Nine years had passed since the day Mrs. Robertson told that legend to the class. The teenager still recalled how excited he was to hear of a land devoted to Halloween, and a skeletal creature crowned its king.

Every Halloween Seth found himself thinking of that story's protagonist. By September's end, Seth had filled half of a sketchbook with drawings of this macabre kingdom. He imagined the houses shaped like mausoleums, ghostly, abandoned shacks, and haunted mansions. He figured the gates would be made of bones (humans and animals), topped off and centered with skulls. Moss and vines would sway from branches of the trees.

The inhabitants were creatures of every kind. Sure there were those based off the classic Hollywood monsters, as well as more recent horror figures. In his imagined Halloween Town, there were even humans who threw away their mundane existence for a world of something more exciting, and well, terrifying. It was a place where people like him could embrace one another without the fear of judgment or rude names.

"If given the choice, I would leave this place in a minute," Seth muttered to himself while admiring a recent work. It was a gothic inspired castle, more exaggerated than the previous drawings. The architecture consisted of black and gray stones with arched windows, and vines dripping from the window sills. He considered a drawbridge over murky water, but found the detail too cliché. It was a palace fitting for Halloween's monarch.

He turned the page to stare at the face of the king himself. He designed a skeleton figure with fierce eyes and the upper canines formed into fangs. The original idea of a cloak was trashed, as reminding him too much of the grim reaper. Instead Jack was dressed in a kingly robe, with a flowing, raven-feathered cape, and a crown made with spikes.

"If only this job was real," Seth whispered.

He recalled the February day in third grade when they were assigned to choose an ideal career. When it was Seth's turn to speak, he boldly announced his desire to be the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. Jason (as well as others who had Mrs. Robertson the previous year) got a good laugh out of it. The teacher was less than thrilled, and sent a note home with the unruly student, which only embarrassed his mother, and amused his father. The teacher allowed him a chance to redo the assignment and Seth spoke on a less pleasing career of his mother's choice.

Seth closed the sketchbook. He stood up and stretched before making his way to his closet. He pushed his everyday clothes aside to look upon his Halloween costumes of the past. His friends had given him the nickname, "The King of Halloween" which was eventually shortened it to "The Pumpkin King."

The past three years he gave up his quest for candy for something more appealing, something that had earned that title he wore with pride: scares. He watched hours of horror movies from all decades, and researched elaborate pranks with the purpose of scaring his friends and family.

Two years prior, he had spent two months practicing the art of stage makeup. October twenty-eighth marked the first performance. He could still hear Jason's panicked screams as he found his friend lying on his doorstep.

Seth had laid his head down on the top step with his arms sprawled out in front of him. He had to hide his smile upon hearing Jason's voice calling to his mother before opening the front door.

Jason jumped at the sight of a human lying before him. He heard the realistically agonizing moans and knelt down. From the porch light he recognized the figure to be Seth and immediately dismissed it as a bad joke.

"You're not funny," Jason said.

"Help," Seth weakly moaned.

He lifted his upper body and stared into the frightened face of his closest friend. Jason lost the ability to speak as he gazed upon the realism of the eye gouges. He scrambled inside to grab the phone. Nervous fingers pressed the nine key three times. Jason began again, carefully, although shakily pressed the nine only once. Before reaching for the one key he heard that familiar laugh.

Jason spun around to see his friend leaning against the wall while laughing.

"I got you good," Seth bragged in between laughs.

Face red and contorted he rushed forward and smacked the other boy in the forehead with the phone.

"That's not funny!" Jason screamed.

Seth rubbed at his forehead at the memory of Jason smacking him in the head with the phone. Once the nerves relaxed, and after apologizing several times, Jason could also see the effort that went into the prank.

The following year he planned a fake possession. He prepared himself by watching the greatest performances from select horror movies. He videotaped each practice to narrow down the problem areas. Jason was appointed a confederate in the show they had staged for their new friend, Lyle.

The act was scheduled as the three made their way to a party.

Seth purposely chose the pathway with the least amount of light for effect. The chatter soon died down as the road became darker, a waning crescent providing the only illumination. Jason nodded and Seth fell to the ground.

"Seth, what's wrong?" Lyle asked. He knelt down beside him only to come inches from being kicked in the face. Lyle fell backwards, eyes agape at the sight before him.

He thrashed and jerked.

"He's having a seizure!" Lyle screamed.

Seth lifted his head and spoke in a voice not his own, "You won't escape. None of you can escape."

He rolled over on his shoulder then crept up to the blond who tried to scramble away. Seth gripped Lyle's foot, causing the boy to scream as he attempted to crawl away.

Jason watched on in silence. The performance even gave him chills. His eyes fell on Lyle, who looked about ready to wet himself.

Seth stretched his neck and moved his arms in unnatural directions, ignoring the painful protests from his limbs.

"None will escape," he whispered as he reached for Lyle's face.

It was only when he saw the tears falling he stopped. Seth backed away and sat down on his knees. He exchanged glances with Jason who put a hand on their new acquaintance's shoulder.

"Dude, come on, it's just a joke," Jason said. Lyle looked up to see Jason smiling at him. "None of it's real."

Lyle glanced over at Seth who appeared to be back to normal.

"Yeah, it was just a Halloween prank," Seth added.

It took a few minutes for Lyle to resume normal breathing. They both apologized. Lyle, being the new kid with limited acquaintances, was quick to forgive them.

Jason helped Lyle to his feet and the three continued their journey, not one speaking of the event for the rest of the night. Come Monday it was Lyle himself who boasted of Seth's incredible performance. Seth could only smile at his new friend's words.

It was now a year later, and Seth wondered what his prank would be. His mother found his antics to be childish. His friends, however, despite most likely being assigned as the victim, looked forward to what his annual project would be.

Seth closed his closet door with an empty expression. He was only five days away from Halloween, and had yet to come up with a plan for the year. Though it pained him to admit, Seth felt he would skip the scares for the year. With the ghost of a smirk, the teenager imagined how surprised everyone would be after all.


The night of October twenty-ninth arrived. Seth's father was invited to a company banquet with his wife to accompany him, leaving Seth alone in the house.

The dark haired boy emerged from the kitchen with a plastic bowl of popcorn in his hand. He surfed the channels until he found a decent horror movie. Shoveling the buttery treat into his mouth, those hazel eyes were glued to the screen. It was a story he was familiar with, and could already predict the ending, but it was still fun to watch.

Jason and Lyle watched from underneath the stairs. They had been let in by Seth's mother right before they left for the dinner. She welcomed the boys who made their ways to the staircase, pretending to climb up to the second floor that housed Seth's room. When she was out of vision, the two hid themselves underneath the steps.

Seth leaned over to grab the soda from where it sat on the coffee table. He glanced up to see a shadow moving in the darkened section of the television screen. The teenager turned sharply to find the area void of anyone. With a smirk he shrugged it off and resumed his spot on the couch, with the cushion directly beneath his arm.

Jason held a hand over Lyle's mouth to silence the laughter.

He glared at the blond and asked in a harsh whisper, "Do you want to get caught?"

Lyle had to press his lips together to keep the chuckle from escaping. A snort escaped and the two froze. Jason slowly peeked out to see Seth too engrossed in the movie to even notice.

Jason waved his hand for Lyle to follow. The two crouched down and made their way over to the couch three feet from their starting point. The two ducked down. Seth scratched at the back of his scalp then reached into the bowl for another helping of popcorn.

Jason lifted one finger. Lyle took a deep breath. On the second finger they moved into a crouching stance. On the last finger they rose up simultaneously and shrieked, causing Seth to jump and the popcorn bowl to topple over leaving yellow specks all over the living room floor.

Seth moved to his feet and tumbled over the coffee table. His friends laughed at the sight of Seth's face. Lyle lifted a hand in the air which Jason was about to collide his with when he noticed the groaning from the floor.

The two peered over to see Seth holding the lower half of his right leg. He held it gently while sharply accepting and releasing oxygen. His face had turned red.

"S—Seth," Lyle stammered.

"I—I can't move it!" Seth yelled. "I think it's broken."

"We're not falling for that," Jason said with a roll of his eyes.

"No, no, I'm serious," Seth whined. He tried to move his ankle only to contort his face and hiss in pain.

Jason searched for any signs of deception only to find it flawless. Everyone knew Seth to be a good actor, the reason he was a respected member of the drama department, but the performance was too good.

"We—we shouldn't have done this," Lyle cried. He huddled over beside his friend on the floor. "We need to get you to a hospital."

Jason's chest stung. He suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

"If—if only I had seen you in the TV sooner," Seth said with a smile.

Lyle backed away before face palming at their mistake, and Jason smacked the side of the couch. The latter tossed the pillow at Seth's face, barely muffling the laughter. He only wished he had something harder to throw.

"That's not funny," hissed Jason.

Seth could only cackle. With a toothy smile he replied, "Neither is sneaking into someone's house and nearly giving them a heart attack."

"You're one to talk," Jason retorted.

"So we're even?" Lyle asked.

"We'll never be even," Jason replied to which Seth could only laugh.


A tall, slender figure waited in the shadows, empty eyes watching. The brunette's laughter displayed pure delight. The blond chuckled for a few seconds before sitting himself down on the couch; the movie did look promising.

The news of this mortal's abilities had reached Halloween Town. Within hours he found himself curious-curious enough to step out two days before their grand show to witness the human's talents for himself.

His jaw curved into a grin.

The skeleton looked down at the ghost dog by his side. "You know, Zero," he said quietly enough for only the canine to hear. His gaze fell back on the human. "He may have potential after all."