9 Scary Tales

Nine scary tales BY THE FLICKERING GLOW of the campfire, Paul told the story of a brother and sister who were dared to go into an old, run-down shack in the woods near their town.

Kids in the nearby town thought it was haunted. Their parents told them that this wasn't true and that no one had lived there for decades, but the shack always seemed to have had a small, flickering light glowing inside of it. Whenever the kids walked by it, they always tried to get one another to knock on the door.

One night, the brother and sister finally took the dare. Deep in the dark, creepy woods, they found the vine- covered shack and knocked on the creaky door. "It's open," said a raspy voice from inside. The two kids looked at each other in shock, gulped, then opened the door and stepped into the shack. They pushed past cobwebs and sidestepped scurrying rats.

At the far end of the room in the dark sat a woman. Suddenly, she lit a candle, and in the light, they could see her warty, wrinkled skin. Her wispy white hair circled her head like smoke, and she smiled at them, revealing yellow, rotten teeth. "Well, well," cackled the witch. "So nice of you to visit me. And, you're just in time for dinner. In fact, you're the main course! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

The kids screamed and dashed from the house. As they ran through the woods, they could still hear the witch's hideous laughter. They finally arrived at home, and burst through the front door. "Mom! Dad! We're home!" they shouted, but then they stopped in their tracks. There, standing in the hallway, was the witch!

"So, you've decided to have dinner at home," the witch said. "Excellent. In fact, I just finished eating my appetizers, though you know them as Mom and Dad!" The door closed behind them, and they were never heard from again. Paul finished and sat down. A few kids squirmed, and others laughed.