Words of Stone - Halloween Vault Submission

Magazine of Nightmares

I inched the door open as it screamed on its hinges. Music filled my ears as in my line of sight, a flurry of teenagers dressed up as ghouls of the night, dancing and having fun. Red cups in hand, some flirted with drunken party-goers, others kept drinking. It was that time of year again; Halloween.

I walk in as I manoeuvre my way through intoxicated teenagers. "Michael!" I yell out for my brother. "Michael!" Suddenly, I felt something coming up from behind me. My mind began to explore the unknown possibilities, I sense something sinister is ahead.

"BOO!" My brother grabbed me by the shoulders as I jump out of my skin. I turn around slowly with an annoyed expression across my face. I groan as soon as I realise that it was imbecilic brother.

"You know I hate Halloween! Every year without fail you have a Halloween party. Can't we just have one calm Halloween!?" I yell at my brother. The blaring music made my yelling sound like a whisper. My brother looked at me with a stupid expression for around ten seconds.

"What?!" He shouted with confusion written across his face. Another groan escaped from my lips. I decided to turn around leave him to get even more drunk. I began to manoeuvre myself over to the bookcase where I found it littered with empty cups and bottles. The level of annoyance kept increasing.

"Ugh." I exclaimed. With a simple swipe of my hand, I move the empty cups and pull out my current book. The dull cover normally bore teenagers of my age but not me. I pulled the book out as a matte paper magazine fell to the ground. I bent down grabbing the magazine with curiosity, a doll with hair coming out of it and stitches covering the surface was on the front cover. It was a voodoo doll.

I opened the magazine and began to read. It's content was something sinister but something told me to keep reading. I drowned out the party behind me and whispered "Az ember a szörnyek, a víz és a vér." The magazine flew out of my hands and into midair. A blinding light was emitted from the magazine.

As the light became dimmer and dimmer, everyone, every single person looked at me. Eyes as black as a raven. Fear had struck me like a gong. I was paralysed in fear. Every boy and girl began to twitch and stretch. Nothing but fear and confusion filled me as the partygoers turned into mindless zombies, possession at its finest. An ocean of crimson blood began to drip down the stairwell.

A female nun and a male chimney sweep stood there before me. Their eyes sockets were empty, two bottomless pits. Their attire was scruffy and torn. The panic was overwhelming until the chime of the clock struck. The ghosts faded away and everyone returned to normal, I was safe. The blood vanished. Halloween was over.