Part 1/ All Hallows' Eve

If we can scare the monsters away, then, maybe we survive.

I've been seeing them more often lately. They used to creep along the corners of my vision, but now they've become brave. Brave enough to show themselves in clearer light.

When it first started, I went to a gypsy caravan in a part of the woods that always celebrated Halloween. There were broken baby dolls with odd markings hanging from trees and massive spider webs that may have been real. Shrunken heads, scarecrows and cauldrons full of... things all littered the forest like omens of death.

As I passed through the woods, I heard a whistle like the catcall of a construction worker. I turned on the stump where it had come from and noticed a half decayed pumpkin with human bones supporting the missing prats of its own body. It spoke to me with a jagged toothed smile, "you're boned kid, Ha! Get it? Never mind, I can tell just by looking that you've never liked Samhain."

I was too frightened to ask the creature what it meant, so I just walked by. Later, I found out that Samhain was a Gaelic holiday also known as All Hallows' Day.

You're probably thinking that I should've turned around. That this is the stupidity that gets you killed first in a horror movie, but I couldn't, and I don't watch horror movies. You see, the further I went into the maze of horrors; the less I saw of the real monsters. The ones that haunt me now. After talking to the gypsy lady with twigs for fingers, I now know that the monsters were scared.

All of those good old church ladies that think Halloween was a pagan holiday are right. Except, you should celebrate. Otherwise, the monsters will no longer fear us humans. That was not enough for me though, the gypsy lady said that I lack anything for the monsters to fear. So, I started writing spooky stories to keep them at bay. I'm not very good at it and I haven't done it in a while, but the long faceless one is pounding on my door again.

So here's my next story:

Once upon a time, a dog - Wait, no! - a cat was stuck in a tree. He was scared. He wasn't alone, and he wasn't stuck. He was actually kind of happy. And then a dragon flew down from the sky with a magnificent display of fire breath before him! The dragon was fierce and powerful and kind-hearted. He rescued the kitten that didn't actually need to be rescued, and they rode off into the suns.........

Oh shit!! They broke through! I couldn't do it, please learn from my mistake! Tell more spooky stories! And celebrate Halloweee......

It is too late. Thanks to the runt of your humans' litter, we now know your secret. Your next Halloween will not work. Your tricks are fake! Your stories are lies!! We are the monsters you've made idols of, and we know you're scared!!!

Part 2/ All Hallows' Day

Another child came through the forest with a similar problem that year. He met the pumpkin with its cackling laughter, and the pumpkin told him how alone it felt. So the boy took it to keep by his door where it could greet Mad Jack of the lantern. The pumpkin was thrilled to be away from the old lady's house, where it hadn't scared a soul for years.

He spoke to the old lady and asked her about her twiggy fingers. She graciously gave him all of her fingers and thanked him for reminding her to clip her nails. When The Long One came, the boy showed him the old lady's finger nails. The Long One was terribly terrified of the old lady and ran back into the shadows for the year.

For extra measure, the boy hung one of his sister's baby dolls from a tree in the yard. Although, this only served to have his parents take away some candy. Still, we may be safe for one more year.