BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD Like what you see? Become the Master of your own Universe!

The House of Joy

The House of Joy does not look like a place that now holds pain. It is filled supposedly with joy and fun. The interior and the exterior are painted with bright colors (red, orange, green, and pink), the paint is chipping away from age and from having had been uncared for, for several years. But still somehow, the paint has the bright unmixed colors from before, and the colors themselves are not faded.   There are murals on interior and exterior walls. The interior murals portray scenes of people. They look almost like classic paintings. However, their faces have since been distorted. This seems to be caused either by the chipping away of paint, or by some other means (perhaps supernatural ones). An overwhelming feeling of joy and playfulness fills a visitor as they enter the place, they are unaware of what they are entering and what dangers might be found within this "joyful" place. And when you enter, you feel as if you want to stay there forever, despite the utterly dirty unkemptness of the rest of the place. You pay no heed to the spiderwebs in corners, nor anything that may seem amiss and off. You feel compelled to explore this strange place.     The House has been forgotten by time. There are not many legends about it, and perhaps that is for the better. (At least better for the beings within the place, not so much for those who randomly come across it). The legends that are (unknowingly) connected with it, tend to be about missing persons, people who have yet to be found. However, no one knows that these legends are in fact a part of this building's history when they enter. One simply thinks it is a strange but nice house. Despite this, there have been a few paranormal investigators who know about these legends being connected to the place's history. However, they have not been able to warn anyone, because the supernatural power around house has made it impossible for these investigators to find it.

Purpose / Function

The place itself may tell you through strange feelings and visions that the purpose of it is to bring "joy" to others. But its real purpose (found by those who can see through the lies) is to capture lost souls for unknown reasons. No one has found its true motive yet. It is almost like this place was made, though, with a jumbled idea of what humans find to be "fun." Almost as if it took a lot of different ideas and decided to mash them together.

Entries

There is a front door and a back door in this house. However, the only access that seems available (unless you feel like breaking in through a window-- which is not advised) is through the front door. Now, whether you can get out after you get in is a whole other problem entirely.

Contents & Furnishings

When you enter you will come to a living room. There are murals like the ones outside, but they are done in a style of a classic painting (along the lines of Renaissance art). These murals are of people. Some of them are standing with each other in what looks to be (despite the chipped paint) a forest area. However, other figures in it are difficult to place the location of (as the background has since faded away). You will find an intact sofa, chairs, along with a coffee table in the first room you enter. The sofa is bright red, and the chairs are bright green and yellow. The coffee table has comics books on it. A lot of comics (though not ones you recognize). Some of the comic books look old. They like they have been water damaged. But  something  makes you want to sit down and read all of them.  
However, after you leave the living room, instead of a typical hallway you will come to a pathway with two different tunnels. The left tunnel is bright and colorful, like the rest of the place, and is made with what looks to be entirely orange yarn as if it was crocheted. The right tunnel looks like metal and has lights all around it that tint the tunnel blue and green. You are not sure what lies at the end of these tunnels. Choose which tunnel to enter and see what fate befalls you in the depths of this place.

Architecture

Outside it appears as a brightly painted pink house. It has designs of fantastical creatures along the sides. There is a Pegasus mural below the left window near the door. In the right window, there is a flashing neon light that says "welcome." And above the welcome sign's window, is a painted mural of an orange dragon. You may not know the house's exact purpose when you first see it. You may not even see this house in the same place twice. For all  you  know, you could be imagining this place.
Founding Date
Unknown-- sometime within the past, perhaps during the early 20th century.


Cover image: by Pixabay and Wiki Commons (Public Domain)

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!
Jul 2, 2024 22:02 by LexiCon (WordiGirl)

This is hauntingly eerie and scary! Thanks for sharing this intriguing article. Sounds like some sort of fever dream lol

Jul 2, 2024 23:15 by jyliet of the house

Wow! So vivid and mysterious. It feels like I've been whispered a story from someone very wise. Such great imagery!

Jul 3, 2024 05:03

The place is a trap for souls and you are telling me that breaking in through a window is not advised! Are you saying that would be worse!!? :O   I love the approach you give to the prompt!

Aug 30, 2024 06:00 by LexiCon (WordiGirl)

Hi there! Just letting you know that I featured your article as an honorable mention in my Reading Challenge. Thanks again for sharing! God bless. <3  

Phoenix_Bluefeather withdrew their entry from A BUILDING ASSOCIATED WITH JOY AND FUN, but it was quite an interesting one that I was looking forward to putting into my reading article. Thankfully, they were nice enough to give me permission to feature it anyways. This hauntingly eerie and scary concept reminded me of a fever dream. The creepiness of the house's strikingly mismatched appearance combined with the fact that visitors are filled with abundant joy and do not want to leave is unsettlingly fascinating! It makes me super curious about the world. Along with all its vivid descriptions, I believe the narrative voice is very engaging, and the final sentence is the cherry on top. This article reinforced that focusing on senses and experience is essential in getting your audience to truly feel what they are reading.