Gothic Short Story Template

by Iris Ninhi

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The conjoined monstrosities

It was a cold and dark atmosphere, surrounded by howling sounds. I was paralyzed by the
thought of losing her, but it wasn’t just a thought anymore. I spent hours staring at her dead body
buried in the snow. I felt her presence, I heard her calm voice. She was talking to me, she still
loves me.
“ALASTOR TOOK HER!” I shouted.
I called the twins Alastor because it is simply what they are, traumatizing monsters. I had been
walking around the dusty and dirty house. Once I came in, I saw them, the cause of my torment.
How could such a ugly doppelganger be the cause of my sadness? I decided to lock them in the
basement.
“Don’t they deserve that for killing my wife right after she gave birth to them?”
They were still young, about 5 days old, they couldn’t walk or talk, a sort of poisoned
gift. I often visited them at first. With disgust in my eyes, I slowly realized how they resembled
their mother. It was impossible for me to kill them. How could I? I tried and tried and tried and
tried… but every time I looked into their eyes I saw my loving wife, Rigoberta. Every night, I
had nightmares about this evil that my wife gave birth to. They were chasing, cursing and
haunting me to death. But still, I refused to kill or free them. The nightmares were unstoppable
so I refused to sleep.
One night, I decided to feed them for the first time in a while. The basement was dirty.
The mice were everywhere. Once I entered, I saw them sitting in the cradle. My hate toward
them was still present. I saw their four eyes and got horrified. I threw the food in the cradle and
got out. I ran to my wife’s tomb. I started digging up the coffin just to look at her one more time.
I dug for about fifteen minutes. My bones were freezing. I took her body out and kissed her on
the lips. It felt good. Her body smelled like rotting meat but I was indifferent about the smell.
The resemblance between her and the kids and their same pallid skin disturbed me even more. I
put her body back in the heavy coffin. On my way back home, I noticed the twins from the
windows upstairs.
“How could they be upstairs? I left them in the basement and even locked it.” I thought.
 I hurried upstairs. They weren’t there anymore, so I headed back to my chamber. I was
tired, exhausted even, but still, I refuse to sleep. I daydreamed, again. but this time it felt real. In
my dream, I was tied up on a chair with the twins sitting on my lap. I was disgusted and scared.
“Diabolical decrepit deviant, evil with two heads,” I yelled, “get off of me!”
I smelled their odor, heard their cries and laughter, then I woke up. It was enough for me. I was
determined to kill them. I couldn’t support one more nightmare about these creatures. I loved my
wife more than anything and they took her away from me. They took her blue eyes, smile and
face. I had enough, my days were getting worse. I had not fed them in a while, yet they were still
alive. I am not insane, I am not a murderer, but I wanted them to die of hunger and thirst, since I
did not want blood on my hands.
Days have passed, my hate has decreased and I have not visited the kids for 2 weeks. I
had no more nightmares. I believe they were dead because they had no food and water for a few
days. Everything was how I planned… at least almost as I planned. After several days of respite,
I went to visit my wife again to update her. I took her body out and told her what happened and
how the twins died. I knew she was proud of me and how I proceeded. I put her body back in the
coffin. I sat in the snow for a couple minutes then I heard a shriek from inside the house…
“How is it possible? There’s no living body inside.”
I took a deep breath and went inside with aghast. I was looking around the house, in the
living room, the chambers, the washrooms. There was nothing abnormal. But there was still one
place that I hadn't checked, the basement.
“YES THE BASEMENT,” I said to myself, “why haven’t I thought about it earlier?”
I entered, walking down the stairs, and I saw them, the siamese. Something was wrong and very
unexpected. The twins were somehow detached… I was oblivious about how they managed to
separate themselves. It was probably their satanic power. I was now convinced that they were
sent on earth to ruin my life. All I knew was that despite my effort to get rid of them, they were
still alive. I rue the day I made them. They looked placid, playing in their cradle. I decided to run
away.
With impetuosity, I ran as fast as I could without looking behind. I ran into the forest,
terrified, not looking in front of me, with nowhere to go. I kept running, the snow was all over
the ground and I wasn’t able to see where I stepped until I tripped in a hole. The hole was tight,
deep and muddy. I couldn’t see anything. My body was sore, so I passed out. Being far from the
house did not help against the nightmares. I saw the twins. They were in the hole with me, seeing
them detached was much worse than when they were conjoined, I thought they followed me.
From the beginning this was all they wanted. They wanted me dead. Now there I was, in
a tight hole with no food, no beverage and I could barely breathe. I was obstinate to live. I tried
my best to get out of the hole. I started jumping to reach the top but the hole was too deep. I was
exhausted.
“Oh Rigoberta, may you welcome me to heaven, so death would be more pleasant for my
person,” I said, desperately.
I knew I was about to die. I spent hours in the hole. There was nobody around to help me. I
finally accepted my fate and closed my eyes for the very last time.

Literary devices:
- Metaphor: they couldn’t walk or talk, a sort of poisoned gift( the dad compares Alastor
to a poisoned gift) Her body smelled like rotting meat ( he compares the smell of his
wife’ body to the smell of rotting meat.)
- Personification: I heard her calm voice. She was talking to me, she still loves me. ( the
narrator thinks that his wife talks to him even though she’s dead.)
- Alliteration: Diabolical decrepit deviant,