The Halloween Party

I’ve never believed in love at first sight, until I saw him standing there in that blood-soaked, white t-shirt. He even had that bit of blood on his chin and neck. The ghost face mask hanging from his back pocket was a nice touch. I had the biggest crush on Billy Loomis when Scream came out, and this guy looked just like him. Same gorgeous hair and brown eyes I couldn’t help but get lost in. Why do they pick such hot actors to play psychopaths? Maybe it’s to help us empathize with the victims and understand why they’d trust them. Still, there’s something a little gross about being so attracted to someone like that. 

I came to this party dressed as a witch, and Skeet Ulrich was also in The Craft as a love interest, so clearly this was all meant to be. At least, that’s the mental gymnastics I’d go through to make this meant to be. I stared at him longingly, hoping he’d notice me. Of course, it was his Stu Macher that approached me and whispered, “do you like scary movies?” 

I didn’t care much for this discount Matthew Lillard, but maybe talking to him would get me closer to his friend. “I do. My favorite’s Scream, actually. What’s yours?” 

Seeming to not even pick up on his own costume reference, he said, “The Conjuring.” 

“Oh, cool.” 

“You want a beer?” 

“Sure.” 

“I’ll be right back.” 

I laughed, but he looked so straight-faced I couldn’t tell if that was intentional. 

“This party’s kind of lame,” Amber said, sipping out of a red solo cup. She came dressed as Alice from some porno version of Wonderland. 

“That guy is really cute. Should I talk to him?” 

“Who?” Amber looked around the room, like she couldn’t find anyone cute. To be fair, most people did have masks. 

“That guy in the bloody white t-shirt. Billy from Scream.” 

“Kind of cheaped out on a costume there.” 

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve never felt this way before. My heart is racing faster than that time I practically OD'd on caffeine pills at that music festival.” 

“Don’t you think going after a guy dressed as a guy that tried to murder his girlfriend is a bad omen?” 

“No. This isn’t a horror movie. It’s a romcom. It has to be with how intense I feel. I’ll set up a meet-cute, like in the movies. Maybe accidentally bump into him and strike up a conversation as I try to wipe beer off his shirt.” 

“Well, I doubt he’ll care if you stain that shirt.” Amber took a long swig from her cup. 

“We’ll have a quirky, awkward conversation.” 

“That’s what you do best.” 

Monster Mash played and a line of ghosts, Frankensteins, and Chuckies formed in the center of the room to dance. 

“He’ll ask me out.” I yelled over the song, which someone had turned up the volume on. “Things will go well for a while. Then there’ll be an unfortunate misunderstanding. Probably some jealousy issue because his Stu seems to like me.” 

“Who is Stu?” Amber looked disgusted and pointed to a condom floating in a bowl of pink punch behind us. 

I’m pushed forward into Amber, who quickly threw out her arms to catch me. The remainder of her drink sloshed out of the cup. Once I regained my balance, I whirled around to see a man in a black cloak. 

“I’m so sorry. So sorry. I tripped on … “ He turned and pointed to a thick black snake slithering across the floor. Amber and I screamed and jumped back further out of its way. 

“I think it’s a prop. Not real,” the man said, but it looked too real for the words of a stranger to convince us. Then he added, “Hey, I’m a warlock.” 

“Okay?” I wanted to say what the fuck is your point, weirdo snake man. 

“You’re a witch, right?” 

I wasn’t sure what he was saying. 

“I’m a warlock. You’re a witch–” 

“Look, my friend and I were having an important conversation.”

“Oh, sorry.” The man looked confused, but walked away. 

I turned to see Amber rolling her eyes. “I know, that guy–” 

“This face isn’t about him. That warlock guy is super cute and was totally trying to talk to you. Weirdly, with your own approach.” 

I groaned. “Anyway, forget about that guy. As I was saying, I’m in the perfect rom com set up, and going by rom com rules–” 

Amber laughed. “Okay, Randy Meeks. At least you’ll make it to the sequel.” 

“I don’t know why you won’t support this. His being dressed as a killer means nothing. We’re at a Halloween party. I saw you talking to a hockey mask guy earlier.” 

“Ugh! That mask is doing that guy some serious favors. Almost puked when he took it off.” Amber shook, clearly repulsed by the memory. 

“I’m going to talk to him. Ask him to … dance?” 

“Ha! I bet that guy can dance. Have fun.” 

“What does that mean?” 

She flashed her best mischievous grin. “I’m getting some tissues before watching your rom com turn into a tragedy.” 

“Worst best friend ever.” 

Amber waltzed away, and Stu returned with the beer. It had taken him so long, I forgot about that whole thing. “Glad you made it back alive.” 

“They’re running short. Practically had to kill for the last two.” 

He chuckled, but I shivered and stepped away. “Hey, thanks for this, but–” 

“I’ve always thought Halloween would be the perfect time to commit a crime. Everyone’s already in costumes. Mischief is breaking out all over the place, so cops already got their hands full. There’s too much going on for anyone to pay much attention.” 

“Okay.” 

“Like if you killed someone in a haunted house. Would anyone know it was real? They’d think it part of the show. Hey, they’ve got a haunted house out back. Want to go?” He chugged down the beer. 

Not with that lead up, dude. “I have to go to the bathroom.” 

“Cool. I’ll–” 

I took off before he could finish. Pushed my way through the crowd of monsters, ghosts, and killers. Saw my life flash before my eyes after almost walking into a real chainsaw. Who brings a real chainsaw? I didn’t see Billy anywhere, and now that I thought of it, I did have to go to the bathroom. When I joined the line, the person in front of me was that warlock. Lucky me. 

“Hey, it’s you!” He said like we were good ol’ pals. 

“The one and only.” 

“My name’s Scott. What’s yours?” 

“Nora.” 

He smiled warmly, and maybe Amber was right that he was kind of cute. 

“Do you know the party host?” He asked.

“No, actually. I came with my friend Amber. Maybe she knows.” 

“Yeah, I don’t know them either. Kind of a weird thing, but I keep asking that and no one seems to know them.” 

“Huh.” 

“They sure went all out on this party though. Haunted house, band playing out back, tons of free alcohol. Must be rich, I guess.” 

“Yeah, I guess. Kind of weird though.” 

“Let’s hope they aren’t some kind of weird psychos that led us into a trap. I mean this place is totally in the middle of nowhere, right?” He joked. 

It was in the middle of nowhere though. I complained about that on the whole, way-too-long, tree-covered way here. We must be miles deep in the forest, which sounds like …

“Holy, shit! We're in a horror?” 

The music stopped and the lights shut off. Everything got too dark to see anything, even your own hands in front of you. Then a blood-curdling scream pierced through the silence, followed by a chorus of other screams.