Halloween Fun At The Cemetery

The phone rang and Tommy answered.

 Hello.

Hey, Tom. 

It was Harold, Tom’s best friend.

What’s up, Harold?

Do you have any plans for Halloween night yet?

No, not really. Trick-or-treating may be out of the question at my age, Tommy kidded.

Yeah, but I have an idea of a way we could have some fun with the trick or treaters. 

Fun? What kind of fun? Throwing rotten eggs at them might get us into trouble. The last time we tried to prank someone we got the tables turned on us. Do you remember that?

Oh, yeah. You mean when we rolled your bosses yard with toilet paper only it was the wrong yard? 

Yes, and the yard we rolled belonged to a cop who had security cameras and videoed us. He tracked us down, and we ended up with a big fine, and 30 days of community service on top of having to clean our mess up from his trees and yard. My boss got the last laugh about that. Not to mention he fired me shortly after that for being late for work. I’m thinking pranks may not be my kind of thing. 

You’ll like this plan. I was thinking we can hide out in the cemetery over on Jackson Avenue and do some scary stuff like making scary sounds, flashing lights at kids as they pass by in their Halloween costumes, and maybe jumping out from behind a tombstone as they pass by. Those little monsters will run away screaming! It’ll be a blast.

Sure count me in. Let's get together and make some plans. I might have a few ideas about it myself. 

Okay. I’ll be over in a little while. Later.

Later, dude.

An hour later Harold arrived. After knocking on the door he heard Tom’s voice from inside call out,

 Come on in.

Hey, dude. Good to see you. Want a beer? 

Of course, man. Have you ever heard of me turning a beer down?

No, not that I can recall. You know where the fridge is. Bring me one too.

Harold went to the kitchen and retrieved two beers and returned to the living room.

Hey, man. This is gonna be super cool. This is the best idea I’ve had in a long time. I just love Halloween.

Okay, let’s discuss some plans. We can buy some life-size dummies of zombies that light up and make ghoulie sounds that operate with a motion sensor. Then set them up by the fence and as the trick or treaters pass by they’ll set them off.

Yeah, cool idea. I have a recording of spooky sounds we can play also. And we can wear costumes. I have a Freddy Krueger costume I’ll wear. What about you?

Sure, I’ll get a costume too. There’s a costume shop over on Main Street that has all kinds of cool costumes. They may have the other props we’re wanting as well. 

Tom and Harold visited awhile discussing their plans and drinking their beer. After a while they got in Tom’s car and drove over to Costumes R Us to shop for the items they would need. 

Halloween evening Tom and Harold met at Tom’s house about dusk, and they loaded all their stuff into Harold’s truck. They had a cardboard coffin complete with a zombie sitting up in it. They also had three more life-size zombie figures whose faces lit up and frightening sounds came from them when their motion sensors detected movements. Harold brought along a portable CD player and a CD filled with spooky and freaky sounds. Harold wore his Freddy Krueger costume and Tommy had on a Dracula costume. After getting everything loaded into the truck they headed off for the cemetery. 

Once they arrived at the cemetery they entered on the back side entrance and parked far enough from the front of the cemetery so they would not be seen. They began setting up all their props. Harold set the CD player to play and left it in the back of the truck. He left the sound level so that it could be audible from the front fence without being too loud.

 Once completed with the task of setting up their stage of fright they waited for the fun to start. They did not have to wait long. 

Two zombies lit up and sounds protruded breaking the cheerful chatter of half a dozen children as they hurried past. Then suddenly the coffin lit up and lastly the third zombie showed itself to those passing by. The children began screaming and running. They only went about 25 yards when suddenly they were confronted by Freddy Krueger. The screaming became even louder. Another ten yards and Dracula stepped out to greet the children. By now the children were so frightened they had dropped their bags of treats and were running off in all directions screaming all the while.

A moment later all was quiet again and the stage reset for the next passersby.

The evening passed by and the prank had been satisfactorially pulled off about ten times. Each time the children were so frightened they ran off screaming and many had dropped their bag of candies. None had been brave enough to return for their bags.

After a couple of hours Tom and Harold decided they had had enough fun and packed up all their props and loaded them onto the truck. Then they climbed into the truck themselves. Harold turned the key. There was only the sound of the engine slowly turning over two or three times and then a clicking noise. He released the key. Then tried again with the same result.

Wow! I can’t believe my battery is dead. I just bought a new battery not more than three months ago, Harold exclaimed.

Well, looks like you better start believing it. It seems to me to be about as dead as all the people who are buried out here. I don’t think we’re going anywhere without a jump. Do you have jumper cables?

Yeah, but what good are they doing without having another car to jump from?

I guess I need to hike back to my house to get my car. It’s only a couple of miles. 

Well, why don’t we both go? I don’t relish on the thought of staying here all alone in this cemetery

Oh, nonsense! Are you afraid of ghosts? Dead people? Be serious. Everyone in this cemetery besides us are quite dead and harmless. Someone needs to stay here to watch over all our stuff. 

Okay, but hurry back.

Tommy opened his door and stepped out. Just as he was about to shut the door he felt a cold chill. It wasn’t from the cool of the night. He turned and thought he saw a shadow moving a short distance away. He squinted his eyes trying to see what it was he saw. He saw nothing. He stuck his head back into the truck, 

I’ll be back as quick as I can. 

He shut the door and turned to walk away. Again he thought he saw a movement. He shrugged it off thinking his imagination must be playing tricks on him. He heard a sound. There was no mistake. There is something out there he thought. He reached for the door handle and opened the door. 

Hey, man. There’s something out here. 

What do you mean, man? Are you saying you’re scared? I thought you said everyone out here is dead.

I’m serious, dude! There is something out here. I saw its shadow a couple of times and heard it just now. Come look.

Harold opened his door and climbed out standing beside his truck. 

I don’t hear or see anything. 

Shh! Listen.

They both strained their ears listening for any sound. The only sound they heard was a car passing by on the road. 

Oh, you’re just being paranoid, Harold told Tom.

No, dude. For real. I heard something and saw something. 

Suddenly there was the sound of rustling leaves a short distance away. 

There! Did you hear that?

Yeah. I heard something. It was just the wind blowing the trees.

No, dude! There is no wind!

Well, maybe it is an animal of some sort. Quit trying to scare me. Why don’t you stay here and I’ll go get your car?

No, I’ll go.

Tom began walking away. He had gone about twenty-five yards when suddenly a figure stepped out from behind a tombstone. He let out a muffled sound. He turned to run back toward the truck. Then he saw another shadow figure approaching the truck. At first, he thought it was Harold, but then he saw Harold still standing beside the truck. Harold also saw the figure and jumped into the truck slamming the door behind him. Tom could see another figure on the opposite side of the truck and saw the door being opened. He saw the figure reach into the truck. An instant later he heard Harold scream as he opened his door and flew out of the truck. He began to run before realizing he was running in the direction of the other figure and almost ran right into it. He let out a yell and turned to run in the same direction Tom had gone. 

Tom had already begun running toward the front of the cemetery. He had not gone very far when he noticed three more figures approaching him. He heard a voice demanding him to stop. Instead, Tom changed his direction again and sped off as fast as his legs would go. He heard the sounds of running feet behind him and voices telling him to stop. He wasn’t about to stop!

Suddenly Tom tripped over a tombstone and fell flat on his face. Before he could get up he felt something, or someone landed on top of him. He let out a scream. There was a brief scuffle before he was securely subdued.

Harold was running and at least two figures were chasing after him. He could hear Tom’s screams and changed his mind about continuing in the same direction. He altered his course. Immediately after changing course he ran smack into another figure almost knocking himself unconscious.

Both Tom and Harold had been captured and taken back to the truck.

Well, boys. You two must be the ones here scaring all the children who passed by tonight. We’ve got all the evidence right here and the two of you all dressed up fitting to scare anyone. It looks like you’re the ones who are scared now. Let’s see how you explain this to the judge.

Book em’, Sargent.