The small town of Taunton was quiet. Too quiet, sometimes. On the edge of the town, near the dark woods, there was an old shop. It was a butcher’s shop, but it closed many years ago. The windows were dirty and dark. No one went near it. People in the town whispered stories about Mr. Silas, the last butcher. They said he went mad. They said he liked blood too much.
Four friends, young adults learning English in the town, heard the stories. There was Liam, Maria, Chen, and Fatima. They were brave, or maybe just foolish. One cold October night, they decided to look inside the old butcher’s shop. “It will be fun!” Liam said. Maria shivered. “I don’t know. It looks scary.”
“Don’t be a baby, Maria,” Chen laughed. “It’s just an old shop.” Fatima carried a torch. It was the only light they had.
The front door was locked, thick wood and rusty metal. But Liam found a broken window at the back. It was small, covered in dirt and spider webs. “Here,” he said. “We can go in here.”
One by one, they climbed through the broken window. Inside, it was very dark and smelled terrible. It was a cold, metallic smell, like old blood. And something else, something rotten. Fatima turned on her torch. The light cut through the darkness.
They were in the back room of the shop. Metal hooks hung from the ceiling. They swung slowly in the air, making small creaking sounds. The floor was stone, dark and stained. In the corner, there was a large wooden table. It was covered in deep cuts and dark stains. This was where Mr. Silas cut the meat.
“See? Just an old shop,” Chen said, but his voice was not strong. He sounded nervous.
Fatima moved the torch light around the room. It stopped on something against the far wall. A pile of old sacks. But one sack looked strange. It was wet and dark red. Flies buzzed around it.
“What’s that?” Maria whispered. Her eyes were wide with fear.
Liam walked slowly towards the sack. He was trying to look brave. He kicked it lightly with his foot. It made a soft, wet sound. He kicked it again, harder. The sack moved, and something round and heavy rolled out from the top.
It rolled across the dirty floor and stopped near Maria’s feet. She screamed. Chen and Fatima gasped. Liam stood frozen.
It was a head. A human head.
Its eyes were open, wide and empty. The skin was pale and grey. Dark, dried blood covered its neck where it was cut. It was not a clean cut. It was rough, torn. Long, dark hair was stuck to the face with sticky, drying blood. The mouth was open, like a silent scream.
Maria screamed again and jumped back. She hit a metal table, and knives and cleavers fell to the floor with a loud crash.
Suddenly, they heard a noise from the front of the shop. A heavy thump. And then, slow footsteps. Scrape… drag… scrape… drag. Someone, or something, was inside with them.
“We need to go! Now!” Fatima shouted. Her voice trembled.
They turned to run back to the window. But a large, dark shape blocked the doorway to the back room. It was tall and wide. It held something long and metal in its hand. A meat cleaver. It shone wetly in Fatima’s torch light.
The figure stepped into the light. It was a man, but he looked wrong. His face was pale and sweaty. His eyes were wide and wild, like Mr. Silas in the stories. He wore a dirty white apron, covered in dark red and brown stains. Fresh, wet blood dripped from the cleaver in his hand. Drip. Drip. Drip onto the stone floor.
He smiled. His teeth were yellow and broken. “More meat,” he whispered. His voice was rough, like stones rubbing together.
Chen pushed past Liam. “Run!” he yelled. He ran towards the window.
The butcher moved faster than he looked. He swung the heavy cleaver. SCHLICK! The sound was horrible, wet and sharp. Chen screamed, a terrible, high sound. He fell forward. His arm… his arm was gone. It landed near the sacks, blood pumping out from the stump near his shoulder. Red blood sprayed onto the walls, onto Liam, onto Maria. It was hot and sticky.
Chen was on the floor, screaming and crying. Blood poured out of him, making a large, dark pool on the stone.
Maria screamed and screamed. She couldn’t move. She was frozen with terror. The butcher walked towards her, his boots making wet sounds in Chen’s blood. Slosh. Slosh.
Liam grabbed Maria’s arm. “Move!” He pulled her hard. Fatima shone the torch towards the window, shaking.
The butcher ignored them. He bent down over Chen. Chen was still alive, crying weakly. The butcher raised the cleaver high above his head. THWACK! A sickening sound, like hitting a melon with an axe. Chen stopped crying. His body jumped once, then was still. More blood covered the butcher’s apron.
Liam and Maria scrambled towards the window. Fatima was already trying to climb out. Her legs were shaking.
The butcher turned slowly. His wild eyes found Liam and Maria. He started walking towards them again. Scrape… drag… scrape… drag. He was dragging one foot.
“Hurry, Fatima!” Liam yelled.
Fatima was stuck. Her shirt was caught on a piece of broken glass in the window frame. She pulled, crying. RIP! The shirt tore, and she fell outside onto the muddy ground.
Liam pushed Maria towards the window. “Go! Go!”
Maria climbed quickly, crying. She cut her hands on the glass, but she didn’t stop. She fell out next to Fatima.
Liam turned back. The butcher was close now. Liam could smell the blood, the sweat, the rotten smell from him. He could see pieces of… something… stuck in the butcher’s teeth. The butcher raised the cleaver again.
Liam threw the wooden table at the butcher. It hit his legs. The butcher stumbled, grunting in anger. Liam didn’t wait. He turned and jumped at the window. He scrambled through, cutting his arms and face on the sharp glass. He fell hard on the ground outside, next to Maria and Fatima.
They looked back at the window. The butcher’s face appeared in the darkness. His eyes burned with hate. He banged the bloody cleaver against the window frame. BANG! BANG! BANG!
The three friends didn’t wait. They got up and ran. They ran as fast as they could, away from the old butcher’s shop, away from the smell of blood and death. They ran through the dark woods, crying and screaming. They didn’t stop running until they reached the lights of the town.
They never went back to the edge of town again. They never forgot the head on the floor, the sound of the cleaver, or the dark, wet blood that covered everything in the butcher’s shop. And sometimes, late at night, they thought they could still hear the sound: scrape… drag… scrape… drag.
Vocabulary Notes
Butcher
Meaning: A person whose job is to cut up meat (like beef, pork, chicken) and sell it. In this story, the butcher is a scary killer.
Example: “It was a butcher’s shop, but it closed many years ago.” / “They said Mr. Silas, the last butcher… went mad.” / “The butcher moved faster than he looked.”
Similar words/ideas: Meat seller, Killer (in the story’s context).
Shivered (Verb: Shiver)
Meaning: To shake your body slightly because you are cold or frightened (scared).
Example: “Maria shivered. ‘I don’t know. It looks scary.’”
Similar words/ideas: Shook, Trembled, Quaked.
Cleaver
Meaning: A tool like a very large, heavy knife with a wide blade (the flat cutting part). Butchers use it to cut large pieces of meat or bone. In horror stories, it’s often a weapon.
Example: “It held something long and metal in its hand. A meat cleaver.” / “He swung the heavy cleaver.”
Similar words/ideas: Big knife, Chopper, Hatchet (similar shape sometimes, but usually for wood).
Stained (Adjective) / Stains (Noun)
Meaning: Marked or coloured with something (like dirt, blood, paint) that is difficult to remove. A stain is the mark itself.
Example: “The floor was stone, dark and stained.” / “It was covered in deep cuts and dark stains.” / “…a dirty white apron, covered in dark red and brown stains.”
Similar words/ideas: Marked, Dirty, Discoloured, Splotched.
Rotten
Meaning: Decayed; something that has gone bad, especially food or dead things. It often has a very bad smell.
Example: “And something else, something rotten.” / “Liam could smell the blood, the sweat, the rotten smell from him.”
Similar words/ideas: Decayed, Spoiled, Bad, Decomposed, Putrid (stronger word).
Screamed (Verb: Scream)
Meaning: To make a loud, high cry because of strong emotion, like fear, pain, or excitement.
Example: “She screamed.” / “Chen screamed, a terrible, high sound.” / “They ran through the dark woods, crying and screaming.”
Similar words/ideas: Yelled, Shouted, Cried out, Shrieked.
Scrambled (Verb: Scramble)
Meaning: To move quickly but with difficulty, often using your hands to help you climb or get away, especially when you are panicked or rushed.
Example: “Liam and Maria scrambled towards the window.” / “He scrambled through, cutting his arms and face…”
Similar words/ideas: Climbed quickly, Moved awkwardly/hurriedly, Clambered, Rushed.
Dripped (Verb: Drip)
Meaning: When a liquid falls in small, single drops.
Example: “Fresh, wet blood dripped from the cleaver in his hand. Drip. Drip. Drip onto the stone floor.”
Similar words/ideas: Dropped, Trickled, Leaked (slowly).
Stump
Meaning: The part of something (like a tree, a limb – arm or leg) that is left after the main part has been cut off or removed.
Example: “…blood pumping out from the stump near his shoulder.”
Similar words/ideas: End (of a cut limb), Remainder.
Gory (Adjective – This word describes the story, but isn’t used inside the story itself)
Meaning: Involving a lot of blood and violence. Very bloody.
Example of use: “The Butcher’s Shop is a gory horror story.”
Similar words/ideas: Bloody, Violent, Gruesome, Grisly.
Story written by Gemini AI
Image created by Designer AI
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