Mr. Lambini's Haunted House

"Dare you."

"I'll go if you go."

"You're scared."

"No I'm not."

"Are, too."

And so, daring each other and teasing each other, Cindy and her friend Beth walked up path that led to Mr. Lambini's house. All evening, they'd met kids who'd been there. Everyone was talking about how great and scary it was. Cindy looked at the piece of wood leaning against the willow tree in Mr. Lambini's front yard. A big sign, painted in blood red letters on a black background, proclaimed, "HAUNTED HOUSE."

"I'm not scared of anything," Cindy said. And she wasn't. She'd yet to meet something she couldn't handle. Movies, books, even creepy rides -- none of it bothered Cindy.

She led the way to Mr. Lambini's porch. Not bad, she thought as she studied the scarecrow in the front yard. It looked like it was rigged to move. Sure enough, as she walked past, the arm swung out and a tape-recorded voice went, "Boooo hhhooooohhoooohoooo!"

Cindy wasn't scared. But Beth jumped half a mile, nearly leaving her shoes behind. "Scared?" Cindy asked Beth when she came back down.

"Nah," Beth said, with just the faintest tremble in her voice. "Just startled."

Cindy smiled. The scarecrow was a good sign. They never put the scariest stuff by the entrance. They always saved the good stuff for inside. So, if the entrance was this scary, the rest of the haunted house should be great.

They walked up to the porch. Three other kids were standing there, as if trying to build up the courage to ring the bell. A small cowboy and two hockey players. Cindy recognized them easily enough despite their costumes. It was Dwayne, Wally, and Wally's little brother Ted. She smiled and walked past them. "What were you waiting for?" she asked as she rang the bell.

The door swung open. "Enter," a deep, booming voice said. Cindy paused, bracing herself for anything that might jump at her. Nothing popped us, so she stepped inside. The walls were draped with sheets, leaving a corridor for them to walk through. Opposite where she stood, a sign said, "ENTRANCE." Below the word, there was an arrow pointing to the right.

"Cool," she said, turning toward the right. "Maybe we'll go through the whole house."

"But we don't really know him," Beth said.

Cindy realized Beth was right. She knew the man's name, but nothing else about him. Still, she wasn't going to turn back. Cindy wasn't scared. "Lot's of kids have been here. There's nothing to worry about." She headed down the hall, feeling pleased to hear the shuffling of the others following after her.

Cindy hadn't gone more than ten steps when the vampire jumped out from behind a sheet.

"Mwwwwaahhaaaahhaahhaaa!" he screamed. Then he vanished behind the walls.

Cindy wasn't scared. But she had to admit the vampire makeup was pretty good.

Beth gasped, but she stayed next to Cindy, clutching her arm so hard Cindy was sure there'd be a bruise the next morning.

Little Ted wailed like a banshee and ran off, his cowboy hat flying from his head as he galloped for safety. Wally chased after him.

Cindy went deeper.

The headless man popped out of nowhere and swung an ax at her. Even in the gloom of the narrow corridor, she could see the blade was rubber.

Sure enough, it bounced off her.

Cindy glanced back when she realized nobody was grabbing her arm. "Beth, hold on," she called, but it was too late. She caught a last glimpse of Beth as her friend vanished around the corner, heading back the way they'd come.

Dwayne was still there -- until the skull came flying at them, hissing like a snake, sparks flying from its eyes.

Dwayne made tracks for the door. Cindy watched the skull swing back and force on the piece of fishing line. "Pretty cool," she said.

Cindy wasn't scared, not even when the bats dropped from above. Not even when the man with the chainsaw leaped out of the darkness or when the grasping hands burst through the walls on either side of her, their nails dark with fresh-turned earth.

She came, at last, to the end of the tour. "Well done," a man said. Cindy figured this was Mr. Lambini. He pointed to a door. "Nobody else has been this brave." He reached into a plastic pumpkin on a table next to him and handed her a candy bar. "Oh, take two. I've got plenty." He handed her a second one.

"Thanks," Cindy said. She thought about giving one to Beth, but Beth hadn't earned it. Beth had been scared. "This isn't bad," Cindy added as the man opened the door. She stepped through the doorway, but still looked back at the man. There was something else she wanted to tell him. "It wasn't scary, but I wasn't expecting all that much from someone's homemade haunted house."

"Oh, this is just the entrance," the man said. "The haunted house is on the other side." He closed the door.

Cindy turned around and looked. The walls around her were old and rotting. The floor was thick with dust. In the darkness ahead, something shuffled and stirred, waiting for her.

Cindy listened.

Chains rattled. Bits of dry flesh fell from bones and hit the floor with muffled thumps. Fangs smacked together in anticipation. Creatures howled.

Cindy wasn't scared. Not now. This time, Cindy was terrified.

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