After going through the entrance to Spooky Hoops, Ralph and Vanellope are greeted by a werewolf in a suit.
"Hello, visitors, and welcome to Spooky Hoops!" he said. "The game where all creatures seen on Halloween compete one another in basketball! My name is Talbot. I'm the mayor in charge of this game."
Vanellope sees a basketball arena labeled "Spooky Hoops" above the entrance doors. "Is that the arena where they have their game?" she asked as she points at the building.
"Yes, it is. That's where we have our games when the arcade is open. Around here, the citizens live in their own homes. Like how zombies live underground beneath their graves at the cemetery." He gestures at the graveyard where hundreds of gravestones are standing.
Then he shows a haunted house next to the cemetery. "And that's my home." A jack-o-lantern is sitting on the front porch with a candle inside, showing off its face.
"That house looks spooky." Ralph commented.
"It is spooky. That's why it's called a haunted house. A few of my friends live there with me." Talbot informed them.
Right by the house, a monstrous tree with an eerie face stood on its roots. An owl is perched on one of its branches and bats are hanging by their feet on the branches.
"And that tree is home to my owl landlord and some of my bat friends."
"I'm afraid to go near trees that have eerie faces." Vanellope said nervously.
"Trust me, that tree always tells visitors to a secret password they must use in order to visit any who live there, which only I easily know, and I must tell them that password. But you haven't seen the most interesting thing yet. I'm about to show you my yet to be famous National Museum of Halloween History!"
"That's what we've come to see ever since I heard about this newly installed game from last week." said Ralph.
"Right then. Follow me." Talbot guides the duo to the museum. Once they get there, they stand in front of it with two statues of a rat and a snake sitting in front of the buiding. There's also a lit jack-o-lantern sitting near the front doors.
"Wow!" Ralph exclaimed. "From the looks of this from out here, this museum does look spooky."
"Ah, but you haven't seen the inside yet. On Halloween, I will show all visitors who come here to this game to celebrate this scary holiday and throw them a party." They go inside.
In the museum's lobby, a statue of Frankenstein is in the middle, and a witch ornament hangs on the ceiling. A black cat steps in greets the group when they stepped in.
"Hello, visitors, and welcome to the National Museum of Halloween History!" the cat greeted them. "I'm Griffin, the official tour guide. And I will tell you all about Halloween and its history."
"Griffin here will show you around." Talbot informed Ralph and Vanellope. "Have fun exploring." Then he leaves, shutting the door behind him.
In the first section they entered, it showed everything about Halloween's history. They see an Irish Halloween mask from the early 20th century.
"Look at that mask. It's been made years ago." Vanellope said as she pointed at the mask.
"It has indeed." Griffin replied. "Now, about the history. Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots. There was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived. Some folklorists have detected Halloween's origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which comes from the Old Irish for 'summer's end'."
They gaze at a painting of people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland. The title for the painting at the bottom of the frame reads "Snap-Apple Night; 1833".
"Samhain was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on October 31st – November 1st in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. A kindred festival was held at the same time of year by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival began on the evening before November 7th by modern reckoning. Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween."
The history section displayed a traditional Irish Halloween turnip lantern.
"Would you look at that!" Ralph said with delight.
"That first section was about the Gaelic and Welsh influence." Griffin finished after going through that section and telling the facts to Ralph and Vanellope. "Now we're going to the Christian influence."
They come to an exhibit that shows people praying and placing flowers and candles on graves of their dead loved ones.
"On All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of the ones they love."
They now reach a new hall that shows Halloween symbols. They see two bathroom doors. One has a symbol of Dracula on it, meaning it's for men. They other shows a lady ghost symbol. That one's for women.
"And here is the symbol hall where all the famous symbols people see on Halloween are stored." Griffin narrated.
"Griffin, are we going to see werewolves in this section?" Vanellope asked.
"Please hold all questions until the end of the tour. Thank you." Griffin answered politely.
The first thing they saw was an exhibit showing lit jack-o-lanterns.
"Behold jack-o-lanterns! You want to know why they call pumpkins jack-o-lanterns? You're in for a tale."
"We're all ears." said Ralph.
"On route home after a night of drinking, a person named Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. Jack thought quickly and etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drinking, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest."
"Wow. That's a great story." Vanellope complimented.
"And the photos on the wall show a variety of famous Halloween monsters and creatures. From Frankenstein, to the mummy, to the invisible man, to the werewolf, to a bunch of ghosts."
As they look at the photos, Griffin continued, "And since we're in the section of the famous Halloween creatures, I believe I feel a song coming on."
Music begins playing as the exhibits, portraits and jack-o-lanterns come alive. This causes Ralph and Vanellope to begin getting butterflies in their stomachs as they hold each other close. Then Griffin started singing.
"When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake, spooks come out for a swinging wake. Happy haunts materialize and begin to vocalize." he sung.
"Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!" the creatures sang together.
A bat flies down to the group as he sang, "Now don't close your eyes and don't try to hide."
"Or a silly spook may sit by your side." an owl followed.
"Shrouded in a daft disguise." a raven sang loudly.
"They pretend to terrorize." a spider sang as she came down from her web.
"Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!" the creatures and exhibits sang all together.
"This song and other Halloween songs is one of those reasons I get scared on this time of year." Vanellope said to Ralph.
"Me too, kid. But I'm used to this scary stuff." Ralph replied as the song continued.
"As the moon climbs high o'er the dead oak trees," a photo of Frankenstein sang.
"Spooks arrive for the midnight spree." sang a photo of a mummy.
"Creepy creeps with eerie eyes," the werewolf photo sang.
"Start to shriek and harmonize." sang the Invisible Man photo.
"Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!"
"When you hear the knell of a requiem bell," the jack-o-lanterns sang together.
"Weird glows gleam where spirits dwell." ghosts sang together.
"Restless bones etherealize." sang a chorus of rats.
Witches joined in with, "Rise as spooks of every size."
"Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!" Griffin and the photos, exhibits and creatures all sang together.
A creepy and eerie laugh is heard. Then everything went back to normal. All the exhibits, jack-o-lanterns and photos are back in their places and inanimate.
"Whoa." Ralph said with fear.
"I agree." Vanellope also added in as her body shook.
"That's pretty much the intention of this museum." Griffin said. "That's the number one song we sing every year around Halloween. If you're still shaking, go get yourselves a drink of water at the drink fountain. It'll calm you down."
Both Ralph and Vanellope get themselves drinks of water at the drink fountain and it calms them down.
Later, after Griffin showed them the rest of the museum, they are back at the visitor center. They bought souvenirs at the gift shop. Ralph bought a Frankenstein mask and jack-o-lantern basket, and Vanellope bought a toy bat and spider.
Talbot opened the doors and said, "Griffin, we better get to the arena! The arcade is about to open!"
"Perfect timing because we just now saw everything." Griffin said. They exited the museum. While the black cat headed for the arena, Talbot said to Ralph and Vanellope as he hands them two invitations, "Before you two go, take these. They're invitations to my Halloween party on Hallows Eve and Halloween."
"Thanks, Talbot." Ralph thanked the werewolf.
"Well, better get back to your games. I'll see you later." With that said, everyone started returning to their respective games so they'll be ready when the first people enter the arcade.
Holy mackerel! This museum must be spooky-looking, especially with that song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts", being sung by the exhibits! Well, it looks like that's the end of chapter 2. If I ever went to a Halloween museum, I would get a little bit scared. So, I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter and be sure to review it! Chapter 3 is on its way, but keep on celebrating Halloween! T.T.F.N.: Ta-ta for now!