Halloween Short Story Contest 2007

Hello!

Congratulations to all participants in the Halloween Short Story contest 2007. I received some bone-tingling, teeth-chattering stories! Here are the top five stories. So, chow down on some candy corn, drink some apple cider, and make sure the nightlight is working before you read!

Your friend,

Charlotte


WINNER

All Hallows EEK!s

“So, what are we doing for Halloween?” said Katani Summers. The Beacon Street Girls were in the cafeteria at Abigail Adams. The buzz of Halloween was in the air.

“Well, what about going to the dance?” Maeve asked, “Ooh, we could do a Monster Mash type-thing with Riley and his band on stage.”

“No, that is so not for me. Are we too old to trick-or-treat? I was thinking of going as a vampire this year." said Avery, talking a mile-a-minute. "No, maybe a zombie-soccer player—”

“Okay Avery, we get the picture. Well, what if we start off with the school dance, and on the way back to the Tower, we could trick-or treat on Beacon Street. Sound good?” They all agreed. Charlotte thought they should ask Nick if he was going to decorate the bakery like a haunted house.

On Halloween night, the girls all gathered at Charlotte's house and got ready for the dance, or as Maeve called it, “the ball.” There was a costume contest, so everyone was looking their best. Maeve was Audrey Hepburn—no surprise, Katani was a very stylish bride of Frankenstein, and Isabel was a frilly flamenco dancer.

“This is going to be really fun,” said Charlotte, who was arranging her beret. She was a French artist. “Oops!” she slipped on Avery's zombie-soccer socks and fell into the wall. BOOM! There was a huge crash. And there was also a hole in the Tower wall. “Oh my gosh! Miss Pierce is going to be so mad at me.”

“Wait, what's in there?” Isabel asked. Marty was yipping around and sniffing at it. Then he backed away, looking scared. Katani walked over and reached in. She pulled out a book. “What is that?” Isabel asked. “What is it?”
Charlotte blew on it, and dust kicked up. “It looks like a book of spells,” she said. “I wonder who put it here.” She turned to the first page. It was blank. She blew on it again. Slowly, words started to appear... “Close this book, or face the consequences.”

“Close this book, or face the consequences. That's no help at all. We're still getting in trouble.” Typical Avery. She turned the page. Then, she made the mistake of reading it. “On all Hallows Eve, the forces are bright, thy changes are real and will stay past this night.” The book glowed, and then the page turned to ashes. “Okay, that was weird. Time to go!”

 
The dance was a blast. Charlotte danced with Nick, Maeve did her Monster Mash, and Avery won the costume contest. When they got back to the Tower, they had a truckload of candy. “Whoa, that was probably the best Halloween ever!” Avery exclaimed.

“No, I've seen better.” said Charlotte.

“Hey, you're just jealous because you didn't get the solid chocolate pumpkin.” She tried to take off her mask. It was stuck.

Charlotte, not noticing what had happened, continued on, “That's probably true.” While she said this, Katani tried to take off her wig. It was stuck.

“Guys, there's something really weird going on. Try and take off your costumes.” Everyone tried, and everyone failed. Charlotte's was the worst. Her fake mustache was real. “We need to ask Miss Pierce what's going on. She has to know, this was her house.”

When they asked Miss Pierce, she went into a trance and said, “A friend has the cure, many feats we endure.” Then she came back to Earth and said, “I hid that book for a reason, I should have destroyed it when I had the chance.” They brainstormed ideas, and decided to ask all of their friends if they knew anything. After they had been to the dance to ask around, they came up with nothing.

“Oh, look, Nick decided to use our haunted house idea.” Charlotte said. They went in for a look.

“Hi girls.” Nick was behind them. They all screamed. “Oh hi, Nick. Nice decorating. Say, do you happen to know about some sort of a rhyme that can only be used on Halloween, scary warning on the front, anything?” Charlotte asked.

“Weird book? Yes I've heard of it. La Magia de Halloween. We have the reverse of the curse. No Magica de Halloween. My grandmother gave us a copy. She said it was real and to use it when you need it. We put the book in our haunted house, but if you've read the curse, everything in the bakery is real.”

It wasn't easy, but they obtained the book and realized the right page was ripped out. So Avery read the next page with out realizing it. The area began to spin. Nick disappeared. And Charlotte had just said, “This going to be really fun.”    

“Wait, didn't we do this before we read the book?” Isabel had a point.

“Yay, my mask comes off! We're cured!” Avery was so happy, “It was a time travel spell! Whoa, that was scary.”

“Let's go to the dance.” said Katani nervously. ;)


**********

RUNNER UP

Unforgettable
 
This group of friends always have had this tradition even when they were little kids they did this. No lie. Every Halloween they would always stick together no matter what. No matter who asked us to hang with them, or even if we were deadly sick, it was a promise they have always keep. Year after year has been the best days of there lives that they will always remember, but this year’s Halloween will be the most unforgettable one yet.

“Who’s ready to trick or treat?” Sam yelled.

“Achoo!” sneezed Becca, “Definitely not me.” Elli put her arm around her and said, “ We’ll take that as a yes.”

“Come on Lana are you ready yet?” Sam yelled up the stairs.

“Yeah, come on. You don’t need any makeup your prefect as is. I’ll even bet you’ll win scariest mask,” Garrett said laughing.

Sam always yelling always loud, and very proud of it. Becca quiet but very caring and the most fearful of the group. Elli curious and sagacious. Garrett the only male of the clan, the jokester, and an all around wise guy. Lastly Lana, the go to person, funny, caring, but mostly is the backbone of the group.

“I’m here!,” she announced as she walked in with a cowgirl out fit, “Okay lets go, bye mom we’re leaving now!”

“Bye Mrs. S!,” yelled the group. “Mom we’re leaving where are you?” Lana yelled. But her mom was no where in site.

“I’ll just leave a note,” Lana said.

“Finally, let’s go!” Sam yelled very loudly.

“Ow, I think I just lost all sense of hearing,” Garret said. The dark night flashed before them as they exited Lana’s house.

“Wow, is it dark or did I lose my seeing to?” Garrett asked.

“Yeah, no it’s really dark, maybe instead we should go back inside, you know where its bright!” Becca said hoping they would listen to her.

“No way,” Sam yelled flashing a light in all there faces, “I came prepared.” She said as she threw flashes towards everyone.

“First house of our 14th Halloween,” Lana announced as they went up to ring the first door bell. Ring, Ring. No answer.

“That’s weird. The A** love Halloween. They’re always here every year smiling happy to see us,” Elli said.

“Yeah, that’s right, where they at? They always gave me an extra piece of candy.” Garrett said.

“Well, that wasted five minutes into what might be our last Halloween!” Lana yelled, “Lets get going.” Sam, Garrett, Becca, and Elli all looked at each other clueless to why it would be there last Halloween. They were going to ask Lana, but she was already half way to the next house. Ring. Ring. No answer.

“Uh,… you know those William’s, there always on vacation,” Lana said. They trudged to the next house. Ring. Ring. No answer again.

Next house. Ring. Ring. No answer again!

“What in the world is going on?” yelled Sam.

“Wouldn’t you want to know.” said a mysterious voice that made them all yell.

“Ahhh!” Sam, Becca, Elli, Garrett, and Lana all yelled. They sat up finding them selves sitting in sleeping bags. And seeing that the time was 2:00 a.m.

“Uh, was it a dream?” Becca asked.

“I don’t know? Wait, did everyone have the same dream as me?” Elli asked as she explained the dream.

“Weird, but yes,” Sam said.

“Something’s not right,” Garrett said.

“Your right Garrett,” said that same mysterious voice, that once again made them all scream. Garrett, Becca, Elli, and Sam all jumped awake to find themselves in Lana’s living room.

“Did I take that long, that you guys feel asleep?” Lana asked.

“Wait what happened, we were sleeping? Elli asked.

“Yeah? You were why?” Lana asked totally confused.

“You know what, how about we just get going,” Sam said relived it was just all a dream.

"Alright, Bye mom we’re leaving now,” Lana waited for an answer but got nothing. “That’s weird. Maybe I should just leave a note.”

Garrett, Becca, Elli, and Sam all looked at each other and screamed, and screamed, and screamed. Told you it was a Halloween that was unforgettable… since it never ended. Happy Halloween….

**********

RUNNER UP

Class of ’68

On Halloween, Madison and her classmates were busy chatting in their classroom. There was an enormous rainstorm, and everyone’s parents were late picking them up.

“Now we’ll never be able to trick or treat tonight,” complained a boy named Robert. Suddenly, the lights went out and everyone screamed.

“It’s the spirit of Mr. B,” Madison said mysteriously. “Do you know who he is?” The class erupted into noise with everyone trying to ask questions and make comments all at the same time.

“Class, settle down,” said their 7th grade teacher, Ms. M. “You can talk, just keep it very quiet.”

“The story goes like this,” Madison continued. “In 1968, Mr. B was a teacher here. He claimed that his 7th grade class was the worst in history and that he would die teaching them. That week, he had a heart attack and collapsed in this very classroom.”

“You’re lying,” said Robert. Outside a window, a tree branch fell and rattled the pane.

“Anyway,” said Madison brushing off the comment, “he was pronounced dead. But you know what else? He swore that even after he died, he would still be here teaching his students. Supposedly, his spirit still haunts the school.”

“All right kids, your parents are here. Be careful!” The students shuffled out of the room, some spooked by the ghost story they had heard. Ms. M plopped down at her desk. She started talking out loud.

“I’m sorry about that spitball in ’68. We weren’t that bad, were we?”

**********

RUNNER UP

Every Kid’s Nightmare

“Renée, hurry up!” shouted ten-year-old Ryan to his twin sister. “We have to go trick-or-treating before the candy runs out!”

His twin, Renée, turned around, dressed as a fairy queen, which suited her perfectly. With her almost silver knee length naturally gold highlighted hair and ice blue eyes, why wouldn't she? Ryan was the boy version of her, dressed as a prince.

“Don't worry, the candy won't run out,” she answered him with a smirk.

“Who knows?” asked Ryan. “Let's just go.”

“Fine, fine,” replied Renée. They both trotted down the sidewalk, the waning sun just giving a hint of sunlight before disappearing. They turned towards the first house, Mrs. K's house.

Ryan ran up the steps and knocked on the door, Renée walking slowly behind him, like a queen attending a ball. Mrs. K opened the door and peered out.

“Trick-or-treat!” they both shouted, lifting their bags which where waiting to be filled.

“I'm sorry dears but...” Mrs. K said. She held out something. In her hands, was the nightmare of all kids everywhere on Halloween. No candy! Renée gasped and dropped her bag. Ryan just stood there, bag out, mouth open.

“The supermarket didn't get any candy from the factories and it seems that everybody doesn't have any candy for Halloween.”

Their screams could be heard all the way in Japan. Every kid’s nightmare, which should never happened, especially on All Hallow's Eve, was that there was no candy.

**********

RUNNER UP

Scary Tale From the Stomach of a…You’ll Figure It Out!

Last Halloween was literally MY last Halloween. Only because the sky attacked, and my friends turned into zombies. Nothing gigantic. Oh, may I say, my name is Jackie. Just so you know. Okay, let's start this spine-tinglier...thing.

“Mom...MOM! Enough pictures! Can I please go now?!” I wailed as my mother snapped another picture of me. She always does that the night of Halloween when I wear my costume with the makeup and stuff. Last year I was a witch, this year I'm better, a vampire bride. Creepy, right? Well, I get to creep out everyone out, because instead of Trick-Or-Treating, I'm going to my school's Halloween dance. My first ever real live dance! I was so excited.

“Okay, we can go now,” Mom said. Finally, she got her coat on, and finally, she unlocked the car, and finally, we were driving to my first ever dance. When we got there, I immediately realized I was one of the first ones. I could have standed a few more pictures. I already know that being the first to the dance is bad. But someone has to come first, right? That didn't make me feel any better. The music wasn't even on yet, and only a group of boys were there, wearing their Bionicle and Star Wars costumes. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Then, I was saved, the doors flung open, and all my friends and the cool people charged in. Within seconds, the party was pumping. We were all jumping and dancing rocking our fists to the music like we were the audience at a concert.   Then, I looked out the window, and thunder clapped outside. No one noticed. My stomach lurched, since I was terrified of thunder storms. Why was there even a storm? It's Halloween, shouldn't they be in Florida or something now? Migrating like the rest of the birds?

I began to keep myself busy, moving to the middle of the crowd so I couldn't see the window. When suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder. It was my all time crush, Jared! "Hey Jared," I stammered. He was wicked...uh...this embarrassing, but CUTE!!! He was a vampire too! He really looked stunning. “Hey cool costume,” He winked. Sigh....

Then the stupid thunder ruined the moment, because with one loud BANG! the lights blew out. Everyone went “Awwww!” Then out of nowhere, the roof of the gym blew off. Everyone screamed. Someone grabbed me. It was Jared.  

“Sorry,” He apologized and let go. “That was really really creepy.” Well, you little cutie, it gets more scary.

The clouds literally reached out like hands and grabbed me. They hauled me up into the sky. I screeched in terror, flailing my arms and legs like a maniac. But they kept hauling me up and up. The Water Cycle isn't supposed to do this, I know, since I learned everything I need to know. Well, not everything.

My eyes and clamped shut, even though I didn't want them to. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke in the gym, lying smack in the middle. No one, not even the nerds, were in sight. No music, but the decorations and stuff were still there. Then, the back door clapped open, and my best friend, Julie, stepped out, arms stiffly in front of her. She walked stiffly and moaned: “Uuuughhhh...”    

After her, my other friends, Anarose, Ellie, Olivia, Alyssa, Aly, and Hannah, came after her. Moaning as well. Then everyone else at the party stepped out, moaning and in the same position as Julie and my friends, filing into the gym. They were zombies! I realized. I screamed in terror. I needed to get out of there. I hauled myself over to the front doors and pulled them open. I ran towards the cafeteria and hid under a table, only to turn around and find Jared in my face, his new, vampire teeth grinning at me. He made a hissing sound, and I lost it. I screamed my head of and quickly sprinted out of the cafe. The zombies were reaching the front doors of the gym when I zoomed past. I ran up the staircase, down the five hallways, and into my homeroom, Ms. D. She was sitting at her desk, head down. “Oh! Thank goodness, Ms. D! I need your....AHHHHHHHHH!” I hollared when she picked her head up. She looked like Frankenwoman. “What. Do. You. Need. Help. With. Jaaaaackie?” She asked like a robot.

I ran out of my homeroom and to the front lobby. I opened the doors to get outside, only to find more zombies. I turned to run, somewhere, anywhere, but Julie, my friends, and the other people were there to greet me. From every direction, zombies, a Frankenwoman, and one adorable vampire, reached out to grab me and maybe eat me. I screamed, screeched, did everything, but shout Onions. Crazy, right? Well, that makes them disappear. Sadly, I didn't know that. I figured it out when Zombie Julie told me. Then, she put me where I am right at this very moment. In her stomach. Yup, I was eaten. Not a very happy ending, huh? Well, at least YOU know what to do if you get attacked by zombies and such. Well, thanks for listening! It’s SCAR-EEEEEEE!!!!! OOOOO, AHHHH....MWAHAHAHA!! Sorry.