Whoever Laughs Last: A Horrody.
Lee Marino was staring at his phone in third-period history when a book crashed through the window and nearly took his head off. The cover was cracked leather that looked disturbingly like skin. Gold letters read: The Giggle Gulag: One Thousand and One Jokes to Die For. Subtitle: *Pick a Page. Say It Aloud. Hope You're Not the Punchline.
The first joke was awful. He read it to his friend Marcus. Marcus laughed for exactly two seconds. Then his eyes went white, his face locked in a rictus grin, and he began cackling like a hyena on amphetamines. Well, that was weird.
But here's the thing: Lee has never made anyone laugh in his entire life. His jokes are so bad they make people angry. Why else does he have so many bullies? So he hatches a plan—make his bullies laugh and watch them pay. That's when he meets the Chuckle-Chuckle Nightmare Beast—a gangly, grinning entity with too many fingers, no eyelids, and a smile that doesn't quit.
Chuckle-Chuckle is amused by someone willing to use his book, but he also wants Lee to laugh too. Lee wants nothing to do with it, and the only way to get rid of the book is to outjoke the Nightmare Beast. So the stage is set.
Lee has one week to prepare. If he loses, he becomes the Beast's eternal captive. If he wins, the book disappears and his victims return to normal. But the Beast doesn't just tell jokes—it twists Lee's insecurities into punchlines. Lee spends days memorizing comedy. He's dead for sure. When the duel comes, he realizes his only shot might be something the Beast never expected: the one thing Lee has always been too afraid to share: The Truth.
