them… sound like they’re under the bathtub, but I figured it was because they’re under the porch. I’ve sometimes wondered if they can get under the house.
Someone from pest control is coming next Wednesday for their initial inspection. They not only kill rats but also clean up and add insulation. I’m so glad to have one company do all those steps. I don’t expect them to have rats to kill, but it’s probably nasty in there.
I am delighted to announce that Twelve House Books will publish my story “The Cat of the House of Usher” in the anthology Poesque. Cloaked Press published my story “Theater Patron” in Kaleidoscope — A Queer Anthology. Proceeds for the latter go to The Trevor Project.
Sirens Call Magazine published my horror story, “Starless Night,” in their Spring 2022, 57zine issue,
