CORY

Okay, it has been officially six months since I discovered Horrorland. And fate would have it, I have managed to track down three kids that had previously been to Horrorland: Siblings Lizzy and Luke Morris, as well as a close friend of theirs, Clay. In fact, the entire Morris family had been there! So, here's what the Morris kids told me:

Apparently Horrorland changes locations every few months, like dark magical teleportation. But it's BEEN a few months, and it's still here! Slappy must be a dummy of his word, because if it's here to stay, then he indeed has his sights on this town for a reason.

It was even in Florida, right near Fever Swamp! Which…kind of makes sense for the werewolves in the park. Was it there during our field trip? I guess I'll never know.

There's many rules of that place, too. No pinching, as doing so on Horrors will make them deflate like balloons (maybe they can be inflated again like cartoon characters?). There's no cameras aloud, so we'll need some not visible to the monsters. Like secret ones.

Also…No Mirrors Allowed.

No Mirrors Allowed? Why? Maybe they fear Bloody Mary and her Reflection Army? Or is it something else?

There's even a Monster Police and a Monster Dentist Office! What?! What kind of theme park has law enforcement and health care?! I take it these guys aren't so good at their jobs…

The cops also have giant butterfly nets and throw you into this place called the Dungeon of Doom, run by a dark warlock called the Dungeon Master. Okay, that sounds pretty cool, but I bet that it's not.

Oh yeah, Amaz-O said he used to perform there, too. There's also some seemingly fatal rides, like Certain Death and The Final Leap. But that doesn't seem right. Horrorland only wants to scare people, not kill. Right?

I wouldn't know. I've never been there.

"So…where did you get all this exactly?" I ask.

"From this show called the Strange Report." Lizzie says. "Hosted by paranormal investigators Deker and Margo Strange. We went to Horrorland with them."

"Those were the guys that interviewed me!" Evan Ross gasped. "About the Monster Blood plane incident!"

"You went to Horrorland with them?" Lisa asks. "Woah. So what happened? Were you able to uncover its secrets? Like where Stine is?"

"Uh, no, we didn't even come close!" Luke adds. "Turns out they were working with the Horrors so they would help reveal the park's secrets! We nearly got killed until we were rescued by people disguised as Horrors. They said they were reporters for a show called Weird Copy."

"Woah." I only gasp. "Okay…?" As if Dr. Strange's distant relatives weren't enough.

"They managed to arrest the Stranges, but when they moved to shut down Horrorland for good, it was gone." Lizzy adds. "But the reporters didn't feel that they had not gotten enough information to be able to make a good enough report. So they proceeded to drive Clay and us to another amusement park named Terrorville."

"Terrorville?!" Lisa gasps. "Is that like Horrorland 2?!"

"Turns out they don't know much about that place." Lizzie says. "The owner of that place calls it…the Carnival of Horrors. It can also move from place to place instantly, just like Horrorland."

"We were able to escape and get back to town." Luke says. "The Strange Report stopped airing, and I don't think we'll be seeing Weird Copy anytime soon."

Lisa and I only turn to each other with an "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" look. That could be the perfect place to train for Horrorland! Provided of course, it's not even deadlier and scarier.

"And during our first trip, we got free passes for next year." Lizzie shows us the passes, along with tickets. "This time, we also got these strange tickets. No idea what they mean. Are they…expecting us to come back?"

Lisa and I only took a look at the tickets. They read "VSG". Very Special Guest.

Slappy mentioned a Very Special Guest! But that was only R.L. Stine. So…he's expecting MORE of them!

I piece it together. He's expecting us to arrive! He knows what we're trying to do! He's just standing there, waiting for us to make a move and enter Horrorland.

I won't deny it, we'll have to make that move eventually. But only when we're ready. But when that day comes, well…I don't think those free passes will be useful anymore.

"And you know what's REALLY weird?" Luke says after we hand the tickets back. "Watch."

He takes a ticket and tears it up. The pieces are left on the table…and soon begin to levitate! Slowly, the ripped pieces put themselves back together, looking as if they haven't been torn to shreds in the first place!

"Woah…" Lisa gasps. "Super crazy…"

"Can't be destroyed…just like the manuscripts…" I note. Hey…what if the VHS movie tapes can't be destroyed either?

"There's something else." Lizzy adds. "While at Horrorland, we got lost from the Stranges. After we regrouped, I later got separated from both them, Luke, and Clay. As I searched for them, I noticed something we didn't see before the first time. There was this…strange abandoned path. Leading into a more lost part of Horrorland. I followed it, and I came across…well, this."

She shows me a picture on her phone. It's a large old and abandoned building. I can read a faded logo on it. It says "House of Mirrors". But there's also some cautionary tape and several signs. They say "Restricted Area.", "Keep Out!", "This Means You!", "Do Not Enter EVER!", and "Stay FAR FAR Away!".

"Restricted Area?" I ask. "I bet you have no idea what happened to that place that made it off-limits. But I'm guessing it has to do with the No Mirrors Allowed rule."

"Yeah. But I was found by the Monster Police, who chased me away. I managed to escape from them, but since I was so caught up with finding Luke and Clay, and too busy trying to escape from the Monster Police, I completely forgot where I found that place."

"If they wanted to tear that place down, they would've done so already." Lisa said. "So why haven't they?"

"Maybe the demolition cost is too expensive." I hypothesize. "So they try to keep staff and visitors away from that place. But why? What makes that place seem so dangerous?"

I reflect back to my theory that they fear Bloody Mary. Lucy DID say that she was AGAINST Slappy. Maybe she also frightens him as well. Maybe he fears getting swapped by a Reflection and trapped in the Mirror World. But dummies don't have any blood. What use would she have for him? Maybe capturing him for whatever master she has?

Speaking of Lucy, I see her enter.

"Nate and Linda did their research on Horrorland." She says. "But they've discovered something. You're gonna wanna see this."

"So, here's what we found." Nathan said. "We had to dig deep into Monster Lore for this one."

"Aw yes! Monster Lore!" Lisa cheers. "Whatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisit?!"

"Well, it's more of a recent lore thing." Lindy says, pulling up the article. They show two figures. One is a green Horror in a showman's suit, and another is more of a brown Horror that can take a human form.

"Back in the 1970s," Nathan states. "Horrorland was founded and created by three monster brothers, Horrors that were seen as outcasts in the human eye. The first brother was called Horrifico. He's a powerful mage, and his mastery over the arcane arts allows him to dispel any kind of curse. He can even undo the Haunted Mask's possession!"

"Woah…" Carly Beth gasps. "Steve and I REALLY could've used that…"

"The second brother was called Stump. He was a Blender, a monster that could disguise himself as a human. Under the alias Madison Storm, he was the only one among the three to live freely among the humans without fear of discrimination from them."

"Horrifico…that was the guy I came across when I first saw Horrorland!" I realized.

"One of the Horrors also mentioned Storm, too!" Lizzie adds. "But…who's the third guy?"

"Horrifico was the youngest. Stump the middle child." Nathan continues. "The oldest was a human. Kit Katzman. He said that he was a big horror fan his entire life to the public, but in truth he was a powerful sorcerer, who created his Horror brothers from radioactive slime puddles that he summoned. For he too was an outcast. And extremely lonely. And his brothers inherited his powers. Horrifico his magic, and Stump his human form. Together, they created and founded a sanctuary for all monsterkind. A secret safe haven, where they would be able to live freely to their hearts' content. Here, no human would ever harm them. This…was New Transylvania."

"Woaaaaaahhhhhhh…" Lisa and I gasp. "Mind blown…"

"It was a place of peace. Of tranquility. Of freedom. A brand new kingdom, one always on the move so no human could ever track it down. This place of magic was paradise. All monsters were welcome, no matter how different. That is…until he came along."

"Slappy…" I realized it immediately.

"Like all others, Slappy was treated as a monster. But he? He sought to strike back at the humans and enslave them all, so that no monster could ever be frightened of them ever again. Thus, he chose to take control of New Transylvania for himself. And make it so that no human would ever want to enter. With his magic, he suddenly controlled the mind of every monster in the sanctuary. Outraged, Kit tried to fight back. But Slappy easily destroyed him, causing to have an…early retirement. Ever since, Slappy twisted, deformed, and corrupted New Transylvania. Until it became what you now know it to be: Horrorland."

"That's…SO messed up!" I protest. "They only wanted to live in peace, not fight someone else's war!"

"Now as one of many Slappy's slaves, Horrifico and Stump are but managers to the CEO that Slappy is. And above all, Slappy has proclaimed himself the most Very Important Person of them all. Horrorland quickly became his main base of operations, now nothing but a perverted place of evil. From there, he has forever planned his conquest of the human world, in order to turn it into a place of fear and chaos. Where monsters roam as the dominant species."

"We've mapped the entirety of Horrorland as well." Lindy says, handing me a FAR more detailed map. "It's an incredibly large place. By our calculations, our current numbers aren't enough. Our odds are basically 109,758,194,235 to 1."

"Guess we'll have to shrink those odds by a few thousand." I say. "Then take it. But to do that…we'll need more of those numbers. Which means we'll need to find more help. Those who can work on and off of the field…"

Alright then. Time for some more recruitment.