A Twisted Halloween: Terror is Trending

Chapter 11: Have Some Culture, People

Soon, the Halloween management committee arrived in the Library's entrance hall. There are orange and green jack-o'-lanterns on the tables, floating in the air, and hanging on the ceiling. And the one to greet them is Ortho.

Ortho happily says, "Welcome to the Ignihyde Halloween experience! I hope you all have lots of fun here! Now beginning the screening."

"What? A screening? What's starting?" Deuce questions.

Just then, the room begins to darken as a shadow figure of some jack-o'-lantern monster appears and the room changes to different colors. This catches everyone by surprise.

"Whoa! A jack-o'-lantern just jumped off the shelves!" Cater shouts in surprise.

Follow the sound of an owl hooting.

Malleus turns to Ortho, "The library is a foggy forest... Even I've never seen magic like this."

"It's not magic, actually. It's projection mapping that everyone in Ignihyde worked together to make. We use special devices to project image data over solid objects like buildings," Ortho says.

"It's like we really are in an unfamiliar land! Deuce says, surprised.

"Heh. heh," Ortho giggle, "Fitting considering Ignihyde's specialization in techomantic engineering, right?"

Then says, "But wait, there's more!"

And soon Idia's voice appears, "'A pumpkin is a pumpkin, but what do you call a pumpkin that can't be eaten?'"

Everyone soon sees Idea who is wearing a black suit of armor with glowing blue patterns. He is wearing a green jack-o'-lantern on his head with a glowing blue face, and long blue flames flow down from the stem, assuming that's his hair.

Idia calls out 'The answer is ME! The tragic monster, Pumpkin Knight!"

Everyone then asks, "Who's that?!"

"What do you mean, who?" Idia questions. "It's me. Idia Shroud. Who ELSE Would show up with a setup like that?"

"That's Idia's signature snide tone, all right," Vil points out.

Idia chuckles, "Hee hee! Surprised? As you can see, my Halloween Costume is... Pumpkin Knight!"

Soon Deuce understands, "Oh, of course! Pumpkin Knight!"

But soon asks, "...Who's Pumpkin Knight?"

This shocked Idia, "Dude, are you seriously telling me you've never heard of the legendary horror movie 'Creepy Hollow'?"

"I don't... think I have," Deuce answers.

And Deuce starts to get frantic again, "Oh no, am I out of the loop? Has everyone else heard of it?"

"Nope," Everyone answers.

"I make it a point to follow arthouse films and I've STILL never heard of whatever he's referencing," Vil says.

"Oof! Geez, you guys are basic!" Idia says.

Then explains, "Okay, so, this is a ghost costume from the movie 'Creepy Hollow.' It's the ghost of a pumpkin - a failed attempt at making a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween. The pumpkin's resentment at being discarded for being supposedly inedible and unfit for display manifests in the form of the Pumpkin Knight. It comes back to haunt the village that harvested it and attacks people night after night, one by one... It's a classic B movie, okay? Have some culture, people."

"From the summary you just gave, it sounds like less of a B movie and more of a Z movie," Vil says.

"Oh MY Magicam feed, I always see tons of posts talking about Creepy Hollow around this time of year," Idia says.

Then Ortho says, "In the movie, the investigator on the case assumes the Pumpkin Knight is human, so they take off the pumpkin helmet... only to reveal ANOTHER pumpkin inside! Can you believe it?"

"Right?! Such an ironic scene," Idia says.

Then says, "For our display, I figured we could use projection mapping to replicate backgrounds and sound effects from the movie... And then I'd pop out as the Pumpkin Knight. But fans would know what happens, and at the same time, I wouldn't wanna spoil the movie for people who haven't seen it yet. So I put in a twist - using visual tricks with reflection and lighting to make it look like my head's gone when I take off the helmet."

"Wow, Idia. You're super chatty today, and you're not even talking through your tablet," Cater says, impressed.

"Heh. When I'm in a mask, nothing scares me," Idia replies, shrugging his shoulders.

"SO. COOL. It's like you really ARE the Pumpkin Knight!" Deuce says, astonished.

"I dunno. He seems like regular ol' Idia to me," Cater says.

Then says, "But the costume - uh, I mean, the armor is totally legit. Real convincing stuff! It really showcases your technical wizardry Idia."

Idia chuckles, "Whee hee hee. With our projection mapping and live action show... I'll make sure everyone learns to appreciate Ignihyde's technical skills AND Creepy Hollow!"

Crowley evaluates, "Ignihyde excels not just in magic, but in engineering as well. This is the level of quality we've come to expect from them! This year's Hallowee is set to be every bit the frightfest as last year's and then some. Alas, all good things must end. This tour will be wrapping with the last dorm. Let's move on to Pomefiore's stamp tour venue: The Mirror Chamber!"