31 Short Horror Stories for Halloween

The Halloween King

Everyone is good at something. Some people are good at sports, others at Math. You don't really get to decide what you will be good at. It is, however, your responsibility to embrace whatever talents you may have been blessed with and to shine in them.

I was good at Halloween. In fact, you can say I was the King of Halloween; best decorations, best playlist, best movie selection, best candy, and most importantly, best costume. Since the fifth grade I'd been making my own costume and every year, without fail I would win first prize at just about any Halloween party I went to.

Things were good. I grew and so did my talents. My parents embraced it. They encouraged my creativity and it helped me make friends. You could say I was a very well-rounded child. High school started and sophomore year I had the best costume at the Halloween dance. Girls lined up to dance with me. Then came my junior year.

I will never forget my Junior year, or as I will forever remember it; the year I was dethroned. It was Denny that took my crown. Nerdy Denny with his animatronic costume outed me as the King of Halloween. He won best costume that year and people forgot my legacy, just like that.

I realized Halloween was no longer what I was good at. I needed to find something new. That's what well rounded people do. I no longer took an unusual interest in Halloween. In fact, senior year I went as a generic serial killer. People would nod at me, not knowing who I was behind my mask. They would point at the corpse I was dragging and occasionally give me a thumbs up for the detail.

I only nodded and didn't talk to them. If I talked, they would realize I was panting. They'd wonder why. I couldn't tell them that nerdy Denny had put on some weight over the year and hauling his corpse around town was a complete workout. My new found talent was getting even.