The contest story:

This year was a big year for Max, the first he had been allowed to go trick or treating without an adult. The O.K. hadn’t come easy and taken a lot of promises to be good, and even more reminders to be safe.  He had spent the afternoon anxiously looking out the window for the first signs of dusk. When the shadows grew long and the yellow light more orange, he could not wait any longer. Max put on his skeleton costume so fast he hardly knew he had done so. He stuffed the black hooded mask into his treat bag as he walked past his mom in the kitchen on the phone. His mom put a hand over the receiver to yell a curfew reminder just as Max shut the front door behind him. The cool porch air was filled with the smell of melted wax and warm pumpkin. Lifting his bike from the grass he put one handle bar through the loops of his treat bag. The sun was setting as dead leaves crinkled under his tires. Peddling down the street he headed to his friend Jim’s…

The following submitted by J Jansen

He couldn't wait to see Jim's costume. Jim's dad brought it back from Europe, France or somewhere. His dad went to Europe a lot. The man had a funny accent. Came from there. He smelled weird too, kind of like the Tupperware containers in the back of the refrigerator his mom called "science experiments." His tires screeched to a halt in front of Jim's front door. Jim was there, waiting dressed as a....

The following submitted by J McHugh

...a skeleton, but not just any skeleton: the same skeleton costume Max was wearing!

"Aw man, I thought you'd have something different," Max moaned.

"It's cool. I have another costume in my bag. One for you too."

"Two costumes? Why?"

"Twice as many costumes means twice as much candy. We can visit the same houses twice," Jim declared proudly.

"I knew I was friends with you for a reason."

The first house on the list was the Monroe place. Mr. Monroe always seemed nice enough, but his son, Charles, wasn't exactly one of Max and Jim's schoolyard chums. Quite the opposite, actually. He was a nagger, a bragger, and the blood of the weak fueled his swagger. Max exhaled nervously as they approached the house, but Jim grinned and opened his bag.

"Don't worry. I have something in here for Charles too." ...

 The following submitted by R Smales

"Go ahead and ring the bell."

Max looked dubious, but gave the lighted button next to the door a poke. The door opened and Charles' stood revealed, wearing a Frankenstein's Monster costume. His lip curled as he took in the matching skeleton costumes, but the sneer broke into a grin as he recognized the pair.

"Well, if it isn't -"

That was as far as he got before Jim stepped forward and blew a palm-full of powder into his face. Charles snorted, choked, and ... froze.

"Step forward," Jim said, a note of command in his voice.

Charles took one step, then stood docilely, hands at his sides. Jim closed the door behind him.

"What was that?" Max was looking at Charles curiously.

"Corpse-powder," Jim said. "My dad brought it back from Romania."

His voice took on a note of caution.

"He doesn't know I have it."

"What does it do?" Max was gently poking Charles' cheek, eliciting no reaction.

"His mind is gone. Temporarily," he added, seeing the look of concern on Max's face.

"For the next hour," Jim finished proudly, "he's a human zombie. He'll do anything we tell him!"...

 The following submitted by R Smales

... Thirty minutes later, Max and Jim watched from the concealment of the bushes as Charles walked stiffly up the walkway to the Mason's house. Though he still wore the Frankenstein mask and oversized monster boots, the rest of his costume had been traded in for a pink tu-tu.

"Do you think he'll actually do it?" Max whispered.

"He has to," Jim hissed back. "While he's under this stuff he can't tell us no!"

The tu-tu belonged to Jim's sister, 'borrowed' for this evening's fun. She was only five. To say it was a poor fit would be a huge understatement. Max had been amazed when Charles got the thing up over his shoulders!

"This is going to be amazing!"

"Shhhh!"

Since Charles was walking away from them, the cost of pulling that little tu-tu up so high and tight was quite evident. It pained both boys to watch that walk, but they just couldn't look away. It wasn't the Corpse Powder that was making Charles walk so oddly. The view from the front was even more disturbing.

"Man, this is going to be epic!"

"Will you quiet down! We're going to get caught! Look - he's at the door!"

Charles reached out a finger and rang the bell.

The following submitted by Coy

…Cindy Mason was Max’s first real friend.  They had gone to school together since kindergarten.  Back then, it never seemed odd to Max that his best friend was a girl.  It wasn’t until recently they had drifted apart.  Cindy began hanging out with her other girl friends more and more, and she rarely talked to Max anymore.  This hadn’t really bothered Max till the previous week, when Cindy ignored Max in the lunchroom.  Max said hi to Cindy, and she hadn’t even replied.  Almost like she never heard Max, although he knew better.  He had seen Cindy look right into his eyes, and then Cindy looked away and continued talking to Samantha, like Max didn’t exist. 

Even with all this, Max still had mixed feelings about having Charles go to the Mason home.  However, he didn’t protest when Jim suggested it.  “It’ll be hilarious”, Jim proclaimed.  Jim had ordered Charles to do a ballet dance when the door was answered.  Even had him practice it a couple times.  Max, though nervous, did have to laugh out loud.  Serves Charles right, and he’ll never live this down.    

Cindy answered the door almost immediately once the doorbell sounded.  She was wearing a fairy costume.  Charles removed his Frankenstein mask.  Max and Jim then looked on in horror as Charles grabbed Cindy and bit into her neck.  Cindy’s shriek was short lived, as blood gushed from the hole in her neck when Charles removed his mouth.  Cindy’s body fell limp to the ground as Charles ran inside the Mason home.  Max thought the screaming he heard from inside the home must have been Cindy’s mother… 

The following submitted by Rachael

Max gasped for breath and took a step back, He tripped over a sprinkler head and landed with a thud. Jim turned around, white as sheet and blinked. Seeing Max on the ground seemed to snap him out of it. He grabbed Max's arm and helped him up. But instead of letting go he pulled Max close to him and muttered “We can’t tell anyone about this! My dad can’t know about this! We were never here! You got that? We never saw Charles tonight! "
Max gulped “But.. What about Cindy? "
The screaming had stopped and they heard the leaves crunch behind them.
They turned and Charles was standing there. Face and chest covered with blood. Behind him Cindy's mom lay on the lawn throat ripped open...
Max looked at Jim “No way. No way am I going to keep quiet! This is all YOUR fault! "

Jim looked at Max. His eyes narrowed. He turned towards Charles  “Kill Max !!”...

Do you know what happens next? Email the next paragraph (or more) to: swollenguy at yahoo.com