My first time, I didn't have a flashlight. Just a little point-and-shoot, and two friends with light-up mobile phones, before the days of iPhones with flashlight apps or even when phones had decent light coming off their screens, but they worked well enough.
I watched this house for ages and finally decided to pull over and check it out one September night. My friends were braver than I, which helped me on. At first, we just poked around the outside, checking in windows, when we came across our POE- a window left unlocked. The boys wanted to break it, but I put a stop to that. Having a history of forgetting my keys (when I lived with the folks), I got used to jimmying the window open and in seconds, we squeezed in. It was very different than climbing in my own bedroom window. I had things set up for easy entry when I needed it. This time, it felt real.
Armed only with the phones for light, and with the flash of my camera, we navigated around this treasure trove on the outskirts of Monroe County NY. I couldn't see what I bumped into until I took a picture of it. And then I couldn't believe my eyes. I know sometimes you just gotta get out of the house, but seeing this place, you'd swear they were chased out, they left so much stuff. Of course, they could have been chased out by the dolls. Every room had a doll juxtaposed into the scenery. If I hadn't been terrified of dolls, I would have kept them. Gorgeous, antique, and scary as hell, amplifying my fear of the dark, which amplified my fear of dolls.
We spent a couple hours sifting through the wonder. Antiques abound. Toys, clothes, and the usual, too. I rescued some things. All antiques- a music box, an infant's petticoat slip, and a really old till, all of which I still have (the till, being too damn heavy for three of us, did not make it out in the same condition in which it was found, I'm sad to say).
I wish I could have rescued the dolls. I wish the dolls were there when I took my sister to the place later. I wish the house was still there. I drove by it one day on my way to school, and saw that dreadful orange construction fencing around it. When I came back, the house had disappeared. I still think of it every time I pass by that spot, now inhabited by transplanted trees that make it look like there was never a house there to begin with. But at least I have pictures.
See all the snaps here at my facebook (along with some old Photech shots and whatnots).
[last edit 2/24/2012 4:00 AM by diello - edited 2 times]
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