Happy Halloween, everyone!
I decided to randomly write something to celebrate two years ago, on October 31st, 2010. It was posted on the same day.
And thus, "Hetalia's Nightmare Before Christmas" was born. The story reached twelve chapters (not including the discontinuation notice), one piece of fanart, and 56 reviews before a severe case of writer's block put it on a year-long hiatus; further frustrations with chapter thirteen and utter disgust for my (by then one and a half years old) work led me to officially discontinue the story on Friday, April 13th, 2012. Because I wanted to keep certain promises, I decided to rework the story I had written and re-post it on October 31st, 2012.
The original version is still on my profile and will remain there for the foreseeable future; I can't bring myself to take it down.
Just like before, this chapter is a songfic for "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, one of my favorite movies and a film that works well for both Halloween and Christmas.
Actually, this story was originally supposed to be a oneshot... I suppose it could've been one, but I kinda got carried away... heh heh heh... oops... -.-' Oh, well. It was my most popular story, and one I truly enjoyed writing.
Enjoy~!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia, the characters, the concept of Halloween, Nightmare Before Christmas, or the song "This is Halloween" which was written by Danny Elfman.
This story is dedicated to HatsuNeru (now Hatsu Yukiya), a lovely artist/authoress and someone I consider a dear friend, and Kaito X Len – Banana Split, another dear friend who is also the Beta for this story and several others (including the original).
Boys and girls of every age,
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Shivering slightly in the chilly autumn wind, Canada walked down the darkened road. Why did America like this holiday so much? It was just so creepy…
Come with us and you will see,
This our town of Halloween~
Pumpkins with faces carved in them, emitting a strange glow from within, sat on almost every porch. Many of the porches, regardless of whether they had Jack-o-lanterns or not, were decorated with fake spider webs, fake blood, and pretend crime scenes, among other things.
This is Halloween, This is Halloween!
Canada shuddered once more as he passed a particularly gruesome house. This one had a fake graveyard, complete with tombstones bearing creepy epitaphs and a fake corpse hanging from one tree, a noose around its neck.
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!
As he walked past the sidewalk leading to the front door, a high-pitched cackle rang out. He jumped before realizing the screech was only a motion-activated decoration.
This is Halloween! Ev'rybody make a scene!
Trick-or-Treat 'til the neighbor's gonna die of fright!
It's our town! Everybody scream
In this town of Halloween…
Canada picked up his pace, eyes darting about nervously as he searched for something—anything—familiar. Where was America's house? Would he even recognize it, festooned as it would be in Halloween décor?
I am the one hiding under your bed,
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!
I am the one hiding under your stairs,
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!
Why couldn't he stop thinking about those stories of monsters France and England used to tell him when he was a child? They weren't helping to calm him down!
This is Halloween, This is Halloween!
Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!
Canada swallowed nervously, trying desperately not to panic.
In this town we call home,
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!
Trying to find a less frightening neighborhood, Canada hurriedly turned the corner.
'Round that corner, man,
Hiding in the trash can,
Something's waiting now to pounce,
And how you'll SCREAM!
As he rounded the corner, Canada came face-to-face with another person. Unfortunately for the jittery blond, the adult was wearing a Jason costume from the Friday the Thirteenth movies, complete with the hockey mask and the bloodstained machete.
Canada gave a small shriek of fear as he raced off, leaving behind a very confused man. The mystery man removed his mask, revealing America's sunny blond hair and sky-blue eyes.
This is Halloween! Red and black and slimy green!
Aren't you scared?
America stared after Canada, the rusty gears in his head slowly turning. That explained why his normally punctual brother was late… the poor boy must've been spooked by all the decorations. He totally should've expected that, maybe even walked with him.
What a stupid mistake. He couldn't be a hero if he kept making mistakes like that!
Well, that's just fine!
Say it once, say it twice!
Take a chance and roll the dice!
Ride with the moon in the dead of night!
Heart racing, Canada ran as fast as his poor legs could carry him to the area he vaguely remembered America's house being in. When a sudden scream filled the air, he yelped, unaware that he'd been startled by yet another motion-activated sound effect.
Everybody scream! Everybody SCREAM!
In our town of Halloween…
I am the clown with the tear-away face,
Here in a flash and gone without a trace!
Canada shrieked as the image of a clown appeared on someone's garage door, ripped off its face, and promptly vanished in a puff of smoke.
This was why he hated Halloween!
Somewhere behind him, he could've sworn he heard leaves crunching. He jumped, startled.
I am the "who" when you call "who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair!
"Who's there?" he called nervously. However, only silence replied, a sudden gust of wind ruffling his hair.
Looking up with a shaky breath, he gazed at the full moon hanging in the sky. Somehow, it managed to be both creepy and beautiful at the same time.
I am the shadow on the moon at night,
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!
He shuddered slightly and continued walking, the moon's silent silver glow offering comfort to the jittery blond.
This is Halloween, This is Halloween!
Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!
Canada still didn't like Halloween, but now he could seek some solace in the moon, at least.
In this town we call home,
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!
Tender lumplings everywhere,
Life's no fun without a good scare!
That's our job, but we're not mean,
In this town of Halloween…
Canada smiled as children wearing "cute-ified" monster costumes raced past him, laughing. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all…
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!
He finally arrived at America's house, sighing in relief. He didn't get completely, totally, and hopelessly lost.
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and
Scream like a banshee, make you jump out of your skin!
Suddenly, something grabbed his shoulders from behind.
"BOO!" a familiar voice shouted.
Canada yelped, wriggling away from the unexpected contact. Whipping around, he found himself face-to-face with the guy dressed like Jason once again.
This is Halloween, everybody scream!
Won't ya please make way for a very special guy?
This time, America pulled off his mask before Canada got TOO spooked and ran off again. He smirked at the surprised and frightened expression on Canada's delicate facial features; it was almost cute enough to make him feel bad for scaring him.
Almost.
"Happy Halloween, Mattie!" he cried, pulling the Canadian in for a one-armed hug.
Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the pumpkin king now!
This is Halloween, This is Halloween!
Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!
Canada gave his brother a shaky smile. He knew America was going to dress up as a character from one of his country's popular horror movies series, so he honestly should have expected a Jason costume.
He shoved his glasses back up his nose nervously. "S-so, what are we gonna do?" he inquired, trying to hide his fear.
"I was thinking we could watch Nightmare Before Christmas, since it's technically a Halloween movie and all, and just hand out candy to trick-or-treaters." America replied. Nightmare Before Christmas wasn't too scary of a movie; America was certain even his very edgy Canadian of a brother could handle that particular movie.
In this town we call home,
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song.
Canada smiled up at his brother. "That sounds like a great idea, Alfred."
La la la lala la la la lala la la la lala la lala la, whee! (laughter).
A/N: So, there you have it. The reworked first chapter of "Hetalia's Nightmare Before Christmas"!
Here's the fanart for the original, the link to which I never had the chance to post in the original:
HatsuNeru . deviantart art/Japan-vs-Yasuo- 256953299
Be sure to remove all the spaces. Despite what she says or believes about her work, I still think Hatsu-san did a great job!
Also: I know that some people, when they choose to rework or rewrite a story, they break it down to the initial idea and rebuild it brick by painstaking brick, ripping everything they initially had to shreds in the process. Sometimes it works out; sometimes, it leads to a story that neither author nor reader is truly happy with. Since, like I stated before, this was my most popular story—there is not a single other that has garnered so many reviews (in fact, I am fairly sure that all other stories combined could not have the same review count or even a number close to it), and the story still gets follows and favorites from time to time—I have decided not to change much, if anything, from the original plot (aside from, perhaps, a few minor details and a teensy bit of the original mood). All of you who fell in love with the original, you can expect to see the new-and-improved version of it here!
All of that aside… I want to tell you about a certain magical text box that can keep me ahead of this longer, which leads to more regular posts. See it? It's right below this~! Yes, it's the text box where you can write reviews for this chapter!
So please, drop a review. Remind us that we are loved and there are people out there that enjoy our work~!