Shivery 2024

The third year of the Shivery series brought in a record number of submissions. Our favorite nine stories are featured in the video, but you can read all of the submissions below. Find this year's three-video series, beginning Monday, October 28, here on our website, on Facebook, or on YouTube. And don't miss our two prior installments of Shivery!

Watch shivery videos

1. The Anomaly by Levi
2. The Attic... by Allison
3. The Babysitter by Neila
4. Beware of the Clowns by Joe
5. Birdcage by Colin
6. Blood Moon by Leif, Julian, Jack, and Jackson
7. The Bridge
8. The Camping Trip by Anastasia
9. The Carnival by Luke
10. The Circus Ring by Harper
11. The Dark Shadow by Stella
12. Darkness by Owen
13. The Day of Lunacy by Miles
14. Deceased by Ariel
15. The Deep Dark by Max
16. Demetri's Daring Adventure by Andrew
17. Denver Airport by Hudson
18. The Doll by Lily
19. The Doll by Sophia
20. Forgotten by Emma
21. Glasses
22. Grandma? by Scarlett
23. The Half by Vivian
24. The Halloween Disappearance by Riley
25. The Hallway by James
26. The Haunted Museum by Yuyu
27. The Haunted Woods by Hawken
28. Haunting Pip by Katya, Maiia, and Kaj
29. The Hidden Book by Phoenix
30. Home Alone on Halloween by Mavrik
31. House Guest by Laura
32. The Inkman by Vincent
33. Into the Forest We Go by Max
34. It Wasn't Me by Georgia
35. Johnny a retelling by Kate
36. Juniper's Spooky Story and A Boy that Gets Tricked 
37. Karma by Martha
38. The Lost City by Finn
39. Maple the Monster by Kayla
40. Massacre by Noah
41. The Maze by Grace
42. Missing by Adan
43. The Mystery Book by John
44. The Night by Brooks
45. Nightmare in Willow Crest by Bennett
46. New Years by Jackson
47. The Other Side of the Door by Swanly
48. Pets and Shadows by Abby
49. The Rat Syndrome by Asher
50. Scary Scary Haunted House by Nixon
51. School Day by Porter
52. Shadows by Celeste
53. The Skeleton by Eric
54. Skinwalker by Jenner
55. The Strange Man by Kora
56. Stuck in the Lodge by Dixon
57. Thornroot Road by Miya
58. The Unsuspected: Chapter One by Makana
59. Untitled by Alex
60. Untitled by Mela
61. Whispering Foothill Shadows by Mary
62. Why Lake Tahoe School by Elisabeth

 

The Anomaly

By Levi

One minute I wasn’t there the next I was. All I remember was going home and jumping into bed. It looked like I was in a room, white pads lined the walls with a bed in the corner. When I turned around I saw a door with signs around it. The signs said, “turn around, don’t go, stay, read the sequel, no escape, we need you,” and other stuff like that. I opened the door and I saw another room, same as this one. My curiosity drove me forward and I went in. Once I entered I realized that this room was a little smaller. So I enter the door in the room and it leads to another room again smaller. “This is getting weird,” I think. I try to go to the main room but when I turn around the door is gone!

This is getting crazy but I keep going forward, door after door… after door… after…….door. By now the room is so small I can barely fit. I start to see monsters. Humanoid gray things with long necks and hollow eyes. I start to go insane and question reality wondering if I exist, then everything fades to black.

One minute I wasn’t here the next I was. All I remember was going home from work and jumping into bed. It looked like I was in a room. White pads lined the walls with a bed in the corner and a TV in front of me. The TV was old-fashioned, it looked like it was from the ‘70s. There was a tape next to the TV so I pushed it in the slot. On the TV there was a

…..

Glitched out. I decided to spin around in a circle until I die. But when I stood up I saw a door with signs around it. I didn’t bother reading the signs and entered the door.

When I entered the door I was in a house, my childhood house. I saw my sister’s room and my brother’s room. As soon as I was about to go to my sister’s room I was called down for breakfast by my mom. When I went down I passed the basement; for some reason it was locked. But she just said “we don’t talk about Zenithal honey.” Then she rushed me to school.

When I was back from school she told me to go to bed since it was three o’clock. “But that’s super early!” I said. Then she yelled, “Now.” “OK, fine,” I said and went upstairs. I pretended to go to sleep and at twelve I jumped out of bed and tiptoed to my mom’s room to get the key to the basement. I opened the door to my mom’s room very softly, then I saw she wasn’t in her room. “Weird,” I thought. “She should be here, why isn’t she?” I saw the key on top of her dresser so I grabbed it and made my way to the basement. When I was there I turned the key in the lock and the door opened slowly. Then I heard a voice say “LGAC RPW, PCYB RFC QCOSCG.”

Author’s comment: The code at the end is in a shift cypher by two forward. Happy decoding.

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The Attic…

By Allison

Once upon a time in a kingdom far away there was a princess. She lived in a beautiful castle but there was one exception… the attic. There were rumors that the attic was haunted. Everybody who went up there never came down except one.

A brave knight tumbled down from the attic one night, and said that there were ghosts and vampires. That was all the king had to hear. He sent his army up into the attic to fight the mosters.

One day the princess asked where the army was. The king told her they were fighting monsters in the attic. The princess did not believe her father, so she went up to see for herself. She put on some shining armor and climbed the ladder up, up up.

She reached the trap door and pulled it open. A sudden gust of cold air pushed her three rungs down the ladder. She kept climbing and then she crawled through the trap door. Inside the attic, it was pitch black.

The princess turned on her flashlight. There were mysterious shadows everywhere. The princess crawled deeper into the attic because she thought she heard noices coming from the back of the attic. When she got closer, the princess saw a little light coming from a hole in the wall.

The princess looked into the wall and saw the knights having a dance party! She joined them and never came down from the attic again.

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The Babysitter 

By Neila 

One night Madison was babysitting for the Joneses, the Joneses had two kids; one was a 8 year old boy named Leo and the other was a baby girl named Paisley. For dinner Madison had made Leo spaghetti and broccoli and gave Paisley mashed up sweet potato and some milk. They were all sitting at the dinner table and Madison was helping Leo with his homework. After dinner Madison told Leo that after he finished his homework and showered they could have ice cream and watch a movie. Leo was so excited, so he started to do his homework so fast that after three minutes he was done. So he started running towards the bathroom when he saw… 

All Madison could hear was a scream, before she found herself running to Leo. When she got to him all she could say was “Are you ok!?” and all Leo could say was “He was right there”. Madison was so confused and scared when this was all that Leo could say. She wanted so badly for him to just tell her exactly what happened and what or who he saw, but he just couldn’t, she tried to get him to say anything else for about 15 minutes but then all he could do was cry, Leo broke down and couldn’t stop crying. At this point Madison was so scared of what or who could be outside or inside, she was about to call Mr. and Mrs. Jones when she remembered “Paisley!” Madison screamed, she dropped her phone and ran to the kitchen. 

She rushed into the kitchen but didn’t see Paisley anywhere. She started looking everywhere for her but when she turned the corner of the couch, there she was, perfectly fine. She was so relieved she ran back to Leo, now that she had both kids with her. She had them all watch a movie on the couch and didn’t let either of them out of her sight for the rest of the night. They all fell asleep on the couch and by morning Mr. and Mrs. Jones came back from their night out. When Madison woke up and saw Mr. and Mrs. Jones, she started telling them what happened last night, but they were not buying it, and they thought that Madison was lying and just wanted them to give her more money. After hearing Madison’s whole story they told her that it was probably just a dream, and it didn’t help that Leo wouldn’t say anything about last night. Mr. and Mrs. Jones Started getting annoyed with Madison because she kept insisting that what happened last night wasn’t a dream but they just wouldn’t believe her. They got so mad that they fired her. Madison started crying and begging “No, Please! I’m not lying! Please don’t fire me”. After Madison got all of her things she started to walk home, her house was all the way across town, and her parents were away so she knew it was going to be a long walk back home. Once she got into town it was dark, but she kept walking when all of a sudden she got a phone call, thinking it was the Jones’s, she answered. Finding it to in fact not be Jones's, the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t saying anything and she didn’t recognize the number so she hung up. She started walking again but she got another phone call, from the same number she answered because she thought to herself “Maybe last time the person just didn’t have good service and now they're calling to actually talk” but when she picked up the phone, no one was there. 

She started to get a bit creeped out so she just put her phone on silent. Once she was about two blocks away from her house it was really dark, dark enough for the street lights to be on but there was one street light that just kept flickering, which Madison didn’t like. But after one of the flicks all of a sudden there was a man, a very tall man standing right under the street light. Madison got a bit scared but she kept walking the other way until, there he was again under a different street light this time closer to her. And every time she turned to go the other way there he was, under a different street light every time and every time he just kept getting closer and closer and closer until he was right in front of Madison. 

Madison started to run but it was no use, with the man’s long legs she never stood a chance. And after that one faithful Madison was never seen again. And this is why you should always trust your babysitters.

The End. 

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Beware of the Clowns  

By Joe 

There were 2 friends, one named Joe and the other named Bob. Bob has a HUGE nose. Joe has a huge pimple on his face. They were walking around a forest because their dog ran into the forest when Joe suddenly disappeared and Bob started calling his name. Bob was running yelling “Joe are you there.” Suddenly something whispered in Bob’s ear “I'm over here Bob” Bob starts yelling more “Joe please stop playing around.” Suddenly clowns appear in a circle around him and he just freezes. Bob took a step, but he suddenly fell through a trap with statues of clowns. A gas starts coming from the vents and he starts feeling weird. His eyesight starts to worsen, his legs start weakening, his arms start feeling like they are asleep. He falls to the ground from the gas. He wakes up to clown statues surrounding him and he starts to pinch himself because he wants this to be a dream but nothing happens. He starts hearing voices and laughter in the walls and floors. He starts talking to himself “please be a dream, please be a dream, please be a dream.” He closes his eyes then opens it again then he notices he's in his room. He starts to calm down thinking it was a dream, but then he walks out of the room and ends up in the room he fell into. He started panicking a lot, and I mean a lot. He saw a door and went through it but it was the same room he fell into. He started running through the doors and noticed it was a loop. He tried breaking it by going back and forth. He screamed as he saw a clown staring at him straight in the eyes. The clown starts talking “hello, it seems you have fallen into my game, to leave, you must complete all my challenges, to finish the first challenge you must follow the bird’s eye and find the abnormal room.” Bob started looking for the bird and suddenly found it. The bird was staring at a wall and Bob went to the wall. He started banging on the wall and the wall suddenly fell over and it uncovered a room but the room was the exact same except for the bird. He kept following the bird’s eyes until he found a room where it was gooey and the bird was gone. The clown was in the middle of the room again and started talking “find me to leave this game, once you find me yell out, clown clown go away give these challenges another day.” Suddenly the clown vanished into thin air. Bob started hearing scary noises. Bob blinked and suddenly he was in a maze. The clown yelled “COME FIND ME.” Bob started running around frantically looking for the clown so he could leave. He started to notice a loop and he just froze. Thinking how to find the clown but he got an idea. He was gonna look at the ceilings on walls because you never know what the clown can do. He realized the clown was right above him and he started saying”clown clown go away, give these challenges another day.” He suddenly appeared in his house and was so happy. His mom ran to him saying “wait what, Bob we thought you disappeared 5 years ago.” Bob said “Wait, I've been gone for 5 years?” His mom says “Yes, we haven't seen you in 5 years.” Bob starts getting concerned. Bob says “I’ve only been gone for 3 hours.” His mom says “No, it's been almost 6 years.” Bob gets scared and faints. When Bob wakes up he's in bed. He thinks “Oh thank goodness, it was a nightmare.” He starts to get up but something pulls him down. He gets up confused but then falls and he thinks he's just scared from a nightmare. His mom yells “Come down for dinner Bob.” Bob steps out of his room but then he sees a clown forgetting it's halloween and it’s just a decoration but he asks his mom to take it down because of his nightmare. But then his mom turns into a clown and starts chasing him saying “Come here Bob, it's just your mom. His mom/clown grabs him and throws him down. The clown/his mom is about to do something to him, and the clown swung and she… The End 

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Birdcage    

By Colin 

Tuesday afternoon. That was always when Mr. Jenkins left for his golf sessions in the summer. Mike, Sally, and I would creep to his patio and sneak in through the dog door to get inside his place. Mr. Jenkins didn't have a dog—the door was installed by the last renter—but he also never locked it. It was always a risk, hoping he didn't forget a club or need one last item from the house, but we had always gotten away with it. Today, there was a surprise waiting for us when we rounded the kitchen/entryway and went into the living room. Sitting over a pile of old newspapers was a giant, ornate cage made of copper. The stand that held the cage upright was taller than all of us. 

Mike didn't even think, he just ran over to get a better look at what was inside. "Is that a...?" CAW! The surprise sent Mike tumbling backwards and Sally and I went to see if he was okay. The once-huddled bird now sat with its wings outstretched to intimidate us into staying further away. CAW! The piercing cry of the raven didn't stop. I saw something reflect light briefly in the corner of the cage but the raven didn't let up. CAW! The noise continued as we picked Mike up and left Jenkin's place hurriedly. The raven wouldn't stop cawing, and our little hiding spot would get found out by snooping neighbors if the noise persisted. So we ran. But the three of us couldn't let it go. Jenkins had never owned pets before. Why start now? Why a raven? And when did he get that cage in there? My parents would've seen him moving that in there, but if they did, they didn't say anything. Since it was summer and a Friday night, I asked my parents if Sally and Mike could sleep over. We got luckier than expected, my parents said yes, and they ordered pizza. 

As my Mom and Dad sat down with the pizza boxes, my curiosity got the better of me. "Have you seen Mr. Jenkins move anything next door lately?" Mom bit into the pepperoni slice like she didn't hear me, but Dad side-eyed my question with one of his own. "Why? You haven't been playing Rear Window with the neighbor, have you?" Sally and Mike chime in with a united "No!" I look over to them with a very withering thanks. Dad looks even more skeptical now. He nudges Mom's shoulder with his pizza-free hand. "Oh sure, he was moving that rolled-up carpet around 4 am, but I haven't noticed much else." Mom tags in to keep the joke going. "Yeah, where did that girlfriend of his go anyway? Haven't seen her in days." They share a laugh while the three of us sit stone-faced. Sally rolls her eyes. "May we take the pizza to my room?" 

We watched a scary movie with Mom and Dad, but they seemed more creeped out by it than us. They asked if we wanted to stay up longer, but it was already midnight, and we needed to be in bed quickly for this charade to work. Mike, Sally, and I said our goodnights and went through the routine of getting ready for bed, mostly to fool my parents. 

I got cold feet the closer we were to sneaking back into Jenkins' place. "What if we just went back tomorrow afternoon, like usual?" Sally and Mike shook their heads. Mike said, "It has to be tonight, he's still out of the house," "-which is weird," Sally interjected. It's true, Jenkins never returned today, which only weirded me out more. He should have come home around six, but there was no sight of him. "Come on," Mike said, "what if he's moving?" I shrugged my disagreement. "We might never get to see what's going on otherwise." Finally, I relented. "Okay, but we do it stealthily." 

The dew of the grass made crawling in our pajamas awkward, but not enough for us to accidentally trip the motion light Jenkins stationed between my house and his. Mike tried to enter the dog door, but I grabbed his shoulder. I snatched a rock from his landscaping and sent it clattering across the kitchen linoleum. Not a peep. The three of us crawled through and let our eyes adjust to the dark. All of Jenkins' shades were open so we couldn't turn on any lights. 

Immediately, something was off. The cage was not in the same place. At first, we thought we couldn't see it, but we searched the living room on hands and knees to no avail. Mike whispered, "Should we try upstairs?" I gulped audibly. Sally is the level-headed one of our group; surely, she would call it quits. I was always the first to quit when things got scary, and it looked like tonight would be no different. Sally nodded in the affirmative and Mike bound upstairs. Sally followed quickly behind. 

I crept, but the floorboards creaked with each step. Mike and Sally stood frozen in the expanse of Jenkins' bedroom. No TV, no furniture, just the cage in its new home. How did it get there? The raven stared menacingly. There were no loud calls from earlier, just eerie silence. 

A gleam caught my eye. The raven had something in its beak. Mike and Sally still hadn't moved. I edged past them and closer to the raven's cage in the center of the room. A glint of white flashed again from its beak. I didn't know why my friends stopped moving, but I felt compelled to be closer to the bird. I stood right in front of the cage. The raven cocked its head at me, dropping the item it held. My hand trembled as I opened the cage door. The raven stood idly by, watching me approach its gift. I leaned in closer to see that the tiny marble was, in fact, an eye. I heard my name called from behind, but it was too late. 

A spell came over me, sending waves of cold and nausea. I closed my eyes to gather myself. I went to clutch my head to make the pain stop, but my hands didn't respond. When I opened my eyes, I stared at my old body from inside the ornate cage as my hand shut the door on me. Mike clasped his mouth while Sally ran away down the stairs. My body turned to Mike, and leaped toward him. I wanted to scream, "Run!" Yet all I could muster was a caw. Caw! Caw! Caw! 

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Blood Moon

By Leif, Julian, Jack, and Jackson

My dad died when I [was] five years old. He made all the money so when he died we had to move houses. We got a cheap house in the woods so we went to the house in our small car. When we got the house it was surprisingly big for its price. That thought quickly went away when I stepped inside the house. It was covered in cobwebs and rats were everywhere so we started unpacking and cleaning when I found my room. I unpacked my stuff and cleaned my room. My mom told me to fall asleep. And it was like that for the next four days until one night I thought I saw something. I was scared so I went downstairs and looked for my sister and mom. But I could not find them so I went outside and looked for them. I found nothing. I went inside because I was cold. I could not find them for three days straight. On the fourth day [I] was looking for [my] sister and mom. [I] found two drunk teenagers trying to kill each other. They were stabbing each other with sharp sticks; blood was everywhere. I yelled at them to stop but they did not stop. So I went home and slept in my room. The next day I checked on them. They were both dead on the ground. Both teenagers’ heads were chopped off and their livers were on the ground. When I got closer, I noticed they had claw marks on their chests. I think a mountain lion got them. But then I thought, “what would rip off their heads?” Then I noticed footprints on the ground. Then I went to my house and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning and started looking for [my] mom and sister in the woods, I saw a phone on the ground next to footprints. [I] picked up the phone and there was a video of the teenagers fighting and it slid back into the pocket. And then I heard screaming and the phone fell out of the pocket and I saw a scratch mark of an animal claw and then it stopped. I was so scared. I thought it was an animal but then I knew it wasn’t an animal. I thought it was a monster, but my mom and dad always say monsters aren’t real.

To be continued…

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The Camping Trip

By Anastasia

Bella was excited for camping and Amy, Bella’s sister, was also excited. Their parents, well, were not so excited since the campground was six hours away. “Come on, come on!” Bella said as everyone got in the car. They started driving and Amy was complaining.

“Ughh! Are we there yet?” Amy asked in a bored tone. “Big sis don’t complain. Alas it’s only been 30 minutes,” Bella said as she was looking out the window. Lilah, their mom, said “yeah, Ames, you should take a nap maybe.” “Mom, I told you not to call me Ames!” Bella laughed.

A few hours later, Amy was asleep and there were five more minutes until they would reach the campsite. “We’re almost there!” Bella shouted a little. Bella could see the campsite in the distance. She shook Amy. Amy got up and looked grumpy since Bella woke her up.

They got to the campsite and parked the car. Bella was basically jumping in her seat from excitement. They started unloading their stuff and setting up the tent. Cole, their dad, was setting up the tent, while Amy, Bella, and Lilah were taking things out of the car. “I finished setting up the tent,” Cole said. They finished setting up everything and went in the tent to rest since it was almost night.

“Mom, I’m starving! Can you and dad cook dinner for us?” Amy asked in a whining tone. “OK, Cole and I will make us something to eat,” Lilah said. They got out of the tent and cooked dinner. Forty minutes later they were eating and the sun set. Theywere starting a fire to make s’mores.

“I’ll go get the supplies!” Bella said, running to the bear box. She gets the supplies and plates to set up s’mores. There was a warm, nice fire while they roasted marshmallows. After they finished they went into their tent to sleep.

Just then, Amy had to go to the bathroom. So she got up and saw that her sister wasn’t in the tent. Confused, she went out of the tent and saw a trail of blood. She decided to follow it and she found a big pond.

She saw her sister… but she was a doll with buttons in her eyes. Amy was about to scream until she passed out. In the morning their parents woke up and got out of the tent. They saw the blood trail and followed it. They got to the big pond and saw two dolls that looked like Bella and Amy. The parents went to go get the police, shocked. The two sister dolls stay there; what could go wrong?

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The Carnival 

 By Luke

It was a Friday, so I was going to go out with some friends, but just as I was about to leave, I heard my mom say “You gonna go to that carnival tonight?” I had no clue what she was talking about so I replied with “What?” “Starts at 7! You should go!” In my opinion, carnivals aren't too fun, it's always those games that just take your money and janky rides, so I blow it off. I go to Crosby’s with my friends for dinner, and then on my way home, I get a glimpse of all the lights, so I say,  “Why not?”, So I ride over, and park my bike outside, and walk in. The first thing I see is a bunch of clowns, with balloons, and I hate clowns, so I try to leave. As I turn around, guess what's standing right behind me–a huge, scary, bloody clown. I say “Jeez what happened to you” sarcastically. He says “If you leave, they will find you.” I blink, he’s gone. I think nothing of it, leave and ride my bike home. I do all my nightly stuff, and as I’m closing my shades to go to sleep, I peer out and see two clowns, sitting on the bench, looking right at me. Now this freaks me out a bit, but I just think “Maybe they're waiting for the bus” And I go to bed. The next morning when I woke up, my mom said, “Good morning honey, how was last night?” “Hanging with friends was fun, but that carnival has some scary clowns” I reply “What carnival?” My mom says. “Uh the one you told me to go to?” I reply “Honey there was no carnival” I instantly ran out, got on my bike, and went straight to the field where the carnival was. Everythings gone, no trash, no nothing. Just the same old field I played tee-ball on when I was 6. At this point I’m terrified, “Who were those clowns?” “Was it all a dream?” “Maybe it's just a prank that my mom is telling me” I ask myself. I get on my bike to go home, it’s not a far ride home, however about a minute away from my house, I fly by the two same clowns that were outside my window last night. Now, I have no clue what to do. I still go home to see if my mom is pulling a sick little prank. So I barged into the house yelling “Enough! What is going on” with no reply, I search all around the house to find a note on the kitchen counter saying “Went to the grocery store, be back soon” with a heart. From here I text my friends and ask “Did Yall go to that carnival last night?” they all reply with “What carnival?” Now I’m freaked out, no way my mom would have coordinated with my friend to pull a prank. I try to take a nap, to cool off and try and forget, like everybody else. But I can’t. Those two clowns really messed me up, and then I remembered. I remembered the huge, gross, bloody clown that told me “If you leave, they will find you.” Now, I can’t stand this. I go to the police. I tell them everything that's happened, about the carnival, about the clowns, about everything! But of course, they look at me like I’m crazy because obviously they don’t remember this carnival. And after like 10 minutes of me talking, they just tell me to go home. So I say fine. And of course, on my way home, there are the two same clowns. I’m used to it at this point. So I pull over, and say “How's it going?” in a strong confident voice, (I’m terrified) no reply, my alarm goes off, it’s all a dream. But when I get out of bed, open my shades, close my eyes, open them, and thankfully, no clowns. The rest of the day is awesome, I hangout with friends at school, go home, drop off all my stuff, and as I’m about to leave again, my mom yells “You going to that carnival tonight? Starts at 7!” 

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The Cirus Ring 

By Harper

Ashley walked into the English classroom excited because it was her last class of the day. It was Ashley’s favorite season, fall. She loved the season of fall because of the crisp fall mornings, and having cozy weekends at home. She went straight to her desk, and took out a pencil. Ashley’s English teacher said, “Everyone pull out last night’s assignment that I assigned for homework. Now-” The teacher stopped when she heard a faint knock on the glass window of the classroom. “Hold on kids,” she said. 

She walked over to the window, and everyone gasped when the lights started flickering and a shadow of an eerie dark figure in a cloak appeared at the window and started knocking again. The noise sent a shiver down Ashlesy’s spine, and not because she was cold from forgetting a sweatshirt for the 3rd time this week. An alarm in the school suddenly started going off, sounding like it was crying for help. Ashley got out of her chair, and ran to the door, unknowing of what she just caused to happen. 

“Ashley! Don’t leave, you could get hurt!” said the teacher, Ms. Balbador. Ashley turned her head back for a second, but when she did, she suddenly hit something that felt like a brick wall. She then fell back and immediately hit her head on the hard floor, causing everything to go dark. The last thing Ashley saw before she blacked out, was the shadow of the familiar figure she saw at the window just a couple of minutes ago. 

“Don’t move Ashley, or you will make this situation a lot harder than it needs to be,” said the strange voice. When Ashley woke up, she found herself in a dark room. She tried to move her arms to feel the huge bump on the back of her head from falling, but as soon as she did, she realized she was duct taped to a chair. “Where am I?”, said Ashley with panic in her voice. The lights slowly flickered on, and she realized she was in a circus ring. “Well hello there. I see you are my new circus member,” said the man that Ashley assumed was the ringmaster. Ashley took a couple seconds to comprehend what was happening before she said, “W-what? I’m just a kid! You kidnapped me! You can’t do this.” The man smirked then said, “Oh but yes I can. Now we have a show in just a couple hours, and you're going to be in the act of sawing the women in half.” 

Ashley looked around, panicking and trying to find a way out. She didn’t want to become only half a person! Ashley needed to find her way out of there, fast. As the man led her backstage where all of the people that were in the circus got ready, she started to really freak out. Then she thought that maybe the other people in the circus would be able to help her escape, or at least explain what’s going on. When Ashley walked into the room, she noticed all of the people weren’t really people. They were all fake-looking. They almost looked like the porcelain dolls that her grandma kept in her room back at their house in Louisiana. “Well, here we are. Start getting ready and you can meet some of the others,” said the man. Ashley didn’t say anything, she just looked around nervously and tried to think of what to do. “Well hello there little girl,” said an old man. Ashley jumped and screamed. The man then said, “Sorry to frighten you little one, but I think you need to get used to the way we all look around here.” Ashley then replied by saying, “My name’s Ashley not “little girl”, but more importantly, what?!” 

“Here’s the deal: if you don’t get out of here before the circus starts, you’ll be stuck here and turned into a doll. Just like the rest of us,” said the man. Ashley looked back at him with complete fear. “B-but, I just want to go home.” The man looked at her with sympathy, even though he didn’t know the girl. “If you follow what I say to do, everything will be okay.” After a second, Ashley slowly nodded. The man continued, “First, don’t look anyone else in here in the eye. If you do, there’s a high chance they’ll be the first to hurt you.” Ashley continued to nod as he kept speaking. “Follow me, and remember to keep your head down.” 

Ashley and the man walked through the room, and Ashley made sure to keep her eyes on the man’s back. They walked past creepy clowns, acrobats, and people practicing their acts for the show. Ashley couldn’t help but stare at the clown that was practicing juggling in a corner. The man Ashely was following looked back and saw her staring and said, “Ashley no! That’s the most dangerous clown. He didn’t see you looking right?” Just as the man said that, the clown slowly craned his neck towards them. The man ran away calling for Ashley to follow him. All Ashley could do was stand there as her life flashed before her eyes,when the clown suddenly grabbed her. He grabbed a bat nearby and said, “Big mistake.” 

“ASHLEY! ASHLEY!” Ashley opened her eyes and saw her teacher staring at her. “Ashley, are you okay? We need to get you to a hospital!” “I’m fine, I think I bumped my head. I might need to go home though," said Ashley. “Of course, I’ll tell the office to call your mom to get you.”Ashley nodded and walked outside and waited for her mom to arrive. Even once Ashley got home and cozied up in her bed, she couldn’t stop thinking that what happened to her couldn’t have been a dream. Before Ashley drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. 

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The Dark Shadow 

By Stella

It was a normal fall afternoon, and Mira was walking home from home from school. It was October 31, Mira’s favorite day of the year, Halloween. Mira loved Halloween, and looked around at all of the Halloween decorations covering her neighborhood. She saw giant pumpkins, carved pumpkins, blow-up ghosts, witches, and also a few witches cauldrons. She loved all of the decor. Suddenly it was as if she had just seen a dark shadowy figure through the trees. She was scared, but did not think much of it. She continued her walk home. Later that afternoon, Mira began to get ready for the big night ahead. As she was in her bathroom, through the tiny window above her sink, it seemed that she saw the strange figure again, this time it seems that the figure was even more detailed, she could almost see a face on it. This time, she started to feel a little more frightened. But, she continued getting ready. This year for halloween she was going to be a scary black cat. 

Later on in the evening, she was finally getting ready to leave. She was heading out to her best friend's house, Sam. as she was in the car driving there, her mom noticed something was up with her, and asked, “Are you feeling alright Mira?” Mira didn’t respond, as she was so fixated on trying to figure out what that mysterious figure was. Just as Mira’s mom was pulling into Sam’s driveway, Mira saw it again. This time the figure seemed to be walking towards her, and she could see its face, which seemed to have a creepy smile on it, with eyes staring directly into her soul. Her insides froze. Mira ran inside Sam’s house. 

The whole night was a blur for Mira. She could hardly focus on anything, except that mysterious figure. She felt as if wherever she went, and every step she took, the figure followed her. Mira and Sam were doing their final touches on their costumes, and then suddenly, Sam asked, “What's wrong Mira? You have been practically silent the whole evening, I thought you loved Halloween, aren't you excited to go trick or treating?” Mira replied, “Yes. You’re right. Sorry I have been acting so weird tonight, but it is as if there is a strange figure following me. I know this probably sounds crazy, but I swear, every time I see it, it just gets closer and closer to me.” 

As much as Sam loved her best friend, she thought it was a little crazy of her to be seeing “mysterious figures”. But she tried to respond in a somewhat nice way, “Maybe you are just seeing some scary decorations, it's probably nothing, don’t worry. Besides, we need to leave, it’s 7:30.” Mira thought that perhaps Sam was right, maybe she was just stressing over nothing. So both girls left the house, excited to get loads of candy. 

For most of the time that Mira was trick-or-treating, she did not see the figure, and was beginning to think that it was all just in her head. So, she enjoyed her favorite night with her best friend. As she was reaching her favorite house that gave out full-sized candy bars, all of the sudden, she heard a loud ringing in her ears. Yet again, she saw the figure, this time she could make out every detail of it. It was similar to a clown, and had quite a bit of face makeup on. It was wearing what seemed to be a black and white onesie. But the part that scared Mira the most, was that it was staring her directly in the eyes, and it seemed to be whispering in a deep voice, “Come with me, or I will take you with me.” His words sent shivers down Mira’s spine. 

Suddenly, it was as if she regained consciousness, everything was back to normal. As if no time had passed. Mira needed to get home. She was terrified. In a shaky voice she called out for Sam. “Hey Sam, it's getting late, I think we should head back.” “No Mira. We are at the house with the full sized candy bars! Please, just one more house.” Mira agreed to one more house, not knowing it was the worst decision of her entire life. 

They arrived at the house. As Sam knocked on the door, everything went black. The ringing got even higher pitched, and the figure started Mira in the eyes, repeating “Come with me”. She was in shock to the point where she could not move, and she tried to scream, but no voice came out. She tried to run, but her legs gave up, trembling to the ground. She tried to cry, but her face had dried up, no tears came out. She tried to grab Sam, but Sam was gone, slowly fading away. She wasn’t at that house anymore. Eventually she gave up. Mira braced herself, knowing it was the end. She disappeared forever; she was actually gone. To this day, no one knows how it happened, and Sam regrets ever wanting to go get candy at that last house. 

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Darkness

By Owen

One day Josh and his friend John were walking to school when there was a power outage for the whole world, and even generators weren’t working. After a few days the power came back on. Then after a few days, it seemed like everyone forgot about it except Josh and John. They asked everyone about it and they all had the same response, “What power outage?” They both went to John’s house and started making theories about what made them forget the power outage. Then their power went out. They went to get flashlights and when they grabbed flashlights Josh felt a hand on his shoulder and he and Josh were pulled into darkness _____.

When Josh woke up he saw John. “Hi,” Josh said. Then John’s eyes went gray and he said “we will have to complete two mini games to save the earth.” Then he seemed normal again as they got teleported to the first game. The first game is “red light” but if you move you get teleported back to your planet. “Red light,” he said. One person moved and they vanished. “Green light.” Josh moved forward ten steps. He looked back at John and saw he was struggling. Then Darkness said “I can go ‘red light, green light’ and leave it for five minutes. I will have a minion watch you. Josh and John both started running to the finish and they won. 50 out of 75 people made it.

The second round was an infinity mirror maze. “There are traps everywhere and you want to be very careful with each step. The first person to finish wins. Three, two, one, go.” Many people raced off and fell into a pit, and went back to their planet. They went around the pit and then everyone split up except Josh and John. They kept going around corners until John wasn’t careful and fell into a pit. “Noooooo,” he yelled as he fell. Then after a few _____ he saw a slate that said “everyone is trying to kill each other. From John.” Then it changed to “Please help. From John.” Then after a few ____ he saw the end but there was someone standing next to it, so Josh dove through it and one. When he got back everything was the same except there were a few dead bodies here and there.

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The Day Of Lunacy 

By Miles

It was the year of 1989, “I hate school” said Derek, He had been going to Alaca middle school for three years now. This is his final year there as hes in 8th grade. All the years past have been good but pretty normal but this year felt weird… 

Beep Beep Beep Derek moans, “uhh I don’t want to get up for the first day of school.” His Mom yells down to him “Derek it's time for school please get up” Eventually Derek gets out of bed and does his normal routine for school. By the time he finishes everything it's time to get on the bus. As he gets on the bus he sees all his friends from last year like Jon, Erik and Bob. he sits next to them on the bus. Once he gets to school his whole day is pretty much just learning what classes he has and what teachers he has. 

He gets home after a long day of school and his Mom is waiting for him “How was your day?” she asks Derek and says “It was ok, but it felt really odd”. After he talks to his mom for a bit he heads up the stairs. He had this weird feeling like something bad was coming. He eventually goes to bed but has a hard time doing so because all he could think about were things going wrong… 

He wakes up the next morning before his alarm goes off. He was very confused. By the time he finished getting ready he had enough time for breakfast. And right as he finished the bus pulled up to his house. As he gets on he notices that his friends are not there to greet him but are actually all turned against the window. As he gets to school he heads to first period which is math. Everything seems normal, just quiet as he goes through 2nd ,3rd and 4th period. 

When he heads to 5th period he noticed it got significantly colder in the room and everyone was acting a bit off. Eventually Derek couldn't withstand the cold any more and he asked the teacher to turn the temperature up. And when he does she says ok in a very weird way.. 

As she does the room suddenly turns black.. In the next split second the lights are back on and everyone is in the same position but not looking towards him. He thanks the teacher but as he does everyone including the teacher turns around slowly but only with their heads as they keep turning they all break their necks the cracking sound pierces the air. They are all smiling. He realized that everyone in his class has gone mad. 

Derek darted out of the classroom as fast as he could but the lights kept flickering on and off and every time that happened kids would appear right next to him smiling. Eventually he got out of the school and didn't stop running until he got home. As he was running he realized that everyone in his town had gone mad. When he got home he locked himself into his room and put his desk in front of the door. He sat in his room for about 15 minutes contemplating what had just happened as he was deep in thought one of his classmates crawled through the window and. 

Ding goes the bell well it's time to go to recess. That was a really scary book. I thank the librarian while I walk out… 

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Deceased 

By Ariel

Knock Knock Knock. I woke up to a banging on my window. I yanked my pink quilted covers off of me, revealing my favorite purple plaid pajamas. I hopped out of bed, pulling my long copper hair up in a bun. 

“Maya, I thought I told you to stop waking me up by banging on my windows,” I say as I unlock the latch to my awnings. “Yeah, I know but you took way too long to get ready, so I figured that I would wake you up.” My best friend Maya was a very smart and quick witted girl. She lives right across the street, which means 99% of the time she is hanging out with me. Even though now she always acts as though she is untroubled, 2 years ago she battled an awful illness. Every morning, back when she was sick, I would go to her house with flowers and breakfast for her and her family. But now, she is happy and healthy and back to herself. In fact, my parents don't let me visit her house anymore, but surely it's because her room is a mess. 

“Madeline, would you please get ready faster? I smell waffles coming from downstairs.” I quickly opened my closet door and pulled out a floral tank top and some leggings. “Give me two minutes,” I say as I slip into my bathroom and change into my clothes. Before I go downstairs, I make sure to swallow my daily pill. My doctor said that it was for my headaches, which I honestly never knew that I had until I was prescribed the medicine. “Let's go Maya,” I called out. We step down the stairs and enter the dining room where there is a breakfast of waffles, maple syrup, and big bowls of fruit. “Mom, Maya came in from the window again, she wanted to have some breakfast with us.” My mom glanced at my father in a kind of… concerned way. I figured that I had something on my face so I tried wiping it off. “Oh. Uhm, hello Maya. Are you hungry?” My mom said looking quite a bit farther from where Maya was sitting. She definitely forgot to put her contacts on again. “YES. I am starving.” Maya grabs a waffle from the plate and tops it with some raspberries. “Well, I assume that you are hungry and that you will eat.” My mom says. “Maya, we should totally play some volleyball today. We have to make this summer count.” “Definitely!” Maya says, digging into her waffle. I tried to finish my waffle quickly so we could go outside, but my mom kept wiping tears aways from her eyes. “Uh mom? Is everything ok?” 

“Of course it is honey. It will all be ok.” 

We both put our plates in the sink and put on some shoes. “I'll grab the volleyball,” I said as I went to our living room and dug into one of our storage bins. “Okay, I got it. You know, now that I think about it,” I started telling Maya as we walked out to our front yard, “We haven’t played volleyball in years! I am SO gonna beat you.” 

“Whatever you say, Mads!” Mads is the nickname that Maya has been calling me since we were three years old. “Okay, it's my serve.” I threw the volleyball up in the air and hit it to Maya. For some reason, it slips right by her. “Oops. Sorry. I wasn’t ready. Hit it again!” Maya says, this time getting lower to the ground, preparing to hit the ball. Once again, I threw the ball up in the air and hit it. Nothing. Not even a move from Maya. “Maya, you seriously have to work on your volleyball skills. Maybe even your reflexes,” I say, grinning and collecting the ball from next to her. “Ready this time? Okay, 3…2…1.” I serve the ball to her again. “Are you serious? You are acting really weird. Maya? Maya? Why aren’t you saying anything? Maya!? MAYA!? MAYA!” 

Death. Something I could never accept. But when I woke up in a mental institution that day. It all came to light. I’ll miss Maya, but then again, I guess that I have been missing her all this time. “Doctor, I don’t understand. Maya was just tired today, nothing more. I was just playing volleyball with her, but since she hadn’t played in years, she completely forgot how. There's no need to worry, I was just confused for a second. After I kept talking to her and she wouldn’t respond, I was sure that-” My words were cut short to the doctor saying, “Madeline. Maya died 2 years ago.” 

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The Deep Dark 

By Max 

I woke up on the early morning of March 1, 1960. The early morning dew hit my face from the open window. As I lazely get myself out of my bed and hobble to the living space. 

I turned the television to the second channel, to see my name called as 974th for the draft in the Vietnam war. The weight of stress relieving my shoulders feels amazing. The channel quickly switched to another commercial. “Were you not drafted for the big war? Well boy do I have the job for you!” I'm listening in as I want a break from working at the post office. “The state of the art Triste Is making its first trip to the deepest point of the ocean: The Challenger Deep!” “Call 111-111-1111 to sign up as a volunteer today!” 

“James! James!” I called from the living space. As I sprinted over to his room, he woke up from the creaking of the wood. “H-huh?” “We have a new job that I can sign us up for!” I say, as he falls back to sleep. Without hesitation I called the number from the kitchen phone. As the dialing tone suddenly stops, the man picks up. “Hey there. You've reached the Challenger deep hotline. What's your name, son?” “John.” I replied. The silence is intimidating. “Alright. Meet me at Bastrop marina Texas tomorrow. “Alright.” I say with no hesitation. 30 minute drive. Almost like he knows I live near. 

March 2, 1960. 

The next day I head out, all is said and done. My brother does not want to come, understandably. “What do I have to lose?” I say, in a reassuring fashion. 30 Minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot. There is what looks to be a rich, well dressed man. I step out of the car. “Hey there, son!” The voice is familiar. “Hello, sir.” I replied. “Is your name John?” “Yes.” follow me.” He says. 

March 18, 1960 

I woke up on a gloomy saturday. I take a deep breath as I knew what Monday has to come. I dress myself, and head out of the superstructure of the giant ship. He is standing there. “Do you feel ready?” He says. I reply with a low, “Yes.” I have been trained on this submarine, quite a small one. Almost drives itself, since I only had 16 days of training. Today and tomorrow is preparation for what's to come. 

March 20, 1960. 4:00 AM 

I wake up. I am ready. I dress myself, and have only bacon for breakfast. I walk out of the main cabin of the giant ship, to see my submarine ready to launch into the water. With no hesitation, the man brings me to the submarine. I get into the sub, via ladder. They close the hatch, the last I'll ever see daylight for another 3 days. As they lower myself into the water like a lifeboat, I feel nervous as there is no communication. The submarine dives automatically, and I just supervise. 100 feet. 300 feet. 900 feet. We are diving rapidly. 1000 feet. 

March 20, 1960 6:00 AM 

We are 30,000 feet deep. I have seen many glowing creatures, unlife-like. It's fascinating how life is able to survive down here even with immense pressure. 34,000 feet, the window pains start to crack. I dont breathe hard, as there is limited air. Here we are. 36,200 feet below the surface. Alone. I start the tests, like picking up samples and tracking audio. Then, something horrendous came up. As I peeked out the window, an ominous 7 foot anomaly you'd find in sleep paralysis, is standing outside. As he whispered to me, “Don't be afraid of my appearance, I don't like to be looked at.” “I Get aggressive whenever someone looks at me.” I don't respond, and continue with my job. I am frightened, more than I ever have before. I close my eyes right as the tests get completed. 

March 21, 1960 2:00 AM 

He is there. Outside. Staring. Pondering. He is something from the underworld, I can sense it. I look for a crucifix. Anything, scrambling around. It's blurry, I can't see. He is knocking on the glass, face outside the window. His echoing voice “I see you.” in the most weird tone i have ever heard. Tunnel vision. Closing in. The walls, he is inside. Walking toward him. With his hands. The devil himself is with me. 

March 21 1960 8:00AM 

I woke up. I look outside. He is not there. I walk to the front where the testing is. I sit down and start. “Hey there” He is outside. I can't help but take one little glance. There he is. “You betrayed me.” 

March 23 1960 12:00PM 

John Higgins was found dead inside the Triste. An event we are still trying to uncover. We guess there was a fault and he suffocated. There will not be any further journeys to the challenger deep anytime soon. 

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Demetri’s Daring Adventure  

By Andrew 

Andrew Demetri was a little sixth grader who didn't have many friends but his best friend was Alexander, he was the best friend anyone could ask for. One day when they were biking around town Demetri wanted to show off a cool new trick he was working on at the bike park but Demetri went to slow off the jump and ended up falling around 10 ft he landed directly on his lower back and blacked out. The next thing he knew he woke up in the hospital with Alexander by his side. Demetri asked what happened and he told him that he had a nasty crash and blacked out after all the pain. Alexander reassured him by telling him he would be fine and the doctor should be here soon. Five minutes passed and the doctor walked in and told the heartbreaking news that Demetri had lost connection with his bottom half and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His family was deeply saddened by this and had to help him with everyday tasks such as making his way throughout their house. 5 months later Alexander and Demtri were hanging out at Demtri’s place talking about what they were gonna be for Halloween. They thought it would be funny if Demetri dressed as Santa and Alex as a little kid telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas. The big day arrived and they both got their costumes on and were ready to get all the king sized bars. Alexander wheeled Demetri door to door filling up their baskets with candy until they discovered an awesome looking haunted mansion. They went to the door as quickly as they could and saw the price of $5 per person. They luckily had their parent’s credit cards on apple pay and wheeled to Frankenstein in the first room of the mansion to get tickets. Frankenstein yelled, “5 bucks please.” They stepped back in an act of cowardice then paid the dividend of 5 dollars and began their journey. In the first scary room there were giant spider webs around the ceiling in which spelled “You’re toast” and WACK!! The ceiling fell down on top of them and 2 giant spiders started crawling towards them (In fact they should have been finished by the ceiling but It was made of foam.). Hence they were both eager to leave this room and Alexander rushed to the door, waiting for Demetri to come and once he arrived Alec quickly shut the door behind them. Demetri said” I sure wasn’t expecting that much of a scare from the first room”. Alexander responded with”I agree but it was fun though. They slowly entered the room checking behind every corner and discovered seven different coffins scattered throughout the place. Alexander was curious about these peculiar structures and tip-toed towards the biggest one which was towards the center of them all. He placed his sweaty fingers under the coffin and “Wait! Wait!” cried Demetri, “The tops of the other coffins are sliding off” Alexander slowly backed up away and Bam!! A giant zombie creature with a missing leg arose from the giant coffin and slowly marched towards the kids. The kids scurried through a door frame out into the midnight. The boys found themself under the moonlight surrounded by grave sites as well as an entrance to a corn maze. They gathered their braveness and began their way through the corn. Every other turn a man or woman in a costume would scare them and they were sort of getting bored of how long it was taking to find the exit. “Awouuu” a pack of wolves were near but because they were still in the haunted mansion experience they thought it was just a part of the next act and carried on trucking through the maze. They felt the ground shake as the wolves charged and the noises were getting louder and louder until they spotted the wolves. They realized this was not part of the program and starting running Demetri was lagging behind until he realized Alexander had disappeared. He turned around and a wolf was right in front of him getting ready to leap at him with its tongue out. 

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Denver Airport  

by Hudson 

David walked into the airport restroom expecting to see a large line but to his surprise it was empty, although it was strange he wasn’t too concerned. Walking over to the first stall he pushed open the door the stall looked clean but after further inspection David realized there was no toilet paper , it wasn’t too big of a deal he just went to the next stall but just like the first stall there was no toilet paper after trying to open the third stall the door didn’t move, he didn’t see any feet under the stall. Confused but not worried he went to the next stall but out of the corner of his eye he saw a man in the mirror but after turning around to see this man he was gone now david is starting to get a little spooked, walking towards the bathroom door deciding that he didn't have to go after walking through into the airport he realized nobody was there in fact the airport looked completely different it looked run down almost destroyed. After wandering the airport David could have swore he was seeing someone lurking around every corner but when he looked there was nobody, a little while later david got to creeped out and decided to try and leave, when he saw an exit sign he ran to the door but when he tried the door it would not move an inch that's when he was hit with what felt like the weight of the world. 

When David woke up he had the worst headache ever, he stood up and looked down the empty hallway and saw a man in a high vis vest but it wasn’t right it looked like a lizard. It charged at him. 

David was never heard from again. 

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The Doll

By Lily

There was once a little girl named Mary. She was eight years old. She and her mom went shopping and Mary went to the toys. She had always loved dolls and stuffed animals so she usually went to this aisle. She was looking up and down the aisle and everything was the same. There were Barbies, Legos, and Star Wars toys. She was about to go back to her mom when something caught her eye.

A doll. This doll was different. It looked like a doll that had been around for a long time. This was weird because the doll had no box and no other ones behind it. It looked as if it was just placed there by a stranger. Mary wanted it. She quickly took the doll and ran over to her mother. “Please, please, please can I get this doll?” Her mother took one look at that doll and knew something was different and weird.

But her mother said yes, not knowing what she was getting herself into.

Back at home, Mary immediately started playing with her doll. IT was evident to her mother that Mary loved it. Mary played with it for hours. She probably never would have stopped until her mother said it was time for dinner. Mary sat down at the dinner table and ate as quickly as she could. It was obvious she wanted to go back to her doll. “What did you name it?” said mom. “Megan!” said Mary. Mary finished her dinner and went back into her room.

The first thing Mary noticed was that Megan was not where Mary put her. She looked all around and found Megan in her bed. Mary started to get a little nervous. She mostly thought nothing of it until she saw the doll move. Then, she ran out of her room and told her mom about the doll. “Mary, you’re just being paranoid. Plus, it is time for bed.” Mary went back to her room and saw Megan standing in the middle of the room and that’s when Mary realized the doll was alive!

Mary took the doll outside and put it in the trash. She felt a little safer so she crawled into bed and went to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she looked around. She looked in the kitchen, the living room, and the laundry room. When she went back to her room, there were little red footprints leading up to her door. “Those weren’t there before…” she thought. She opened the door and saw the doll in the middle of the room yet again. The doll had something in her hand. Mary saw her throw it at her and then everything started to hurt. Mary tried to scream but she couldn’t. She looked down at her legs. They were plastic, like Megan’s. After a while, she had turned into a doll. And worst of all, Megan had taken Mary’s human form.

Who knows what bad things Megan will do. So, whatever you do, do not pick out a doll that seems in any way weird. You might end up like Mary, or worse.

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The Doll

By Sophia

My mom always keeps this doll in my closet. The doll has eyes that move like the Mona Lisa. My mom says the doll brings good luck, but I think it is the reason Dad and Winter died. It has been years since Dad and Winter died. Winter was my twin.

I think Dad and Winter died because of the doll, because they both died at the same place. My closet. On the same night, Halloween night.

I am playing tag outside with all of my siblings. “I got you,” says August, my oldest brother. “Dang it,” says April, who is one year older than me. “Let’s go get some lemonade,” I suggest. We all go inside. “Mom!” June hollers. “She must be sleeping. Let’s go look for her,” says Summer.

I look for Mom in the living room. Suddenly, I hear May scream. I run to May. Mom is laying in my closet, dead. “Mom!” screams Spring. The next second, May falls to the floor, dead! I look up and see the doll with her head off. All of my siblings run in the closet. “Ahh!” Spring screams and falls down, dead. August is next. I keep staring at the headless doll. June then March drop down, dead. It is just April, Summer, and I. The headless doll looks at Summer ready to strike. “April, Autumn – run!” she screams. April grabs my hand and runs. We run outside. I look back; no Summer. We run into the street with people dressed up in costumes. I forgot. “It’s Halloween night!” I remark. We run to my friend’s house. “Arianna, we need costumes,” I tell my friend. She hands me a unicorn costume and April a witch costume. We run.

We run into an old graveyard. I hear a voice, “Sweetie.” It sounds like Mom. “Do you hear that?” I turn to April. But on the dirt only lay her head, bodyless. “Come here.” It sounds like March. “Hurry.” It sounds like June. I walk to the voices. “We are right here.” It sounds like August. I take a step closer. “Autumn come.” It sounds like Dad.

I run to Dad’s voice. I see Dad. “Dad, you’re not dead?” I ask, startled. “No, I got away.” “Is it actually you?” I ask. “No.” It happened so quickly. My “dad” turns into the headless doll and before I know it, I’m dead.

And that was the last of the Wenlen family.

And the headless doll is still in my closet, waiting for her next victim.

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Forgotten

By Emma

 After a long and tiresome plane ride, I enter a taxi; pleased and content. “That was the best vacation I've had in a long time.” I murmur to myself as I place my bags beside me. The bags are filled with souvenirs for friends, my kids, husband and a few for me too. Visiting the white sandy beach and the vast and beautiful ocean was long overdue and needed. My own break, I had everything to myself. No kids to take care of, no annoying cat, no husband, no nosy friends, just me. “I wish this could last longer, I wish I could be all alone, forever.” I say to myself as the taxi starts to drive and starts to bring me back to my home. Once the taxi arrives at my hometown, I turn my attention to the window. I notice that the streets are decorated with halloween decorations, shopping stalls are set up to sell snacks and drinks such as pumpkin pie, apple cider, cinnamon apple desserts, and most important; candy. “It's only September,” I thought to myself as the taxi started to pull into my driveway. I step out of the car and the cold autumn breeze hits my face. I make sure to check that I've gotten all my belongings before I walk up to my doorstep and ring the doorbell. No answer. I ring again, No Answer. I ring again and again. No answer. With a sigh I then give up and rummage through my purse until I find the house keys and open the door. As I walk in, I notice the warm and cozy feeling that my house used to be filled with, is now cold and empty. No kids, my cat, or husband. No sign of life whatsoever. “Maybe they’re at the park, or getting ice cream.” I murmur to myself as I close the door behind me. I put my bags down and start to unpack. As I do so, I start to realize everything that I've owned is gone. Same with my kid’s and husband’s things. This alarms me, I quickly grab my phone and look for the contact of my husband. It's not there. I do the same for my kids. It's not there. I quickly dialed their numbers, and my husband's number was answered by an old lady who had claimed she had no idea who he was. And both of my kid’s numbers went to some strangers' voicemail. I start to panic. I was gone for three days!! How could this happen? I start to frantically look around the house, for any sign of life. I run around the house, up and down the stairs. In the kitchen, in the living room, in the kids room , and finally my room. After desperately searching my room for any sort of clue, I found our photo album, just sitting there on the neatly folded bed. This is odd, it's usually in the living room downstairs. I quickly flip through the pages, all photos are gone. I stand there for a few minutes, trying to process it all, trying to come up with an explanation. This doesn't make sense!! Why is everything gone and why is my old photo album just lying there empty? After about five minutes of standing there, I thought of something. I quickly ran down the stairs and burst out the front door. I start to run. The cold and crisp air hits me as I make my descent to one of my neighbors; Mrs. Sherry. I quickly arrive and I knock on her door a few times and wait. My chest is moving quickly as I pant, out of breath from the run. The door creaks open. “Hello? Can I help you?” Mrs. Sherry asks. “Please help me! My husband and children-” She suddenly cuts me off. “Wait, wait. Slow down. Who are you?”. I hesitate for a moment, no way she doesn't remember me. “It's me! You remember me right? We’re friends! Well, neighbors. Don’t you remember?” Mrs. Sherry shakes her head and starts to close the door. “I'm afraid you've gotten the wrong house, dear.” As she closes the door I stand there and watch. Disbelief etched on my face. I then slowly start to walk back to my house. As I do so, I look around the neighborhood, everything looks the same. So what is happening? After a long and thoughtful walk, I entered my house again and I start to head back to my room. As I do so, I look around the house that used to be my home. I remember how it used to be covered in memories, the sharpie on the walls and from the kids, the scratches on the furniture from the cat, my husband's watch on the counter, and so much more is now gone. Everything from this house looks so dead and empty. I slowly make my way up the old stairs as they creak beneath me. I walk over to my bed once more, I grab and hold the photo album in my trembling hands. I fall to my knees and hold it to my chest, hugging the album because there is nothing else to hug. I then drop the album and cover my eyes with the palms of my hands. I don't even realize the album is flipped to a page that reads “Be careful what you wish for.” I stay there, on my knees for what feels like eternity. I feel weak and helpless as I try to process this once more. I'm terrified at the thought of standing. I'm afraid my legs would have forgotten how to walk. That when I stand, my knees will split apart at the bone, gruesome and sore. I'm afraid that my limbs will give out and crumble beneath me. I stay put, my chest feels like it has a hole in it. This place- no. The memories that no longer prove to exist cause this hole. I feel my heart pounding in my chest as it aches. I feel tears starting to line my eyes, threatening to fall. I try to hold it in, but there's no use. I cry, I cry for my lovely children, I cry for my stupid cat, for my friends, for my husband, for the memories, and most importantly, I cry for myself. The crying doesn't stop. I sob and sob, wailing even. I can't stop. I can't fight it. I let this loneliness consume my soul. I keep myself planted on the cold and hard ground. My hands fall to the ground and support my body as I break down. I stay put, my hands and knees rooted to the floor, wallowing in self pity. I feel as if no matter what I do, this suffering is endless. It hurts so much. I am no longer somebody’s wife, no longer a best friend ,no longer a mother, so therefore I am nothing. Everybody I experienced my life with is now gone. I never understood the meaning of life, I never thought there was any. And yet I still feel as if it was stripped away from me. The irony is endless; I now understand the meaning of life, and I no longer want to live 

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Glasses

By Unknown

“Ross, wait up! You know I can’t go that fast! Ha! I knew it!”

It is the dead of summer, but everybody thought it was the dead of winter and everybody was wearing weird glasses (remember that later in the story) except Ross and Julie. They weren’t paying attention. Julie was just glad Ross was coming over for dinner. “It’s so hot,” Julie said. “Yeah. What’s for dinner? Chicken pot pie. Mmmm that sounds great.”

“Ewww mom this is disgusting. It tastes like poison.”

“Maybe there is, maybe not,” said mom. “I am refusing to eat that,” said Julie.

“Eat.”

“No.”

“I said ‘eat.’”

“And I said ‘no.’”

“Oh, and while you’re eating, stay still so I can put these glasses on.”

“Do not stay still,” said Ross.

“Why not?”

“I have read about those glasses. They are hypnotizing glasses.”

“They’re what now?”

“Hypnotizing glasses.”

“I have noticed everyone wearing them. Is that why people have been skiing down dirt mountains?” asked Julie.

“Yeah, probably. Then we have to get out of here.”

“You think.”

“I know,” said Ross.

“GET THEM!”

“Who said that?” asked Julie and Ross at the same time. They keep repeating “must obey master; must obey master, must obey master.” “But who is their master?” Julie and Ross thought. “Anyone could be ‘master,’” said Ross.

“Yeah. You know how I just came back from Paris?” asked Julie. “Well, people were wearing those glasses there too.” “Then they’re probably on everyone in the world except us,” said Ross. “Mmm-hmm. We have to put an end to this.”

“Yeah. I will start by getting my family’s glasses off, then my neighbors’ off, then my friends. Then I will go around town,” said Julie. “I will too,” Ross said.

“Good. And maybe everyone that we took glasses off they will also help take other people’s glasses off too. After we take everyone’s glasses off in town then we find out who ‘master’ is,” said Julie.

Shortly after, they took everyone’s glasses off in town. “Ross, we have to figure out who is ‘master’ now.” “Do you see these numbers on the glasses? It could be ‘master’s address,” said Ross.

“And do you see this? It says ‘Bird B, Riverside, Connecticut.”

“Great! Now we know ‘master’s’ address,” said Ross.

At “master’s” house:

“Now we have to crash the system,” said Julie. “I know how to hack,” said Ross. “All I have to do is press this, pull that.” A whole lot of pressing and pulling later: “System Malfunction.”

“Yes! We did it!” cheered Ross and Julie at the same time.

“Now it is time for you to go to jail.”

“Nooo; you can’t do this to me.”

“Looks like we just did.”

THE END

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Grandma?

By Scarlett

One night as the Jacobs family was driving in the heavy snow at about 3:00 am, they were on their way to their grandpa’s house. “Are we there yet?” said Zoey. She had been asking that the whole car ride. “Not yet,” mom said, just like she had the 100 times before.

Then finally six hours later it was morning and they arrived. “Hey dad!” mom said. “Tony!” said dad. Both Taylor and Zoey were passed out and dad was carrying them. “You guys are here! Why don’t you carry the girls to their rooms while I help bring your bags inside.”

Dad carried the girls into their rooms, first Zoey then Taylor, and laid them down on their beds.

Everyone took a nap except Grandpa because he was busy working in the garden, doing chores around the house, and playing pickleball like he did every day at noon. He also had to go to the grocery store for that night’s dinner.

A few hours later Zoey and Taylor were playing with Barbies in Zoey’s room while mom and grandpa were making dinner and dad was watching football. “Woooo!” shouted dad standing up, shooting his arms up rapidly, then clapping. “Keep it down, Nick!” mom was laughing but Dad didn’t hear her because he was back to watching the game. “Dinner’s ready!” mom yelled from the kitchen. “Coming!” the girls yelled back dropping their toys and running to the table. Mom and Tony brought over the food and everyone started eating. “Any new hobbies since Grandma’s been gone?” said Taylor.

Grandma died three years before when Taylor was 8 and Zoey was 4. It was hard for grandpa to live alone because of his age so once a year for almost the whole month of November they came over to help.

“Yeah, I have been keeping busy playing pickleball, swimming laps, and I started doing a bowling league with Joe.” “Wow, that’s a lot,” said mom. “Done!” Shouted Zoey, quickly standing up. “Can I go play with Barbies in my room?” she said, crossing her fingers. “Um, sure,” said mom after thinking for a little. “Yes!” Zoey said as she ran to her room.

When dinner was over dad went back to check on Zoey, but as he was walking down the hall, out came Zoey running down the hall screaming “aahhhhh!” She finally bumped into dad and said “Grandma is being scary!” She sounded terrified. She was wearing grandma’s dress from when she was a little girl. Dad rushed into her room and looked to see if “grandma” was in there. The window was now open and he saw a tiny piece of what looked like the same dress Zoey was wearing.

Dad closed the window, then turned around to see lots of old baby dolls, cribs, baby clothes, baby bottles, and things to carry them in. “Let’s go talk about what you and, um, grandma did.”

They walked out and sat down at the table. Everyone was asleep or getting ready for bed because it was late.

“Okay, tell me what you did” “Well first we went to the attic and got this camera we took lots of photos with, and we played dress up, and we were playing with baby dolls until she got mad because I spilled water on her dress, and, and, and she started floating and growling at me and she threw some kind of powder at me!” Zoey said, crying now. “Okay, can you get me the camera honey?” dad said. “No I’m scared!” “Alright I’ll get it,” said dad, even though he was scared too, but he went anyway and when he looked at the photos, they were gone. Nothing.

“Let’s go to bed and you can sleep with mom and I.” Everyone went to bed but in the morning no one remembered anything. It was gone.

We still don’t know what happened that night and I don’t know if we ever will. Could it be the powder?

The end……

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The Half

By Vivian

On Halloween night a guy we called “the Half” came out. The Half was half man, half wolf. They say he has teeth and eyes like a wolf and a body like a man. Nobody dares to go near the woods on Halloween. It all started long ago when a little boy was born. On his sixteenth birthday when he was getting ready, he looked in the mirror and saw his eyes were red and his teeth were sharp! I forgot to tell you something – he was born on Halloween. So back to his sixteenth birthday. He called out “Mom!” His mom came rushing into his bedroom. He said, “my eyes are red and my teeth are sharp!” His mom said, “no, they are not,” his mom said.

Seven years later, on Halloween one kid went into the woods. “Hi, a guest. How lovely,” said a voice. “I have hot chocolate if you want some.” Every time the Half got a child he howled at the moon. And then you don’t want to hear what happens so this is the end.

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The Halloween Disappearance 

By Riley 

It was Halloween night when me and my friends were trick or treating. We had heard about this really spooky haunted house at the end of town but we were already out trick or treating and we had no way to contact our parents so we just went without telling them. My friend Paisley drove us in her car and when we got there it was not what we were expecting… 

A week before 

My name is Abby and me and my three friends Paisley, Nick, and Isabelle are going to spend halloween together. We are all 15 except Paisley. She just turned 16 so this is our last halloween that we can trick or treat at without being too old. Nick is going to be a dead football player and me, Paisley and Isabelle are going to be cheerleaders that died in a car crash. We are all hanging out after school today to finish our customers. I personally think the costumes are coming out great. We choose to use the colors red to represent the kids that have gone missing from Gilberg High and gold for the kids that have gone missing from our school. 

Kids started going missing last month. So far, six kids have gone missing, three girls and three boys. Jimmy disappeared first, he was on his way home from school and he never made it. Jimmy’s friend, Caleb, went to look for him and went missing not long after. Next, the Thompson Twins, from Gilberg High, mysteriously disappeared. No one knows what happened to them. Another girl from Gilberg High vanished but some people think she might have just run away. On September 23th, Isabelle’s younger sister, Kimberly, went missing too. Isabelle has been very worried about her sister and is still deciding if she is up for trick or treating with us. If she decides not to come, my other friend, Katie, will gladly take her spot. 

That is, if we go trick or treating at all….. The police say that if one more kid goes missing Halloween is CANCELED! I can’t believe that! We have worked so hard on our costumes, I don't want to throw them away after all this work. In order to be able to trick or treat we need to make sure no one else goes missing. Even better, we need to find those kids! Isabelle has been trying to organize a search party to find everyone. Me, Paisley, and Nick are helping with the search. We searched the whole town and the woods outside of the school. Hopefully we will find them soon after all, Halloween is in less than a week. 

We are still looking for everyone after a week no one else has gone missing yet. 

Halloween is tomorrow And I really want to go trick or treating so we're doing one last search to try to find all the lost kids before Halloween. We do the normal loop that starts at my house, that is at one end of town, and ends in the woods behind the school. Still nobody. On our way back Isabelle told me that she does not feel safe to go trick or treating with us and wants to go with her family instead. Later that night the police go door to door telling people that they can trick or treat at their own risk. I was so excited to finally be able to wear my costume and go trick or treating no matter what. My parents did not want me to go but after lots of persuasion I finally got them on my side but only under one condition. I had to stay in our neighborhood. 

Halloween morning Paisley, Nick and Katie came over to start to get ready. Katie was able to come but she needed to use Isabelle's costume that luckily I had at my house. We decided to get dressed early so we would have time to do makeup and get our costumes on. When we were done getting ready I think we looked amazing. After filling our bags with only the best candy we were getting a little bored. We heard about this amazing haunted house that some of the older kids were going to. But the only problem was that it was on the other side of town. But luckily paisley told us that she would drive us there as long as we didnt tell our parents. As we were driving away we saw Isabelle and her family walk down the road. We asked her if she wanted to come but she wanted to stay with her family. So we drove off with the plans of meating Isabelle back at my house in 30 minutes to go through our candy. 

When we arrived at the haunted house it looked awesome. But the only weird thing was there were no other kids around. Katie wanted to leave right away but Nick was already heading inside. I followed Nick with Katie and paisley on my tail. When we got inside you could not see anything but the stairway and we didn't know which way Nick went. We were trying to figure out which way to go when paisley tripped over something. When we figured out what it was we were terrified. 

It was kimberleys pink sweater that she wore every day! She has been missing for over a month. Why was it here? 

I look at my watch and realize it is time to meet Isabelle but we can't leave now. 

Paisley decided to go tell Isabelle that we found her sister's sweater at the haunted house. 

Katie and I stay to look for nick and kimberly. When me and Katie were looking through the house we heard Nick yelling for us from outside. 

We ran as fast as we could up the stairs and out the door. And we couldn't believe our eyes. Right in front of us we saw Nick and all the 6 missing kids. Nick apparently found them in the attic. Just then Isabelle, Paisley and her family came up the driveway right behind them were the red and blue flashing lights of the police cars. Isabelle runs up to her little sister, her family close behind, hugging finally back together again. The kids claim they got kidnapped by a dark haired man but when the police search the house no one is found. 

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The Hallway 

By James

Bob walked on over to school, a small ten minute walk along the once freshly built sidewalk that had succumbed to the constant footsteps of children and adults. Bob was a 10 year old from Central Park, New York. He lived a normal life of a 10 year old, one you’d expect. Bob grew up with his mom and dad, and a brother in highschool. 

He opened the doors to his elementary school, a plethora of kids walking around with their backpacks and scrambling over to their lockers. Bob walked in, a normal day so far. There was something different about the school, a new added door. 

“Sup!” A boy said, with brown hair and tan skin. This was his best friend, Johnny. 

“Hey!” He replied, with an excited tone. “Is that door new?” Bob inquired, pointing to the freshly painted door that stood diagonally across from the two, Johnny squinted his eyes and shrugged. 

“Don’t know, and don’t care! Gotta’ go to class see ya.” Johnny replied with a chuckle, walking off. Bob stood for a moment, a deep stare to the door. Was it really something he needed to be afraid of? It was only a door after all. Bob just walked off to his class. Once he stepped into the class, taking his assigned seat and rested his head down. Bob zoned his teacher out, and the thought kept coming back to him, what is in that door? His teachers' words were a blur the whole day, until recess. Bob walked over to Johnny, “I’m nervous about that door, want to-” He paused, thinking of a way to lure Johnny in. “Want to explore it? Unless you're a chicken!” He was in fact the chicken. 

Johnny thought, his right foot constantly tapping his new Nike shoes which he had claimed were the best shoes in the world, “Skip class..? That sits bad in my stomach, Bob.” Johnny responded, the tapping of his shoes still continuing like an instrument holding a long note. Bob was normally a good kid, he didn’t like to skip class or get bad grades, he just really wanted to find out what was beneath the green-blue door. How was it built so quickly..? 

“I-, please Johnny. I need to figure out what is in there.” Johnny just stared back at the plea, and finally nodded with a sigh. 

“You take the lead.” And so he did. 

The door was opened, it felt like a cold metal handle after a freezing winter day. When the two boys looked inside, a hallway. Oh. 

“Well, just a hallway, nothing much!” Johnny turned around and attempted to leave, but was caught on the collar by Bob. 

“We are exploring it.” Bob commanded, and walked forth into the hallway. 

There were no doors on the walls, or anything. A gray paint not fully finished marked across the hallway, and cracks and blotches of strange colors marked along them. The door closed behind them as if it was straight out of a movie, but monsters aren't real. Bob's mom had told him that they were not real. He slowly took small steps slowly walking on. Johnny followed but not willingly. As the two boys kept walking through the seemingly endless hallway the air kept getting colder and colder as they kept walking. There was no sign of anything as they walked, the hallway kept on going, the strange colors still appearing. A shriek, a child's shriek and then silence. 

“NOPE! I’m out!” Johnny SPRINTED, and Bob let him. Bob stood almost frozen in place, the cold feeling like it kept growing on him. 

Step. 

Step. 

Step. More footsteps, but they were soft, equivalent to a kid. What WAS this? The steps grew closer, and when Bob thought they were about to reach him, they faded. Bob felt a small hand grasp onto his shoulder, and Bob screamed as loud as he could. No echo. Bob snapped around trying to swat the hand off, and whatever it was disappeared. Ghosts aren’t real. Ghosts aren’t real. He thought, I’m getting out of here.. His saunter that he originally had turned into a sprint for the door, but while he was running back the hallways had doors on them unlike last time. There was only one thing he thought now. 

Ghosts are real. 

He swiveled his head to the side as he turned towards the door that had abruptly appeared on the walls of the hallway. The green-blue door that he had entered was nowhere in sight, is this the only way out..? His breath quickened, and he put his hand on the handle to the door. Bob opened it, and a small figure was so faint, but bold at the same time. It stepped forth, and the kids footsteps he had once heard were there. It tilted its head to face Bob, its mouth widening as its crooked teeth and red veined eyes stared. The monster stepped closer, and closer dashing at Bob, and screaming his name in a raspy voice. 

“HEEELP!” His voice was heard by no one by himself, and the monster tackled him to the ground, cackling. 

7:10, October 10 

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bob slowly opened his eyes, his full body drenched in sweat. Was it a dream? His mother knocked on the door. “Come in..” He responded. 

“Time for school, Bob.” His mom said, “I’ll drive you today.” Bob nodded, his whole body still drenched. He got dressed, and got in the car, his mind racing. As he stepped into school, there was something there. His breathing slowed, and he stared. 

Bob was a normal 10 year old boy, but now he knew a secret nobody else would ever 

know. 

And what he saw…

The same door. 

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The Haunted Museum 

 By Yuyu 

 “Are you sure about this?” Bobby asked his sister, Beth. “Yeah, it’ll be fine, you baby.” 

The two walked around in the old museum that was said to be haunted. Suddenly, the front slammed shut. Bobby panicked. “What was that?” He yelped in surprise. “Probably just the wind, now hold on.” She stuck out her iPhone, which had a ghost detector application on it. “I’m not getting anything.”, she said disappointedly. Bobby nervously said, “Why don’t we just leave?”, when Beth stuck her finger out to shush him. An eerie wind blew through the broken windows all of a sudden. A creak in the floorboards.  

“Bethany, this was a terrible idea!” Bobby screamed. “Oh, shut up!” Beth replied angrily. The two froze at a sudden whisper. The whispering continued in a language the two couldn’t understand. Suddenly, a pole next to the staircase was hit by seemingly nothing. It clanged on the floor loudly. “Run!” Beth yelled, and the two ran to the front door, which was now mysteriously locked. So, with no other option, they ran out the window and far, far away. “Haha, easy targets.” Salvatore the Ghost came out of the mirror upstairs to watch the young children run home. “Can’t take a prank, can they?” 

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The Haunted Woods

By Hawken

Once upon a time there were two men. Their names were Jeff and Jake. They got a random letter from a girl that said, “meet me at this house.” So the men drove to the house. When they got there, they knocked on the door and there was a man who was horrified. The man said that a random girl that looked like a zombie wanted to come in. He said he saw her every ten minutes at the window. So the two men said they would sleep at the house that night. They did not eat dinner. The man who was scared went to his room but Jeff and Jake knocked on his door and he said “go away” and closed the door. Jeff and Jake did not want to have him in his room alone, so they knocked on his door again and he was dead, blood everywhere! So Jeff and Jake went to sleep!

At midnight, Jeff woke up. The creepy girl was peering into the window with one handprint on the window and she was screaming!!! “Let me in,” she said. Then she started walking to the door! So Jeff woke up Jake and Jake woke up right away. They both crept to the door of the house very slowly. They did not know what to do. Should they let her in? Was that the girl that gave them the letter? So they both snuck to the kitchen to get a knife. Then they snuck back to the door and opened it, but she was not there. They went back to bed. This was going to be a long night!!

Later Jake woke up to a knock on the door. So he woke up Jeff and they went back to the door with the knife and opened the door, but there was no one there so they got all of their things and left because it was getting too scary. When they left the girl was in the woods and she said “good luck!” then disappeared! So Jeff and Jake drove away.

The End

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Haunting Pip 

By Katya, Maiia, and Kaj

It was your typical Halloween night: Mother ghost and father ghost were getting ready to leave for the annual Spooky gala, while their ghost kiddos were getting anxious waiting on grandma ghost to arrive and watch them. “Absolutely no house haunting tonight!” father ghost warned. The kids tried to wail in protest but father ghost was firm. Mother ghost tried to soften the blow by promising them a happy haunting another night, but the little ghosts were disappointed: everybody knows that the best night for house haunting is the Halloween night. Oh well. Grandma ghost arrived, and the argument became dead for good.  

As the parents left for the night, grandma ghost tried to lift their spirits by offering a game of hide and seek. At first, the ghost kiddos did not want to play along but then…The youngest of them named Pip thought of an idea. In fact, it was a brilliant idea. Using the game as his prefect cover-up, Pip decided to sneak out of the house. Just for a little bit. Just to get a peak of the most spectacular night of the year.  

Pip quickly convinced his siblings to participate in the game, and grandma ghost was delighted that the mood in the room was shifting. She even offered to give them extra time to hide - to everyone’s cheers of approval. Once grandma ghost started counting, Pip didn’t waste a moment. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he disappeared into the night… “Do not make a peep, Pip”, he told himself.  

Pip was nervous that he may not be able to find trick or treaters, but very quickly he was all but surrounded by them. Streets were filled with giggling human kids and their parents - decorations and lights everywhere! Pip’s brilliant plan to house-haunt on Halloween totally failed: with so much noise and with so much light - flickering, pulsating, flashing and projecting from every corner - there was simply NO way to haunt in peace. People were…everywhere!  

Lost and confused, Pip bumped into someone. When he tried to retreat, he bumped into another human. Horrified, Pip completely froze in front of a group of trick or treaters. “Nice costume! Did you buy it online?” One of the children exclaimed. “Wow! You glow! Is it LED?” Another child asked. “Are you Casper the ghost?” A little human dressed up as a vampire looked at Pip curiously. Casper?!! Oh no. Pip un-froze. “My name is Pip. While I am flattered, I look nothing like Casper! Besides, I heard he has moved to Hollywood”. Pip turned around and quickly moved away from any more questions that the group clearly were going to ask. None of this experience was fun anymore. Not even his clever escape! Not even the thrill of being a mischief! Pip was getting overwhelmed. And my ghost, those trick or treaters were absolutely terrifying. One looked so realistically like an alien that Pip even squeaked: if it was a haunting, it was a haunting of Pip. He just wanted to go home. He got out of the crowded streets and flew - as fast as he could - back to his family. But, as shocking as his first trick or treating experience was, Pip was even more shocked to find his grandma…still counting, and his siblings…still hiding. Pip decided to tell the truth about his escape. After all, father ghost and mother ghost were right - they should go haunting some other night. ANY other night. Indeed, Halloween is very scary for little ghosts. 

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The Hidden Book 

By Phoenix

One day not too long ago, there was a girl named Amber. Amber was always roaming around in the library wearing her glasses and her auburn hair tied in a messy bun. She loved books and she had read all of the books in the library but still you would always find her there in search of new ones. While she was roaming around she spotted a thick book on the floor, but this book was different. It looked like it had been there since the library opened in 1911. It had no title and was covered with real leather. However, it was her first time seeing it. She was mesmerized as soon as she saw it and she immediately grabbed it and went to check it out. When she got to the counter, the librarian looked surprised and before he gave her the book he asked in a concerned voice “Are you SURE you want to take out this book?” 

Amber walked away confused and said nothing, when she noticed the librarian was giving her a worried look but she dismissed it and went home. Once she got home she ate dinner as fast as she could and immediately got ready for bed and once she got ready she got a call from an unknown number “Burn it” the person on the other end said but Amber thought it was a prank call and hung up. She got in the covers and she started to read the book “Beware if you read beyond this point you will not see tomorrow” but Amber just thought of it as a scary story and continued reading. As she read she began to fall asleep. 

Hours later when it turned midnight, vines sprang from the book and quickly wrapped around her pulled her inside the book. When Amber woke up she realized that she was no longer in her comfortable bed but in a forest full of fog. 

Later, while at work, the librarian looked over at his desk and saw the book sitting there. He sighed and returned the book to the shelf in the very back corner. People who came to the library always heard a whispering voice saying “Burn it” but no one cared to listen to the whisper until one day when a young girl named Ivy who also loved books came to the library. Ive was different, she had come from a long line of witches. As soon as she saw the book in the back corner she immediately knew what it was. It was a cursed book—cursed by an ancient demon. It's said that only a witch could see that this book was cursed. 

She remembered being told by Grandmother that there was a cursed book with no title and covered in leather and that there was a man that always tried to warn you but was silenced by the demon so he could not stop you from taking the cursed book. His subtle warnings never worked. 

Ivy grabbed the book and took it to the counter, thanked the man and headed straight home. When she got home she got a call from an unknown number “Burn it” the person on the other end said she knew she had to burn the book but not with just any fire, magic imbued fire. Her grandmother had told her that regular fire would only release the demon and that she would first have to wait to get pulled into the book and once inside she would need to find at least one other person and take them with her out of the book to free all who got stuck in the book. 

Ivy layed in bed and began to read the leather book. Just as before the book read “Beware if you read beyond this point you will not see tomorrow” but she was not afraid and continued reading until she fell asleep and the vines pulled her in. 

Ivy woke up to Amber shaking her. Amber looked terrified and tears were streaming down her face. “Hello, wake up! Where are we? Do you know where we are?” Ivy sat up and told Amber “Don’t worry I’m her to help I’m Ivy”. She stood up and told Amber to follow her. Ivy led Amber through the foggy forest to a stone shrine. Ivy instructed Amber, “Once I do this we both need to run as fast as we can and follow me” Amber nodded her head in agreement, and Ivy started to chant and a purple force appeared around her, once a fire appeared in front of Ivy, Ivy shouted “run!” and they both started to sprint towards the way that came, once they got to seemingly the edge of the forest Ivy told amber to close her eye when she opened them her and Ivy were at ambers apartment and the book was in front of them burnt and crippled on the fool later Amber and Ivy went to the bookstore and gave the librarian the book and walked away, The end… “oh wait that's not how it ended I fell and Ivy left me behind i'm still in the book, burning. 

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Home Alone on Halloween

By Mavrik

You’re home alone on Halloween. You’re very happy to be home alone. It’s turning dark outside. Your mom’s at work until midnight. You’re watching TV. You hear your doorbell ring. You walk to the door. No one’s there. You get goosebumps. You hear something behind you. You turn around and it’s a skeleton. It says “I’ll give you candy if you don’t tell. Candy corn, chocolate.” It disappears. You run to your phone to call your mom. It’s dead. You go to your room and go in your closet. You say, “my house is haunted.” Then you hear something say, “yes it is you. Look around.” You say, “hello. I’m not scared of you.” It says, “OK.” You scream. It’s all of your stuffed animals. They’re alive and the skeleton. They bring you to a secret room. You think “where am I?” You say, “it’s cold.” They yell “shut up” and tape your mouth shut. You wiggle around and you get free. You run, they tase you, you pass out and everything goes black. You wake up; you’re strapped down to a table. You try talking but your mouth’s taped shut. You get goosebumps. You try to move but you can’t. There are six straps. One on both legs and arms, one on your neck and one over your stomach. There’s a clock, it says 11:59. The clock ticks. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You hear a knock. They open the door and yell “Mom’s home.” All of a sudden you wake up. You’re in your bed. It was all a dream.

THE END

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House Guest

By Laura

To be honest, things weren’t going so well. For months we lived in a small extended-stay hotel with our daughters while we looked for a new home. A simple ranch house built in the 50’s sold within three days, often all cash. Other couples outbid us for a place to call home. The company’s relocation package ended soon and our daughters needed to start school. What fueled this real estate frenzy and the most expensive housing market in the US? Little inventory and high demand. Every major tech company hired new staff to support Silicon Valley’s growing industries, including my husband. He loved his new job. I wanted my former life with family and friends.

“Let’s go see this place. You never know,” our realtor, Shilpa, said. We walked into the simple ranch of three bedrooms, kitchen and living room. It had recently been remodeled so it was in pretty good shape compared to most of the dumps in our price range. Outside, a large pool took up the entire backyard. As I walked around I happened to see the owner, just sitting on a bench at the end of the yard under one of the trees. I decided to sit down next to him and chat. He seemed melancholy about selling his home. “This is a lovely place,” I said. He smiled and saw my three-year-old daughter skipping around the perimeter of the pool. “Looks like she thinks so too,” he said.

We made an offer that night. Three days later Shilpa called. “You got the house! Another offer came in at the same price, but the owner said he wanted you to have it.”

With the home now in escrow, I was able to register the girls for school and they would start on time. We all looked forward to moving into our new home. About a week before closing, we got a call from our realtor.

“I need to let you know that something has happened…the owner died. He committed suicide…in his bedroom.” My husband and I stood dumbstruck as she continued to explain the situation. “The attorney for the estate agreed to cut the price if you still want it. You can inspect the place before you make a final decision.”

The house was quiet and still. They removed all the furniture, rugs, mirrors, paintings and photographs. It was just an empty shell that smelled of Pine Sol, bleach and new paint. My husband and I first surveyed the other rooms before entering the master bedroom.

“They replaced the window shot out by the gun blast. The bedroom has a fresh coat of paint and new carpet,” Shilpa explained. “They did all the touch ups once the police investigation concluded.”

The room was cold. They say you can see blood stains on walls with an ultraviolet light even after it is painted over. I thought about his brains splattered on the walls. I wanted to vomit.

We bought the house anyway.

Everything was fine during the first few weeks while we settled into the new place. The master bedroom was always frigid compared to the rest of the house.

“Why is it so cold in here,” I asked.

“I don’t know,” my husband shrugged. “Maybe because it’s an addition and they didn’t insulate it right.”

“But it’s Labor Day,” I said.

It wasn’t the only thing. Lights flickered and doors slammed shut on their own. One day the fuse box burned. I felt a presence in the master bedroom.

“I think the house is haunted,” I said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” my husband said.

“But what about all the strange things happening?”

“It’s nothing, let it go.”

I decided to go on the offensive. I watched the TV series Ghost Whisperer for tips on how to do this. I got up the nerve one day to dialogue with our house guest. “I know you are here. I’m sorry you died and lost hope. I understand, but it’s time for you to join those who love you and have gone before you. Thanks for keeping me company when I was lonely. I will be alright.”

The creepy things soon stopped! I never told my husband about my conversation with our house guest. “The bedroom is nice and warm tonight. Did you turn up the heat,” he asked. I thought it best to leave some things unsaid. “Yup.”

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The Inkman 

By Vincent  

It was yet another normal, boring day at high school back in the year 2000. The boy pulled his new sharpie from his pocket. Him and his friends joking around “permanent? Huh. I’m going to go tag the bathroom!” he said, with all his friends, Dennis, Billy and Jesse, laughing and joking about what foul thing to write on the stalls. They decided on a little stick figure man, with a sinister smile and the words written “The Inkman is watching.”. The bell quickly rang after, and the kids all fled, back to class. The day went on, yet another boring day at school. 

The night came, and the boys all returned home, eating dinner and going to bed. As the boy closed his eyes, he kept hearing strange, scraping sounds, before hearing a glass shatter out in the living room. The boy runs out to see what happens, his parents following behind. “What have you done?!” they exclaim, with his mothers favorite Urn smashed onto the floor. “What, it wasn’t me!” he tried to explain, but before he could even finish his sentence. “To your room, you are grounded! And you can forget about Halloween!” his mother scolded. Frustrated, the boy stormed back to his room, eventually getting to sleep.  

He returned to school the next day, explaining the weird event to his friends. “Oh, sure bud, it was ghooooOOOooosssttts” they teased. In frustration, he returned to the bathroom for some peace and quiet, where he noticed the stick figure he drew yesterday, amused by this he pulled the marker out of his pocket to add some more doodles, but then noticing the words written had changed. Now reading “One by one, the Inkman singles you out.” he drops the sharpie in shock.  

Rushing out of the bathroom he runs to his friends, before stopping himself, knowing he would only get bullied. He chooses to not say anything. After all, this is impossible, some other kid must have just changed the words. 

The night comes and goes. The next day at school Jesse is missing. “Oh, yeah, I guess Jesse completely unbolted his grandma’s bedframe last night, and when she got into bed she fell and got hurt. So he won’t be in today. I guess his parents are pretty mad!” Billy explained, living next door to Jesse. 

“What? That’s not like him at all, he’s always a goody two shoes!” replied Dennis.  

“Yeah, that’s strange, I guess he’s finally starting to live a little!” replied the boy with a laugh, before they went on about their day. Second period started, and he had to use the restroom again, this time he immediately noticed bolts scattered across the tiled floor, once again the words had changed “Soon the Inkman will start the finale.” Was now written. He ran back out, forgetting to even use the restroom in the first place, and tried to explain to Billy and Dennis. As he expected, they laughed at him. “We aren’t stupid, your spooky story, ten days before Halloween. Sure bud!” Dennis responded. 

Frustrated, he also thought it must be some sort of coincidence and finished out the day, before returning home. “Hi mom, hi dad.” He said as he entered his home, which he was not responded to, he looked around and found the house to be empty. “That’s strange… they never are out this late.” He said, waiting for them to arrive.  

Hours pass, before he gets frustrated and very hungry, he picks up the land line phone and tries to call his dads work, which there is no response. The rest of the night, no sign of his parents at all, as 8 o’clock comes, he finally pours himself a bowl of cereal, after eating he decides to go find Jesse. 

Climbing upon his bike, he rides over to Jesse’s house, knocking on the door, as it slowly creaked open. “Jesse?” he calls out. Entering the house there was no sign of anyone, but the furniture was all in chaos, with shattered glass on the floor.  As he entered the bathroom on the first floor, he saw a hunched over stick figure with a Cane, a tall stick figure, and a small stick figure all draw on the mirror with sharpie. Resembling the stick figure families on windows of cars. 

The boy started to panic, grabbing his bike and quickly riding back to school. Trying to get inside, all the doors being locked. In frustration, he starts to look around, finding a large rock over by the playground, he picks it up and shatters a window, climbing inside. He then runs to the bathroom, and sees the stick figure, with an even bigger smiler than before “One more day, Inkman will take you too.” It is written. Frantically the boy wads up some toilet paper and wets it in the sink, wiping as hard as he can to try and clean off the figure. Seemingly to no avail against the permanent ink, he picks up some of the hardware, scattered on the floor and scratches off as much of the words as he can, eventually scraping away all the paint, and removing the stick figure entirely. Scooping up the paint, he quickly flushes them down the toilet. A feeling of relief overwhelms the boy. Quickly he returns to Jesse’s house, where he could see the door was closed, and the lights turned back on.  

He saw Jesse, up in his room through the window, he smiles in relief before returning home himself. His parents were inside, as if nothing ever happened. “Mom! Dad!” he exclaimed. “Where were you?!” they responded. “We were worried sick!”.  

“One sec! I need to use the bathroom so bad!” He said, as he runs inside of the bathroom and turns on the lights, he notices a large, sharpie figure drawn on the mirror, a larger Inkman with writing. “10 days until Halloween…  10 days until Inkman takes you too.”… 

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Into the Forest We Go

By Max

One night, three friends - Janeece, Parker, and Carl, were walking near the forest on the way back from trick-or-treating. It was Halloween night and full moon. It was late. As they walked, a foggy mist surrounded them.

Soon, they couldn’t see where they were going, and before they knew it, they were now deep in the forest.

It was very, very quiet. Then, they heard a loud crack as if someone stepped a branch near them. They heard a scary howl. They saw a werewolf about to pounce on them! The werewolf had blue eyes, yellow teeth, and sharp claws. The friends looked at each other and screamed! They turned around and ran for their lives.

Then, they stumbled down a steep hill, tumbling and tumbling until they reached the bottom. Janeece had branches stuck in her hair. Parker had scratches on his nose and forehead. Carl had a scratch close to his eye and one going across his cheek. But they were okay.

They looked around and saw a little house. They crept over to the house and looked in a window. They saw the same werewolf that tried to pounce on them! With the werewolf, they saw a witch and a warlock. The witch and warlock were adding to a potion in a big, black cauldron while the werewolf was getting a long, skinny spoon made of bone to stir it.

Janeece let out a loud gasp. The witch, the warlock, and the werewolf heard it and turned towards the window. The friends quickly ducked. The witch and warlock ran outside with their staffs aimed at the friends.

The friends tried to run back up the very steep hill. It was not easy.

The witch and the warlock were getting closer. The warlock aimed his staff and the witch aimed her wand at Janeece, Parker, and Carl. Suddenly, a good wizard arrived in a poof of white smoke. He had an owl on his staff. He used his staff to lift Janeece, Parker, and Carl up high on the hill. They were surprised they flew. Janeece almost fainted.

They looked around for the wizard who helped them and all they saw was white dust. He had disappeared.

Janeece asked, “who was that wizard? How did he know we were in danger?”

Parker asked, “how old are those guys?”

Carl asked, “why was the werewolf missing a toe and a finger?”

Parker and Janeece looked strangely at Carl and said, “What? We didn’t see that!”

As Janeece, Parker, and Carl ran home, they were wondering why the werewolf didn’t come out to get them. They also were wondering what the potion was for. The werewolf must have stayed inside to stir the potion. Why was the potion so important?

Soon after running, they reached Janeece’s house. As they were closing the door, the werewolf’s hand came right through! They all slammed the door shut and the werewolf’s hand goes out, and they locked door.

“Did we get the back door?” they asked.

Then, they heard a creak like a door opening. The witch, the warlock, and the werewolf were inside the house! They felt like there were spiders climbing up their backs and hands on their shoulders. They were looking out the front door still, when they felt real hands! The witch was holding Janeece! The warlock was holding Carl! The werewolf was holding Parker! The friends kicked them hard in the stomach, and the villains shouted, “Ow!!” and the werewolf cried “howllllll”.

The friends ran outside and kept running until they got to a dead-end. The witch, the warlock, and the werewolf started chasing them and they were getting closer!

Then, Janeece shouted, “my trampoline! Let’s jump on that!”

Parker yelled “Mouse!” to distract the witch, warlock, and werewolf.

The friends barely succeeded in jumping over the fence.

The witch, warlock, and werewolf used a really powerful spell and broke down the fence leaving a big pile of black smoke. They start chasing the friends again.

The friends kept running, running, and running and realized they had run in a big circle back to Janeece’s house. But all the doors and windows were locked, and they couldn’t get in. There was no where to go! They tried to run one direction but there was a thorn bush. They tried to run the other way, but there was a spikier bush. They were trapped!

The witch, warlock, and werewolf were coming closer! They were so close, they could see drool going down the werewolf’s face!

They were all afraid! The witch, warlock, and werewolf said, “dinnertime!”. The friends thought they were doomed and started to shake and almost fainted.

Then they heard a sound, an owl hooting. It was a familiar owl, the wizard’s owl. In a poof of white smoke, the wizard appeared. The wizard said, “I have had enough of you evil creatures.” He turned them into animals.

He turned the witch into a frog.

The werewolf into a puppy.

The warlock into an owl.

The friends went over to the animals. Carl said, “STOP!” He asked the wizard “are these safe?”

He says, “oh, uhhhh. I’ll make them safe, so you can have pets!” The wizard missed the frog, she was hopping away. He blasts her and she comes back and turns into a nice pet that doesn’t want to run away. She yelled “Ribbit!!” just as he was casting the spell.

Janeece picks the puppy. Parkers picks the frog. Carl picks the owl. They all say thank you to the wizard. The wizard grabs his staff and starts to fly away. The friends ask him, “can you take us back to the witch, warlock, and werewolf’s house?” The wizard asks, “why?”

“So, we can find out why the werewolf stayed in to stir the potion.”

Back at that house, they looked at the spell book. The next ingredient was “children”.

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It Wasn't Me 

By Georgia

November 1st 3:23 A.M “It was a Halloween party. Everyone always says that bad things happen on halloween but I never believed it until now. Our friend Charlotte was throwing the party, L-Lizzie and I were going together. We met at the party and everything se-se-seemed fine. There were lots of other people there. I saw Lizzie leave but I didn't think anything of it, I thought she was just taking a phone call.” It all started to come back to me now when I was talking to the police the scream the silence the sirens the yelling. I could feel my throat tighten like I was about to cry. I tried to continue. “30 minutes passed by, and her phone kept going to voicemail. I started to look for her, more people came out from the party and were helping me search for her. I started to get frantic and all the bad thoughts came rushing to my head like what if I never saw her again. What if this is the last time I heard from Lizzie?” All of a sudden I felt the guilt hit me like a train. Last time I had seen Lizzie we got into this massive fight screaming at each other. It was horrible. That was the last time I saw her after she stormed out of the house. I didn't know if I should tell the police because what if they thought it was me. “It's A blur, I didn't know what to do, everyone was screaming my best friend's name, I just started to walk in the forest. There's this-this forest which we were always scared of because it looks like one of those forests you see in scary movies. I heard something like a rustle so I followed it until I didn't know where I was, then I just heard the loudest scream and then silence. It was so . . . quiet. I ran so fast trying to find her, hoping the whole time it wasn't her. She was just lying there. Dead, my best friend was dead. And now I have no one and it's all my fault.” The truth came spilling out of me, how I got into a fight with her, how she screamed at me and how I told her I wished she was dead and how she just left. I looked up seeing the officer's weary face. I knew he could see the tears streaming down my face, how horrified I looked, how traumatized I was. But I don't think he cared. I looked up at him and the only thing I could think of to say was “It wasnt me.” November 5 10:36 A.M “Hi this is Lizzie sorry I can't come to the phone right now I'll call you back soon!” Of course it went straight to voicemail, but I needed her right now. I needed her because she was gone. I just layed there in bed staring at my ceiling with the same three words repeating in my head over and over again “Lizzie is gone.” I met Lizzie in 4th grade and since then we'd been best friends and everyone knew that. Lizzie and Gianna, Gianna and Lizzie. Since then never did I ever expect there wouldn't be a Lizzie to call when something went wrong. The pictures around my room are all her and me, Gianna and Lizzie. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything. I hoped to wake up and it would all be a dream, for there to be 10 missed calls from her. It was 3 A.M and I couldn't sleep. I cried so much I was out of tears. I just wanted Lizzy to call me and tell me she's alive. It felt like my whole body was brought back to life when I heard the start of a motorcycle drive by, my ringtone for Lizzie. She called me, she was alive! She was alive? “Gianna, it was meant to be you.” Then it went silent. Her voice sent shivers down my spine, it felt cold. What was meant to be? Should I be dead instead of Lizzie? Is it my fault? I had so many questions. But most importantly how is she alive? 

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Johnny 

a retelling of folklore by Kate Taylor 

Once upon a time there was a boy. His name was Johnny.  

Johnny’s mother said, “I am going to make your favorite food for dinner: liver! But you need to get the liver from the butcher.” So she handed him twenty bucks and he was off.  

The butcher was very far away so he went through the cemetery. When he got to the butcher, he noticed that the store next to the butcher had the new spiderman graphic novel, so he bought the novel instead. He read all the way through and realized he made a mistake. Then an idea popped up in his brain “what if I dig up a body, take out the liver and act like nothing happened?” So that’s what he did.  

He gave his mother the liver and she started cooking. Johnny went to his room and felt guilty. He read Spiderman until dinner was ready. During dinner Johnny barely touched his food knowing it was human liver. So, he just told his parents he was tired and got ready for bed and waited until his parents tucked him in. When his parents tucked him in and he was all snug he heard something.  

“Johnny, I want my liver back. I’m in your driveway.”  

So Johnny his under the cover for refuge.  

Again, “Johnny, I want my liver back. I’m in your kitchen.”  

Johnny went straight to the closet, curled up in a ball, and started crying and praying. 

 “Johnny, I want my liver back. I’m in your stairwell.”  

Johnny held his breath.  

“Johnny, I’m in your room.”  

He was terrified to death.  

Once again, “Johnny, you know what I want. I’m opening your closet door.”  

“Aaaaaahhh!”  

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Juniper’s Spooky Story

By Anonymous

A girl is in a haunted house. Ho no!

A vampire sucks her blood. She falls in a thing! She turns into a vampire too.

A Boy that Gets Tricked

By Anonymous

A boy was out trick or treating but he knocked on the wrong door. Ho no!

Lots of monsters popped out of the door!

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Karma 

By Martha  

Kimberly was a 15 year old girl who lived in a small town called Chaurquay. Kimmy always loved fashion, makeup, hair, all of it. It was fall and Kimmy was getting really excited, her favorite season is fall. She loves the scary movies, the decorations, the food and most of all, the brisk, cold air. It was September 24th 2012 and Kimberly was doing her makeup that she just got in the mail that she placed an order on 2 days before. 

She always had the most beautiful full face of makeup all the time. People at her school would always compliment her, always wanting recommendations, and always known as the most popular girl in school. However she was really poor. She could afford all this makeup because of TikTok sponsors. Kimmy had really wealthy friends and wanted to look cool in front of everyone so she pretended that she was very wealthy. All of the sleepovers were at Mia’s house. 

“She has this massive house with white shutters and blue window sills. I would always stare at her house and just think to myself that this would be my dream home.” Kimberly thought to herself. Kimmy lived in a very small 2 bedroom house if you would even consider it one, almost everything inside was broken. Her and her brother shared a bed because her mother couldn't afford 2 beds.Kimberly has her TikTok sponsors but she isnt making a very good living for herself with this job. Her brother was named Charlie and he was 9 years old. It's monday, Kimberly was struggling to sleep these past couple of months because the house right next door was getting remodeled. It just got finished and it's so beautiful, it has such a cool wood structure, and there are two grand pillars in the front “ i've never seen anything more beautiful” Kimmy thought to herself. Later that night she opened the door very tired from a long day at work where a mean kid threw ice cream at her. She was scrolling on her phone when she got a text from Mia asking if Kimberly wanted to go to the mall, “Yes ofc! Cya tmr!” She replied. Kimberly placed her phone on her bedside table and got exited to hang out with her friends, but soon enough a wave of sadness came upon her. 

“How am i supposed to pay for all of this” “I can't be a loser and not get anything” 

Kimmy came up with an idea. When Kimmy was getting in Mia’s car she would purposely drop her handbag and steal 300 dollars from Mia. “She won’t notice right?” Kimmy needed another plan on how Mia will pick Kimmy up because “There is no way Mia is seeing my house.” So before Mia got to Kimmy’s house Kimmy would run as fast as she could to the next door neighbors house and pretend like it's her own home. 

The next day, Kimmy wakes up at 8:02 in the morning and gets ready for the mall. Mia is going to pick her up at 8:30 so Kimmy really has to hurry. Kimmy runs to the neighbor’s house and Mia arrives. She gets in the car, Kimmy’s heart is pounding, she’s rethinking about taking her friends money but no she needs to. So, following the plan, Kimmy drops her handbag and very carefully takes 300 hundred dollars from the wallet. She puts it in the back of the car and continues on with the car drive. When they get to the mall they purchase a bunch of clothes. Mia was a little suspicious why Kimmy was paying in cash in every store but, she just figured because she was so rich it was common. They go to every store in the entire mall and have such a fun day. Finally Kimmy gets home from such a long day from shopping and heads to bed like usual, meanwhile Mia was very concerned when her 300 dollars disappeared from her wallet. Mia was so anxious and didn't know what to do, she frantically looked around her house, but then again a wad of cash probably wasn't going to be laying around anywhere. Kimmy had a lot of trouble going to sleep that night. She kept on feeling like there was a dark shadow in her closet but she knew that nothing was there right?... Kimmy kept seeing these dark figures and was getting worried but every time she would bring it up to her mother she would tell Kimmy she was crazy. But Kimmy knew she was not. Every night kimmy kept hearing the same thing. 

“Kimmy” “Kimmy” 

One Tuesday night Kimmy decided to find it. She went to her closet and searched for something to be there hoping that there would be something there. Nothing. She went back to bed and searched the next night. Nothing. But then on the next night Kimmy searched and went into her closet and there was a door, Kimmy went through and the door locked. She was trapped. She banged on the door until the bruises on the hands started to bleed. She couldn't get out. She was trapped, and there was nothing she could do about it. Kimmy stayed in that small room until she died. Calls, Texts, all from her friends and mom but she couldn't respond or do anything about it. Kimmy died in that closet on a wednesday night in the year 4785. No one has spoke of her since. It is a mystery case that will stay unsolved for a very long time. There she lay in that small room, for forever and ever. 

R.I.P. Kimberly EverHawk 

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The Lost City

By Finn

One day, William and I were going to the park, until I realized that nobody was here. “Why aren’t there any people?” I said. “Maybe there’s a disease?” said William. We went to the park but nobody was there. After the park we checked if anyone was here, but no one was here.

At 3:00 am, William and I woke up from the wind. I went to the bathroom and there was a bucket of blood! I looked at the mirror and there was blood on it, it said “I am watching you!” “Ahhh!!!” I screamed and went back to our room and I didn’t see William! Until I suddenly realized something was behind me. I looked and saw William, but he was a zombie.

I ran out the door and I saw that there were so many zombies! I didn’t know why William was a zombie and I wasn’t, but all the zombies are coming for me! I ran as fast as I could. I found the best hiding spot and hid there. I saw something move, it moved again, and again, until it came alive. It was a vampire! I thought that was what made William a zombie.

I went inside the nearest building and locked the door. I looked around and nothing was in here, until I saw William. William said, “we have to get out of here.” Then we got out, and I saw nothing. Then I saw a piece of paper. William said, “it makes you human if you are a zombie.” It says you need to squirt them with a slime gun to make them human. I squirted the zombies, but it didn’t work! William turned into a zombie! “Am I going to be a zombie?” I thought.

I turned into a zombie! The vampire came and said, “hello, now you are all zombies!” Everybody is a zombie so the vampire is ruling the world!

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Maple the Monster 

By Kayla

Maple the mini-lop was the cutest little house rabbit you ever did see. She was a four-pound fuzzy ball of fur with velveteen soft ears that hung low when she moved to Tahoe in August of 2023. Despite the “mini” in the name of her breed, she was actually a bit bigger than Kayla’s previous house rabbit, Pixi, who was a holland lop.  

“She’s a lot bigger than I thought she’d be,” a friend commented when she met Maple.  

“Yes, she is as big as my mom’s cat,” Kayla reiterated.  

When Maple moved to Tahoe, she quickly took to her new home, jumping and binkying and ripping through the living room at lightning-fast speed. The bars of an Xpen couldn’t keep her contained…she found a way to jump out of an enclosure or use her beaverlike buck teeth to move the bars aside and escape.  

As the aspen leaves began to turn their golden yellow and the tree squirrels did their best to knock pinecones out of the trees onto people’s cars, Kayla went to Pet Station to re-up Maple on her hay supply. She parked in the upper lot next to the Village Ski Loft entrance because the only spot available in the lower lot was under a tree, and Kayla didn’t want to risk it.  

She parked, got out of the car and walked past a row of mountain bikes perched up outside in front of the VSL. She was the only one in the parking lot. The weather was still nice, so they hadn’t quite switched to selling snow skis yet. All at once, the back tires on all the mountain bikes started spinning at the same time. 

That was weird, Kayla thought, and she was a little freaked out since it was Friday, October 13^th.  

Shaking it off, Kayla walked into Pet Station, said hi to the guy cleaning the fish tanks, and went right to the rabbit section. Looking through the different kinds of hay, she spotted a box of new Halloween-edition High Desert Timothy hay. This hay had “bunny candy” in it, such as dried dandelions, marigolds, and banana chips intermixed with the first-cut hay. Sold.  

When she walked back up to her car, she glanced wearily at the row of bikes. They didn’t move.  

“Boy, do I have a treat for you!” Kayla said, bounding through the door and greeting Maple with a smother of kisses. Hearing a crinkly plastic bag, Maple ran circles under and through Kayla’s feet trying to trip her up in anticipation of the new treat. As she pulled the pieces of hay out of one bag to put in the other, she noticed some purple kind of Twilight-glittery strands of hay. Huh, Kayla thought. Never saw that before.  

Maple LOVED the Halloween hay. She sat in her litterbox for hours, monching and munching and snacking and pooping.  

Kayla left her alone for a while and went about her day.  

Hours later when Kayla checked on her again, Maple was still in her litterbox, but she seemed-- bigger. She was in a standard-sized litterbox meant for cats, but it was like now Maple barely fit in it. Huh, Kayla thought. Her mind must be playing games on her.  

But then when Maple’s bundad/second servant/” spare hooman” came home, the first thing he said was, “Whoa, is Maple bigger?”  

“Yeah…I just bought her this new kind of hay, and she loves it, but man, I think it’s making her grow.” 

“Huh,” he said.  

Over the next 18 days, Maple grew and grew. She didn’t stop. Kayla and Bundad loved having a pet rabbit because they were small, didn’t eat a whole lot, and they didn’t have to take the bunny outside to go to the bathroom. But when Maple became the size of a border collie, she didn’t fit in her litterbox anymore and they had to find a harness to take her outside, sometimes in the first falling snows. Her turds were the size of golf balls, then tennis balls, then basketballs. And Maple was fast…even when she was small, if she heard someone sneeze then she’d take off and be from one corner of the house to the upstairs far corner of it in three seconds flat. When she was two feet tall and 90 pounds, Kayla could barely keep up with her, running at full sprints, if something spooked Maple on their walks.  

There was one day, October 28^th I believe it was, when Maple-- then the size of a bull mastiff at all of 220 pounds—took off running so fast that Kayla fell but held onto the leash. Maple dragged her for two blocks until she suddenly stopped. When Maple saw the road rash she gave her mom, she took her parrot-sized scratch paper pink tongue and smothered her in licks, which did not make Kayla feel any better. And by this point, Kayla took a PCT-sized backpack full of romaine lettuce and carrots on every walk to try to lure Maple back to the house if she needed to. She had cleared out Grocery Outlet, Raley’s, and Natural Grocers of their greens several times, barely being able to keep up with Maple’s demand.  

Even though Maple had long ago finished the special Halloween hay, she didn’t stop growing. But she seemed so healthy and happy (except when her servants didn’t give her dinner in time, then she thumped and it sounded like an earthquake, reverberating all throughout the house). Her parents were so busy trying to keep up with her food supply, and the massive amounts of fur and turds all over the house that it took them a while to finally call High Desert farm. 

“Hi, my name is Kayla, and I bought your Halloween edition Timothy hay from the Pet Station in Incline…and my bunny won’t stop growing,” Kayla told the ranch owner. “Has anyone else had this problem? And do you know how to make it stop?” 

“What are you talking about?” the owner replied. “We don’t sell any Halloween hay.” 

The blood drained from Kayla’s face, and she dropped the phone.  

Maple has still not stopped growing. As of this writing, Kayla now has to borrow her roommate’s truck at least every other day to drive down to Carson and load it up with bales of hay. She’s the size of a black bear now, with elephant-sized ears.  

Maple the Mini-Lop has become Maple the Monster. The prey could become the predator.  

Disclaimer: This is a semi-true story. Maple the Monster is a real mini-lop rabbit (or “major” lop now?) and still lives in North Lake Tahoe. Hide your carrots.  

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Massacre

By Noah

Gabe shivered as he remembered the theater massacre from a week ago. He still had the dark red scar on his cheek from that deformed lunatic with the blue curved knife.

It was Halloween, and Gabe was dressed up as a clown from his favorite horror movie. He was trick-or-treating with Reuben, his best friend, who was also a clown. They ran up to a big brown house and yelled “Trick or treat!”

Gabe snatched a peanut M&M’s since he liked Eminem and Reuben took Sour Patch Kids. Gabe munched on a Tootsie Roll as they walked to the next house. He was so happy he forgot about the theater massacre.

…

Gabe and Reuben approached a strange house, which was covered in silk.

Gabe and Reuben knocked on the door. No answer.

They knocked again. No answer.

“Let’s go,” said Reuben. “I’m getting bored.”

“I agree,” said Gabe.

They turned around, and to their horror, the killer from the massacre, with a deathly grin on his face. He saw a cold piece of metal against Reuben’s forehead. “Wipe that stupid smile off your f—” Reuben began.

A gunshot rang out as Reuben shrieked in pain. He collapsed onto the asphalt, life draining from his eyes. Gabe shrieked as his best friend got run over by a car. Today was big time chaos.

The murderer turned his attention back to Gabe with a pistol in his hand and the blue carved knife in the other. “Lunatic!” Gabe shouted with anger. “You’re a stupid killer! And you’re history.”

Gabe sprawled on the ground as the murderer pulled the trigger of his gun. Gabe punched him in the shin which caused the pistol to fly from his hand. They vigorously attacked each other and there was a blur of metal and fists hitting each other. Wit ha hard punch in the face, Gabe brought the killer down, but he left with scars, a black eye, and a missing finger.

He sprinted faster than ever before until he arrived at his house, panting as his mother treated his wounds. “Explain yourself,” his mother said. “Why are you missing a thumb?”

“Um, a deformed man chopped it off.”

“What!?”

“He was from the theater massacre.”

“Are you kidding me!!!???”

“I’m not joking,” said Gabe. “He had a pistol and a knife and he attacked us,” Gabe said.

“Is Reuben okay?” his mom said.

“Reuben is dead,” said Gabe, voice breaking up. “No one could replace him.”

“I also want to join Reuben in heaven!” he said. It was 11:11 pm. His mom said, “let’s go to bed.”

That night, Gabe went to bed, thinking about revenge.

Gabe woke up at 3:00 am to a loud crashing noise and discovered his window was broken. There was a dark figure in his room who was the killer.

“Remember me?” said the killer, followed by an evil laugh.

Gabe punched the man in the stomach.

The man returned the favor by giving him a hard butt in the face.

“I heard your wish at 11:11,” he said. “It was to die.” He pulled the trigger of his gun.

Gabe felt dizzy as he closed his eyes for the last time.

7:00 AM

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The Maze 

By Grace 

Elenor and Gwenyth had always been best friends, but one day, 1 year ago, on Halloween night they fell apart and have not talked to each other since. What happened that night is a mystery, but only I know what happened on the dark night, so I will tell you. I was there after all. 

Elenor and Gwenyth have always been best friends. This year they both started high school together and they have never gone to the same school before. Elenor had gone to the middle school that was connected to the high school and Gwenyth went to middle school at a private school. Gwenyth had another friend at her new school and that friend, Amelia, was Elenor’s worst enemy. Gwenyth knew Amelia because they were neighbors. When Gwenyth started at her new school she started to gravitate towards joining Amelia’s friend group instead of Elenor’s. 

Now, you are probably wondering what this has to do with Halloween. Halloween is when everything falls apart. Gwenyth promised Elenor she would go trick or treating with Elenor but she wanted to trick or treat with Amelia. Gwenyth stays true to her word and trick or treats with Elenor. Elenor went as an astronaut and Gwenyth went as a black cat. While they are trick or treating, they come across a mansion they have never seen before. It is decorated with cobwebs, spiders, and pumpkins. They go up to it. Gwenyth reaches out to knock and Elenor does the same. An old man answers. He says “You young girl, you need to choose one friend. 

“Follow my great maze of horror and discover which friendship will bring you happiness.” The old man says this to Gwenyth while pointing to a corn maze in his yard. 

Gwenyth walks towards the maze. As she walks in, she starts having flashbacks of all the times she had to choose between Elenor and Amelia. Gwenyth soon reaches the first challenge. She sees both Elenor and Amelia being held hostage by a ghost, but a sign says she can only choose one. Even Though Gwenyth knows it is fake, she still is scared at the thought of losing her friends. She decides to choose Amelia. She saves Amelia, who disappears, as Gwenyth continues to the second challenge. 

Soon, Gwenyth finds the second challenge and finds both of her friends talking about her with their other friend. A sign says “Listen to both conversations, both actually happened, but choose one to save from the fire in ten minutes.” Gwenyth listens to Elenor’s conversation. 

She is saying that she thinks Gwenyth is very kind, a good person, and is sad they are drifting apart. Next, Gwenyth listens to Amelia’s conversation. Amelia is talking about how weird Gwenyth is, how babyish she is, and how Gwenyth follows Amelia around like a lost puppy. After hearing that, Gwenyth chooses Elenor. 

Gwenyth finds the final challenge. She is told by a sign to choose a path. One path said Amelia and the other said Elenor. Gwenyth chose Elenor. Now, you are probably wondering why I said Elenor and Gwenyth are not friends anymore. This is because of what happened once Gwenyth came out of the maze. Elenor had a camera the old man had given her and watched everything. She was happy Gwenyth had chosen her in the end but very hurt that until Amelia said those hurtful words about Gwenyth, Gwenyth would have chosen Amelia. Elenor decided she did not want to always be second place to Amelia, so she decided not to be friends at all with Gwenyth. 

That is the story of how a friendship between two best friends fell apart. It is the story of how Gwenyth lost both of her best friends in one day. She will always blame the old man, who later she learned was named Aaron. Aaron ruined her life so Gwenyth ruined his. One night, five weeks later, Gwenyth went to Aaron's house and planted a bees nest underneath his doormat and cut down his maze. Aaron was never seen again, but he did survive but is now in prison for growing and selling corn without a permit and terrorizing children. Gwenyth turned him in for both offenses. That is how the closet of friends fell out. Gwenyth and Elenor have not talked since and never will be friends again. 

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Missing  

By Adan

Once upon a time, a middle-aged man was driving to his house on Mill Creek. It was a dark, windy night, and the moon made long shadows on the empty road. As he was nearing his house, he saw something strange in the middle of the road. It was tall and skinny, with very long arms and legs. Its body looked so thin, almost like it could snap in half. The man was curious but also scared. He slowly walked closer to see what it was. As he got closer he saw the creature’s face, and it was really creepy. Its face was twisted and distorted, like something out of a nightmare. The eyes were red but almost cloudy, almost as if they were just empty holes, and its mouth was huge and grimacing. The man felt a chill run down his spine. Before he could react, the creature let out a terrible, inhuman sound that echoed through the air. The next day, the man and his car were gone without a trace, and knowone heard the sound that the creature made. The police came to investigate but found nothing. They searched for days, but it was like the man had vanished into thin air. Over time, the case was forgotten, and some people started making up stories saying it might have been aliens who took the man. Twenty years later, the mystery still hadn’t been solved. But now five more people had gone missing in the same way, and the townspeople were starting to get scared and confused. The police had given up looking for the people and this made everyone really frustrated. Three teenagers named Matt, Jenny, and Sam were curious about the unsolved cases. School was about to be out for summer, so they decided they would find out what happened. They went around town and talked to as many people as they could, hoping to get some clues about the missing people and how they went missing. Some older folks in the town shared spooky stories. They talked about tall, thin ghost-like creatures that took people away in the dead of night, saying they might be angry spirits trapped between our world and another. With all this information, Matt, Jenny, and Sam decided to look for themselves. They planned a brave night time adventure to the place where the first man had disappeared twenty years ago. They thought if they could go back to where the man disappeared they could find some answers. The night they chose was especially quiet. The sounds of crickets and rustling leaves seemed extra loud, making everything feel more intense. They went to the road near Mill Creek, the place cloaked in spooky darkness from the tall trees around them . Then, they saw it. Ahead of them was the figure from all the stories. It had long, bony limbs and a strange, contorted face that they could recognize even in the dim moonlight. Fear gripped them, but the teens didn’t back down. They were determined to solve the mystery. As they approached, the air turned freezing cold, biting at their skin. The creature let out the same eerie sound as described in the past, and it shook them to their core. They knew this was something far beyond any regular ghost story. Jenny suddenly gasped and stepped back, her eyes widening. She realized the creature wasn’t focused on them, it was looking at something else. Matt followed the creature’s gaze and for a while they were following it. It took them to an abandoned stone house and inside they found a circle of stones on the ground, covered in strange ancient symbols. Sam, who loved reading the town's old folklore, recognized the symbols. There was an old legend about a magical doorway that connected to another world. The doorway needed constant offerings to keep it shut. As generations passed, people had stopped paying attention to it. Gathering all their courage, they started to dismantle the circle of stones. As they moved each stone, the creature and others seemed to become weaker. With each rock they removed, the creature seemed to become smaller and smaller, and their screams turned into faint whispers. Finally, Sam kicked away the last stone. A strong, cold wind blew past them, and the wind hit the creatures letting out one last scream and blowing into dust. Almost instantly, the forest became quiet again, and the cold presence faded away. Panting and relieved, the teens realized they’d uncovered a terrifying secret. This horror was not just about a monster, it was about an ancient ritual that required it . They knew telling the townspeople and the authorities about what they had discovered would be hard to believe, but the circle of stones was proof. In the weeks that followed, they shared the story with the town. Slowly, everyone began to understand and pay respect to the town’s creepy history. Rituals and protections that had long been forgotten were brought back. Life in Mill Creek started to return to normal. But memory is fragile, and as time moves on, stories often fade. Only a few people knew about the circle and its power, but the teenagers understood that the danger could return. Mill Creek’s dark history, tucked away in hidden chapters, was a reminder that threats might always be just at the edge of reality, waiting for an opportunity to come back. END… 

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The Mystery Book 

By John 

It all started as a fun game at our small-town library—a game called The Mystery Book. Every day, the librarians would hide an old, leather-bound book somewhere in the library. The goal was to find it, and if you did, you got to pick a prize from the big glass bowl at the front desk. The prizes were simple but cool: bookmarks, stickers, and the occasional small toy. The game was meant to help us kids explore different parts of the library, and we all loved it. 

I remember the first time I found the book. It was hidden behind a dusty row of encyclopedias in the history section. The book was ancient, with a cracked spine and pages that were yellowed with age. The cover had no title, just an odd symbol that looked like a twisted tree. When I opened it, the pages were blank—at least, they seemed blank at first. I felt a weird shiver run down my spine, but I figured it was just the excitement of finding the book. I showed it to Mrs. Thompson, the head librarian, and she smiled that warm, grandmotherly smile of hers and handed me the prize bowl. 

"Great job, Sam! You found the Mystery Book!" she said, her eyes twinkling. I picked out a shiny new pencil and went on my way.  

The next day, Joey, one of my classmates, found the book. He was beaming with pride when he showed it to Mrs. Thompson, and we all cheered him on. But then, Joey didn't show up at school the next day. We figured he was just sick or something—no big deal. 

But then, the day after that, Emily found the book. She was one of the quieter kids, but she was grinning ear to ear when she held up the book for everyone to see. I noticed that the strange symbol on the cover seemed even more twisted, almost like the branches were reaching out. I shrugged it off, though. 

Then Emily didn’t show up at school, either. 

By the third day, we were all on edge. No one said anything, but we were all thinking the same thing. When Danny found the book that day, he looked more nervous than excited. I watched as he turned it over in his hands, his fingers tracing the symbol. He took his prize—a rubber eraser—and hurried out of the library. But when Danny wasn’t at school the next day, I knew something was wrong. 

A chill settled over our class. Three kids gone, just like that. No one seemed to know where they were, and the teachers wouldn’t tell us anything. I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. What if it wasn’t just a game? What if there was something more to it? 

That afternoon, I went to the library. I had to know. I searched every corner, every shelf, but the book was nowhere to be found. My heart was pounding, and I could feel a cold sweat on the back of my neck. Then, as I turned the corner near the back of the library, I saw it—sitting on a small, dusty table, the book lay open, its pages no longer blank. 

The twisted tree symbol had grown, its branches now stretching across the page, wrapping around strange, ancient words that seemed to pulse with a life of their own. As I stared, the words began to move, shifting on the page. I felt a pull, like something was drawing me closer, and I couldn’t look away. 

I reached out, my fingers trembling. As I touched the page, a cold, whispering voice filled my ears, “Welcome, Sam. We’ve been waiting for you.” 

The last thing I remember was the room spinning, the world going dark. And then, nothing. 

The next day, the book was found by someone else. 

And I was gone. 

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The Night 

By Brooks

It was the year of 1924, in late October. The wind rushing through alleyways of Manhattan, New York, and sounds of chimes rung through the ears. It was a minute before 11 pm, when a sound, almost a whisper, came from the hallway right next to Denis’ room. He sprung out of his bed almost if he was having a nightmare, wondering what was roaming in the dark crevices of the hallway. Frightened by the dark he was curious about what was there. Denis decided to see what it was. Rushing through his head was the thought of that one frightful night on the S.S Poseidon when he lost his dad, knowing that surely it could not have the same outcome to him. When he looked around the corner into the hallway he saw nothing… 

Until, all of a sudden a shadow with long nails and the light of the beating red eyes, rushes across the brown wood floor. The house that he was living in was a modern penthouse at the top of the building. He lived with his mother, Larain. He didn't want to lose her too. As Denis walked across the floor, the one creaky board creaked once again and gave the dark figure his location. Suddenly the figure jumped at Denis and took him under his arm and dragged him into the darkness of the night. Hearing his scream, Larain rushed to Denis’ room to see that he was missing. She rushed across the whole house searching in every room possible just to find no one in sight. As the clock hits 12 it freezes and stops ticking once again. Larain remembers the story that Denis told her about the clock freezing on the ship that one night on December 31, 1923. Frightened, she runs down the stairs in the penthouse building, the walls on the side cemented into place. The room smelled like old sweat and tears. As she reached the bottom of the stairwell she stepped outside to see a white van flailing into the night. 

She screamed into the darkness, “Denis!!” She started to run after the van that she thought had Denis in it. But little did she know Denis was not in that van. It was just another scheme that the figure had. In the dark alleyway that Denis was dragged into, the dark figure revealed his face to Denis and said in a dark low voice, “You will never escape this time. You were lucky that you made it out alive on December 31. This time will be a lot different.” Denis was so scared that he did not look up at the figure, but when he did he raised his head slowly and saw that the figure had no face at all. He jumped back onto the ground in frightment and said “Who are you, and what do you want from me?” The ghostly figure responded, “It was me that one night that sent the wave to your ship. My plan was going just fine until you made it out alive. I was the one on the helicopter. It was me! I tried to crash it into Manhattan but you took over the wheel and shoved me off the seat and into the deep dark ocean. I struggled for days trying to make my way to shore and eventually I did, and now I will get my revenge on you!” After this was said to Denis, he started to run away into the streets of Manhattan. The clock was still stuck at 12 midnight. When Denis looked up at the clock on the tower he realized that it was the same as when the clock stopped in December, and the thought rushed through his head that did the man chasing him have anything to do with this. Denis looked back and saw that he was not too far behind him and started to run even faster. 

Larain was still in the search for her beloved son Denis, knowing that if she lost him too she would be all alone forever. So she rushed to the building garage and beeped her car to try and find where she last parked it. It made a noise and then she ran towards it. Larain jumped into the Prius and sped off to find Denis. Over in the streets Denis was caught by the figure and he said “Now that I have you, you are never going to see your mom again”… 

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Nightmare in Willow Crest 

By Bennett

“Hey wait up!” I shouted to Anthony. It was Halloween, and I was racing Anthony, a tall and slender, friend of mine, to see who could get the most candy first. We ran past Elm Street and Anderson Blvd. Then, we came to Grove Lane, the most haunted place in all of Willow Crest. Every year kids would stop at Grove Lane due to the constant screams and decorations that came to life. 

But this year me and Anthony were going to go on Grove Street to see if what everyone said was true. The entrance gate creaked and groaned even when it wasn’t moving. And on the walls of the gate was a skeletal head, covered with blood that gave kids and adults shivers just from its frightening glare. 

We felt a strange presence, as if we were being watched. Anthony whispered “Hey Terance, let's ring the bell and run!”. As we carefully walked up to the first door the sky turned into shades of red, orange, and purple and an ominous music started playing in the background. Anthony shoved me in front of him to ring the doorbell. As I reached the music got more ominous and Anthony shivered even more. 

When the bell rang we both braced ourselves in case something were to jump out at them. But, nothing happened so we took a breath of relief but then the music stopped and the sky turned back to the pitch-black midnight sky. 

We ran back to the entrance and heard cracks and growls along with helpless screams from kids.Getting back to the gate, as if it couldn’t get worse, it had magically closed shut. Then we heard the crackle of a witch. We slowly turned around to see the bloody, cracked skulls of skeletons that were swarming and gathering. The witch had warted, green, misshapen skin with a withered hat. 

Alongside were reapers with a red and evil glow in their eyes and vampires with blood oozing from his mouth along with a devilish grin on his face. 

Anthony screamed in despair “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!!!” As we closed in we saw that behind all of this was a witch floating on the roof of one of the houses. With purple and black waves hurling around her she glared at the kids. “Who dares come to this haunted street that is filled year round with me and my friends” the witch said with a sinister smile. Anthony and I, paralyzed by fear, said nothing in return. 

We heard a whisper coming from one of the stones along the wall. “Come quickly before she sets a spell on you…” As the boy looked back, we saw the witch had risen even higher with the waves of black and purple enlarged. She started to mumble something of what seemingly seemed like jiberish. “Quick, hurry!” said the mysterious voice. The boys ran towards the wall as a hidden passageway was revealed “No! Don’t let them get away!” 

the witch shouted with agony. As we sprinted towards the door, I felt the bony, sharp, and jagged finger of a skeleton. I lept for the door and… “Slam!” that was the sound of the stony door closing behind us. I looked around and I saw a ghost, glowing blue and not very transparent, but it was in the shape of a witch! 

Jumping at the sight of the witch, I realized that Anthony wasn’t with me “what happened to Anthony I thought to myself. The witch had a wrinkled shape with a long nose. As I turned back to the ghost/witch she said “We must hurry to the end of this corridor before they find out how to open the door”. 

“How would they even open the door?” I said curiously. “Hush, talk quietly so that they can’t hear us”, said the ghost. 

“She has magical powers unmatched by any other, but if I was able to get my hands back on that wand she stole from me so long ago, I would be able to make this a regular street again.” said the ghost. 

“Follow me I’ll take you to the exit, it doesn’t lead out of here but it’ll get you away from the commotion” said the old ghost. 

“No! I will not follow you until I’m with Anthony once more” I protested. 

“Fine, have it your way… but you won’t make it out alive!” she said with a sinister laugh. Then the walls slowly disappeared and I then saw everything again; the skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, the witch, the reaper, Frankenstein, and Anthony who was pushed up against the wall by the reaper, who was surrounded by an army of skeletons. 

Then, the witch started her evil chant filled with mumbles, mixed in with groans and shouting. I ran towards Anthony but then realized that I was floating as my legs carelessly flopped around. I tried to get out, I tried to grab onto something or one of the skeletons but it was no use. I was reeled in towards the witch as she mumbled the final words of her chant, and then I was hit by the black and purple ray of the witches spell. 

At first I thought my body was tricking me but as I slowly lost my feeling in my legs I got a different idea. Slowly it went up the rest of my body. Through my hips, through my arms, through my shoulders, and finally up to my head. After I blacked out, I woke up. 

Right outside the gate to Grove street, right beside Anthony. I told Anthony “ Hey, let's skip this street.” He replied with a nod and we started walking, not running the rest of the way. And that's why nobody goes on Grove Street anymore and why Anthony and I always walk together on Halloween and don’t race each other at night any more. 

The End 

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New Years 

By Jackson

December 31, 1923, there was chilling wind on the deck of the S.S. Poseidon. Everyone on board was so excited for New Years, and attended a huge party in the ballroom . No one knew what was going to happen on that frightful night. The boat was on route for New York City, but little did they know they were heading right into a storm. Captain William Murdac got numerous warnings from other ships in the area, but he ignored every single one of them. The roars from the engines low in the boat told just how fast the captain was trying to get to New York. Captain Williams' kid, Denis, never liked the sounds of the engines roaring, but his dad would always make him check on the engines to make sure they weren't being overworked. As Dennis was venturing down the ship's nemours decks he thought he heard something, a little kid playing. He snaps his head to see who it was but nothing was there, it was like the kid vanished into thin air. He decides to run to the engine room so he can get back up to the deck quicker, as he walks into the engine room the engines come to an instant stop. Then the lights start to flicker, every time they shut off he sees a kid his age, maybe this is the kid he saw earlier. But suddenly the engines start and the lights turn on, but no ones there. Denis dashes to the door but it slams shut. He hears footsteps behind him so he sprints to water tight door 13, he makes it out and makes it to the deck. He can hear the wind whirling in his ear, he feels the coldest he's ever been. 

Denis makes his way up to the wheelhouse, but no one’s there… He thinks his dad might have wanted to check out the New Years party so he makes his way to the party. Once he enters the Ballroom he hears a chilling silence, it's like no one ever even boarded the ship. He checks his wrist watch just to see it's frozen at 12 A.M. In a blink of an eye Denis awakes in a pile of sweat in the engine room. He hears the tick of his watch and a split second, “BANG!” The ship gets hit with a huge rogue wave, the room rushes with water as a result of the tear in the hull. The rush of water swipes Denis off his feet and he hits his head on the railing. He looks at the water and seeing it starting to turn red with blood, he feels light headed. He starts to scramble through the water to the exit, he hears the slam of the watertight doors behind him. The water is resisting him from going fast, the water stings Denis from the sheer cold. He sees the red light starting to flash as a warning of the door shutting, at this point the water is at his waist. Denis runs as fast as he can and makes it out of the engine room just in time before the door slams behind him. Now the pain of his injury kicks in and he blacks out… 

Denis awakes to the ring of an alarm, he quickly comes to his senses and gets up. He’s in a mixture of blood and water, he starts to make his way upstairs but oddly sees no one. Once Denis makes it onto the deck he sees no one, just to find all the lifeboats gone. Panic starts to kick in as he realizes he’s on a sinking boat all alone. The S.S. Posiden starts to develop a port list, making it take on more water a lot faster. Denis needs to make a decision and fast, out of the corner of his eye he sees a small lifeboat. It seems to be so small it shouldn’t be on such a grand of a ship, Denis dashes toward the small boat. Once he makes it to the small lifeboat he tries to figure out how to launch it. It needs a key, luckily Denis recalls seeing tons of keys for the lifeboats in his fathers wheelhouse, the only problem is the wheelhouse is half submerged in water, and sinking fast… 

As Denis makes his way towards the wheelhouse he starts to strut through the freezing water. The ship is starting to groan as it takes on water. Once he makes it to the wheelhouse he builds up courage and starts swimming. This is the coldest Denis has ever experienced, his vision is extremely blurry due to being in salt water, he feels his way around the wheelhouse but needs air. Luckily he finds an air pocket and takes a breath. Under the water he finds the key box and with only one key left in it, he takes it and makes his way out of the water as fast as he possibly can. Shivering he darts up to the lifeboat, twists the key, and starts to lower the boat. With a crash it falls to the water, Denis looks down and sees a 30 foot drop he has to jump to make it to the water. Denis had always had a fear or heights so this was not easy, Denis mustered up the courage and took the leap. Bang! It feels like Denis is sinking forever, he struggles to swim to the surface but he makes it, the salt water stings on his open wound. He climbs onto the lifeboat and waits, it feels like eternity before he hears the propellers of a helicopter. Denis finds a flare in the boat and shoots it up to get the attention of the helicopter. 

The helicopter lets down a ladder, But to his fear, on the helicopter there seems to be no one in sight… 

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The Other Side of the Door 

By Swanly  

It was another boring morning before school for Mary. She heard her alarm clock go off. “Ring, ring, ring!” five more seconds to close my eyes she told herself. A moment later she got out of bed and slipped her pink fuzzy slippers on. She could smell her bacon and eggs waiting for her at the dining table downstairs. She quickly made her bed and fluffed her pillows up. She scrambled downstairs for breakfast as she heard her stomach grumble with hunger. She got down to the dining room where she saw her freshly made breakfast steaming waiting for her. 

She didn’t see her parents so she walked over to the kitchen hoping to find them there. The kitchen was perfectly clean like nothing had been touched. “Mom! Dad! Where are you? I have to leave for school soon!” she bellowed, no answer. Mary wasn't worried because she thought that surely they were somewhere in the house. She quickly ran upstairs expecting to see her parents. “Hello? Anyone home?” Mary yelled once again. She decided to go and look in her parents room. Fresh flowers in the vase, perfectly made bed, and a clean desk. Mary thought it was odd how clean the room was considering the fact that her dad was always working in here with his papers laying all around the room. 

All of a sudden she heard a whisper behind her saying, “don’t be scared my little one.” She quickly spun around seeing nothing but her parents door shut. She didn’t close the door behind her, she thought to herself. Trying to keep herself calm she yelled “Where are you guys?!” this time with a little more emphasis in her voice. She left her parents' room and stood in the hallway. She hears a slam as all the bedroom doors in the house close shut. Precisely five seconds later she hears all the blinds closing. 

Three seconds later she hears a click as all the lights go off, even the sky goes dark. The whole house is dark and quiet. Tears start to fill the brim of her eyes. 

She sprints down the stairs like a mouse being chased by a cat. As she approaches the dinner table she notices that there is not nothing but crumbs left on her plate. She starts to panic. She runs over to the telephone and dials in her moms number. Rring! Ring!” The phone goes. Her mom answers! “Hi mom! 

Where are you!?” There is no answer except for a knock on the door. Mary, frightened, tightens her grasp on the phone. She hears a voice coming from the phone but it doesn’t sound anything like her mom. “I can’t wait to see you my dear” the voice says in a kind but crawling whisper. She slams the phone back on the wall to hang up. She hears a knock on the door again. The same voice from the phone call comes from the door again, “Open up sweetie, it’s me, you know me better than anyone.” “Who’s there!” I scream in horror. 

That’s when she hears the keys opening the door. Mary freezes waiting to see who is on the other side of the door. The door screeches open. She sees nothing except the night sky looking straight at her. 

She is too scared about the intruder to wonder why it was dark outside at nine in the morning. She feels a breeze go past her, the smell of vanilla perfume lingers. Thousands of thoughts are racing through her mind like cars on a race track. She just wants to find her parents. She decides to sit on the couch until her parents finally arrive home. She has never wanted to see them more in her life. She cuddles in her fuzzy blanket and tries to relax, but she can’t. She is just waiting to hear another suspicious sound come from somewhere in her house. “Hello” someone says in a reassuring whisper. The voice sounded like it came from right behind her, Mary hides under her blanket hoping they can’t see her. “If I can’t see them, they can’t see me.” she says to herself as she shudders. 

Finally she has the guts to take a peak from her blanket, she sees nothing so she sits up straight. She feels a breeze circle around her. That is when she makes eye contact with a woman. This woman is black and white and you can see through her. Surprised Mary tenses up. “I've been looking for you for a while now.” The woman looked oddly familiar to Mary, almost like it was herself thirty years later. 

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Pets and Shadows

By Abby

I was in the middle of a deep sleep when I heard a sound. “Screech screech.” I opened my eyes and looked around, but saw nothing. I looked again and under my desk was a parrot. A parrot? A cinnamon green cheek conure, to be exact. She looked at me with hopeful eyes, and I knew what I had to do.

My name is Kaitlee Macondo, and I have a dog named Maple. You might want to know what I did with the bird, and I kept her and named her Cinnamon (Cinnie for short). Today I’m going on a hike in the woods with my parents, Maple, and Cinnie (with her bird harness on). I’ve never been in the woods before, but I’m excited!

When we are ready to go, I clip on Maple’s leash and put Cinnie’s harness on her, and we set off toward the woods.

I am so mesmerized by all the pretty flowers and trees, that when I look around, my parents are nowhere in sight. I keep walking forward, turning corners if I think I need to. All I hear is the sound of my footsteps, Maple’s panting, and Cinnie’s soft squacking.

The trees aren’t pretty anymore. It looks like they’ve been infected by a weird green goo, and the flowers look almost like black spiders. There are deep cracks in the trees, and goo is seeping out of them. The longer I look at the goo, the longer I feel this chill coming from my toes, going up my body, and then disappearing. This place gives me the creeps.

When I look down at my hand, Cinnie isn’t there anymore! Instead, her harness floats in the air, like she’s there, but she’s not. Maple’s leash is the same, floating in the air. Where are my pets!?

I look around, but I don’t see any sign of a bird or a dog. Dark shadows are whooshing past. I try to see what these shadows are, but they’re going too fast. A shadow flies past my face, but this one isn’t just green. It’s green, yellow, and red. Cinnie’s colors! Another one whooshes past. One that is a mix of three colors: red, orange, and brown. The color of Maple!

I run after the shadows. By the time I reach them, I am out of breath. The two shadows look at me. They are the shape of raindrops, about the size of me, and have bright red eyes. One of them is a darker gray than the other, and is carrying Cinnie. The lighter one carries Maple. “I am Darkness,” the darker one says in a booming voice. “And I am Storm,” the lighter one says in a voice that’s a bit higher. “If you want your pets back, you must also adopt the Cat of Death and the Crow of Doom.”

I follow them to a tree full of scratches. A shadow with a deep cut on his arm sits nearby. “The Cat of Death and Crow of Doom did this to me,” he says. I don’t believe him one bit. In the tree, there is a black cat and a crow. “There they are,” says Darkness, pointing to the animals. “Reach out your hand and they’ll come to you.” I reach out my hand and the crow flies to me, cawing softly. The black cat runs to me and licks my hand, rubbing against me. These creatures aren’t dangerous. They’re my pets now.

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The Rat Syndrome 

By Asher

James is running as fast as he can. He is in a cornfield and just heard a scream, he feels the wind as he runs, James, desperate to make it to the end, feels something, someone grabs his hand, he screams but it is too late. 

For the last year there have been mysterious disappearances, Mary Carpenter, a 15 year old girl, James Monrusso, a 30 year old man, and finally Hudson Sidney, a 20 year old man, All these disappearances correspond to each other. Mary Carpenter, who was last seen on the 13th of September, James Monrusso last seen on the 13th of October and Mary Carpenter last seen on the 13th of December, that is not a coincidence. Suddenly the police chief gets a phone call and all he can hear is rats. 

H 

The police chief drove down the dark road to the cornfield, the lights of his car ripping through the darkness. The field glowed ahead, its size emerging through the light. As he parked and got out, he heard a scream dark and spooky. He ran towards the sound, his flashlight piercing through the shadows. 

What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. The field was covered with medical equipment, abandoned and used. A photograph of James Monrusso, with a knife stuck into it, was on the ground. Next to it was a bench, with straps, and on the bench, a syringe with a green substance in it. The ground around him began to mix, making dozens of rats emerging from the corn stalks. The chief's eyes opened in horror as the creatures ran towards him. 

In a moment of panic, the chief tried to run, but the rats were too fast. They collapsed onto him, crawling up his legs and onto his body. He was chucked onto the bench and strapped down before he could react. The syringe, now held by a pair of gloved hands, was quickly inserted into his arm. The fluid from the syringe injected a cold, tingly sensation into his bones. 

As the world around him began to blacken and silence, James had blacked out, leaving him in a dark, creepy void… surrounded by rats, their faces like the missing people. After he woke up, it took him a moment to realize that he was a rat. He felt a weird feeling at the end of his body and a strange tingly feeling on his face. His hands had transformed into furry paws, and a long, twitching tail extended behind him. His nose was now a snout, and he had an overwhelming urge to burrow. The chief's mind filled with panic as he realized what had happened to him. He had been turned into a rat. 

The cornfield, now more of a maze filled with old corn, seemed both familiar and foreign. The rats, once his kidnappers, now seemed to look at him as their master, their eyes reflecting a puppy dog sort of look. The chief tried to move, but his new form was weird. The situation started to go downhill quickly as he stumbled through the field, the darkness collapsing in from all sides. 

In his rat form, the chief could only hope for a way out, a solution to the nightmare that had fallen to him. The scream he had heard earlier, the photo of James Monrusso, and the medical equipment all pointed to a sinister plot that had involved him as well. As he wandered through the cornfield, he realized that he was not just a victim but part of a crazy scheme. The mysteries of the disappearances had a darker connection, and now, the chief was trapped in the web of crimes With every step, he struggled to maintain his calm within the twisted form of a rat. The field seemed to flatter him with its silence, the rustling of the corn like a whisper of his old aunt Sally, she reminded him of old summer days. But The chief had to find answers, not only to understand the connections between the disappearances, but also to escape the nightmare before it covered him completely. 

When the rats looked over him from the shadows, he knew that finding a way out would be harder than he thought. 

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Scary Scary Haunted House

By Nixon

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School Day

By Porter

Today we had school. It was as boring as ever. Until my friend said to me, “look.” It was an old newspaper with the heading “Haunted School.” It was about a school shut down by a death. I was shocked, could this be the school? Who died? So I asked my friend, “where did you find it?” And with that he led me back back stage where there was a head. A head of a mascot costume. Suddenly the door behind the stage burst open and a janitor ushered us out before we found out any more about the haunted school.

As we walked to our next class my friend looked grim. I asked him if he was okay and he weakly nodded then he showed me something he picked up. It was a silver bullet with blood on one side. We looked at each other then started running to class. Then it hit me; a few years ago this school was cancelled, but they didn’t say why.

At this point I was sprinting to class when an alarm sounded, then stopped. I looked around but my friend wasn’t there. The doors all started closing, so I ran into the closest room hoping to be safe. It was an old science classroom. There was a sign by the door thatsaid “Science” but the only other thing in the room was a skeleton laying on the floor with a note, “Die Lion Pride.” Our mascot is a lion! I turned around and then it was the rest of the mascot costume with a hole right in the chest and it was floating with a silver light coming through it. I screamed, punched the nearest window, jumped through it and ran home.

To this day at age 52, I have never went into a haunted building again.

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Shadows 

By Celeste 

Oct 16, 2022 

Hartford, Connecticut 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I pull myself out of bed as my alarm blares, and hit it repeatedly until the wretched sound ceases. I make my way to the mirror and stare at my reflection; my Auburn hair is in tangles, and my shirt (with the words “It’s Hannah’s 12th Birthday!” emblazoned across it) is hanging to my mid thighs, layered over my favorite pair of black plaid pajama pants. I yawn loudly. Thank god it’s Sunday, I think. All I have to do today is go to temple, and hopefully that won’t take too long. 

After I change, get ready, and put on a little makeup, I head downstairs. “Hurry, we’re gonna be late!” My dad calls, he doesn’t realize when I mutter “As usual” under my breath. I don’t think my family has been early or even on time for synagogue since the first time I went. I was only four years old then, and I’m 12 now. 

My mom, dad, 16 year old sister and I hustle to get out the door and two minutes later, we’re on our way, heading for the synagogue across town, when something a little strange happens. I’m looking out the window when I see a shadowy figure appear from around a dark corner. I can’t see much, but I can barely make out a tall thing wearing some sort of mask, obscuring it’s face. What type of mask, I have no idea, but a mask nonetheless. I look back, maybe to assure myself that what I’m seeing isn’t a hallucination, but as soon as I do, it disappears, no trace of it ever being there. Weird, I remark to myself. 

“Hey, what’s up, Hannah? Why do you look so nervous? It doesn’t matter that we’re late, you know, we always are,” My older sister Leah stares at me, a questioning look in her eyes. “No no, it’s not that,” I reply, “It’s just… n-never mind, it’s nothing.” As we keep driving, the question doesn’t drift from her face, she just stares at me, confused, until we park in the lot next to the synagogue and make our way to the doors. I’m about to walk inside when I hear a rustle from the bushes behind us. Paranoid from my sighting, I quickly turn my head, and immediately freeze with fear at the sight of that same figure, standing in between two trees. It’s closer now, and I can clearly see the mask it’s wearing: A sort of clown-like face, where the eyes appear to have been ripped out. Why did it have to be a clown? I hate clowns. “Hannah, come on!” Leah pulls me in through the doorway, leading to a high-ceilinged room, the rabbi standing in the very front. 

We take our seats and spend the next hour and a half saying prayers, rising and falling from our seats. At that moment, I hear a small clatter from the upper level of the synagogue. I almost know exactly what I’m going to see before I even turn. There it is again, that tall, masked, figure, in my own synagogue. I can’t help letting myself feel one more emotion additional to fear; anger. Here, during the service? On our one day of rest? 

Though before my anger gets too intense, the fear takes over again, chilling my body, sending shivers down my spine. At that moment one specific thought becomes quite apparent; I’m being watched, stalked, followed. They know where I am, and they just keep getting closer, and closer, and… 

“Hannah Adelman!” The sound of my mom’s shout brings me back to reality and I turn to see everyone getting up from their seats. “Coming, Mom!” I follow the flow of people out of the synagogue, trying to ignore my feelings, my fear. We get in the car. “Hey mom, can Eliza come over tonight to sleep over?” It’s a three day weekend, so luckily, my mom replies with “Of course, it’s always nice to have her over.” For the rest of the car ride, I talk to Leah, trying my very best to forget about what’s happened and focus on something else, anything else. 

That night, Eliza comes over as planned. We do everything that 12 year old girls do at sleepovers, we paint our nails, talk, watch a movie, until 11:00 when my mom comes in to tell us to go to bed. “Ok mom!” I reply, as I’m getting quite tired. 

“Let’s go to slee-eep,” Eliza groans, “I had to wake up at 6:00 this morning because my mom just had to make me go on a sunrise walk with her.” 

I smile, “Ok, we’ll sleep now, just let me go to the bathroom first, I need to put in my retainer.” 

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t be surprised if I fall asleep waiting for you.” 

I roll my eyes with a smile and make my way to the bathroom, but on my way, I see something and time stops, I freeze. There, standing in front of me is that dark figure, the clown eyes of the mask staring at me. I try to scream as he, or it, makes his way towards me down the darkened hallway, but no sound comes out. “I’ve been watching you, Hannah,” it says in a distorted voice “Observing you…” 

I’m paralyzed as it keeps taking steps towards me, until it’s only three feet away. Two feet. One foot. And finally, it stops, less than a foot away, and just when I think it can’t get worse, the shadow figure pulls off its mask, revealing a blank stretch of skin that can’t be called a face. That’s when the pain comes, the feeling of the very life being pulled out of my body, through my face, and my scream finally comes out. But alas, it’s too late, I fall to the ground, nothing more than a corpse on the hallway floor. 

The End. 

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The Skeleton

By Eric

One day at school, when Jack was writing his essay on plants, he heard a tapping noise. Tap. Tap. Tap. “Come over here boy, I need your help.”

“What was that?” said Jack in a scared voice. “What was what?” said his friend Zack.

“I heard a tapping noise followed by a voice that told me to go wherever the voice was coming from,” said Jack.

“I don’t believe you,” said Zack.

“But I—”

“Remember what I said about side conversations, Jack?” asked the teacher.

“Alright, I’ll stop,” said Jack, and continued his essay. “But I really heard that noise,” thought Jack. “Did they hear that tapping noise? From what Zack said, it seemed like he didn’t hear anything,” thought Jack.

Jack didn’t hear that noise for the rest of the period.

After writing, Jack’s class had P.E. At P.E., Jack’s class was going to run a mile in the woods. The track started at a tree with a red “X” on it and looped back around and ended where it started.

Jack, who was not a good runner, started behind all the other kids. Toward the middle of the run, Jack heard the same voice heard earlier. It said, “I need your help boy. Help me and I will disappear.”

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. After all, Jack did want whoever was bothering him to disappear, so he looked back and said “I’ll help you.”

When he saw a skeleton with glowing yellow eyes behind him, he instantly regretted his decision of helping it. Just then, the skeleton opened a portal and Jack was sucked in and taken to the world of skeletons where he met hundreds of skeletons armed with axes and swords.

At the sight of all these skeletons, Jack ran and ran and ran until he couldn’t run any more. He was so out of breath that he didn’t even realize where he was. When he looked around, he realized he was in a wooden house and around him were kids much like himself who were also taken there by the skeletons’ mind powers. Jack looked behind him and saw a kid saying, “I am very loyal to the skeletons and I will banish anyone who isn’t loyal to them.”

To Jack’s horror, all the other kids in the room responded. They said, “We will be as loyal as we can to the skeletons and will try to obey the skeleton code like you, master zombie.”

When they were finished speaking, they started chasing Jack, who was very horrified.

Eventually, the zombified kids caught Jack and turned him into a zombie.

“I am loyal to the skeletons,” said zombified Jack.

The End

To this day, the skeletons still take kids and turn them into zombies.

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Skinwalker  

By Jenner

Once upon a time there was a girl named Anna. Anna was packing up her apartment to move to Alabama, because she recently got a job there. After a couple of days of packing up all of her stuff, she finally left. After 12 hours of the car ride she still had 6 hours left, so she decided to sleep at a motel on the side of the road near a forest. She went to the front desk to check in, as she was checking she kept getting a weird feeling. When she got her room key she went to her room, which was room 2. 12:00 am she heard a knock at the door when she went out their she saw a long pale man on all fours with big round white eyes staring at her, when anna tried to close the door the creature got caught in the door and got inside the room, then it grabbed anna by the leg, and slowly dragged anna into the forest. 8:30am, Anna woke up in freight, she thought to herself, what a terrible nightmare. After she packed up her bag, Anna got back into her car for the last 6 hours of her road trip. When she finally made it to Alabama, she saw a sign on the side of the road that said “Beware of skinwalkers”! Anna though, hey that was the creature that was in my nightmare, but she just found this a coincidence. When she finally made it to her apartment, she noticed that it was also next to a forest. When she was unpacking her stuff into her new apartment, she heard weird sounds coming from outside, and when she looked there was nothing out there. 9:00pm, there was another sound coming from outside. She opened the door with a flashlight, and pointed it near the forest, and she saw a funny looking creature just looking at her, and she closed the door in freight!, that was the same monster that was in my dreams, from last night at the motel. Then she remembered seeing a picture of the creature on a sign when she was passing through a town in Alabama, and she remembered the name Skinwalker. That night, she couldnt sleep because she was too scared, but eventually she fell asleep. The next morning she woke up, and looked out the window at the forest, and she saw writing in blood on the grass. I SEE YOU, she was horrified, and closed her blinds. As the Sun went down, she was nervous that she would get killed by the monster. Then there was a knock at her door. THE END 

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The Strange Man

By Kora

Melanie had her normal day, finished working at target. Then went to the café. “The normal, please,” Melanie said. “Oh, one latte” said Rob. “Thank you!”

Melanie was about to start drinking when she saw a strange face in it. She screamed and dropped the cup. [It] flew up right back into her hands! The man did something. He grabbed Melanie!

Half an hour later she woke up. She blinked slowly and finally saw two girls staring. “My name’s Trinity,” said the shorter one with long smooth hair. “Hi my name is Alexa.” Her hair was short but she was taller. “Where do you live?” asked Alexa. “Borazona. Oh uh I mean Arizona,” Melanie mumbled. “I think you should stay,” Alexa said. “Uh, uh no,” Melanie answered. “Oh you’re staying tonight,” Alexa said. “I’ll go make bay leaf and pork soup.” “Bay leaf?” Melanie asked. “Yes, it’s good for you.”

“Is it ready?” Trinity said. “Come try.” Melanie ate her soup. “I am so tired. I think I’ll go to bed,” Melanie said. “STOP. Actually you can’t stay with us.” Alexa said. “Follow,” Alexa said. She walked up to the wall and tapped the wall “click clock knock tap rap.” The wall flew open!

When they reached the end of the staircase they meet a room of flowered wallpaper. Alex tapped the wall and a beautiful bed popped out. “Anything you need?” Alexa asked. “No,” Melanie answered.

Melanie snapped awake. She felt a weird feeling. Then she saw the man that grabbed her! The voice hissed. “What do you w-w-want?” Melanie said timidly. “I’ll give you a hint. The relic you wear on your neck must be put to its owner in the house she may buy,” then he disappeared.

“Oh,” thought Melanie. She looked at her neck. “The tea one!” Melanie found the wallpaper then she saw it. There it was, a tea bone! She put her necklace in place and the door flung open.

After two miles of walking, she came to a door. It read “Dark Light Fort. Open if you dare!” She opened the door then she heard a voice, “who dares to come to dark light fort?” “I, I think I have something for you,” Melanie said. “How did you get this?” “I.. I…” then a sudden gale blew.

Suddenly Melanie was back in her bed. She looked down at her necklace but it was gone! “I must have lost it.”

So it was a dream, right?! …. Or was it!?

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Stuck in the Lodge

By Dixon

The spotlight was shining that night. A meeting of sorts. My father headed across the water – ink black – and never returned. I went to sleep, clueless. My mother sat up all night, in vain. I woke up, and listened for the sound of my dad’s steady breathing. None came. I bolted downstairs, thinking that he was down already. I only found my mother, staring emptily into the distance. She said, “Zander, you must go to the lodge. Retrieve your dad. Break the curse.”

Bats fly around me. Cobwebs are stuck to my shoe. The floorboards creak. I look out the window. The speedboat is still there. Good! If I lost that, my back would be grass and mom the mower. I look away, and look back. A face is there. Not human-like, but bulging at weird places. I shake my head and continue on. Some steps later, I hear a song being sung just out of sight. There stand five creatures, glimmering, but not ghosts. They sing, “answer our riddles, five in all, if they are correct, you shall be granted freedom for your favorite son. You will break the curse. But be warned, if you answer incorrectly, you shall join him!”

I shake. I shiver. This is the biggest choice of my life! Bigger than all the others. I think to myself, “what would dad do for me?” That’s easy. He would do it. I raise my head, look the ghoul-women in the eye and say, “let’s do this.” A dais pops open. Inside is an old computer rom around 2000. I touch it. It beeps and comes to life. As words appear, the first ghoul-woman talks in a snake-like tone.

She said, “let the riddles begin! First up, I have a white coat, I have a red hat, and the longer I live the shorter I get.” I think. “What is white and red? An egg? A bead? A hat? But what shrinks?” Oh! I have a flashback, walking into a haunted house when I was just two. Eerie candles, candles! “That’s it!” I blurt out. “Candles.” “That is correct,” she says.

The second ghoul-woman hisses, “now for number two. What stays in one corner yet travels the world?” “Hmmm,” I ponder. “Something in a box or letter, probably.” But there is so much that goes into a box or letter. Bills, checks, toys, gifts, stamps, and return addresses. But it stays in one corner, it has to be a stamp because it can’t move. As I double-check that, vines creep toward me ready to eat me if I fail. I scream, “stamp!” The ghoul-woman howls and disintegrates.

The third steps up and says “what has four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three legs at dusk?” I laugh. The ghoul-woman looks worried. Good. I laugh because it’s too easy. Fifth grade history. The great mystery. “Human,” I say. She gives me a scowl and disappears.

The fourth yells, “Bellitrix!” and vanishes. The fifth says, “you won’t get away! I’m the hardest of all. What has 12 hearts but no lungs?” I think, “no lungs?” It can’t be an animal. Of course! Cards! A deck of cards. I shout, “cards!” Dad sprouts up out of the vines and we run for the exits of the lodge, and toward home to my waiting mother.

The End

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Thornroot Road

By Miya

Daniel. That was the name of the boy that Mr. and Mrs. Kantich adopted. He was 13 when Liliana, his adoptive sister, came into the house with the post, looking very confused. “Papa,” she said. “Read this.” As the father looked over the letter she had just given him, he smiled.

“Well, what does it say?” the mother fretted. She was always worried about something, from lost socks to wars, and from breakfast to the economy. Daniel just sat in his room, pretending to read a book, listening. “Our son has inherited a road. It says that all further information will be given when we meet a man named Conrad Frankston,” replied Mr. Kantich. “But who inherits a road?” Liliana butted in. No one answered her.

Five days later, they drove down to the valley to meet Conrad Frankston. He was a very nice man, and he told them a lot about the road. Now, Thornroot Road had a very interesting history. You see, not very long ago, a man named Elias owned the road. He gave his blood to the dirt, and the dirt, in return, gave him beautiful orchards. But the dirt got too greedy. It’s hunger for blood could not be satisfied.

One day, Elias was walking down the road with his brothers, when a stick shot out of the ground and tripped him. A second stick shot out of the ground, piercing his heart. Two years later, Carrie Domband, Elias’s niece, owned the property. One morning, she was found hanging by her neck from some vines, last being seen at her office the night before.

“Of course these are all legends, you mustn’t believe them,” Frankston reassured them. “Although it is curious how all of the owners have died in less than three years of ownership,” he muttered to himself.

Back at home, Daniel’s actions were very abnormal. He was screaming at the top of his lungs “I want my road! I want to hang with her! She is mine! Mine! I want it now!” The Kantichs decided right from there that they would never, ever visit Thornroot Road, for it would most likely result in the death of Daniel.

Daniel had always been a very sweet and kind boy, so this new behavior was very unsettling. And why would he want to hang from vines on the road and die? But Daniel ought to have known nothing about the road, as he had gone to school the day that they were scheduled to meet Frankston. As the days passed, Daniel’s behavior became more and more disturbing.

Daniel began to awaken early in the morning, screaming, “The road! It’s mine! The road’s mine! It wants me! Let me hang with her! Let me follow he who once walked with his brothers, but walks this earth no more!”

Teachers began to send the mother copies of Daniel’s work, with drawings of an ominous road, with devious-looking branches running off the page. There were sketches of a man lying face-dow on the road, a pool of blood surrounding him. A woman, hanging by her neck, with blood trickling out of her lip, and snakes in her hair.

Daniel’s behavior became destructive. He would hit walls, throw chairs, and break other household objects daily. Soon the behavior turned violent toward his family. One fateful evening, Daniel screamed for his parents. The Kantichs ran down the stairs to see their son banging his head against the wall. Mr. Kantich rushed toward his son, and held him. The mother, in a moment of clarity, knew what must be done.

She ran upstairs, grabbed the deed, and sold the property to the county. The boy sobbed, and fell limply into his father’s arms, drifting off to sleep.

A few months later, the mother drove by Thornroot Road to see it one last time. She felt a deep, gnawing sadness. She felt as if something was lurking just below the ground. A strong gale suddenly swept her off of her feet. It whispered in her ear, “you can’t bury what’s already rooted.” And a chill ran up her spine.

THE END

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The Unsuspected: Chapter One

By Makana

I folded my hands on my lap as the bus returned to my school. After it stopped, I walked out of the bus with everyone else. Me and my group got together again. I was one of the popular girls. “Hey guys guess what! Did you guys see the newest video Tony posted on Instagram?” squealed Samantha. “Yeah. Of coursed I did,” I bragged. “I was taking part of the video.”

Tony is my boyfriend. Well kind of. He hates me but I love him. I think love is more powerful than hate. Well he hangs out with me because my mom, she hates boys. Except she wants me to get married to a boy. Very much.

“Hey Samantha, do you wanna gossip somewhere private?” I ask her. “Sure. Let’s go to the downstairs girls’ room,” answered Samantha, already walking there. I followed her into the school.

“Look, it’s the girl that Tony told us about,” said Hank. He was one of Tony’s friends. He was with his small group of followers. Allison liked him. I hate him. I decided to ignore him. Then he made fun of my aunt. “Did you hear about her aunt?” His group broke into laughter.

My aunt believes in ghosts, goblins, and “scary” creatures like that. I don’t believe her. She is nice and the best other than that. “Leave her alone,” shouted Samantha. When she got mad she got dangerous. “Meet you later,” she turned around and told me in a sweet voice. I ran off to the girls’ room.

When I opened the door a mist came out and in front of me was a ghost. I screamed. It was quiet as if the whole school is listening. It probably was a soul of a bony human. It didn’t have any lips so his teeth spread into a grin. It walked toward me a little. Well, it didn’t walk, it floated but that didn’t matter because I had to run. I screamed again and went in the closest room. It was the Spanish room. I remembered that there were kids in here earlier but now there were none. I looked back; the ghost was chasing me. It hovered – that’s the word. It was hovering toward me. But I started running back.

Suddenly, I knew that there would be adults at the front desk. As I ran there I peeked into all the rooms. There was nobody to be seen. As I got closer to it I began to think “what if everyone had disappeared?” I kept running and I thought about taking a photo of it and putting it on Instagram. I turned around and took a perfect pic of it. I ran into the gym. Oops! There was a meeting. Wait. There were people. “Uhh,” I stuttered. “Sorry.” I ran straight out. My face was heating up. I ran up the stairs.

I started to post the photo. Right away people looked at it. “I don’t see anything.” “Where is it?” No one could see it! I had to show my friends. Later, I met Samantha. “Look at this pic.” I showed her my pic. There was nothing. “Brrrinng!” The bell rang. I said bye to Samantha. She looked confused. I got onto the bus. I kept thinking about what just happened. It sounded like one of Aunt Emarie’s stories. I would ask next time I met her. I arrived. “I guess I’ll delete the photo.” I walked in. “There’s a letter on your bed,” mom shouted when I closed the door. “K,” I said and ran into my room. I opened the letter. It said:

“Dear Nephew, Don’t worry about the ghoul just don’t delete the pic. From, Enarie. P.S. you’re a witch. Congratulations!”

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Untitled 

By Alex  

Again. 

The screech of an owl. 

I claw at the ground. Six minutes. The soil beneath my skin is cold, always cold; grit building under my nails as I scrabble through the loosely packed earth. My hands are fish-belly white beneath the moon, and my breath seesaws in and out, serrating my airways. 

All around me is silence, the forest a rapt audience. 

Five minutes. The swoosh of my fingers against nylon fabric. I exhale sharply through clenched teeth. I’m ahead of schedule; I dig faster. The body begins to take shape beneath the earth. I scrape back soil from the chest, the face; clumps skittering, pooling in the hollow of the throat and the tear wells of each open eye, between the slightly parted lips. 

I can’t get distracted again. I can’t be lured in by the mask of death, mesmerized by the way the final throes loosened jaw and limbs into something slack and left wanting. In those other instances, I remained transfixed until time ran out. 

Now, I focus. This time has to work. I know if I free the torso, I can pull. If I manage a firm grip, I can drag the body out of its shallow grave. If, if, if. Four minutes, three minutes. I've done this enough to know my internal clock is precise. 

I force my hands under the shoulders, my heels digging into the ground on either side of the unhallowed plot. I pull, and the body comes, heavy and pliant in my arms. It’s too soon for rigor mortis. 

Around me, tree trunks slant and branches reach in the direction of the road. Two minutes. 

Still, there are obstacles. The weight of the body, the tree root I always trip over, my frantic breaths. The span between death and beyond can never be easy. 

The forest thins the closer I get. A black ribbon, wet ink in the moonlight, runs horizontal across the landscape. The road. One minute. 

The road means the car and the car means my chance. I need the driver to bear witness that I was here. That I am here—this shell of myself, at least. If I can’t drag my body to the road, where the oncoming headlights surely won’t miss, my time is up, and I’m doomed for another round. A soul forever seeking permanent peace in consecrated ground. 

And so, I pull. 

I hear the car rounding the bend. The same car every time, the same countdown, the same situation. Every time. Thirty seconds. 

Feet slipping on decaying leaves, I tug my body up the embankment, shifting my grip again, then again, seeking the most efficient hold. A glance over my shoulder—darkness and gloom frame the car’s headlights as they move closer. I’m nearly to the pavement now. I have the time, I have the time, Ihavethetime. 

My grasp slips and the corpse’s clammy fingers slide through my own. I scream in frustration, clutching at air. I can’t keep doing this. 

Twenty seconds. 

I grab hold once more. 

Fifteen seconds. 

I strain backward, arms embracing my body’s trunk. 

Eight seconds. 

The ground vibrates with the vehicle’s approach. 

Five. 

I turn, flinging my corpse forward, hoping it's close enough to the pavement to catch the driver’s eye; a pale crumple of human limbs by the side of a road in a lonely, dark forest. 

One. 

The car streaks by, phantom-like, white headlights blurring to red taillights. Driver unaware of my need. I wail, my body a forgotten and battered marionette at my feet. 

Then, darkness. 

Again. 

The screech of an owl. 

I claw at the ground. Six minutes. 

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Untitled

By Mela

My best friend Ryann and I got called to babysit two kids named Lexx and Lauren. We said yes and then said that we would be there in ten minutes. We got in the car and started driving. We got to the house and we saw the kids running outside to give us a hug. Inside the house the mom and dad gave us some rules, like kids in bed by 8:00 pm and stuff like that. We said OK and watched them leave.

Once the parents left we started playing games when we realized that it was getting late and we haven’t even started cooking dinner, so we started cooking pasta, when Lauren said, “do you guys hear that knock sound?” We said “no,” and continued making dinner. But then all of a sudden we started hearing the noise as well!

We quickly and quietly turned off the stove, rushed the kids upstairs and hid them in a closet. We hid under the bed and called 911. As we were calling 911 we could hear the person breaking things and then we heard it come up the stairs and into our room. The good news was that we had already called the police and they were on their way.

He didn’t end up finding the kids but he did look under the bed and we saw this terrifying mask that had dried blood on it. Luckily he didn’t see us because of all the baskets under the bed. Once the cops arrived we found out that he lived in the woods for two hundred years and that he was a ghost that hid people in his house and made them do stuff for him.

He ended up going to jail even though he was dead and he had to stay there forever. The police went to his house. They found all of these kids and adults trapped in dog crates. The police set the people free and the people were very grateful.

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Whispering Foothill Shadows

By Mary

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over Reno’s high desert foothills. Mabel had always been drawn to this desolate landscape, with its jagged rocks and sprawling sagebrush. But tonight, as the twilight deepened, a chill crept into the air that made her uneasy. She had planned to photograph the sunset, but an inexplicable pull urged her deeper into the hills, away from the familiar paths.

As she trudged over the sandy terrain, her boots crunching softly against the gravel, Mabel felt the weight of the silence enveloping her. The only sound was the faint rustle of leaves in the breeze, which felt strangely alive, almost like whispers. She shook off the feeling, focusing on the golden hues of the sunset painting the sky, her camera capturing every moment.

But as darkness fell, the landscape transformed. The warm colors faded to a cold blue, and the shadows lengthened, twisting into eerie shapes. Mabel set her camera down and pulled out her flashlight, the beam slicing through the inky blackness. She should have turned back, but curiosity gnawed at her. What was it about this place that felt so charged, as if it were holding its breath?

Pushing forward, she navigated the uneven terrain, her heart racing. The whispering winds began to sound like voices – murmurs just out of reach. Mabel paused, straining to listen. Was someone out there? A faint rustle to her right caught her attention. She swung the flashlight in that direction, but the beam illuminated nothing more than shadows and rocks. Just the desert playing tricks on her mind.

“Hello?” she called, her voice sounding small in the vast emptiness. No answer. She inhaled deeply, the dry air filling her lungs, laced with the scent of earth and sage. She decided to continue; after all, this was what she lived for – the thrill of discovery.

Minutes turned into an hour as she climbed higher, the path becoming steeper and more treacherous. Just as she thought to turn back, her flashlight caught a glimmer – a peculiar shape nestled against a large boulder. It looked almost like a mound of fur, but the moment she approached, it shifted.

Mabel froze. The creature was unlike anything she had ever seen. Its body was covered in matted, dark fur, streaked with patches of iridescent scales that shimmered under her flashlight. Its eyes were large, almost too large for its head, and they glowed faintly like embers in the night. It regarded her with an unsettling intelligence, tilting its head as if considering her presence.

“Are you real?” Mabel breathed, half-expecting it to vanish into the shadows.

The creature’s eyes narrowed, and it let out a low growl that reverberated through the still air, sending a shiver down her spine. Instinctively, she took a step back, but something about its gaze held her in place. A flicker of curiosity overtook her fear. She raised her camera, the light reflecting off its scales, and snapped a picture. The flash startled the creature, causing it to recoil.

For a moment, they both stood still, suspended in the air between fear and fascination. But then the growl transformed into a series of clicks and whistles, a strange language that seemed to resonate within her bones. Mabel felt an odd compulsion to understand, to communicate.

“Can you… speak?” she stammered, her voice shaking. The creature responded with a soft trill, a sound that seemed to echo through the canyon, mixing with the whispers of the wind. It took a cautious step forward, its elongated limbs moving gracefully despite its bulk.

Mabel’s heart raced. This was no ordinary animal; it felt sentient, aware. She had stumbled upon something ancient, something that belonged to the desert’s forgotten myths. Legends of the foothills danced in her mind – stories of guardians and harbingers, creatures that held the balance of nature in their hands.

Just as she was about to take another photo, the air shifted. A sudden gust of wind swept through, and the creature froze, its eyes widening in alarm. The peaceful ambiance turned oppressive, and Mabel felt a presence loom over them, as if the very hills were waking. Shadows lengthened and twisted around her, transforming into indistinct shapes that beckoned from the dark.

“Run!” the primal instinct screamed in her mind. The creature’s demeanor shifted; it backed away, its growl deepening as it sensed the impending danger. Without thinking, Mabel turned and sprinted down the hillside, the flashlight bouncing wildly in her grip.

The shadows swirled behind her, a chaotic mass of dark forms that echoed the creature’s growl. She stumbled, fear igniting her every sense, urging her to escape the growing horror behind her. The whispers intensified, calling her name in a chorus of taunts and jeers, pulling her deeper into panic.

Just as she reached the trail, Mabel glanced back. The creature stood at the crest of the hill, eyes ablaze, caught between its duty to protect and the urge to flee. In that fleeting moment, their gazes locked, a silent promise exchanged: she would tell the world of its existence, but not tonight.

Mabel plunged into the safety of the familiar path, the whispers fading behind her. She didn’t stop running until the warmth of her car enveloped her. Breathless, she glanced back at the foothills, now shrouded in darkness, holding their secrets close. As she drove away, the creature remained etched in her mind, a haunting reminder of the mysteries lurking just beyond the veil of the known.

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Why Lake Tahoe School 

By Elisabeth   

November 01, 02:17 P.M. “Well, uh. I was walking home in the pouring rain after my best friend Gigi’s Halloween party. I had taken a wrong turn and ended up arriving home 20 minutes later than normal. I-I was meant to meet Gigi there but she never showed up. It was her party so I-I didn’t know why she wouldn’t come and we were wearing ma-matching costumes and everything.I uh texted her and nothing, so I-I panicked and called her multiple times, st-still nothing. When I got home I tried to con-con-convince myself she was okay, I just didn’t see her, she was- she was fine.” Tears streamed down my face. I tried to look the officer in the eyes but I just couldn’t. It all happened too fast. I felt my throat tighten, but managed to continue. “I-I tried to call.....call her but it went straight to voice mai-mail again. It was no use. I-I started to settle down when I uh I heard it. I ran towards the sc-scream and in-into the woods. But it wa-as too late. Gigi was g, go, gone.” I was a blubbering mess. I just lost Gigi. The officer told me I did great and that all deaths are hard. This wasn’t just death, it was Gigi’s death. My best friend Gigi, the Gigi that would rant to me for hours, the Gigi who loved to mess around with me, the Gigi I had loved for 7 years. November 04, 11:56 A.M. “Issy, I made chocolate chip pancakes, your favorite!!” my mom called from down stairs. I didn’t say anything. It had been 5 days since Gigi died, and I didn’t feel like doing anything except laying in my bed. I just put my head under the covers and tried to think of anything but.. “Issy! have you seen my sweatpants?” My younger sister Blaire came storming into my room, “their brand new!” she exclaimed. Blaire doesn’t believe that I just “found” Gigi’s body, she thinks I was the one who killed her. The past few days she's decided to make my life a living hell by making me second guess Gigi’s death. So her barging into my room 5 days after my best friend was killed isn’t surprising. “Blaire! What do you think you're doing?!” My mom yelled as she walked into my room, “can’t you see your sister needs some space.” Blaire shrugged and walked out of the room. I just started sobbing, my mom tried to soothe me but nothing could make me happy right now. Everything reminded me of Gigi, even Blaire’s annoying voice. Everyone knew Gigi and I were inseparable. I had known her since 4th grade and we just clicked. That's just how it was. Up until now. I often find myself calling her, only to be met with the same voice mail every time. “Hi, this is Gigi, I can't talk right now, but I’ll call you back when I get the chance!” But she won’t, she will never call me back. I will never hear her voice again, ever. My dad says I need to move on but I just can’t. Gigi had always been there for me, I never thought that one day she wouldn’t. We were practically siblings. Now I’m sitting in my room, staring at the ceiling, with my mom by my side trying to soothe me as I sob. I desperately tried to stop but I just couldn’t. I might never. Soon after my mom left to drive Blaire to soccer and I tried to fall asleep. That's when I heard my phone start to ring. I thought it was my mom asking me what I want for lunch or something like that, but when I looked it was Gigi. I couldn’t be, she was dead. Right? I just stared at the phone. She called again. This time I picked up. “Lizzy, I need you to listen.” she said “they're coming for you next.” Then it went silent. I tried desperately to understand. Who is she talking about? Where is she? And how is she alive? I saw her, I know I saw her. She was dead. This all made no sense. I tried to call her back. I need to understand. Why call me, and not the police. Why. Why. Why. 

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