Author: Hillary Lyon

Finn took his little sister Hazel by the hand. “Don’t be scared tonight. All those ghoulies and ghosties—they’re really holograms.” Since Holo-Monsters Inc. began selling their hologram monsters to the public, everyone wanted one for their Halloween decoration.

They walked to the street to begin their trick-or-treat trek through the neighborhood. They dodged a headless horseman charging down their neighbor’s driveway. The Moth-Man flew between houses and swooped so low overhead they had to duck.

Across the street, a shambling Frankenstein’s Monster groaned on the front porch. A hatchet-wielding maniac popped up from a hedge. A vampire menaced trick-or-treaters from the shadows. Ghosts wailed and surged through windows, clawing at kids who got too close.

On another front porch Hazel walked through a shuffling mummy, giggling as she grabbed a handful of candy. She was wide-eyed, more in fascination than fear, Finn noted with relief.

At the end of their street, a lone house sat dark in the cul-de-sac. “Hazie, I think we should skip this one,” Finn said. There was something he overhead his parents say about this place…but he couldn’t remember exactly what.

Ignoring him, Hazel charged up to the front door and rang the bell. Uneasy, but protective of his little sister, Finn followed. The door creaked open and before them stood a wavering gray and blue image of an old woman in a floral-print house dress.

“Trick or treat!” Hazel chirped.

“I’m sorry, dear,” the old woman’s apparition replied. “I have no more candy. I’ll never have candy again.”

“Awww,” Hazel groused as she swiped her hand through the old woman. “Hey!” Hazel gasped, turning to Finn. “This one’s cold, not like the other holograms.”

Finn took her hand to pull her back toward the street. Now he remembered what his folks had said: old Mrs. Edmond at the end of the street, she’d….

Finn took a deep breath and whispered, “That’s because she’s not a hologram…she’s a ghost…”

They turned and ran, with Hazel shriek-laughing all the way home.

Once inside their warm and well-lit house, Finn watched as Hazel dumped her candy haul on the floor of the den. “This is the best Halloween ever!” she said as she sorted through her sugary pile. Finn’s eyes grew wide, more in fear than fascination, as his sister added, “I can’t wait for next year!”