Halloween Tales

  • The Meeting 
  • Boys Night 
  • Secrets Shared 
  • Ghost at the Log Cabin 
  • The Old House 
  • Kitchen Snack 
  • Unknown Need 

  • The Meeting

    Now it was a quarter till 3 and Fuzzy began to wonder and worry a bit as to what Apooka wanted? It was some months since he was called to the top office. He ran through a list over and over in his head trying to puzzle out what he might be in hot water over, but his brain came up blank. Then a strange thought came to into his little bear brain: Hey! What if I am not in trouble at all? Laughing to himself he made his way across the court yard and up the steps toward the boss's offices.

    It turned out Fuzzy's visit with Apooka was nothing to dread. She informed him of his up-coming task for the month of October. And best of all they shared tea, and she had Fuzzy sample the confections for the Halloween ball Joe had sent over. Fuzzy was pretty sure he was no help there since he loved each and every one, but his favorite hands down was the pumpkin tarts.

    Fuzzy meets Apooka


    After tea they talked about how she had invited Shakey to take up the same roles as last year to help and was most pleased he had accepted. And also Old TimTim and Rufus had been brought on to handle the new Yellow Tour events.

    Then she asked a strange favor. She seemed to already know that Shakey and Randy were coming that night to his house for dinner, and she asked if he would mind if Rufus and old TimTim joined them. She gave no reason other than to request he make note of any information TimTim might pass on about Echo meadow. She only said she was sure he knew far more than he was telling Poor Rufus, whom she had enlisted with this task previously. He had only been driven to frustration, and had been able to gain little more than the strange changes in echo valley that had started last June.

    After a pleasant afternoon Fuzzy bid farewell to his boss and set out to pick up the supplies dinner that night.

    To the Top

    Boys Night

    Fuzzy, Shakey, Randy, Rufus and old TimTim were having a few honey beers following a huge meal at Fuzzy's cabin. They had spent most of the night talking about each other's woes.

    Shakey was worried about Nora, seems she changed a fair bit after Dora quit the band and ran off with Jake. And now no one was sure if the band was going to accept the gig at the ball this year. It seems Nora had lost all faith in herself after a run in with Miss Trudy. Now the very mention of that name set Randy off on 30 min tear about his experience with the old trout. Rufus joined the rant with few choice words about her nosey nature how she said some rather unkind things about him as well.

    Fuzzy just smiled a lot, agreed here and there, and kept handing out the honey beer. After a while everyone was relaxed and sitting round the fire enjoying the night. The silence was broken by the loud cry of a passing owl. Fuzzy took the moment to reflect on a strange bird he once saw out on the far side of the Cairstonia Sea.

    Soon the topic went into spooky events that they had experienced in their travels. Randy swore that he once seen a giant rabbit riding a donkey up the back road to Old Echo meadow.

    Old TimTim slurped a mouthful of honey beer, smacked his lips and looking furtively about, said: "Yessir, it weren't that long ago when Old Echo Village was a thriving community. But then they came..." and stopped.

    Rufus frowned, "Ah, who is 'They' exactly, TimTim?"

    TimTim rolled his eyes. "Do you really want to know, young Rufus?"

    "Oh yes indeed!" said Rufus vigorously. The other bears nodded in agreement. "Tell us more, TimTim" said Fuzzy, taking out his little notepad. "The habits of a reporter die hard, it seems." Fuzzy said as TimTim raised an eyebrow at him.

    A sigh wheezed out of TimTim. "All right then. Well, it wasn't that long ago when a strange building just started to materialize. There did not seem to be a pattern to it, the building parts were from all sorts of times and types. But was about the summer of last year, I think, when things took a real strange turn." He took long sip a beer and shifted in his chair, the boys hanging, waiting for him to go on. The tension got to Randy, who all but burst:. And then??" Randy blurted out, "What happened?" Shocked by his own out burst he turned scarlet red. The group all laughed for long while, then Fuzzy quietly urged TimTim to go on with his story.

    "It wasn't long after that, when first pets and then people began disappearing, and others appearing. Search parties were sent out, but few have shown up again. And many of the ones who appeared had no idea who they were or where they had come from.

    "Or so I had been told but, thought it was a lot of gossipy exaggeration;.that was until Emily Rose." TimTim grew very soft in his speech when he spoke the name Emily Rose. TimTim noticed how the other three were staring at him. He cleared his throat and moved on, as if shaking off the event. Fuzzy dared to ask, "who is Emily Rose?"

    "So folks began moving away, and now it's virtually a ghost town." Tim Tim went on, clearly avoiding the question.

    "Or literally a ghost town," laughed Shakey.

    Fuzzy shuddered. "Oh yes. I remember TimTim taking me up to the Halloween party last year and wouldn't stop anywhere near the village; just dropped me off at the gates and sped back away. Fuzzy fixed an eye on TimTim. "Yeah, thanks for that," he said, wagging finger at TimTim in mock assertion.

    "And I swear I saw eyes following me in. Never have quite gotten over that. I get goose fur every time I have to go near the place now, wondering of those eyes are looking at me thinking about lunch." Fuzzy added. He was bit thrown off by the sad look on TimTim's face but said nothing.

    Rufus grimaced. "Well, I got lost in that widow's mansion, remember? I was locked in the tower, and the screams and moans I heard pretty near did me in. I was a nervous wreck for a month after that. And when I finally got out, I tried to escape through the back and got into the kitchen by mistake. Oh Great Bear, was that something!"

    Shakey picked up his drink, and true to his name, was shaking so much that he spilled some of the beer. "Oh jeez. I had some building work up there not too long ago, had to fix some fencing that had got damaged in that big storm we had. I took a wrong turn and went into what I thought was a gate, and wound up in well, felt like hell itsself. Took me an hour to figure out how to get out of there. And then as I was running down the path I swear I heard moans and heavy footsteps following me. Let me tell you, that was a job that I did only in daylight and very quickly too!" He took another swig of beer, using both hands this time.

    TimTim cackled. "Heh, you young chaps have no stamina. I remember back when the villagers took torches and pitchforks to that Mockingbird Lane place and tried to set the place alight and get rid of that mob altogether. But when they got there, they were already gone, or were they? It was then they saw Emily Rose." He stopped. Fuzzy took that moment to again ask, "So who was Emily Rose?"

    The other three looked at each other quizzically. "Um yeah, you mentioned her before," added Randy.

    To the Top

    Secrets Shared


    The boys' night

    TimTim shifted in his chair and with some effort he got up and then walked slowly over to stand by the deck railing staring out toward the lake. After a long moment he began to speak in a soft, almost distant voice.

    "Emily Rose was my dog. Best companion I ever had she was. You see, no one wanted her since she was found in that house, but I took to her and her to me right away. Best companion I ever had, she was."

    "Then one day she just disappeared that was last June. You see, I was taking a fare up to the Towne Hall and we stopped just before the bridge. She gave out a strange howl and jumped out of the cab. I got out and called her back. And then, well, you see,. thing is, well, I thought it was my imagination I did; something about her was different. It was her eyes. She seemed to stare right thru me and then well, she just faded right before me like a mist on the breeze." TimTim coughed a little and Fuzzy was sure he heard a bit of a sniffle.

    "Well now ya know why I got no use for that strange area," TimTim concluded.

    "Well, I reckon that I could stand a night there " Randy announced. "If that bear, pointing to Rufus, "could spend one night in Widows ill." Randy had had maybe a few too many honey beers to take on Teasing Rufus who was three times his size.

    Shivers all around. "OK, I'll do it," said Fuzzy. "After all, we will be working up there for the next month." But you guys have to come too. Anyone game? Let's prove that it's safe and maybe folks might move back."

    Perhaps it was the honey beer, but the intrepid group took up Fuzzy's wager and agreed to spend a night in the old house.

    "Well be sure fill out your wills boys, and say all your goodbyes," TimTim laughed. "Mind you, I think the three of you will have to do the job. Rufus here has other considerations, like a waiting and expectant wife, and one to whom I promised I would have him home at decent hour. So let get a move on." Rufus and the other boys protested saying it was early and they still wanted to hear more about what Tim Tim knew. But he dismissed them and continued to move a very reluctant Rufus toward the car.

    Now, what might have happened? Be sure to read the next issue of the Yellow Gazette to find out!

    To the Top

    And here are some of the stories that Fuzzy collected for this issue.


    Ghost at the Log Cabin

    By Nora

    old log cabin


    I was around seven years old at the first time we visited the old cabin in the wood.

    From as early a time as I can remember for some reasons I was always the last one to go to sleep at night.

    The strange events started the first night at around midnight or close to that time. There was a sound like a car door shutting and the door opening and someone coming up the stairs. I told my parents but they said I must have dreamed the whole thing. A few nights later I was again listening for the sounds...

    It was a very hot night and my parents were snoring in the next room, my brothers sleeping across from me also snoring, but then I heard a different noise I had never heard before. I went out the door of my bedroom and walked slowly down the stairs. They creaked at every step. When I reached the bottom of the steps, I looked around and everything looked pretty normal, from what I could see at least, as I hadn't given my eyes much time to adjust to the darkness.

    As I stumbled through the living room slowly making my way to the kitchen, I began to see a dark figure. Of course in the dark it looked like my mother, and I asked, "Hey Mom What are you doing up so late?" It didn't answer. I took another step toward the figure and the house creaked, making the figure turn around. It had dark red eyes, and was black as though it could be a person in the night.

    I took a step back falling to the ground. I crawled backward, digging my claws into the hardwood floors. trying to get away from the presence, but it only gave me an evil grin as it began to follow me, which only made me attempt to crawl faster.

    I hit the back of my head on a table because I wasn't looking around to see where I was going. The presence got right in my face, and I screamed. Just as the presence went to touch me my mother came running down the stairs.

    "Nora, baby its ok." She attempted to calm me down.

    "Yeah, um actually no. Did you not see that?" I asked, looking around for the figure in the dark but it was long gone by now. My mother took me to bed where I stayed the rest of the night. And I did not sleep a wink. We return to that cabin every year for vacations.

    I never again saw the presence, for I didn't go downstairs by myself or in the dark. But every night I did hear it walking around, and to this day I haven't told my parents. I did not wish to scare them or worse. It would make them think I'm crazy.

    From that day, on I believed in ghosts.

    To the Top

    The Old House

    By Little Nellie

    The old house


    I was 13 when I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle after the death of my parents. We all moved into a 150-year-old house just outside the north edge of Darkan Wood.

    When I walked into our new home I sensed a presence. I thought I smelled smoke, even though no one smoked and no fireplace had been lit. The house was old and dusty, and reeked of mothballs. A few weeks after we moved in, I was sitting on the couch watching TV. I heard someone whisper my name and I saw the TV changing channels until I saw a black screen and a man with no eyes and a face as white as a sheet popped up. He stared at me (if you would call a man with no eyes standing there doing nothing, "staring.") Then it went back to the channel it was on.

    All through this, my cousin acted like nothing was happening. I was creeped out, so I went to help my Aunt fix dinner. I heard STOMP behind us and I figured it was my Uncle. I turned around and no one was there. One night, I heard the same THUMP in my bedroom, but I opened my eyes and saw the man from the TV! Many other things happened, but I can't remember them all. My friends and I got permission to get a Ouija board and we used it. We asked, "Is there a spirit in here now?" It pointed to "yes."

    "What's your name?" we asked. "C-A-L-V-I-N" it spelled.

    "How did you die?" we asked. It spelled out MURDER.

    "Who killed you?" there was no response. Then all the candles in the room started to flicker, yet the windows were all closed and the was no breeze.

    We quickly ask another question.

    "When did you get murdered?" we asked. The flickering slowed and the response came" 1862," it said.

    "Why do you stay in this place, are you trapped?" "Yeeeesssss"said a soft yet sad voice that seems to come from every direction.

    It said its body was buried in the secret passageway. "Where is it?" we asked.

    "Basement," it said.

    Then the Voice seem to fade off but we were all sure we heard it say "Free Us"

    We went to the basement and searched but found nothing. the very next day my cousin and I were again in the basement doing laundry chores when a box soap fell behind the washer. When I leaned in to get the box I saw a handle. I got my cousin to help me move the washer and after several attempts we opened it, and saw a crumbling passageway. Too dangerous to enter; bits of stone and odd stuff fell from the ceiling at even the slightest touch. We showed it to my Aunt. "Look, we told her, "it is true! Here look there really is a secret passage."

    She told us to stay away from it and said it was probably an old coal shoot or something of the like and dismissed it, then got my uncle to seal up the entry. It was a week later that my uncle was digging in the yard and there was a loud cracking sound and a scream like nothing I have ever hear before or since, nor do I ever care to hear again.

    And the ground gave way. My uncle was able to jump clear. As the dust settled he walked to the edge of the hole, just as my aunt and I came running out to him from the kitchen. As the dust cleared we could see the bones of not just one person but what looked to be 5 or 6 bodies all in poses looking like they died trying to dig their way out of the tunnel. And even more disturbing the bones seem to be charred as if they burned.

    Needless to say my Aunt insisted we moved out after that. The county removed the remains, but no one to this day has found out who they were, or how they came to be there or for that matter how or why the tunnel was there.

    No one has lived in that house since we moved out. From time to time people passing have claimed they hear thumping and bumping in the house. And every so often someone will claim to hear screams. So next time you pass the old house out on Darkan Wood road be careful were you are walking; you never know what is under your feet.

    To the Top

    Kitchen Snack

    By Randy

    kitchen snack


    It was the summer I turned 11, and my mother and father sent me to spend the Summer with my Auntie and Uncle. I was looking forward to it as they were great fun. However, after a week I couldn't sleep in the old Inn. That was because my cousins constantly told me ghost stories that took place in the Inn. Gee, thanks Rufus and Alam.

    I heard someone moving around in the kitchen. I figured that it was auntie wanting a midnight snack (which wasn't that unusual, let me tell you). So I crept down the stairs, hoping to scare Auntie Emily. Or maybe if I was lucky, I would scare Uncle Tim.

    As I reached the kitchen door, I heard someone laugh and it was DEFINITELY NOT Auntie Emily or Uncle Tim. I peered around the corner and saw . . . a shape. That's the best way to describe it. It was black and seemed to flow like water. Yet, it still stood (or floated, I guess) upright like a human. I stayed as still as I possibly could, too frightened to call out for Uncle T.

    But then, the clock rung out the first of twelve chimes. It was midnight.

    With each chime the...thing...grew. By the twelfth chime, the shape was almost three times as big as the refrigerator. I stayed where I was. As that last ring faded away, I started feeling involuntarily tired. I struggled to keep my eyes open.

    The next thing I knew, my Auntie Emily was shaking me, wondering why I was huddled against the kitchen door. I looked at the clock. It was eight o' clock! I couldn't answer her. I walked over to the sink where the thing had been and looked at the tap. If I looked closely, there was a piece of black goop, about the size of a quarter. My Auntie Lynn came up behind me. She looked at the sink and grabbed her cell phone. The next thing I knew she was talking to someone about a mold problem.

    Unless mold comes alive at eleven fifty five on July eighteenth, I am absolutely convinced that I was in the presence of a genuine ghost.

    To the Top

    The Unknown Need

    By Shakey

    Darkan Wood


    There are some things that you hear and you see, but what I am going to tell you is nothing from this world. So get ready and hold your pants because you are going to jump.

    It was a normal day. My cousin and I were walking through the woods when we felt cold air that was not normal. We lived in Admiratio Village and if that was "Cold air, I don't think so." It got to about 55 degrees and you know that in Yellow in July it is really hot and it was in the middle of the summer. So that was weird. We started to get suspicious so we started walking slowly. My cousin said that it was a ghost but I didn't believe her. I thought she was kidding. Just when I was going to open my mouth to tell her that it was her imagination, the wind got real heavy and blew me away. I fell down and my cousin came after me to help me up.

    When I stood up I saw a car in the middle of the woods and I asked my cousin "Was……. .that…. .…..there?" My cousin turned around and said nothing like if she knew what was happening. We stared at the car for a while and then my cousin said, "…..R..R..R…RUN. What why……… look behind you!"

    I turned around and saw the car turning on and looking at us, and we stared running. The car was right behind us. We ran all the way to this old house. The car just backed off and I knew something had made that car back off. We were getting close to the house when I heard a scream. I stopped and looked inside the house when a head showed up in front of me. It was cut and had a bad smell like rotting eggs. When I looked at my cousin it was gone!

    I got really scared. I even was shaking. I couldn't even talk to my cousin and felt real cold. Then she started to talk but not in her normal voice. It sounded like a man's voice, but he was a real man. At first I thought she was kidding but then I saw something I never saw before. I thought my life was over. The whole sky turned black and I saw people coming from underground. They looked like zombies but they weren't. I was getting scared because you know zombies. Ok, that's too much info. Well as I was saying I was trying to get away from these creepy people when my cousin stopped and she looked at me as if she were going to do something stupid. She stopped and got a branch. She put a lot of them in the way we were going, so they could trip over the branches. Again something happened I didn't expect. They started flying - now that's is creepy.

    We ran and had no idea were we or for how long we had run. My cousin stopped fell on the path crying. I was scared. "I want to go home," said my cousin.

    "I do too want to go home but we can't find the way." I did not say but I wanted my mother. It was just then then I heard a noise. It was my mom so I followed her voice and five minutes passed. I was there with my mom. That night my cousin stayed at my house. It was around midnight when we both woke up to the sound of some one or something calling our names.

    In the night now and again I hear sounds inside those woods and I think it will not STOP UNTIL IT GETS WHAT IT WANTS……….. I never go near that wood, and if I were you I would stay out of Darkan Wood. You never know, it might want you next.

    To the Top


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