Author's Note: Well, after this update, I'm going to rest up. Warp speed updating takes a lot out of me, let me tell ya. I'll also tell you that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a splendid work of film that I highly recommend viewing. Its creators are geniuses and I'm eternally grateful to the them giving me and so many others an outlet for creativity. Speaking of which, let's get this show on the road. (Re-edit Comment: Technically, it was Lock, Shock, Barrel, and the Bathtub that ended up in Halloween Town in this chapter. The Bathtub isn't really a character though, more of a vehicle.)

The death of a child is never an easy thing to face. The thought of three passing from one world into the next at the same time is almost unbearable. I'll understand if these final moments of Louis, Shirley, and Barrel's lives are too much for your eyes. They were almost too much for mine. Unfortunately, the past cannot be changed, and this is how they ended up under my care. Well, to be more precise, Oogie Boogie's care.

— Henry Cadaver

October 31st, 1956

Halloween Night had fallen on the small Massachusetts town of Hastings. Saint Jerome's Home for Boys and Girls seemed to be more of a home for ghosts and goblins, and any other costumes the kids could make. However, three were missing among the trick-or-treaters as they left the orphanage with Sister Abigail. Louis, Shirley, and Barry were punished for the night. Apparently, Sister Abigail had sat on one too many tacks, and decided to discipline the trio; she was sure it was alltheir doing. To be honest, it was, but that still didn't make things any better.

"What was the point of us making these stupid masks if we can't even use them?" Louis asked as he sat next to a window, glowering at passing trick-or-treaters and dropping his handmade devil's mask to the floor.

"You just had to put the tacks on the toilet seat, didn't you?" Barry asked Shirley as he tried to find something good to watch on the television set.

"That scream was worth it," Shirley said defensively as she tried on her witch mask before taking it off again. "Yeah, Louis. There really is no point."

"I threw mine out," Barry said as he gave up on the TV. "I got the skull all wrong anyway."

"When's dinner?" Louis asked, changing the subject.

"Beats me," Shirley replied. "Evelyn's in charge, and she's been in her room all night."

"Did she even put something in the oven?" Barry asked.

"Who knows?" Louis asked in return. "I wanna run away with a full belly, but that'll probably be ruined too."

"You know, I bet Sister Abigail still has some candy in her room," Shirley said, "and she's not here right now."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that." Barry said. "Candy counts, right Louis?"

"Counts enough for me. Let's raid her closet," Louis said as he got up and stretched.

The trio laughed mischievously as they walked upstairs and snuck into Sister Abigail's room. They went straight to the closet, where they found a secret stash of candy. It was a kid's dream, one they were living out as they chomped on every piece of candy they could find. It wasn't long until their bellies were full, and the three were ready to hightail it out of Saint Jerome's. However, something seemed wrong with the air. Shirley sniffed it first, then Barry and Louis caught wind of it.

"I smell something," Shirley said.

"Me too," Louis added. "I think it's coming from downstairs."

"Think we should check it out?" Barry asked.

"I'm not going down there alone," Louis said.

"Fine, we'll go too," Shirley said as she pulled on a reluctant Barry's sleeve.

As quietly as they snuck into Sister Abigail's room, the trio snuck out. They didn't have to get far to find out what the smell was. There was smoke everywhere, and the closer they got to the stairs, the hotter they felt. No one had to tell them twice- Saint Jerome's had caught on fire. Had they been returning with the other trick-or-treaters, the trio would have celebrated. However, this was bad, very bad.

"We have to get Evelyn!" Shirley exclaimed. "Follow me, I know where she sleeps."

"She'd better get us out of here," Louis said.

"Wait for me guys!" Barry yelled as he ran behind them.

It took a few seconds to find Evelyn's room. When they burst in, Evelyn had been listening to an Elvis record at full blast and smoking a cigarette. She was definitely not the goody goody the trio thought she was, not that Evelyn's hidden habits mattered at the moment. One thing was certain, she didn't like being caught.

"Children, remember to knock when you find closed doors," Evelyn said, scrambling to turn off the record player and extinguish her cigarette.

"Evelyn, did you start dinner?" Shirley asked.

"Yes. Why?" the nun in training asked before the smell reached her nose. "Oh no! I completely forgot about the chicken!"

"That's not even the worst part," Louis said as Evelyn ran to the doorway.

"We have to get out of here," Evelyn said nervously as the flames began to sweep over the staircase.

"We can't, Evelyn. The fire's probably in front of the door by now," Barry said.

"We can jump out my window," Evelyn said as she ran to the window and gulped. "Well, the fall's too large for you children, but I can make it and call for help. You three, go into my bathroom and wait. I'll come back with help."

"What if you don't?" Shirley asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"I got us into this mess, I'm going to get us out," Evelyn promised as she hugged the three children before making the jump.

The three orphans ran to the window to check if Evelyn had landed safely. She gave them a thumbs up and began to scream for help. In a matter of minutes, neighbors had left their houses and began to collect buckets of water until the firemen could take over. Louis, Shirley, and Barry didn't see them though. They had already gone into the bathroom by then. The three huddled inside Evelyn's bathtub, hoping for someone, anyone to save them.

"We're gonna die," Barry said, close to tears.

"Don't say that!" Louis yelled. "We're gonna make it just fine."

"We should've jumped out the window when we had a chance," Shirley said as she heard cracking, "What was that?"

"It's the ceiling," Louis said as he looked up.

"It's getting hot in here," Barry added as he too looked up.

"Guys, I think we should move," Shirley said.

In a matter of seconds, the trio jumped out of their bathtub sanctuary and watched as the burning wood of the ceiling fall on what would have been them if they had not moved. The smoke was getting very thick, so thick neither Louis, Shirley, or Barry could see their noses in front of them. The heat seemed to make the children melt, meshing their skin with their clothing. Even so, they managed to feel each other through the smoke and gather once more. This time, they crouched together in the one corner of the bathroom that didn't have fire and waited for the help that would never come. It wasn't long before the air in the bathroom ran out, and there was no more left for the trio. Their days in Saint Jerome's were finished.

By the time the firemen got there, it was too late. Saint Jerome's had burned down to the ground. Everything from clothing to furniture, even the television, was gone. As the firefighters searched through the rubble, they found three charred bodies of children, two boys and a girl. The fire had burned them beyond recognition, but they were quickly identified by the head Sister. Sister Abigail scolded herself for punishing Louis, Shirley, and Barry on Halloween. She cried for the three sets of parents who lost their children before they had the chance to meet them. She lamented Evelyn's arrest for child endangerment and even tried to turn herself in for the same charges. Still, nothing could bring the three children back to life. They were lost to the mortal world forever.

Their souls, however, were perfectly fine. In fact, they were fast asleep and riding through the gates of Halloween Town in, of all things, a walking bathtub. When they woke up, the first person they saw was the dead man from the television, up close and personal. They did what any normal children would have done- freaked out.

"AHH! He kidnapped us!" yelled a soul in the form of a boy dressed in a skeleton costume exclaimed as he shook his companions. "Wake up!"

"We're already awake," said the only female soul, all dressed up as a witch. "Listen, Mister, how did you get us here?"

"Tell the truth, or we'll beat you up," said the second male soul, the tail of his devilish form wiggling furiously. "Whoa! I have a tail?"

"Pay attention!" said the witch to the devil.

"I am. Check it out," said the devil, wiggling his tail to and fro.

"Not to that you moron! The dead guy."

"King Henry Cadaver," Henry said, a bit irritated that he was being ignored.

"Yeah, him," said the skeleton boy.

"Children, please. You're home now."

"We are?" asked the devil.

"Sure. Jump out of the tub and take a look."

The trio didn't exactly trust this Henry Cadaver, but there was nothing better to do. So, one by one, the three jumped out of the tub onto the ground of Halloween Town. They were surrounded by all kinds of people, if one could call them that. There was a man about their height with a very tall hat and two faces. Then, there was another man in a wheelchair pushed by a woman who looked to be some kind of zombie. Most interesting of all was what appeared to be a giant burlap sack man who could make bugs come out of his eyes. This interested the children very much so.

"Wow! Do that again, Mister," said the skeleton of the three.

"Oogie Boogie to you, squirts," said the burlap sack man.

"Welcome to Halloween Town, kids. We were expecting you," said the two-faced man, who was apparently in a good mood. "I'm the Mayor."

"Yeah, nice," the devil said in no attempt to sound interested. "What else can you do, Oogie Boogie?"

"Well, Henry, these three seem to have wonderful manners," the man in the wheelchair sarcastically said to the Pumpkin King.

"They'll learn, Doctor Finkelstein, don't worry. Kids, what are your names?" Henry asked.

"We don't know," the witch said as she tried to stroke her chin. "Hey, I can't feel my face."

"That's because you still have masks on," Henry said.

As soon as Henry pointed that out, the three children took off their masks. The group around them, except for the doctor's servant woman, gasped in shock. Their faces matched their masks perfectly. It was very uncanny. These children seemed to be meant for trick-or-treating, manners or not. When they realized that, the trio put their masks on and took them off over and over, giggling at their antics.

"Yes, we're aware of your resemblance to your masks," Henry said. "Now, can you kids remember anything, like names?"

"There was something about a lock, shock, and barrel," said the skeleton.

"Wasn't it stock?" asked the devil.

"Nope, it was shock." the witch said. "I bet that's my name. I'm Shock."

"I call Lock!" exclaimed the devil.

"Aw, man. I guess that makes me Barrel," said the skeleton.

"There you have it, everyone. The finest trick-or-treaters Halloween Town has ever had: Lock, Shock, and Barrel," Henry said.

"I call them as my hench-, I mean, helpers," Oogie said, raising his right arm.

"Oogie, I think we should let the children-" the Mayor started before Lock, Shock, and Barrel tackled Oogie Boogie.

"Neat!" the three exclaimed.

"See, Mayor? They like me," Oogie Boogie said with a wide smile.

"They obviously lack manners and taste," Doctor Finkelstein said to his serving woman, who only stared blankly into space with her pure white eyes. "I knew it was too early to take you out," the scientist sighed to her, getting pretty much the same response.

"Come on, kids. Let's ditch these losers. I've got loads of treats back at my place," Oogie Boogie said.

Without any second thoughts, the new trick-or-treaters followed Oogie Boogie, giving a triple raspberry to Henry Cadaver as they marched off. The Mayor sighed to himself sadly as he said goodbye to Henry and the doctor and then made his was to Town Hall. This left only Henry, Doctor Finkelstein, and what was supposed to be his homemade servant.

"Doctor, is this why you were proclaiming 'She's Alive' the other night?" Henry asked as he circled the attractive, stitched together blue woman.

"Yes indeed. Amazing what the right amount of electricity can do," the scientist said proudly.

"No offense, but she looks deader than I do."

"Yes, well, she doesn't have a brain. All she's running on is electricity at the moment. She can walk, clean, cook when given the commands. A perfect life-sized rag doll," the doctor said before catching Henry's skeptical look. "Come on, Henry. I need better help than Igor. He's not housebroken yet."

"I remember how he bit me when I brought him here during that second large mortal war," Henry said as he looked into the servant's eyes, "Her eyes bother me, Doctor," Henry said. "They have no pupils."

"At least she looks scary. Isn't that one of your main characteristics for residents?"

"It is. Have you named her?"

"She's the Scientifically Animated Lady, S.A.L. Sally, if you wish to be informal."

"Sally is hardly animated."

"She's made from dead parts. What did you expect, instant energy?" the doctor said as he motioned for Sally to wheel him back home. "To the right, Sally. Right!"

"I was expecting a soul," Henry said to himself before hearing a window break. Oogie's influence was almost scary the way it traveled so fast. "Those kids," the Pumpkin King said to himself once more before going to inspect the damage to the window that most certainly belonged to his house.

Present

The good news for Lock, Shock, and Barrel is that they finally found a place where they could be together, make mischief, and eat all the candy they wanted. The bad news was that they had unknowingly signed up to be Oogie Boogie's goons. That would make them pretty unpopular in town, they would gain a reputation as a Terrible Trio of some sort. Even so, there was only one other person who could keep them in control besides Oogie Boogie. No, I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about my heir, Jake Skelly. You might know him by a different name: the master of fright, demon of light, Mr. Unlucky, and of course, Jack Skellington.

— Henry Cadaver