The Prompt
The one thing this house remembers
John Wiswell
John Wiswell is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He won the 2021 Nebula Award for Short Fiction for his story, “Open House on Haunted Hill,” and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Novelette for “That Story Isn’t The Story.” He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, British Fantasy Award, and World Fantasy Award. He is the author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a Year’s Best pick by NPR and The Washington Post, and Wearing the Lion, and he can be found making too many puns and discussing craft on his newsletter, johnwiswell.substack.com.
Now out: the paperback edition of SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN and you can pre-order his new release (coming in June 2025) now: WEARING THE LION
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Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
I made an attempt at/foundation for a creepy story about a house that may literally remember something and the consequences that has for its inhabitants. The pacing and setup could use some work (haven’t worked too much in this genre), but I think the concept has plenty of potential, especially combined with more time and practice.
Returning to the house she used to live in when she was little, she’s not surprised the drawings she’d made on the walls of her room had been painted over. But then she sees something that lets her know the house hasn’t forgotten what she created while there.
So hard.
Some images came to me right away! termites in the wood became an itching in her bones. This was so much fun. a story that wrote itself.
Living in the south, we’ve experienced several tropical storms and hurricanes. In this 516-word story, the house remembers going through a hurricane. This was a fun prompt and definitely something I’ve never tried before.
I wrote a truly awful poem (since the prompt has a Poe-like rhythm to it) about a house that remembers none of the loving and joyful things that happened in and around it, but only that it burned down when hate and mistrust entered. Four bad trimeter quatrains.
I loved the prompt, though. It could take you anywhere. On another day I could have written a full-length story about a complex event; or made the house kind of stupid, focused on something minor, while forgetting all sorts of things that are important to the reader. Or almost anything else.
Super curious to learn what others did with this prompt! I live in an older house—I noodled a bit with the idea of a house having one special person that they attach to. What happens as that person lives there? What happens when they die?
This open ended prompt generated a few ideas. I picked one and had fun with it. Siblings are watching and discussion a show (the prompt is the title of the show). The host interviews particular parts of houses from around the world for their stories. In the lead in for the next episode the children recognize a part of their own home spilling some unexpected details.
Ooh! That’s a great use of the prompt, Melanie!
Thank you, Elizabeth 😊