Tombstones

"Dad, it's October. When are we going to decorate for Halloween," screamed out Vic, just after waking up early one Saturday morning.

The autumn air was crisp, the temperatures cool. As Vic came running down the hallway, Vic's father was standing in the middle of the living with the windows open, the cool crisp air whipping throughout. With every breeze, the sound of the leaves outside on the street make a cackling sound as they roll down the road.

Vic's eyes lit up when he realized his father had all the decorations sprawled out all over the living room. Boxes adorned the room, half-opened and decorations of skeletons, pumpkins, witches, spiders, and vampires were scattered about. Upon seeing this, Vic let out a shrill that could make anyone's spine tingle. It was a combination of excitement, amusement, and amazement, much the same way a child screeches when arriving at an amusement park or theme park for the first time.

"I'm already one step ahead of you, buddy," Vic's dad replied with pure enjoyment.

Vic and his father spent the morning and afternoon hanging decorations. "Dad, let's put the spider webs above the light to make it look spooky," Vic exclaimed.

"Sounds good, buddy. When you're done with that, why don't you hang the witch on the back of the door, so every time we leave, we can make sure she keeps an eye on the house."

"Dad, she's not real."

They both laugh and continue decorating.

"Once we finish the inside, are we going to decorate outside, too," asked Vic.

"Of course. I bought some new lights and I have a couple new outdoor decorations I think you'll love."

"Yay," exclaimed Vic.

Vic's house was a quaint little home. All the homes on the block sat up front, within a few feet of the sidewalk. Vic's house was the only exception as it sat deep inside the land which left a great amount of exposure for the front yard. Vic didn't have much of a backyard but his front yard was vast. A small white fence separated the yard from the sidewalk. Vic loved his home because he could always play out front and had plenty of space to run around. Vic's father loved it more because when he was in the kitchen cooking dinner, he could keep an eye on Vic when he was out front playing. Especially for a 10 year-old, Vic was always very active and loved being outside, no matter what temperature. The only problem with Vic was that he didn't have very many friends. Kids were nice to him, some bullied him, but mostly he was an only child being raised by a single father and always found ways to keep himself entertained.

Vic loved the seasons and the holidays – especially Halloween. Vic grew up without his mother around, so to keep Vic's mind off of it, he got him involved in the holiday seasons, celebrating and decorating. Vic soon learned to love the holidays and had most fun on Halloween because it was the one time out of the year where it was fun to be someone – or something – else and scare people to death. And Vic loved doing just that. One time while everyone was outside for recess, Vic went into the classroom and grabbed all the lunch boxes with tops and attached fake spiders to a string and taped them to the undersides of box tops so when the kids opened their lunch boxes, they would freak out. It worked. Vic was called into the office and had to spend a week in detention because so many of the kids were traumatized by the experience. Vic was always looking for new ways to scare up something new each year.

Later that evening, Vic and his father finished decorating.

"Ok son, stand here. I'm going to turn on the lights and let's see how it looks."

Vic stood in the center of the yard and as the lights went on, Vic stood in amazement.

"How does it look?"

"Awesome, Dad," Vic replied.

Vic's father came over to stand with him and admire their hard work. The lights glistened of orange and purple as they surrounded the windows and encased the bushes that bordered the front of the house. The large spider web glowed in reddish-purple as the spider moved up and down the string. Just in front of the bushes sat a small graveyard with 4 Styrofoam tombstones and a coffin that would open and had a possessed skeleton/zombie-like creature with glowing red eyes sit up and chant, "Who's willing to join me…I need some company! COME NOW" and would drop back into the coffin. The perimeter of the yard was adorned with stakes that supported the strings of orange lights. Just above the front door was a very creepy witch that sat on a broom. There was a string that ran from the front door to the tree off to the side of the house and the witch would glide across the string as if she were flying across on the broom.

Vic and his father stood watching the many different activities taking place, reveling in their work.

"So, what do you think, son?"

"Well, dad, I like it a lot."

"You don’t sound like it. What are we missing?"

"Dad, we have all this yard and all our decorations are sitting on the house so when people walk by, they can't really see what's going on," Vic replied in a sullen voice.

"That's how it has always been, son."

"I know. We also sit at the fence to hand out candy by the sidewalk and the kids don’t even come to our door so they won't be able to see the decorations."

"Look, I understand. But people can see more than you think. And I like it. It looks really good. We did a great job this year. Let's get inside and get some dinner. It's getting chilly out and I'm hungry."

Vic's father left the front yard to go inside while Vic stood outside looking at all the decorations. Eventually Vic walked away and went inside.

The next morning, Vic woke up with determination. He jumped out of the bed and immediately sat down at his desk. He quickly grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil and drew up the house with the front year. He sat for what seemed like hours, sketching and drawing.

"Vic…hey son, I didn't think you were ever going to get up today. You O.K. son," Vic's father chimed in as he popped his head through the entrance of Vic's bedroom. "What are you drawing?"

"Dad, I was thinking last night that we need to get more creative. I want the best Halloween night ever. So I woke up early so I could draw up the plans."

"That's great, son. Let me see it when you're done."

Several moments later, Vic came tearing down the hallway screaming, "Dad! Dad! I'm done…here, take a look."

Vic's father sat with Vic on the couch and looked at the drawing. Vic drew up the house and the front yard. In the front yard, he placed several different tombstones strategically throughout, like a maze.

"Ok, so here's our house and the front yard. I turned our front yard into a graveyard. These are all tombstones. And that swirling stuff is a mist, just like in the movies. And the kids enter through the fence and have to walk through the graveyard to get to the front door. And we could have the mist going and the music playing to keep them scared while they come up to get their candy."

"Vic, I love it buddy. So my next question to you is where do we get the tombstones?"

"That's easy dad…from a graveyard. Duh!"

"That's a great idea, Vic," Vic's father replied with a hearty laugh. "But you can't steal people's tombstones from a graveyard. They are big, heavy, and we could go to jail."

"Well, how do we make a graveyard then, Dad?"

"Well, you can do some research online to find out what fake tombstones cost. Or you can be creative by trying to make them or build them yourself."

"Like how?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it. We still have a whole month to figure it out."

Vic heard what his dad said and for the next several days, Vic was online looking up prices.

10 pack of Foam Tombstones - $29.99

Get real tombstones made out of real stone carved with whatever message you want –

just $149.99 per stone.

Want to build your own Halloween Graveyard? Get a 30-piece graveyard set with real-looking corpses and tombstones – the whole set is just $249.99. Doesn't include shipping and handling.

Vic wrote down everything he could find to present to his dad. A couple days later, he

approached his father with the information he found.

"Ok, here's what I found Dad. We could order this set for $249.99 or we could get a few of the 10 pack sets…we'll only need about 5 sets to make the graveyard. Oh, we will also need a couple of og misters and some mist liquid. What do you think?"

"I think you did a great job at researching. But I just can't afford those prices right now. I'm strapped financially and just cannot front the money. I love your idea buddy. I'm sorry to let you down."

Vic sat with a sad look on his face. He then got up from the couch, ran outside to the shed, pulled out his bike, and took off down the back alley. Several moments later, Vic returned home with a handful of cardboard boxes. He hopped off his bike, ran inside and had all the boxes with him.

Vic flattened out the boxes. He pulled the laptop into the kitchen, looked up "tombstones" and saw various shapes and sizes. Vic then grabbed a black marker and proceeded to copy the shapes on each of the boxes. He spent several minutes carefully copying the shapes; some crosses, some rounded, some with arcs, some with arcs that angle inward, some rectangular. Once he completed drawing each of the tombstones, he worked diligently on carefully cutting them out and writing funny encryptions on each tombstone.

"Here lies old man Ned. The truck was much bigger and left him for dead."

"Betty couldn't be friendly and wasn't very nice. Her body is 6 feet under as cold as ice."

Vic was clever in his encryptions and proud of what he just created, smiling a huge smile. Vic ran outside and began placing each cardboard tombstone in the yard. He used sticks he had gathered from around the block and the neighboring woods nearby. He would place duck tape on the stick and attach it to the backs of the cardboard cutouts and place them in the ground.

When Vic's father returned home from work that evening, Vic couldn't wait to see him.

"DAD! DAD! COME SEE WHAT I DID," Vic yelled in excitement as he ran to his father's car, yelling out before his father could pull into the driveway. "COME ON, YOU HAVE TO COME SEE!"

Vic's dad jumped out of the car. "What is it? What am I going to see?"

"It's a surprise."

Before they reached the front yard, Vic stopped his dad.

"You have to close your eyes."

"OK."

Vic took his dad by the hand and walked him to the front yard, all the way to the front gate. He turned his dad around so he was facing the front of the house.

"OK, now open your eyes."

Vic's dad stood for several seconds, frozen in amazement with his lower mouth draped open.

"You did all this? You drew and cut out each of these on your own?"

"Yes sir. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I LOVE it! Man I'm so proud of you for being creative and thinking outside the box. WAY TO GO," Vic's dad exclaimed as he grabbed his son, picking him up and swinging him around in his arms to show the level of pride and excitement in him.

The next morning, Vic woke up, got ready for school, and ran downstairs to see his tombstones. He didn't see his father inside anywhere. As he passed through the kitchen, he noticed his dad out front with the tombstones. They were all wilted, hanging crooked. Some were toppled over. Some were bent in half. Some completely destroyed. Vic ran outside.

"Dad, what happened?"

"Well, it looks like it rained last night, son. And it was a good pour that caused the cardboard to go bad. I was trying to see if I could fix them. "

Vic stood standing, sad. He looked around and all his tombstones had been destroyed by the rain. All the hard work he put into making them became ruined in one night.

"Hey, maybe we can get some more cardboard and do some more, this time together," Vic's father said with excitement.

"Why, so they can just get ruined by the rain, too? Can you please take me to school?"

Vic and his father walked to the car in the back of the house. Vic walked slowly, head down and his father felt awful about what happened. They got in the car and drove off to school.

That evening when Vic got home from work, he noticed Vic was just sitting in his room, doing homework.

"Whatcha doin' son?"

"Just some homework."

"You ready for me to start dinner?"

"I'm not really hungry," Vic replied with sadness in his voice.

Later that night, after Vic was in bed, his dad jumped on the computer to research how he could help his son find something affordable to build his Halloween idea. After a few hours of research, he came upon a listing:

In need of decorations this Halloween? We collect old Halloween decorations, fix them up and resell them for a cost affordable for everyone. Stop by to see what we have to offer. You may just find what you need!

Vic's father jumped quickly, grabbing a sheet of paper and jotting down the address. He was very excited to take Vic and see what they find.

*********************************

It was three days before Halloween. Vic's father had two large bowls sitting out on the counter filled with candy. On the television, a classic horror movie was playing. Vic's father went to wake him up.

"Vic, time to wake up buddy. We are going on a trip today," he belted out, excitedly.

"Really, where," Vic said with a sluggish voice.

"I did some research and found a place that might have some fake tombstones to put in the front yard."

"Really?"

Vic jumped up out of bed and quickly changed his clothes at lightning speed. Vic's father sat back, laughing.

"OK, ready to go."

They gathered their belongings and headed to the truck.

The location wasn't a close one. It took them almost an hour to get to the location. As they drove, Vic sat in the car staring at all the open empty fields, old abandoned sheds and shacks. They had a creepy look to them, mostly because they have been uninhabited or unused for some time. Vic then noticed his father slowing down.

"OK, keep an eye out. There is a dirt road coming up on the left that we must turn down."

Vic sat up in his seat, looking. In the distance, Vic noticed a sign but was unable to read what it says. As they got closer, the sign became clearer. It read:

Halloween Decorations – 2 miles

"Dad, there it is. Turn there," Vic screamed.

Vic's father turned down the road. As they drove the dirt road, there were fields on either side. A field to the left had towering stalks with a scarecrow sitting in the center as birds flocked around it. The field to the right was scattered with broken, smashed pumpkins. As they passed the fields, they came upon thick, dense woods on both sides. Just in front and off to the right sat a large barn. An old man was comfortably seated in an old rocker, rocking back and forth. He was a creepy old man, with long gray strands of hair, with a piece of straw hanging from his mouth. He wore an old pair of light blue overalls, dirty and torn. Under the overalls, he wore a long red and blue flannel. His boots were also beaten, having met and exceeded their intended use.

As the truck came to a halt, the old man got out of his chair and walked in the direction of the vehicle. Vic and his father got out of the vehicle, slowly and with great curiosity.

"Welcome," the old man grumbled in a voice that was hoarse and deep.

"Hello, sir. We are here…"

"To see what I have to offer," the old man chimed in as he finished the sentence.

"Yes sir."

The old man stood motionless. Vic looked him up and down, his appearance eerie, and noticed on his right hand a tattoo of a skull. He also walked with a bit of a limp as he turned to show them the barn.

"Come this way," the old man grumbled.

Vic and his father followed the old man inside the barn. Hanging on the corner of the barn appeared to be a large creature, a somewhat disfigured human, grayish-brown in color. The creature hung by its bat-like wings sprawled out across the banister. Vic thought that was a creepy decoration. On the ground were all sorts of decorations laid out across the hay inside the barn. Vic was slow to move around and look, but shortly afterward, he was running back and forth checking out all the decorations.

"Dad, look at this, this is cool," Vic screamed out as he came across a skeleton sitting in a rocker and when turned on, would rock in the chair and look around.

Vic continued rummaging through as his father was looking with less interest.

"So how do you get all this, Mr…"

"Sam...call me Sam. People send them, I resell them. Everyone should celebrate Halloween. Everyone pays a price, but the price shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg," Sam grumbled as he smiled a wry smile with very little teeth.

"Dad, I don't see what we are looking for," Vic uttered as he approached his father, shoulders slouched.

"And what, dear boy, might you be looking for," Sam asserted.

"Well, sir, we are looking for tombstones. We want to make a graveyard in our front yard. But they are all too expensive for the amount we need."

"Tombstones, huh? Well, I think I may be able to accommodate you."

"Really," Vic asked with a gleam in his face.

"I accommodate all needs for Halloween. That's what I do. Come…"

Sam walked swiftly to the back of the barn, trudging along with his limp and tattered overalls. Vic and his father followed. Sam pulled open a large door and proceeded to head out back. He took a path several yards ahead.

"Come…it's not much further now."

Sam pushed through the almost-dead branches hanging low, blocking the continuance of the path. Just beyond the branches was an open field. Just to the left were several wheelbarrows with tombstones in them and sitting in a stack next to the wheelbarrow was a bunch of large boxes.

"Ok kid. Over there in them boxes is a bunch of Styrofoam tombstones."

"How much for the real ones, Sam," asked Vic's father. Vic's face lit up with excitement upon hearing his dad ask.

"Well, not sure you want those, my friend. They are not for sale."

"But you said you would accommodate all aspects of those seeking Halloween decorations."

"Indeed. Indeed. Well, as I don't recommend them, I will sell them to you."

"Great. How much do you want for them?"

"How much you got?"

"I've got $50 on me."

"You give me $75 and you can have all of them."

Vic sat with a smile on his face so big, waiting for his father to respond.

"Deal!"

"YAY!!"

Vic jumped up and down in excitement upon realizing that he was getting real tombstones to finally decorate the rest of his front yard.

"Dad, can we decorate as soon as we get home?"

"Of course."

Vic and his father grabbed the wheelbarrows and moved all the tombstones to the truck and loaded the truck. Once they finished loading and cleaning themselves up, they headed home. Sam walked up to the driver-side window just before they took off.

"One suggestion I'm going to make 'bout dem tombstones: make sure you only use them for viewing and display."

"Yeah, that's what we plan on doing. Thanks again, Sam. Happy Halloween."

As Vic and his father drove off, Vic turned to his dad.

"What did he mean by that, Dad?"

"Nothing, Son. These are real and I'm sure if one toppled over it could hurt someone. He was just protecting himself," Vic's father replied.

Upon arriving home, they immediately began unloading the tombstones, transporting them to the front of the yard. Vic ran inside, grabbed his piece of paper, and ran outside to his father to share the setup he already planned.

"Ok, so we have to place these here and here, Dad."

"Why so spread out, Vic?"

"Because it'll be like a graveyard maze, Dad. The kids will have to walk through the yard and the maze to get to the door. It wouldn't be any fun if they just walked straight up to the door to get their candy. This makes it real spooky for them."

"Gotcha."

Throughout the rest of the afternoon and late into the evening, Vic and his father worked hard. Vic ran off to get the fog machines and placed them in the yard as well. Once finished, Vic's dad ran inside and turned on the fog machines. The fog trickled throughout the graveyard, the glistening orange lights reflecting off the smoky mist. Vic jumped up and down with joy as his father stood by his side, smiling that he and his son created a Halloween masterpiece.

"I can't wait to tell everyone about this tomorrow at school. This is going to be the best, scariest Halloween ever."

The day of Halloween arrived. Vic woke up excited about the evening and all the trick-or-treaters he had invited to come by his house and witness his graveyard maze. He ran outside first thing in the morning to make sure nothing had changed, that all the tombstones were still erect and in place.

That afternoon, upon returning home from school, Vic dressed up as his favorite – a vampire costume. His dad arrived home shortly thereafter.

"Vic, are you almost ready? It'll be dark soon," Vic's father yelled out.

"Yeah dad, I'm just putting my teeth in."

Dusk approached and Vic and his dad looked out the window to see several smaller kids walking. Some stopped and pointed at the house. Others continued to walk past, ignoring the house as they were young, being guided by their parents. Most parents were hesitant to approach the house given the spooky nature and for fear that their children would be scared and not want to continue trick-or-treating. But as it grew darker, the older kids, the ones closer to Vic's age including classmates, would be out in full force.

Vic and his father laughed and pointed at the cute kids as they walked by. One small kid veered off the sidewalk and started walking to the house. Vic reached over and plugged in all the decorations. Just as the child began heading toward the home, the fog machines started blasting mist and the kid turned around screaming, running back to the entrance of the gate. The parents grabbed the child, laughing at the reaction, kneeling down to explain it was only decorations.

The fog machines continued, filling the front yard with a thick mist that added to the creepy feel that Vic imagined. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. The fog machines began to sputter, running out of liquid.

"DAD! DAD! The fog machines aren't working," screamed out Vic.

"Son, I'm sorry. But one of them is out of the liquid and the other one has shorted out."

"What are we going to do?"

"We are just going to have to enjoy the night and give out candy."

"Man, it just won't be the same. Fine."

There was a knock at the door.

"Trick-or-treat," screamed out a group of kids.

Vic answered the door.

"Hey, we love your graveyard. Nice job," yelled out one kid.

"Yeah, it is totally cool," screamed out another.

"Wow, thanks everyone," Vic replied in excitement.

"Yeah, I especially love the way you have the creepy hands coming out of the ground," bellowed out the third kid.

Vic and his father stood perplexed.

"Dad, did you do something different?"

"No, son. I thought you did it," replied Vic's father.

"No," Vic giggled. As Vic stood at the door waiting for more trick-or-treaters, his father went into the kitchen to grab more candy. When passing the window, he noticed the fog was growing thick in the front yard.

"Vic, the fog machines are working again," Vic's dad yelled.

He quickly grabbed the bag of candy and ran back to the front door.

"Did you see? Did you see? The machines are working Vic."

"Yeah," Vic said with uncertainty.

"What's wrong, buddy?"

"Dad, I think everyone is too afraid."

"What do you mean?"

"I hear kids entering, then I hear them screaming, and then they are gone. No one is coming to the door."

"Well, the fog is pretty thick, maybe they are getting lost and creeped out. It is difficult to find the door through all that fog. What do you want to do?"

"Dad, let's turn off the fog machines. Otherwise, no one will be coming up here to get candy," Vic said with a sullen voice.

"OK, buddy. Look, you did a good job. Don't be upset. We'll turn off the machines and they'll come to us for the candy."

Vic's father went to the kitchen to unplug the fog machines. He reached down behind the table to pull the plugs, struggling to find them. Out of frustration, he sank to his knees to look below the table and noticed the plugs were sitting on the floor! Vic's father sat, staring at the phenomenon. He then stood and noticed the fog was fully thick out on his front lawn. There was no vision of the sidewalk or any kids. The only thing he could hear was screaming.

He ran back to the front door where Vic was standing.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"I don't know, son. I'm going out to the yard to find out."

"I'm coming with you."

Vic and his father walked off the front porch and made their way to the yard. They walked along the side of the yard without any vision of what was happening. All they could hear were the screams of the children. They approached the entrance to the front yard, stepped over the gate, and decided to make their way through the entrance to find out what all the screaming was about. They began walking the tombstone maze unable to notice anything unusual. Then Vic's father was bumped by another kid.

"Please help me get out of here. I don't want to be here anymore," the kid screamed.

The kid turned to run and just as he walked in front of one of the tombstones, two dirty, skeleton hands lashed out from the ground, latching its hand around the kid's ankle, pulling him to the ground.

"Ahhhhhh, HELP ME PLEASE! HELP ME! AHHHH!"

The kid was pulled to the ground and Vic and his father turned to run. Just as they did, several bodies around them began coming out of the ground where the tombstones stood."

"DAD, WHAT'S HAPPENING," screamed Vic.

"I don't know Vic. I don't know. Here, jump on my back."

Vic hopped on his father's back and began hurdling the tombstones. It was difficult to see where they were because the fog was thick and the sight nearly impossible. All they could hear were the moans of the undead around them and the loud screams of children. He continued on making his way to the front of the house. Just as the front of the house began to take form, he soon realized he was at the start of the maze – all over again!

The moans suddenly stopped as did the screaming of the kids. The fog was thick everywhere around them except for the maze, the house was blanketed by a sheet of fog as was the gate to the sidewalk and it was completely silent.

"Dad…"

"Shhh, don't make a sound Vic."

Vic's father began walking the maze as it was laid out. The ground tended to clear so they could see the direction of the maze. As they continued along, they noticed they were getting through it. Just before they reached the end of the maze, the fog quickly cleared in front of them, and standing before them were several undead corpses.

"OH NO," screamed out Vic's dad as the undead grabbed Vic and his father and proceeded to traipse them across the yard, back through the maze where the tombstones stood. The ground began to open up and the undead sank into it, holding Vic and his father as they both struggled to break free, screaming for help.

Moments later, all that was left was the maze of tombstones, a decorated home, and no sight of Vic or his father.

The next morning, newspapers reported several missing kids, and spoke of "the house with the creepy graveyard."

According to outside sources, the son and father of the house on Brookside Avenue were looking to make a scare in the neighborhood by creating a graveyard maze. However, amidst wild reports of ghosts and zombies, several of the neighborhood kids are missing and have not been found. What's more bizarre is the father and son is also reported missing. More details to come as we hear of any new reports on the whereabouts concerning the missing kids and the father and son who lived in the house.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER

This is Maggie Jones reporting from the house where the tragic Halloween incident supposedly took place. It has been abandoned now for several weeks. The search for the kids who went missing and the father and son that once loved the Halloween holiday has been suspended. At this time, the house is experiencing foreclosure and will be evacuated as no one has come forth to claim the property. As you can see, the crew is removing the tombstones from the front yard that once stood as a decoration of the holiday season, a graveyard maze that was the setting for what was supposed to be a creepy and fun experience for the neighborhood children. It has since turned to tragedy as the several kids that have been reported missing have not been found, nor have the father or son that once lived in the this house…one of the more bizarre stories this town has ever experienced. More to come as we hear of any developing news.

The cleaning crew removed the tombstones from the front yard and placed them in the back of the van. One of the members looked at them with interest.

"Jack, you OK," asked one crew member.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why do you ask," replied Jack.

"You look deep in thought, just making sure you were OK."

"Yeah. This may be a funny coincidence but I remember removing some old stones from a home about ten years ago under a similar situation."

"Well, I hope it wasn't this house," the member responded as he laughed.

"No, it wasn't this house, but, well, it doesn’t matter."

"What matters is what we are going to do with all these unmarked tombstones. Should we donate them to a local graveyard?"

"Nah," replied Jack quickly. "I know an old man that lives about an hour away who would love these as part of his Halloween collection of decorations he has for sale."

THE END