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Horror Photography – Resurrection

The Things They Left Behind

“Is there something special about them?” Rafe asked.  “Is that why you came rushing down here?”

“I don’t know,” I said.  “Someone left them behind in my apartment.”

horror things they left behind

From the collection Just After Sunset.

Scott Staley is plagued by ghosts.  Not your average, run of the mill, horror story ghosts, but the ghosts of objects, the possessions of the dead.  The attacks on 9/11 killed everyone in his office at the World Trade Center; Scott alone survived because he played hooky that day.  And now, relicts from his dead coworkers are appearing in his apartment.  They carry a weight, a power, that is intended for Scott alone.

I have the collar from my first dog, Bear.  He died over ten years ago, but that collar still holds the same emotional weight that it did when he wore it.  I have a connection to it; seeing it and touching it sparks a series of emotional memories that I had forgotten.

I was in high school when the WTC was attacked.  I wish I could say that I watched them with horror, but it was more of a confusion – I was unable to process what was going on.  Afterwards, everything changed.

It’s funny, because the generation beneath mine has no recollection of pre – 9/11 America.  But my generation does.  We remember the hope we had for the country that we were going to inherit.  And then, within three hours, the entire scope of our country changed, was uprooted.

That’s not to say that there’s no hope for our future, because there is.  I believe in America, I believe in this country and its people.  I believe that we’ve come out stronger, harder and closer to one another after that day of horror.  But the attacks left a hole that will be felt for a long time.

That’s what The Things They Left Behind is all about.  This is not a horror story; it’s the aftermath of one.

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