For BeChloeIsLegit, RidiculouslyOverObsessed, Cheeyathebard and AnnaKendrick47
Notes: A few of us readers/writers/mega fans of Pitch Perfect recently saw that there wouldn't be a Pitch Perfect Horror Week this year. This bummed us out, since Pitch Perfect Horror Week had become a tradition of sort, and some really creative writing, and unusual stories had emerged from that thought experiment. We got together and the Pitch Perfect SpookFest brainstorm emerged. We really appreciate all the work past fans/writers/creators had done delivering Pitch Perfect Horror Week, and wanted to give a shout out to its creators. Their tradition should go on. It will go on! As Pitch Perfect SpookFest! Now the powers that be on Archive of Our Own take a dim view of posting polls, questions, adds and all content that is not a story, but I really wanted to promote Pitch Perfect SpookFest, so I wrote this as a tongue-in-cheek story to promote Pitch Perfect SpookFest and to ask readers for their help in choosing this year's prompts. Hope you still enjoy!
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
"Chloe," Beca sighed as Chloe started going through another stack of albums. "What are we doing here?"
The record store they were in was actually pretty cool. It was large with multiple rooms and was rather shabby, but in a cool way, like it was well used and full of hidden treasures. Beca hadn't even known this place existed, which was embarrassing. Yes, the Internet was a glorious thing where she could listen to any music she wanted, any time, anywhere, but there was something real about holding a vinyl record that still gave her a sense of warmth and comfort. Record players were a bit old school, in her opinion, but it was a connection to the past she loved; something old, authentic, and aesthetically pleasing. The kind of thing people have always admired when they visited her room, so there also was a bit of pride in having one.
"I could be doing literally anything else with my Friday," Beca said just to be contrary.
"Yes, you could, Becs. However, this particular Friday, you're here helping me," Chloe replied with a quick kiss to Beca's cheek before leading her deeper into the store.
The kiss short-circuited Beca for a heartbeat, but then she followed, asking, "Yeah, but what am I helping you with?" She hoped her cheeks weren't too red with blush.
"I'm getting ideas for the Bellas Halloween extravaganza," Chloe answered as she continued to go through the albums. They moved from shelf to shelf, Chloe slowly gathering a handful of record albums.
"It's an extravaganza now?" Beca asked with her fair share of snark.
With hand to chest in faux shock, Chloe said, "Please, Becs. This is a Bellas event, of course, it's an extravaganza."
Knowing there was no arguing with Chloe's reasoning, Beca asked, "Still don't know what we're doing here, though."
"I'm getting ideas for the Pitch Perfect SpookFest , silly; just like I told you in the car," Chloe answered as she turned and lightly bopped Beca on the tip of her nose.
The petite brunette swatted Chloe's hand away as she asked, " Pitch Perfect SpookFest ?"
"Yes!" Chloe said excitedly. "Isn't it the coolest name?"
"Eh," Beca shrugged, "I've heard better."
"Well, I love it," Chloe said as she moved to another stack of vinyl record albums. "We're going to have an amazing Pitch Perfect SpookFest."
"You're really wed to that name, aren't you?" Beca teased.
"Of course," Chloe said with a smirk. "It rolls off the tongue. Try it." The redhead walked over to a box on the floor and knelt next to it. "Come on, Becs."
"Chloe…," Beca whined as she looked at the dozen other boxes that were stacked on the ledge. Trying to deflect, Beca said, "This reminds me so much of stacking CDs with Jesse at the radio station. I spent so many hours at the station with Jesse there."
"Yeah, I remember," Chloe said with little enthusiasm.
"It's true, just look," Beca pointed at the hodgepodge of shelves that covered the wall. Some had albums in stacks, others were resting on their edge. With a sigh, Beca started checking the contents of the different boxes. She tried to slow her pace slightly but wound up going through the titles in haste.
"I know what you're doing, Becs, I want to hear you say it," the redhead said as she fixed her friend with a most intense stare.
"But it's soooo cheesy," Beca whined.
"Come on, Becs, just say it," Chloe said as she morphed her scrutiny of Beca into a soft, imploring look.
"How do you do that?" Beca asked. Chloe's eyes literally grew rounder and bigger right in front of her.
"Please, Becs."
"I don't…"
"Pretty please, Becs." Chloe gave the younger woman her best puppy dog eyes ever. And just like that, the battle was over. Beca knew when to pick and choose his battles when it came to
The petite brunette tried to stand firm, but as with every other time the redhead utilized her impossibly blue eyes, she folded. "Fine!" She huffed. " Pitch Perfect SpookFest ."
"Isn't it a great name?"
"I guess, but what does it even mean?" Beca asked. "Pitch Perfect?"
The redhead shrugged. "I don't know. I thought it described the Bellas perfectly when you had us sing in the pool. We just sounded so pitch perfect."
"Huh," Beca said as she thought about it. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am," replied Chloe with a twinkle in her eyes.
"You don't even own a record player"
"No, but you do," said Chloe happily.
"So, you're planning on using mine?"
"Of course."
At that moment, Stacie came over from the other side of the store. "Hey Chloe, I found these albums. I think they're what you're looking for, for the Pitch Perfect SpookFest."
"You too, Legs?" Beca sighed.
"It's a great name, Munchkin," Stacie countered.
"Bite me, gigantrous," Beca snarked.
"The invitation is always open, Hotstuff," Stacie replied in a husky voice.
"Let's see what you have," Chloe interjected as she took the albums from the taller brunette. She ignored Beca's sputtered attempt at responding to Stacie's teasing. "Ooooh, Alice Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare , and Kiss's, Creatures of the Night . These are perfect, Stace."
"I found these," said Aubrey as she stepped up next to Stacie.
"Thanks, Bree," said Chloe with a huge smile as she accepted Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon and Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath.
"Aubrey? When did the dictator get here?" Beca asked.
"I was right behind you when you entered the store, Hobbit," Aubrey shot back. Beca and Aubrey seemed to fall into a staring contest, which only caused both Chloe and Stacie to roll their eyes.
"She came with Stacie," added Fat Amy, which caused Beca to break her concentration, which brought a smug smirk to Aubrey's visage.
Beca glared at the blonde before she whirled about to see her Aussie friend. "Ames?"
The boisterous blonde ignored her best friend and instead focused on Stacie as she let out a huff. "I suppose this means Staubrey will be a part of Pitch Perfect SpookFest? "
"You better believe it," answered Stacie as she gave Aubrey a kiss on the cheek.
"When did Amy get here?" Beca asked incredulously.
"Can Jesley be part of the SpookFest ?" Jessica asked as she handed Nine Inch Nails' Bad Witch to Chloe.
"Wait, Ashley is here, too?" Beca asked.
"I'm Jessica," the blonde said, "but Ashley is also here." She waved at the brunette who approached carrying Metallica's Master of Puppets .
"Are all the Bellas here?"
"Yes, Becs," Chloe replied. "I wanted to make sure all the Bellas are a part of SpookFest ."
"What about Jesse?" asked Amy, as if she were challenging Chloe's upbeat attitude. She had witnessed Chloe's demeanor when Beca had reminisced about working at the radio station. "You know Shawshank, this place reminds me of the campus radio station. It could really use you and Jesse going through and alphabetizing the shelves."
"Been there, done that," replied Beca, oblivious to what her blonde Aussie friend was doing. Instead, she started sifting through another pile and picked up a Fleetwood Mac album and read the back cover before placing it back because it definitely wasn't what Chloe was going for.
"Uh-huh, still feels like Jesse should be a part of the SpookFest, don'tcha think, Ginge?" Amy directed her question to Chloe, who returned to her searching in an attempt to ignore any conversation about the captain of the TrebleMakers.
There was a momentary pause, but in the end, Chloe nodded. "Yes, Jesse is invited to the Pitch Perfect SpookFest ."
"How about Bemily?" asked Emily as she stepped next to Beca.
"Not if I can help it," Chloe muttered under her breath. The redhead tried to say it quietly so the younger Bella wouldn't hear her, but Emily's keen sense of hearing did catch it.
"I can't bring Benji?" The tallest Bella looked so forlorn, as if her puppy had been kicked.
"Benji?" Chloe asked in confusion.
"Yeah, Benji and me," replied Emily. "Isn't that what people are referring to when they say Bemily?"
"Legacy, sometimes I'm shocked you can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time," sighed Amy. The blonde then perked up. "I suppose my friend Mitchsen is welcome."
"I guess," answered Chloe sullenly. She definitely wasn't liking this line of inquiry.
"What about Kommissar?" Lily asked as she handed Chloe Kiss's Psycho Circus album.
"Nope, we don't need Kommissar," Chloe said definitively.
"But that gorgeous dominatrix would be perfect for SpookFest ," Beca said offhandedly. The petite DJ straightened up as she felt the intensity of Chloe's glare, and she realized just what she said.
"Which is exactly why I don't want her," the redhead grumbled.
"Easy Red," said Cynthia Rose as she handed her the Notorious B.I.G's album 'Life After Death. '
"Finally! Something from this century," Beca said in exasperated delight.
"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear that you're having a party," said a young attractive brunette with a slight accent. "Would you be interested in having live music?"
"Who are you?" Beca asked warily.
"My stage name is Calamity, but my real name is Rose," answered the woman as she held out her hand. "My band is called Evermoist…"
"Sounds like a wet wipe brand," said Amy out of the side of her mouth.
"Amy! Be nice," hissed Beca.
"Our apologies, Amy doesn't really do filters," Aubrey said.
"Anyway, my band is new to the Atlanta area, and we're looking for some gigs to help us get our name out there."
"Live music would be a blast," Chloe said enthusiastically. "Beca can DJ part of the night, and Evermoist can cover the other half."
"Hey, did I hear that there's going to be a party?" asked a young man. He was very focused on Chloe as he asked the question. "My name's Chicago, and I…"
"Hard pass," interrupted Beca, holding her hand up. This elicited a giggle from Chloe. Chicago started to open his mouth, but Beca cut him off with a shooing motion, "Move along, move along."
Chloe was still laughing at her best friend's antics when she heard a voice ask in a distinctive British accent, "Did I hear something about a SpookFest ?" The redhead stopped laughing and whirled around to see a gentleman with a neatly trimmed beard giving Beca his full attention.
"Nope," Chloe responded forcefully. "You heard wrong. Move along." She copied Beca's shooing motion.
The Englishman was caught off guard but, after a few more insistent shooing motions, moved on.
"I don't know, Red," CR observed, "He might've fit in really well in a Pitch Perfect SpookFest. There was a whole lot of eye contact there."
"Way too much eye contact," added Beca, "And did anyone else think he looked a bit like a turtle?"
All the Bellas glanced at his retreating form, started to nod, and simultaneously say, "Oh, yeah."
"Oh-kay," Beca started, a little freaked by how in sync her friends were at that moment. "So, Chloe, do we have enough?"
"Nein, meine kleine Maus," came a clipped German accent.
All the Bellas turned towards the tall German woman as one and exclaimed, "DSM!"
Kommissar was standing with a half dozen men, all in black leather. Pieter was to Kommissar's immediate right and was holding a half dozen record albums.
The blonde boldly stepped up to Beca and ran the back of her hand down Beca's cheek. The petite brunette uttered an involuntary sigh. With a truly evil smirk, Kommissar said, "Ja, it's DSM, and we have some albums by the Scorpions and Rhamstein…"
"That's okay," Chloe cut in as she pulled the seemingly hypnotized Beca behind her. "We're good."
"Are you sure?" Kommissar seemed very amused.
With a curt nod, Chloe repeated, "We're good." With a chuckle, Kommissar and the members of DSM performed a military precision about-face and marched out of the shop. Everyone thought they could hear the faint strains of Star Wars Imperial March as DSM departed.
"So soft…," mumbled Beca. She agai straightened under the powerful glare of her ginger best friend.
"Anyone else thinking this record store is a bit twilight zoney?" Cynthia Rose asked the group.
All the Bellas could do is nod.
"We should get out of here," suggested Stacie.
"Do we have enough albums?" Aubrey asked.
"Let's see," said Chloe as she laid out the stack of albums. "We have two albums by Alice Cooper, Welcome To My Nightmare and Paranormal , Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath…"
"I have another," Emily said excitedly as she brought up another album.
"What you got, Legacy?" Beca asked as she took the record.
"The Original Monster Mash," Emily practically squealed.
Chloe took the record from Beca and laid it out with the others. "So Bobby Picket's, The Original Monster Mash, umm what's next? Uh, oh here, we have one by Insane Clown Posse Riddle Box…"
"Insane Clown Posse? That totally fits a Pitch Perfect SpookFest," offered Amy.
Cynthia Rose just shook her head. "None of that crazy, white girl shit."
"Well, we also have two albums by Iron Maiden…"
"Their covers at least fit the theme of a Pitch Perfect SpookFest…"
"Aww, Becs! You've embraced the SpookFest! " Chloe gave her best friend a full-on hug.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beca grumbled, though she didn't fight to get out of the hug. She did ask, "Which albums?"
"Oh," Chloe said as she reluctantly released the petite DJ and looked down at the record covers. "Umm, we have The Number of the Beast and Fear of the Dark."
"Check this one out," Jessica and Ashley said together.
"Ashley, Jessica, when did you get here?" Amy asked.
"We've been here the whole time! We brought the Nine Inch Nails album and the Metallica," said both women simultaneously.
"It's like they're the same person," Amy said out of the side of her mouth.
Chloe ignored Amy and accepted the album Ashley was holding. "Hm, The Maze To Nowhere by Lorn. Not sure I've ever heard of it, but hey, let's add it to the pile."
"I have. Lorn's a really talented underground electronic musician. Maze To Nowhere is all instrumental but definitely fits the SpookFest motif," Beca offered.
"Great, so we add it, and we have two albums by Kiss; Creatures of the Night and Psycho Circus."
Lily seemed to rise out of nowhere and placed another album. Unfazed, Chloe read the cover for Lily's newest contribution. "And, we have the Misfits Walk Among Us." The redhead then went to the stack she already had, "Which we add to Metallica's Master of Puppets , and Nine Inch Nails' Bad Witch. Then we have Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death . And we end with two Ozzy Osbourne albums, Bark at the Moon and Speak of the Devil. And one by Rob Zombie, The Sinister Urge. "
"How many albums is that?" Aubrey asked.
"Oh, um, let me count," Chloe answered.
"Seventeen," Stacie answered helpfully.
"Seventeen, yeah, that's what I was going to say," Beca said a half beat behind.
"That seems like a lot," Emily offered.
"She's right," Aubrey observed, while Stacie nodded.
"We could vote," suggested Beca.
"That's a brilliant idea, Becs," Chloe said as she gave the petite woman another hug and peck on the cheek.
"How do you want to do it?" Cynthia Rose asked.
"I would recommend we lay out all the albums and everyone votes. Each person picks their top three, and the albums with the most votes win," Stacie suggested.
"That's a great idea, Stacie," Chloe said.
"How many do we want to choose?" Beca asked.
Tapping her chin with her index finger, Chloe hummed. "That's a good question. I was thinking seven, but what do you think, Bree?"
"I was thinking eight, roughly half what we have now," answered the blonde.
"Eight it is," Chloe confirmed. "Let's get these laid out, so everyone can see their choices. We want everyone to pick their favorite three, and the top eight choices will make up the theme for our first Pitch Perfect SpookFest."
"Let's get them laid out," said Aubrey as she started to place the albums. Quickly they were all laid out in front of the Bellas.
Alice Cooper, Welcome To My Nightmare
Alice Cooper, Paranormal
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
Bobby Picket, The Original Monster Mash
Insane Clown Posse, Riddle Box
Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden, Fear of the Dark
Kiss, Creatures of the Night
Kiss, Psycho Circus
Lorn, The Maze To Nowhere
Metallica, Master of Puppets
Misfits, Walk Among Us
Nine Inch Nails, Bad Witch
Notorious B.I.G's 'Life After Death'
Ozzy Osbourne, Bark at the Moon
Ozzy Osbourne, Speak of the Devil
Rob Zombie, The Sinister Urge
"Good job, ladies! Now, remember, everyone vote. We want your best three you would like to see be part of the Pitch Perfect SpookFest," Chloe instructed.
"Do I get a vote, too?" Chicago asked.
"Nope," Beca answered immediately.
Again Chloe openly giggled, before she looked at everyone else. "The rest of you, be sure to vote."
"Yes ma'am," the Bellas said in unison.
The End
Notes: Okay, so it wasn't a serious story, but hopefully you found it fun. We are currently advertising Pitch Perfect SpookFest on Tumblr. You can find it here post/695380202226892800/pitch-perfect-spookfest-2022-hello-guys-and Don't worry, if you don't have a Tumblr account, or don't do Tumblr, you can still vote. You can vote in the comments section of this story. Please choose three prompts from the seventeen album titles introduced in this story, and we will add them to the votes via Tumblr. We are asking that you pick your top 3 prompts and send them to us before 23:59 on Sept 25th. We also ask that each person only vote once to keep it fair.