The Tree
A Real-Life Macabre Monday Story
There’s a tree that sits in my back yard. I don’t know how long it has been there, but by the looks of it, I’m guessing a long time.
The tree has a history with humans, and you can see the evidence of that a few places. It seems to have been cropped or pruned a few times over the years. A dog’s leash melts into the fabric of the tree. Maybe kids swung from an old tire or swing once upon a time, but I don’t know the full history—only the last five years or so.
As we get a little closer, we see more detail in the bark—the skin of the tree—and inside the little nooks and crannies. Animals have taken refuge in this landmark for generations, some building little networks inside.
As a painter, this is the type of nature I’d enjoy painting: asymmetrical, worn down by humans, and in varying states of health and decomposition, depending on where you look. As a horror fan, I know a creepy tree when I see one.
This tree draws my eye in.
It hypnotizes me.
I don’t dare to get much closer to this human-arm-sized hole. Why? Because it’s a human-arm-sized hole, and I’ve seen enough horror movies to contemplate what happens next. Wonder with me for a sec:
Will a series of tiny blades slice your hand to bits?
Will a hand grab yours to shake it as you reach in, saying hello from the other side?
Will you be dragged into this hole, soul and all?
Let me know what’s about to happen in the comments.
Oh, and there’s one other thing I forgot to mention: there are graves beneath this majestically macabre tree. The graves are of our two furbaby children, Molly and Hallie.
Here’s Molly (RIP 2020), getting into the spirit of Halloween, dressed as a Candy Corn Witch:
And, here is Hallie (RIP 2014) doing her best Frankenstein impression for us:
And, here are the graves (Molly is in the foreground; Hallie’s in the back):
Is there any connection between how creepy that tree is, and those two graves? If the two lost loves are buried under the shade of the tree, does that make the tree haunted by extension? What will happen when you reach your hand inside that tree-hole?
For today’s Macabre Monday, I wanted to do something a little different. Thank you for indulging me.
Just like with Sci-Friday, Macabre Monday has now grown into a much larger community of writers on Substack making recommendations. If you’re looking for something to watch within the horror genre, this crew has you covered.
has started , a new publication designed to highlight horror. Check out Jeff’s page! He’s at least half the reason we have this celebration in the first place.If you’d like to check out (or revisit) my own horror genre recommendations, you can find Horror TV from the 80s, this list of great horror shows, and some really creepy movies I recommend.
Nothing happens to you as you withdraw your arm.
As you brush the dust and debris from your arm. It occurs to you that the only remnants of culture and life for generations of creatures that called the tree home are now falling carelessly from your arm.
This leaves you feeling great remorse and irony as the real villain all along was deforestation and not a wicked cool tree blade soul hole.
As you put your hand inside the hole, the ghosts of Mollie and Halley emerge, followed by those of the generation of animals that made the hole their home, blaming you for the dog's mesh in the tree, dragging you into the hole in revenge.