L.S. Strange

By: L.S. Strange

Edited by: Bret and Jeanni Smith 2023

Fall. The time of year when the air is crisp and brilliant colors are everywhere. Shirley and Bud, now empty nesters, had moved into a ranch home in the upscale neighborhood a few months ago.  Bud, who referred to their new community as ‘monied’, stood in the front yard. He looked up and down the street. The neighborhood was fairly new, just ten years old. Their home was in a small cul-de-sac at the end of the development. The developers did an excellent job at landscaping. Trees, now mature, provided a wide spectrum of color. Some had yellow leaves, others purple, and various trees displayed orange and red hues. A gentle breeze caused the leaves to flutter and glow in the slanting Autumn sunlight. People were impressed when he told them where he now lived. He too was impressed and felt so lucky to be living in such a community.

               Warmth from the afternoon sun caressed Bud’s face. He took a deep breath in and sighed, completely content. Their son and daughter, both married with children of their own, each owned an impressive home in an equally prestigious community, twenty miles away. Shirley loved their ranch style home and was glad she didn’t have to clean a five-bedroom house or carry laundry up and down from the basement. Bud was pleased that both the front and back yards were small. He was also glad that they were able to afford a lawn service. They really didn’t need it but it felt good to have it. It was just the two of them. No children or pets.

               “This is heaven!” Bud thought.

               Shirley was on her knees gathering small twigs and other debris to deposit in a black lawn bag. She looked up at Bud and smiled. This was their forever home, a dream come true. They had worked hard for the past thirty-five years, often going without things they desired to give their financial resources to their children so that they could get a jump start and be well prepared for adulthood. It worked. Both their son and daughter were very successful. Now it was their time. Time for them to reap the rewards of their labor. Shirley was worried she would be bored in retirement, but she was wrong. She had more projects than she could complete. Bud also had endeavors that kept him occupied. The best part was they were no longer on a time schedule. They could work on the tasks at their own pace.

               “Tonight is Halloween. Are you ready?” Bud asked Shirley in a teasing tone. He knew the little Trick-or-Treaters were her favorite part of Halloween and that she had been preparing for the past month. She purchased a few small decorations of playful ghosts and welcoming pumpkins that were tastefully placed in their limited front yard space. 

               “Are you kidding? I’ve got tons of candy and a few special Halloween goodie bags for the neighbor kids.” Shirley smiled at Bud. Then she saw his face cloud up. No one else would notice but after being married to Bud for so many years she could spot things others could not. Bud was looking down the street. Shirley followed his gaze and saw what was dampening his mood. Venita, the HOA president. A shallow woman who thought the power of her position gave her a special status akin to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Venita presided over her realm with an iron fist. If she saw a weed in a yard she would immediately put a notice on the owner’s door. A small giggle escaped Shirley’s lips as she waited for the show. She knew that Bud would be polite, but he would throw in a few comments that she would find amusing.

               Venita approached them and waved. Her cheap, gaudy jewelry clanked and reflected the sun. She smiled widely. Even under the layers of make-up on her face it was easy to see the smile was fake.

               “Hi! Welcome to the neighborhood!” Venita said as she approached them.

               “Hello,” Bud replied with feigned warmth. “We see you every month at the HOA meeting,” After a brief, intentional pause, he continued, “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”

               Completely ignoring Bud’s question, Venita said, “Oh. Well yes. Glad to see you taking pride in your home.” Her eyes cast a critical gaze at the decorations looking for any flaw but finding none.

               “Thanks,” Shirley replied. She was still down on her knees with her back to Venita. She looked up at Bud and rolled her eyes. He stifled a laugh.

               “Here you go,” Venita said and extended her hand offering a flyer to Bud.

               Bud took it from her and never broke eye contact. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”

               “These are the rules for tonight. Be sure to follow them so you get the treat and not the trick.” Venita laughed and both Bud and Shirley thought it sounded more like a cackle.

               “I appreciate it. We’ll be sure to do that. I’ll tear right through it,” Bud replied.

               “Fabulous! Sorry I can’t stay to chat. I’ve got several houses to visit. My work is never done. Ta-ta for now,” Venita twittered, and walked off, dismissing them.

               After she was out of earshot Bud tore up the flyer and threw it in the lawn bag with the rest of the trash.

               “Rules. What rules? There are no rules for Halloween. It’s common sense. You leave your porch light on when you are participating and turn it off when you stop. Everyone knows that. Why would you need a flyer?” Bud sputtered, a bit irritated with Venita.

“Why does she have to dress like a hoochie? A woman her age should really wear a skirt that goes more than an inch past her hoo-ha,” Shirley said thinking aloud.

Bud chuckled. “Who knows. Maybe she doesn’t own a mirror.”

“Don’t let her ruin today,” Shirley said, trying to bring back Bud’s good mood.

               “Nothing could spoil the great feeling I get with you.” Bud replied.

               “Wonderful. Help me up.” She grabbed Bud’s hand to assist her in standing. “Damn. That gets harder each time. I’m just an old worn-out woman.”

               “Yep. But you’re all mine,” Bud said. Shirley grinned wickedly at him.

               The afternoon sun was fading fast as evening started to set in.

               “Will you please wrap this up?” Shirley asked Bud and handed him the black lawn bag. “I’ll go make dinner so that we’ll be done before the Trick-or-Treaters arrive. They usually start showing up around dusk.”

               “You got it.”

               After dinner was cleaned up Shirley was so excited about the night’s festivities, she could hardly contain herself. She had prepared goodie bags for the young children that lived next door and across the street. Each bag had plastic fangs, a small activity book, skeleton pens, an orange and black plastic slinky, a broom-shaped thin tube for blowing bubbles, two glow sticks and lots of candy. There were two extra bags. Shirley had not yet decided who would be the lucky recipients but knew she would feel when it was right.

               Soon it was dusk. She peered out the long narrow window that ran the length of the door and to the right of it. She had meant to hang a curtain there but had not yet got around to doing that. A small porch was just outside the front door with a garage on either side of it. The porch light was on as were the lights on each side of the garage doors. There were no windows on the front of the house due to this design. Shirley liked this set up. No one could peer into her house and she didn’t have to worry about closing the curtains for privacy.

               Ding-dong. The first Trick-or-Treaters. Shirley was elated. She had been sitting on the small bench inside the entry and hopped up, grabbed the bowl of candy, and opened the door. Before her stood the children from next door and across the street. One was a cowgirl, one a mouse and the smallest one a princess.

               “Trick or treat!” they squealed.

               “Excellent costumes girls! I have a special treat for you.” Shirley put down the candy bowl and grabbed three of the goodie bags.

               “Thanks!” the girls chimed all at once.

               “Happy Halloween,” Shirley said with a large grin. The girls smiled back and took off down the driveway heading for the next house.

               “It’s started?” Bud asked.

               “Yes.” Shirley giggled. She closed the door, but not all the way, and waited for the next arrivals. It didn’t take long. The doorbell rang.

               Shirley opened the door. Greeting her was a four-year-old girl in a dinosaur costume, which was a onesie, and the hoodie head hung over her back. Her seven-year-old sister was dressed in a poodle skirt and sweater with a pink ribbon tied round her ponytail. Shirley saw this as a perfect opportunity to give the remaining two goodie bags.

               “Trick or treat!” the girls cried.

               Shirley opened the door and handed each of the girls a goodie bag. They were silent for a moment and their eyes opened wide with surprise.

               “Happy Halloween,” Shirley said warmly.

               “Thank you!” They ran down to their parents waiting at the end of the driveway. The excited little dinosaur yelled to her mom, “I got a bag! I got a bag!” The tail of the costume swung back and forth as she ran. Shirley could feel her heart swell with joy as she watched them.  Just then she noticed Bud behind her.

               “She’s so cute,” he said as he watched the little girl’s delight. “Brings me back to a time when Kathy was that young. Now she’s married with kids of her own. Alex too. The time has flown by.”

               “I miss that. But I’m glad they’re spending Halloween with their kids. Making happy memories like we did,” Shirley said with a reminiscent sigh.

               “Me too,” Bud whispered and placed his hand on her shoulder.

               Shirley sat on the bench in the hallway to be close to the door when the next Trick-or-Treaters arrived. Bud sat down to watch TV in the living room. Because of the open floor plan of their home, he could glance to the right and watch Shirley enjoying herself.

               Over the course of the evening Shirley handed out two-thirds of the huge bowl of candy, often times offering some to the parents that accompanied the children. Trick-or-Treaters of all ages, from babies to high schoolers, came to their door. Shirley loved it. She enjoyed seeing the costumes, feeling the excitement and joy of the children as they appeared on her porch and were soon bounding off to the next house. The neighbor directly across the street turned their garage into a haunted theater. The door was open and a seventy-two-inch HDTV hung on the wall playing Halloween cartoons. Chairs were lined up in three rows. Adjacent to this was a table that held hot apple cider and spooky snacks. When the sun dropped so did the temperature.  A chilly forty-five degrees, but not too cold to hamper the festivities. Holiday decorations were displayed around the entrance, a witch with a steaming cauldron, a skeleton propped up in a lawn chair, and electrified pumpkins lit up the walkway.

               Bud, bored with watching television, said to Shirley, “I’m going to check out the haunted theater. Looks like Sam put a lot of effort into it.”

               “Ok. See you later. Grab your coat!” Shirley said. Bud winked at her as he slipped into his leather jacket and headed out the door.

               As the evening turned into night the number of Trick-or-Treaters diminished. No one had rang the doorbell in half an hour. Shirley glanced at the clock. Eight forty-five. At that moment Bud opened the front door.

               “Brrrrrr. It’s cold out there.” He took off his coat and hung it in the hall closet.

               “How was it?” Shirley asked.

               “Pretty cool. They did a great job setting up and handing out tasty snacks. The hot cider felt good. Warmed me up. Has the volume slowed down?”

               “No one for around half an hour.”

               “It’s getting late. And it’s Sunday so the kids aren’t going to be out too late. I didn’t see anyone on our street. It was quiet.”

               Bud saw her disappointment and tried to lighten her mood. “At least Venita didn’t show up. She wouldn’t need a costume, the witch!”

               Shirley giggled and playfully tapped his arm. “Be nice.”

               “What? I am being nice. I could have said something a lot worse.”

               “I think I’ll call it a night,” Shirley said, as Bud reached out to turn off the porch light.

               “Whoa. What are you doing?”

               “Turning off the light. We’re done for the night.”

               “Don’t do that. The kids are done for the night but I don’t like the front of the house dark.”

               Bud’s brow furrowed. “We don’t live in a sketchy part of town. Leaving the light off won’t hurt anything.”

               “I don’t care. Even good neighborhoods can have trouble.” Shirley felt her frustration building. She took a deep breath, then sighed. “Please leave it on.”

               “Ok.” Bud wrapped his arms around Shirley’s waist and held her close.

               “Come on old lady. Time to eat popcorn and watch a scary movie.”

               “I’ll start the popcorn. You pick the movie.” Shirley replied.

               Bud nodded his agreement. Once the popcorn was ready they snuggled together on the sofa to watch the film, “The Legend of Hell House”. The remainder of the night was uneventful. When the movie was over Bud and Shirley headed to bed.

               After completing their nightly routines of brushing their teeth and putting on their pajamas, both crawled under the covers. Bud checked the security camera feed on his smart phone.

               “See Bigfoot?” Shirley asked teasingly.

               Bud chuckled. “Not yet. Just making sure everything is ok.” Seeing nothing he closed the app and set his phone on the nightstand.

               “Good night. I love you.” Bud leaned over and kissed Shirley.

               “Love you too.”

               Soon they were both fast asleep.

               Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

               Bud opened his eyes. He looked around the dark room. At that moment he didn’t know what time it was but was sure it was very late.

               Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

               “Who in the hell is at my door?” he wondered. A bit groggy, Bud rubbed his eyes and tried to get his wits about him. Instinctively he reached for his smart phone to check the security app. Once opened, the camera feed displayed three figures standing on the porch.

               “What the…?” Bud said under his breath. He noted the time stamp on the feed was one o’clock in the morning. Still trying to fully wake up, he thought if he didn’t respond they would go away.

               “Probably some high school pain in the asses,” he thought. Bud yawned and was about to close the app when he heard it again.

               Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

               This time Shirley stirred and barely opened her eyes. “What is it?” she asked Bud.

               “Three Trick-or-Treaters at the front door,” he replied.

               “At this hour?” Suddenly Shirley was wide awake. “Maybe it’s the police.”

               Bud thought about this. It was a possibility and it made sense. Who else would be out at this time of night? To Shirley he said, “I’ll go see.”

               He threw back the covers, put his smart phone back on the nightstand and stepped into his slippers. Bud walked out of their bedroom, down the hall and stopped at the edge of the foyer. Something made him uneasy, causing the hair on the back of his neck to rise up. He wanted to peek out of the long narrow window to the right of the door but couldn’t move.

               BANG. BANG. BANG. The pounding on the door was so hard it shook the hinges. Bud jumped back, startled. He thought it would bust down the door.

“What do you want?” Bud asked in the most authoritative voice he could muster. The answer made his blood run cold.

               “Your light is on. Trick or Treat.” The words somewhat distorted by the throaty, low-pitched voice.

               Something was terribly wrong. A chill ran up his spine, an unwelcome tingling that sent his brain into high alert. Bud summoned all the courage he could and leaned over to peer out the window. He saw three figures the size of adult men, all wearing black costumes. One was dressed in a Scream costume, a long dark robe and a complete face mask of a skull with the mouth distorted in a silent scream. The next one, also in a long dark robe, displayed a full head pull over mask of a hideous demonic skull and stood as still as a statue. The third one was quite a bit shorter than the rest and very stout. He too was dressed in dark clothing, only it was a jacket and sweatpants. His grotesque face was deformed and riddled with what appeared to be open wounds. Bud hoped this was a mask, but it looked a bit too real.

               “YOUR LIGHT IS ON!” the one in the Scream costume yelled in a fiendish howl.

               Bud jumped back. He was too scared to speak. His mind raced. His heart pounded so hard in his chest he thought it would explode. Gulping down air, terrified, Bud stared at the door.  He couldn’t bring himself to look out the window again.

               Suddenly, the short man planted his face against the window with a loud thud. His pig snout of a nose pressed against the glass, which magnified his repulsive facial features. His bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets. Mucus oozed from his nostrils and dripped down the windowpane. He took a long, wet, sniff. As he did so he slid his nose up the glass leaving a trail of slime. Then he stepped back and said, “I can smell their fear. It’s DELICIOUS!” The short man smacked his oversized lips.

               Bud could feel the bile rising in his throat and thought he would vomit. Then he sensed something behind him. Turning around he saw Shirley. She stood there, a few feet behind him, mouth gaping. The horror she felt was written in the expression on her face.

               BANG. BANG. BANG.

               Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

               “YOUR LIGHT IS ON!”

               Bud and Shirley were petrified and stood there in shock. Then all was silent for a few moments. Bud wasn’t sure if this was more disturbing than the onslaught and harangue of the men. His lungs hurt. He didn’t realize he had been holding his breath. After what seemed like an eternity, he felt Shirley slip her hand into his while she moved over to him. Her hand was sweaty and shaking. Bud could feel her fear.

               Their attention was sharply turned back to the entry when the man with the skull mask put his face up to the window. A long, black forked tongue slithered out from his mouth and licked the glass. He ran this gruesome tentacle up the pane.

“You’re right. Their fear tastes lovely.” His vulgar deafening laugh reverberated against the metal security door, causing Bud’s eardrums to throb with pain. He felt something warm in his ear. Ignoring this Bud focused his attention on their harrowing situation. Shirley noticed blood from Bud’s ear rolling down his ear lobe and dripping onto his shoulder, but she stayed still,  afraid to even breathe.

Again silence. Shirley could feel her heart pounding in her ears. Sweat formed on her brow and she tightly squeezed Bud’s hand. He stood still. Shocked, Bud couldn’t move. His mind raced trying to make sense of what was happening. They stood there waiting, panic increasing exponentially with each passing second. Shirley was about to whisper to Bud that by now a neighbor should have called the police when the words died on her lips.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

BANG. BANG. BANG

“YOUR LIGHT IS ON! YOUR LIGHT IS ON! Trick or Treat! Trick or TREAAAAAAAT!” the man in the Scream  costume screeched. Then he banged on the window with a large butcher’s knife. The blade was coated with dark goo. Shirley was sure it was someone’s blood. A moment of calm and clarity washed over her as she was amazed that the windowpane didn’t shatter. Then the man stepped away from the window and all was quiet. Not a sound.

Terror once again took hold of Shirley and her eyes darted around the foyer. Bud felt his heart skip a beat. A burning sensation flooded his chest. All of his senses were in hypervigilant mode. Bud’s arms had hung at his side so long his fingers tingled from lack of movement. Shirley seemed small next to him. She was bent down a little bit as if trying to make herself less noticeable.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The door shook and threatened to give way. The door knob rattled as it was violently jerked in an attempt to force it open, but it held strong.

“Go away,” Shirley said in a whisper that was barely audible. She felt a sharp pain in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Shhh!” Bud spat. His nerves were raw. He didn’t know how much more he could stand. Bud felt his mind flex and adrenaline triggered his ‘fight or flight’ response but his body would not obey his commands. Terror was crippling him.

“YOUR LIGHT IS ON! Trick or Treat! YOUR LIGHT IS ON! YOUR LIGHT IS ON!” all three men incessantly howled.

The banging on the door continued without any breaks.

“It’s so loud it will wake the dead,” Bud thought. A hysterical giggle escaped his lips. Bud was hanging on to his sanity by a thread. He felt dangerously close to the breaking point.

At that moment Shirley gingerly reached up and pulled the switch for the porch light to the off position. The porch went dark. The pounding and howling instantly stopped. It was quiet. Too quiet. For a moment Bud felt relief surge through him. Then trepidation set in.

“Why’s it so quiet?” Bud thought. He looked at Shirley. She was thinking the same thing and shrugged her shoulders while shaking her head in disbelief.

This silence felt emptier, more desolate than before.  Both inched their way to the window. The porch was empty. They saw three dark figures standing at the end of their driveway, then watched them turn and disappear into the night. Shirley looked up and down the block and noticed that all the houses were dark. Not a single porch light was on. She hugged Bud fiercely and he hugged her back, thankful the ordeal was over. Bud staggered back to the bedroom to grab his smartphone, anxious to see the security app’s recorded footage of the entire event. No notifications of motion detection were triggered. Bud viewed the video. There was nothing. The camera had recorded a bright empty porch until the light was turned off. At that time, the camera switched to night vision and recorded a dark empty porch. This was disturbing. What had they just experienced? Bud put the smartphone in his pocket. He knew he had seen them through the app but couldn’t figure out why they weren’t recorded. Then it hit him. He realized they had just narrowly survived an otherworldly interaction that carried dire consequences. If he had opened the door all would have been lost. Not just their lives but most likely their life force; their souls.

Bud looked at Shirley. She was crying. He put his arms around her and they stood there, for a long time, holding each other.

The moonless night was foreboding. The horrific trio appeared to glide down the dark street. No footsteps could be heard. All was quiet. No nightly sounds. No signs of life, no wind, nothing.

All homes were dark. Not even the streetlights were on.

“What should we do now?” the short one hissed, in a raspy voice. His red eyes bulged from their sockets.

“I know,” replied the being with the skull face. As he spoke, his forked tongue slithered around his lips and the words gurgled deep in his throat. “There’s a motel not far from here just off the highway. Let’s go there. They always leave the light on.” 

                                                                               The End.