The next day was Friday the 15th, two weeks before the big Halloween party. Helen was just finishing up an intake interview with a Cruatopode named Django when Brian caught up with her, grinning manically.
"Hey, Helen, you have to see this," the man said, clearly amused. "I brought over some horror flicks for the kids to watch and…well, look!"
He'd led her into his office and pointed at the computer, where he'd pulled up the feed from the security camera in the den.
Henry and Ashley were sitting on one of the couches, wearing flannel pajamas and holding bowls of popcorn, probably supplied by Bigfoot. Nearly in his teens, Henry was beginning to show signs of an amazingly healthy appetite and Helen wondered where the slender little fellow put it all.
Neither child looked scared in the least. In fact, both were peering at the screen, bemused and vaguely puzzled. After a moment, it became clear that Brian wanted her to listen to their commentary rather than see anything they were doing.
"God, what is wrong with these people?" Ashley asked, high, bright voice clearly incredulous.
Shaking his head, Henry replied, "She's clearly too stupid to live."
"No! Don't go up there without a gun, there's some crazy person killin' people!" the little girl crowed, showing far more sense at seven than any of the many disposable people that populated Horror movies.
"Not everyone has a gun," Henry reasonably pointed out before stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "This movie blood is so much less icky than the real thing."
Pouting, Ashley said, "It looks fake. And what's with the fog? Do they live in a swamp?"
"How do they not hear that huge guy moving around? He's as big as the Big Guy and that house is old. The floors would creak."
"Not everyone has super hearing, Henry," Ashley teased, earning a glare and then a nod conceding her point. "Is she going out looking for the killer alone?"
They were quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating the character's stupidity until Ashley demanded, "Why does she keep tripping over nothing?"
In Brian's office, both Helen and her protégé found themselves roaring with laughter. It wasn't often that Helen found herself so utterly amused.
Several days, and a glut of bad movies later, the children came to her with their costuming decision, which frankly surprised her.
In the end, both Ashley and Henry had chosen to eschew any of the more modern movie monsters, deeming them 'silly and not very scary at all.' Henry's choice of Frankenstein's monster (he was very adamant on the distinction) was fairly easy to handle and a costume was purchased. Ashley had gone with Morgan le Fay, and, after much searching, had settled for a slightly funky little witch costume.
Though Helen knew she was a bit biased, she thought they had to be the most darling things she'd ever seen.
TBC….
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