Self Defense
Samantha lay there. She was scared out of her wits. Was he there, in the corner? Or over by her dresser? No. he couldn't be real, could he? She had heard and read numerous stories about him...but they weren't true, right? No. Thirteen-year-old girls did not believe in the Boogeyman.
Samantha closed her eyes tight, and pulled the covers close to herself. She couldn't help but feel watched. Her room was so big, and in comparison, she was so small. She felt vulnerable. Normally, she'd be asleep by now, but not tonight. Tonight was different. Scary different. And Samantha didn't know why.
Samantha had plenty of ideas of what the Boogeyman looked like. She had even drawn pictures of him maybe being like a gargoyle, or a werewolf, or some kind of banshee-looking thing. Samantha didn't want to know what he really looked like.
Oh, crud.
Small, almost inaudible, creaking noises came from within her hallway not too far from her bedroom door. Sam hid under her covers. Her mom, nor her dad would be up at this hour. Sam was starting to hope it was a burglar or something normal like that.
It wasn't.
Her door didn't open. The windows stayed silent. But Samantha knew there was something in her room she did not like. It wasn't her mom. It wasn't her dad.
It was watching over her, with peircing yellow eyes, and a wide inhuman smile filled with razor-sharp teeth. It's long, greasy hair hanging inches above her trembling body. It didn't breath so much as a gasp of air. Samantha knew it was him. She wasn't going crazy, she was positive of that. She wanted him out. Now. But she was too scared to do anything.
The gangly creature hovered over her for what seemed like an eternity, and he didn't give a single clue that he was going to move anytime soon. Samantha suddenly felt a whole lot smaller.
But without a second thought Sam shot her hand out from the covers towards her nightstand. She grasped her table lamp, and started to whack, and swing, and hit everywhere in front of her. She felt she was hitting something solid, hoping it was the Boogeyman, and Sam thought she even heard an "ouch" emit from somewhere in front of her.
Samantha paused and opened her eyes a crack, just as the Boogeyman, or whatever it was, slithered, like a shadow, under her bed.
Sam sat there, panting heavily, the lamp still held firmly in hand. Sweat was trickling down her temples, but she didn't notice. At first, she was in total shock, but after a few moments, she began to feel pride. There, in her bedroom, Samantha had done something no one else had ever done. She had litterally beaten the Boogeyman.
Samantha's pride was quickly flipped back to fear when an ominous moaning emitted from somewhere under her bed. She dropped the lamp. Crud. She hadn't defeated him. To her horror, from the foot of her bed, rose the same shadowy figure from before. Although, there was something different about it. The thing's eyes were no longer a bright yellow, but white, with golden-hazel pupils. And it's teeth weren't quite as sharp. It's hair was slightly messed up from its "encounter" with Samantha's table lamp, but certainly wasn't greasy.
Samantha let down her guard, but remained still. The thing wasn't as menacing now, with its hand on its head and its whole body swaying with dizziness. Samantha must have had a good arm, and she almost smiled at the thought. The creature was actually pretty stupid looking, and Sam couldn't help but let out a giggle.
The thing shook its head and glared at her in annoyance.
With a high-pitched voice it shot,
"Hey, What are you laughing at? Don't you know I'm the Boogeyman?!"
An Introduction
Samantha paused abruptly. "B-B-Boogeyman?" she inquired. The creature, or Boogeyman, nodded, his sharp glare still fixed on her. Samantha began to ring her sweaty hands around her sheets. "Did...did you come here to eat me?" she asked timidly, glancing up at him. She felt stupid for asking that, but it was the first thing that sputtered out of her mouth. The Boogeyman drew back slightly, with a disgusted look on his face. "Good Heavens, no!" he protested in his high voice, "That's just...just...disgusting!". Samantha pondered his reaction for a moment. "Then you aren't evil, then?" she asked finally, beginning to feel more at ease with the monster. He gave her a suspicious look and answered slowly, "No," then added in a more serious tone, "What are you getting at, Samantha?". Samantha was surprised, and asked, "How did you know my name?". The Boogeyman knelt down on the foot of the bed.
"Samantha," he explained somewhat impatiently, "I'm the Boogeyman. I know all the children's names in the world." seeing the confused stare Sam was giving him, he decided to further ease the child's tensions,"Besides, I just simply scare kids, not eat them!" Samantha situated herself until she was sitting indian-style. "Well, if you know my name, shouldn't I know yours?" she asked, switching the subject over to him. The Boogeyman looked at her, slightly puzzled. "Surely, your name isn't just the 'Boogeyman'?" Samantha pushed, trying to get something out of him. The Boogeyman began to shift uncomfortably. "Well," he began unsurely, "I don't really tell the children I haunt my real name...nor do I show them what I really look like...but..." He paused, thinking. Samantha stared at him expectantly. "Fine..." he gave in, finally, "My real name is actually Boogy H. Mann." "Boogy H. Mann?" Samantha repeated. "Yes." Boogy replied curtly, staring Sam down. "Sure..." She said, trying to keep him from leaving, "I think it's cool. I'm not exactly the most popular kid in school...and I don't have too many friends. I think it's cool to be friends with the Boogeyman."
Boogy looked at her. "Friends?" he asked. Apparently, he wasn't used to the word when it was associated with a child of her age. "Sure," Samantha replied, hopeful, "We introduced ourselves...I guess that makes us friends..." "You guess," Boogy pointed out, downheartedly. "Well, if we were really friends... you'd show me what you look like," Samantha pushed again. Boogy's once dissapointed expression broke out into a bright smile, seeing that they were "officially friends", and exclaimed as quietly as he could:
"Oh-kay!"
Fibs and Lies
Boogy hopped up into a stance at the foot of her bed, legs a good distance apart, and was just about to say something, when suddenly, there was a thumping in the hallway. For a moment, Samantha was confused. If Boogy was in there, with her, then whoever would be out in the hall would be...
Boogy immediately froze -as still as a statue- and stared at the door through the corners of his eyes. "Boogy," Samantha whispered, "get down and make sure that-" But she was cut off abruptly when her door opened just a tiny bit. Boogy remained in his tall stance, while Sam was rooted to the spot in fear.
At that moment, a tall, lanky woman popped her head in, gingerly. 'Oh crud!' Sam thought grimly, 'Boogy's in here! I don't even WANT to know how my mom'll react!' "Honey?" the woman, her mother, murmured in concern, "Are you alright? I heard talking and...I wanted to see if you were okay." Samantha couldn't utter a word. "Sweety? Honey, what's wrong?" her mother questioned again, urgency creeping into her tone. She stepped in fully and sat next to her daughter on the bed, just inches away from where Boogy was standing.
"Um, uh, well...uh," Samantha couldn't seem to find the right words. Her mother was sitting RIGHT NEXT to where the Boogeyman was standing and she didn't even act as if he were there? There was a short pause. "How the heck does that work?" Sam finally asked herself, and slapped her hand over her mouth as soon as the sentence left her lips. Her mom stared at her questioningly, Boogy simply raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Dear?" Samantha's mother finally asked, laying her hand upon Sam's shoulder gently.
"Um, nevermind Mom. I'm okay, honest." Sam covered, answering her mother's first question to get her off the subject. As she stared at her mother's now skeptical expression, Samantha glanced up just in time to catch Boogy squatting behind her mother, making bunny ears with his long fingers behind her head. Sam glared daggers at the Boogeyman, which her mother noticed quickly. "Sam?" she asked, her skepticism fading back to concern. "Oh I was just thinking of how RUDE some people can be and that they need to STOP being so IGNORANT," Samantha stated somewhat harshly, aiming the statement more towards the shadowy figure behind her mother rather that at her mother herself.
Boogy took the hint and stood up again, pouting chldishly. "Sam, do you feel ill?" her mother asked, placing a hand on her daughter's forehead. "No, course not Mom!" Samantha defended, and added in a lower tone, "Not until I befriended my nightmare...". Her mom didn't hear the last part, luckily, and stood up. "Well, if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask me or your father." she reminded, and headed warily out of the room.
Once she was gone, Samantha turned on the Boogeyman still at the foot of her bed. "What the heck was that about?!" she demanded in a loud whisper. Boogy stared at her innocently and explained rather sheepishly, "Well, she was right there and I just thought it'd be funny and...""No! I mean the thing with my mom not even noticing you!" Sam clarified sharply. "Oh, well that's simple," he replied, repositioning to his original stance, "I can only be seen when I WANT to be seen.". Sam stared at the Boogeyman blankly. The Boogeyman stared back.
Finally, he stated rather bluntly, "It's complicated.""Oh." Samantha replied in the same blunt tone. A brief moment of silence enveloped the two. Sam was the first to break it. "So are you going to show me already or what?" she asked. Boogy stared at her with a confused and slightly grossed-out expression. Sam sighed. "You were going to show me that you don't always look like a shadow-thing," she clarified impatiently with Boogy responding with an enlightened "Right!". Then, Boogy slunk himself back under her bed in the most graceful and perculiar way. He did a sort of backflip, and grabbing onto the bedframe, swung underneath.
Samantha crawled to the edge of the bed to wait for him, and almost yelped in surprise to see Boogy lying right there, on his back casually. Although, this time, he looked different yet again. His long hair was an extremely dark evergreen color(Samantha guessed it was natural) and he had long, pointed elfin ears. His skin was only slightly pale, and face long and sharp. His nose was sharp as well. In Samantha's opinion, he was kind of handsome.
Samantha signalled him to come back up. He did, and knelt in the same spot as before. Sam sighed secretly with relief. At least he wore clothes. Boogy was quite the dresser. He had on an elaborate white blouse with elegant ruffles down the front, and lace cuffs. His shirt was tucked in, showing off a shiny, gold belt. Below that, were a pair of tight-fitting, black dress pants, tucked into tall, black leather boots. On top of everything, was a long, black cape, with a red silk inner lining and a high vampire's collar.
"Well..." Samantha wasn't really the one for traditional dress, and tried to find a good word, "It's very... you." Boogy smiled, knowing how she really felt, and replied, "Thank you. I try to look decent in public. It's normally pretty hard to." They both giggled quietly. "You know, I've always heard of you being evil, and that you'd gobble up any kids who didn't go to sleep when they were supposed to," Samantha commented. Boogy looked confused. "Again with the eating of the children? Sammy, that's gross, I wouldn't do that. Besides, I'm on a low-carb diet." he finally said, looking at his nails. Samantha looked at him. "But I still wouldn't eat kids even if I weren't!" he reassurred.
Samantha glaced over the edge of her bed. "How do you hide under there for so long?" she asked, then looked at him again, "I mean, where do you come from? Do you have a house? Are you a loner? Are you married?". "Whoah! Hold on! Married? Are you kidding? I may be well over 600 thousand years old but in boogeyman years, that's only about 35. I guess you could say I'm a bachelor," Boogy corrected. Samantha looked over the edge of the bed again. "Boogy?" she finally asked, turning towards him. He nodded. Sam continued, "What's under my bed?"
What's Under My Bed?
"What's under your bed?" Boogy repeated. He lay sprawled out on his stomach on the edge of Samantha's bed. "Well, let's see here..." he reached beyong the bedskirt, and quickly pulled out a little rubber duck. "you played with this in the tub when you were four," he teased, rubbing it in Sam's face. She snatched it from him immediately. "Boogy, stop!" she snapped, then added in a little more embarrassed tone, "I thought Mr. Quackers was cute...". Boogy rolled his big eyes, and reached back under the bed. "What the?" he asked himself, feeling something strange under there. He then pulled out a small mace.
Samantha stared in confusion and awe at the thing. "Oops," Boogy muttered, "Musta grabbed that from under my bed...". "You have a bed?" Sam asked, turning back to him. Boogy looked at her, as if he were about to just yell "duh!"but instead he simply cracked, "Well, of course I have a bed! What do you think I sleep on? The floor?!". Samantha was taken aback by his sudden harshness, yet still a little confused, asked carefully, "You sleep?". "Samantha," Boogy began, sitting himself up, Sam readied herself for a lecture, he continued, "All living things have to sleep, whether with another living thing or alone. Either way, what I just said was really wrong, and I don't really care.". Samantha stared at himfor a moment. "That made no sense, Boogy," she finally commented with a giggle. Boogy leaned back and folded his arms, his nose stuck up in the air. "Well, I never was good at giving lectures," he muttered seriously, then got down and knelt on the floor, "Anyway, back to the task at hand: finding out what's under your bed." Samantha watched as he squeezed himself underneath her bed, dissapearing beneath her bedskirt.
Samantha got down on her floor as well, squatting, and waited patiently for him to pop back out. Just then, his hand came out, holding something. He dropped it in her hand. "There's a spider for ya," she heard him mutter from somewhere underneath, and seeing that it was a black widow spider, she quickly shook it off her hands and stood up frantically, hopping from foot-to-foot. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew," Samantha whispered, still doing her little dance. All of a sudden, Boogy's head popped out from the bedskirt. "C'mon, Sammy!" he invited cheerily, interrupting her, "You wouldn't believe what's hidden under your bed!" Samantha crossed her arms defiantly. "There won't be any daddy longlegs or banana spiders, will there?" she asked seriously. Boogy looked at her jokingly. "I can't guarantee that. Now c'mon! It's cool!" Samantha looked oddly at him, then gave in. "Fine... we'll have it your way..." she sighed. "You won't regret it! You'll love my room!" Boogy reassurred her. "Okay, ok-..... wait, YOUR room?"Sam asked, realizing what the Boogeyman had said, but he was out of sight before she could call him again.
Under the Boogeyman's Bed
Samantha got on her stomach on the floor, and began trying to squeeze herself under her bed. She got her head in sideways, good. She pulled herself in with her arms, with her shoulders through, getting better. Her torso came through okay, getting closer. Crap. She got stuck. Samantha heaved and pulled, but nothing came out of it. She then felt someone's hands grasp hers, and she was pulled all the way inside.
"Thought you'd need help getting through," she heard Boogy's voice say. "Thanks," she murmured, crawling the rest of the way. Not too far through, she saw the other side, glowing faintly. Boogy was able to get out, first. "Boogy," Samantha called from inside. "What? Are you stuck again?" he asked, peering in. "No, but...I'd hate to say this, but, this is stupid. I mean, we just crawled through the underside of my bed. It wasn't that big of an adventure, nor was it... cool,". Boogy looked at her sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sammy...I didn't think that you had ever seen my house before...I'm sorry," Boogy apologized. "It's okay, Boogy, it's just-" samantha remembered something Boogy had said, "wait, did you say...your house?" Boogy nodded. Samantha was nervous, and slightly confused, so she thought.
After a while, Boogy finally commented, "You know, you look kind of like a hermit under there. It's...kind of funny." He started to giggle, breaking Sam out of her thoughts. "What was that, Boogy?" She asked, not hearing what he had said earlier. "Oh, nothing, nothing..." he said as casually as he could, and helped her out from under the bed. She had to blink her eyes for a moment, so that they could adjust to the light, but when they did, Samantha almost fell right into him. "This...this...this isn't my room...where-where am I?" She asked, looking up at Boogy in confusion.
All the walls were a dark gray stone, with fancy carvings between the collumns. The ceiling was high and as she got a second's glance out the window, she noticed that she was in a pretty tall building.
"Well, for starters, your in my bedroom," Boogy pointed out. "Your... bedroom?" Sam inquired, looking at the bed she had crawled out from underneath. It was adorned in red silk bedding and a red canopy. It was very lavish.
"Boogy?" Sam asked, and Boogy glanced at her, "What's Horror Town?"
Horror Town
*Note, this chapter partially goes by Boogy's POV
Boogy looked confusingly at his newfound friend. How did she know about Horror Town without him even telling her? "How did you-" Boogy began to ask, but cut himself off when Samantha pointed her finger towards the window.
Outside the window, quite aways away, there was a large Gothic sign sign that read "Welcome to Horror Town! Have an Unpleasant Stay!" in big, drippy red letters. It was at the far edge of what seemed to be a fairly-sized town, adorned in dark colors and twisted, dead trees.
"What kind of town is this?" Sam thought. It certainly wasn't like any town she had ever seen before. "Boogy," she asked, "where exactly is this 'Horror Town'?". Boogy paused and thought for a moment. "I...I'm not quite sure," he answered unsurely, "Although, I've nevr paid any mind to that.". Sam felt her stomach begin to do a backflip, and she gulped. Even Boogy didn't know exactly where they were?
Boogy noticed a worried look cross Sam's face. "Don't worry, Sammy!" he reassurred cheerily, "I know this place like the back of my hand! After all, I've lived here for about seventeen thousand years, and that's almost half my life!". He put an arm around her shoulder and began to lead her to the door.
Samantha looked down at herself and realized something. "Boogy, wait!" they both stopped, "I can't go outside in my pajamas!". Boogy glanced at his friend's black-and-pink long-sleeved pj's, and replied "Oh, you're right. Listen, How about you go back under my bed, get your clothes, and meet me back here, okay? I'll make sure you come out from under your bed and not anyone else's.".
Boogy walked over to his bed, knelt down, and lifted the bedskirt for her. Samantha was uneasy for a temporary moment, remembering the time she had gotten stuck, but got down on the floor anyways. She then got down on her stomach and, once again, pulled herself through with only her feeble arms.
Since she had done this before, Sam didn't have as much trouble as she did the first time, and she soon came out the other side. Thankfully, Boogy had kept his promise, and she was back in her bedroom again. She got up, and went to her closet. Sam took out a black skull-and-flags baby tee, a red plaid skirt, black fishnet arm gautlets and stockings, a black belt with a large round silver buckle, and some cute black dress shoes. Samantha loved this outfit; it always looked good on her. Her mother had even said so.
Samantha wondered what Horror Town was like, and she couldn't wait to see, however, at the same time, she was very nervous about the place. It was so dark and evil-looking. Samantha shook away the thought. As long as she was with Boogy, she was fine...
she hoped so, anyway.
Goin' to Town
After Samantha got ready and dressed, she got back down and squeezed her way back under her bed. However, she paused midway through. Sam got nervous. What would happen once she came out the other side? Would she have to stay in this Horror Town once she got there? Were there even any residents? And if so, what were they like? Her biggest question, however, was:
Could she trust Boogy?
Sam pushed the thoughts from her mind. She could count on Boogy. She knew she could! He wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, right?
Samantha continued her way through the underside of her bed, and soon popped out at the other side. "Hey, Sammy!" Boogy's obvious voice greeted from above her. Sam pushed herself all the way out, and looked up to see Boogy reclining on his lavish bed. Samantha stood up and brushed herself off.
"It's very...you," Boogy commented, his voice sounding like a recording of Samantha's own. She stared at him in surprise, but he simply smiled at her sheepishly and got up off his bed.
"So..." Samantha began unsurely, "Are we going to Horror Town now?". "Yup!" Boogy answered happily, walking briskly over to a shadowed corner in his room. Sam followed, curious as to what he was up to. "C'mon!" he encouraged, "Hop on and I'll take ya to see Horror Town! You'll love it!". Samantha stared at him uncertainly. "Uh, yes Boogy, I'm sure I will...but what exactly am I supposed to 'hop on'?". "Why, the elevator, of course!" Boogy explained. He was starting to get a little impatient.
"Uuuuuh... oh...kay?..." Sam gave in, slightly dumbfounded. She gingerly stepped onto the unseen object. "Here," Boogy volunteered, grabbing her hands and wrapping them around a cold metal chain. "Hold on!" he said briefly, just before they were jerked down abruptly.
Samantha clenched her hands around the metal chain tightly. She glanced over at the wall she had stepped from and found that it was no longer there. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that they were flying from floor-to-floor, faster than any elevator Sam had ever been on. She then briefly turned her eyes to Boogy, and was entirely surprised that he was perfectly calm, as if he had done that a million times.
Then again, he probably has.
But before Sam's mind could wander anywhere else, the elevator suddenly, and unexpectantly, stopped short, causing Sam to collapse right where she had been standing. Boogy stepped off leisurely, whilst Sam still sat on the "elevator", trying to get over the shock of that roller coaster ride straight down.
Samantha's heavy panting was cut off with Boogy's slightly rude "Are you coming?" and she simply got up on shaky legs and followed him through the dimly lit room. Sam eventually spotted the shadowy outcast of a door, and watched as Boogy slowly reached out and turned the knob, while adding a stupid "Dun, dun...dun, dun" Jaws theme with his voice. Samantha glanced at him oddly. "Sorry, just...trying to add suspense," he explained sheepishly.
Then, with a twist of the doorknob, Boogy opened the door and a rather large gust of wind blew into the room, carrying red, orange, and yellow leaves along with it. It was an odd wind, for it seemed to twist and curl its way around Samantha whilst blowing. Boogy then made a comment that sent a striking combination of fear, confusion, and shock into Sam's heart:
"Horror Town welcomes you."
Claws or Claus?
Both Samantha and Boogy strode down the dirt pathway leading into Horror Town. A few scattered cobweb-covered lamplights lit their way. Sam didn't comment on Boogy's earlier freaky statement, but she did chat with him about other things, such as the stupid people Sam was dressed as on Halloween, the time Boogy had fallen off his bed, and of course, when Sam nearly slaughtered him with her bedside lamp.
Whilst walking, Sam glanced over to her right to view a steep hill covered in black snow, with a little gothic house and workshop at the top. "Oh, boy," Boogy sighed as he realized what his newfound companion was looking at, "You wanna go to Claws's house?". "Well, if I'm gonna meet everyone here, we might as well start with this guy's place." Sammy reasoned, "Besides, what's so bad about it?". They both paused on their stroll. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just that Claws and I don't get along too well, that's all." he explained stiffly.
"Why not?"
"We just have our...differences."
"What kind of differences?"
"..."
"DID YOU GET IN A FIGHT?"
"Sammy, he and I do that all the time."
"Is it physical, or verbal?"
"Verbal...?"
Sam brightened up quicker that Boogy had expected. "Well, that ain't so bad!" she giggled, then, grabbing Boogy's arm, she dragged him up the black hill. "Saaaaaaaammmyyyyyy!!" Boogy shouted in protest, "You're getting snow all over my pants!". Sam ignored him completely for the excitement of meeting someone in Horror Town, besides Boogy.
Samantha and Boogy stopped at the house's front door, Sam not even tired from running the whole way, and Boogy having to brush snow off himself. "That was ridiculous and appalling," he growled, seeing that his pants were now dirty. Sam, again, ignored him and knocked on the arched, wooden door.
Samantha was greeted, a few moments later, by a tall, lanky man with a waistline that was probably no more than six inches around. His face was young and bright, and Sam guessed he was in his early twenties. His outfit reflected a Christmaslike appearance, having it being completely red, with black fur lining and a tall, oddly curled Santa Claus hat with a ball of spiked black fur on the end atop his head.
"Hello," the man said kindly, "And who might you be?". "I-I'm Samantha," Sam replied, feeling all of a sudden shy, which was a bad habit of hers. "Why, hello Samantha!" the thin man beamed, "Do you mind if I call you Sam?". Sammy shook her head "no". "Well, then! It's very nice to meet you!" he complimented, and outstrechted his hand for Sam to shake it. However, she was surprised to notice that the person's fingers were extremely long and sharp...
Almost like claws...
Samantha shook his hand gingerly and asked, "Are you Mr. Claws?". "Why yes, I am," the stranger answered, "But you can call me Santa.". She then heard Boogy mutter from behind her “Or Mister Holly-Jolly…” and turned to look at him oddly. Santa must have noticed him as well, because he simply replied in his usual happy tone “Oh, I see you brought trouble with you!” and he and Sam started to giggle.
“Shut it, Sandy,” Boogy snapped, “I didn’t come here because I wanted to,” he pointed to Sammy, “it was because SHE dragged me here.”. Sam blushed in slight shame. “Boogy, quit being such a sourpuss,” Santa said, his smile fading, “Just because we don’t get along, doesn’t mean you have to pull Samantha into this, as well.”
“I wasn’t!”
“Yes you were.”
“No I was not!”
“Heck, you pointed your finger at her!”
“So?”
“So, you were pulling her into OUR fight.”
“We weren’t fighting.”
“Fine, we were ARGUING then…”
Samantha let the two ramble on at each other and entered Santa Claws’s house. She walked down a short hallway with maroon walls and dead garland lining open doorways ahead of her. Sam turned into the very first one on her left, which opened up into a fairly well-sized livingroom with a cozy smoldering fireplace and comfortable furniture. She sat down in a comfy red armchair nearest the fireplace, soaking up the rays of heat.
Funny, she thought Horror Town would be scary, not cozy. Oh, well. At least now she knew that if Boogy wasn’t around, she could just go to Santa’s. Just then, someone walked in the room, and Sam knew that it wasn’t Boogy or Santa. She quickly turned, startled. Coming out of another doorway next to the fireplace, was a young woman (Samantha guessed she was in her late twenties) who was carrying a tray of cookies. The lady was very pretty, and wore a long, tattered, purple wedding gown and had a long veil to match. Her black hair was full and curly, with two strands of white streaming down either side. One of the very few things that made her look haunting was that her purple skin seemed to be stitched together in a few places, and her brown eyes bore too much eye makeup.
Sam watched the lady glance around, confused, as if looking for something. “Are you looking for Santa?” Sammy asked, getting out of the chair. The woman looked at her, surprised at first, but then her expression faded back into confusion. “Uh, yes actually,” the lady answered, then turned to Sam, “Who are you?”. “My name’s Samantha,” Sammy answered, “I’m a friend of Boogy’s.”. “Oh, Boogy’s here?” the lady smiled, “Well, might as well introduce myself. My name is Maudeline. I was just visiting Santa and I decided to make him a snack, just to be nice, but by the time I was done, the doorbell rang. I bet that was you, wasn’t it?”. Samantha nodded. Maudeline walked over and set the cookie tray on a sidetable before sitting down in a chair next to the one Sam had been sitting in.
Sudden murmurings could then be heard in the hallway, and Sammy was surprised to even hear some cursing. Santa entered the room soon after, Boogy following right behind. Neither of them had a happy face on. Boogy sat on a loveseat, and Santa, seeing all the other seats were taken (and not wanting to sit by Boogy) simply stood. There was an utterly long silence that followed soon after. “Sooooooo…” Samantha began, wanting to start a conversation, “Are we going to continue this story, or are we just going to just sit here like bumps on a log for the next five chapters?”
*SAMANTHA! NO BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!!*
“Santa?” Maudeline suddenly asked, “Why don’t you tell Samantha a little about yourself?”. “Yeah, we’d all like to hear THAT…” Boogy muttered, now sulking in the loveseat. Santa shot a death glare at the man, but said nothing. “Well,” he said, dragging his eyes off Boogy and to Sam, “In case you don’t know already, everyone who resides in Horror Town has a job of some sort. Boogy’s you must already know. My job is to deliver presents, whatever time of the year-specifically Halloween-to frighten children all over the world!”. Samantha deducted, “So, you’re a kind of gothic Santa Claus?”. “There’s another one of me?” Santa Claws asked, dumbstruck. Boogy rolled his eyes.
Sammy didn’t say anything. “He doesn’t even know of any other Santa’s besides himself?” she thought, “…figures.”. Boogy finally broke the brief silence by asking in a slightly flat tone, “Maudeline, why don’t you talk to Sam a bit?”. “Oh, we’ve already met.” Maudeline explained. “Naw, I mean about your history n’ stuff,” he said, leaning forward curiously in the loveseat. “Oh, well, I don’t have too much of a history,” Maudeline said innocently, “The most exciting thing that could have happened to me was when I was created by the doctor…”. “Yep, that explosion caused an even bigger stir than the lightning storm going on at the time,” Santa commented reminiscently.
“That’s it!” Boogy said in a “Eureka!” tone, getting up off the loveseat immediately. Everyone looked at him. “What’s ‘it’, Boogy?” Sam asked, she too stood up. “I know who you can meet next!” Boogy stated, still talking a bit loudly, “C’mon, Sammy!”. Samantha followed Boogy to the hallway. She didn’t really want to leave Santa’s just yet, but then again, she really wanted to meet a new person. Sam couldn’t even remember the last time she had so many friends, or if she had any at all…
“It very much pains me to be leaving so soon,” Boogy called to Santa in an extremely sarcastic tone, “But we must be off! See ya later!”.
“…Mr. Holly Jolly.”
And Boogy laughed until the two were out of Santa Claws’ house, and headed down the path.
The Laboratory
PART ONE
"You guys really love to fight, don't you?" Sam asked as she and Boogy trudged further down the dirt path. Boogy corrected her immediately. "Oh, we hate to fight," he said matter-of-factly, "We just don't see eye-to-eye, which causes us to fight.". Samantha nodded her head unsurely, then looked above at the dark purple sky that was just beginning to be enveloped by some clouds coming from the direction of the town. At the sudden discovery, she looked ahead to the town that was growing nearer. Although, there was one thing that stood out, and at first she couldn't tell, but then, to her horror, she realized what it was. "Boogy! Look!" Sam exclaimed urgently, tugging on Boogy's sleeve and pointing to the object ahead of them, "That house is being struck by lightning!!"
Boogy only glanced briefly to where Samantha was pointing, and laughed. Sam looked up at him as if he'd gone insaine. Boogy put his arm around her shoulders and said calmly, “Sammy, that house isn’t being struck by lightning!”. Samantha pulled away from him and nearly yelled, “Are you BLIND?! Can you not SEE the electricity?!”. Boogy watched her wave her arms around in front of herself madly, and couldn’t help but crack up again. He put his arm around Sam’s shoulders again and, much to her dismay, led her forward towards town and the strange building.
“C’mon,” Boogy ushered, “I’m gonna have you meet someone that I think you’ll like.”. The mentioning of meeting a new person got Samantha excited all over again. “What’s he like?” she asked, intrigued. Boogy continued on, “She’s a woman,” he corrected, “and she’s a tad bit… eccentric.” “Eccentric?” Samantha repeated. The Boogeyman nodded. Samantha glanced down just in time to see the dirt pathway give way to gray brick. Noticing the sudden change, she looked up again, and realized that they had officially entered Horror Town. Monsters and creatures of all shapes and sizes strolled up and down the street. Some greeted each other, while others went from shop-to-shop and chatted with friends.
“Welcome to Main Street,” Boogy chirped, breaking the silence, “You wouldn’t believe how much history’s packed in this place!” he pointed to the brick-paved street, “You, my friend, are currently walking on two-thousand-year-old brick!”. Samantha’s eyes widened. “Two thousand?” she asked, amazed. “Heh, apparently, I found myself a voice recorder as well as a friend!” Boogy giggled. Sammy’s face flushed red for a moment, just before going pale as a sheet when suddenly, a huge cracking noise thundered throughout the town. She whipped her head in the direction of the noise, but couldn’t see a thing because of how bright it had suddenly gotten. The cracking soon changed to an ear-splitting “zapping” sound.
“What’s going on?!” Sam yelled over the terrible noise, her hands clasped tightly over her ears. “It’s the doctor!” Boogy yelled back. Samantha, dumbfounded, asked, “Who?!”. She wasn’t sure if she had heard him right. “The next person I want you to meet!” he explained, “C’mon!”. Boogy began to lead her towards the source of the terrible light. “ARE YOU CRAZY?!” Sammy screamed, with Boogy only responding, “A little lightning won’t hurt’cha!”.
Sam buried her head in her free arm, in a desperate attempt to protect herself from the electricity. The deafening “zapping” noise grew soft, then loud, then soft again in only a matter of seconds, it seemed. Soon, Boogy stopped dragging her, and now, Samantha was standing still, her face still covered by her arm, and she stayed like that for a moment. The electricity still roared somewhere behind her. Miraculously, she hadn’t been hit by it, wherever it had come from.
“Sammy,” Boogy’s voice chirped above the terrible noise, “You can look up now. Quick! Before you get corduroy lines all over your face!”. Sam peeked just above her forearm, before lifting her face up all the way. She was met by gray. Lots, and lots of gray; everything around her was either gray, or white, or black. Samantha looked at Boogy, silently asking for some kind of explanation.
He only smiled at her.
Sam suddenly jumped at the sound of loud, insaine laughter coming from somewhere far below them. “Boogy, what the…?!” She nearly shouted, desperate to get him to talk. Unfortunately, Boogy ignored her frantic begging and, once again, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her forward. “B-B-Boogy?” Sam asked, still apprehensive, “Are you sure this gal’s the right person for me to meet? I-I mean really, Boogy…” “Aw, c’mon, Sammy!” Boogy interrupted, his false caring tone giving way to jest, “Unless, of course, you’re scared. Well actually, I never did think you, of all people, would be all that brave…” “Says the guy who boxed with my lamp and lost…” Samantha retorted sharply, her now smug expression hidden from his view. Boogy lifted his arm from her and kept silent, walking slowly off to another corner of the room.
During their little ‘silent vigil’, Sam got a better look at the details in her surroundings. The place had absolutely no color, as if in a black-and-white movie from the 50’s. The walls seemed to be a worn steel, completely deprived of any shine or luster. Overall, the room was pretty depressing, and Sam was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
“Boogy?” she finally asked, having forgotten about their fiasco, and looked over at her guide. “Mm-hm?” He responded flatly, looking back at her, his eyes still annoyed. “Uh, this is just a room.” Samantha said, trying to get some more information out of the guy. The sentence reminded her of when the two had gone under her bed, and she hadn’t even begun to expect that she would end up in a place like Horror Town.
That’s when her mind clicked.
Sam immediately took notice as to what Boogy was even doing over there. He stood normally. That was good. But what he was standing next to gave Sam an extreme feeling of unease. What Boogy stood next to was what seemed to be a metal pull-lever bolted vertically on the wall.
During Sam’s discovery, a wide, devious grin had spread across Boogy’s face, much like the one he had when the two first met. “What’s the matter, Sammy?” his high voice echoed throughout the dull metal room. His amber eyes flickered to a yellow-ish hue. Sam stammered, remembering a thought she had had earlier. “C-can I trust you?” she finally blurted, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Boogy looked at Samantha as if her question had the most obvious answer in the world. “Well, of course you can!” he stated happily, his pupils still yellow, and then added in a darker tone, “Would you trust a roller coaster ride?” Sam, now giving in to her unease, gave her suspicious companion an odd look. “Roller…coaster…?” she stated slowly, trying to make sense of his question. Boogy’s hand hovered above the colorless lever, which caused Sam to immediately panic. “Boogy?!” her voice rose at least an octave with each syllable.
“I thought so.”
The Boogeyman’s hand grasped the handle and jerked it down abruptly. Sam searched the floor with her eyes frantically, hearing gears and metal clasps click, groan, and turn beneath her black dress shoes. After a few seconds of the mechanical disturbance, the metallic floor split open beneath her, and she soon found herself sitting upright in a hard steel seat. She gasped in surprise as the seat buckled her in by itself. Looking forward to see where her guide had disappeared to, Sam’s gut twisted as her eyes fell upon the object she was sitting in.
It was a roller coaster car.
The frightened young girl flinched as Boogy hopped in next to her, and was buckled in as well. The car jerked forward once the second passenger was in. Another trap door in the floor creaked open to reveal a long track that seemed to go on forever into darkness. Sam’s throat dried up. The roller coaster car continued its way across the track ever so slowly until it hovered over the edge, and finally teetered forward. “I hate roller coaster rides…” Samantha muttered, and the two were forced down the treacherous railway.
The coaster car sped down the ramp at a horrifying speed. Sam squeezed her eyes shut and reached for the safety bar, only to find that their car didn’t have one, so she resorted to gripping Boogy’s arm instead. Boogy, however, paid no mind. He absolutely loved this ride, even if it was lethal.
The small car jerked as it reached the bottom of the drop and continued on its way. They traveled up and down two hills and around a loop-de-loop, with Sammy screaming and Boogy laughing his head off the whole way. “ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!” Sam shrieked, tugging hard on her companion’s arm. Boogy looked at her oddly and asked, “What makes you say that?”. His tone was innocent and sincere, meaning he couldn’t be joking. Samantha didn’t know whether to be relieved or disturbed.
Sam then felt herself leaning forward, and she bravely glanced down to see the cause. Spiraling below them was a corkscrew drop, and they were just at the beginning of it. “Gah!” Sam gasped. As if the first drop wasn’t bad enough! “This is my favorite part!” Boogy shouted excitedly, thrusting his free arm into the air and suspending a fist. If Sam hadn’t been so nervous at the moment, she would have easily compared him to a little kid at the carnival. Instead, she started screaming as soon as they began to gain the slightest bit of velocity.
All the way down the corkscrew, the roller coaster car was turned sharply at horrible angles, and the passengers bumped into each other frequently. On many occasions, they narrowly missed sparking electrical wires (thanks to Boogy who yelled, “duck!” at every one that came their way) and tiny, yet sharp, shards of metal that exploded off of unseen machinery. Throughout it all, Samantha was busy keeping her death hold on Boogy’s arm.
Finally, the two were jerked forward as the car came to a sudden, and unexpected, stop. “Woo! Yeah! I’ll tell ‘ya, that never gets old!” the Boogeyman shouted happily. However, Samantha, who’d never had asthma problems, was wheezing quite loudly. Boogy took notice immediately, “Whoa, Sammy…you really shouldn’t scream so much when you ride these things; you can lose your voice!” Sam shot an annoyed glance at her friend, still breathing hard. “Shut…up…. You knew… there was going to be… a roller coaster!” she panted coldly. Boogy climbed out of the metal structure, and grasped Sam’s hand to help her out as well. “Well… yes, but… I didn’t know you had such traumatic experiences on them.” he explained. “I was not in a trauma!” the young girl shot back defensively. Boogy drew back her sudden sharpness. Apparently, if you scare the crud out of Sam, you get her ticked off, too, Boogy realized, Might wanna lay off the scary jokes for a bit.
Seeing that she got her point across, Samantha took her eyes off Boogy and focused them on her new surroundings. Around her, there seemed to be no walls, and the room was even dimmer than the one they had been in before the terrible carnival ride. The only visible objects in the area were the roller coaster car, the tracks it was sitting on, and a large metal door. Sam traced the tracks up the spiral and over a hill before they disappeared into the shadows. She intently studied the height of the spiral and calculated the distance between the ground level she was on, and the very starting point of the ride.
Wait…
Ground level?
“What’re we looking at?” Boogy asked, leaning down and staring in the direction of the tracks. Sam looked at him, “We’re underground, aren’t we?”. “Well, ‘course.” he replied matter-of-factly. “So this gal lives underground?” Samantha continued.
“Yes.”
“All the way down here?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, I didn’t just go on a crazed roller coaster ride for nothing?”
Boogy stood to his full height, nearly towering above Sam. He shook his head jokingly. “No, you didn’t just go on a crazed roller coaster ride for nothing.” The Boogeyman laughed.
Sam jumped when the same electric crackling and maniacal laughter she had heard when the two first entered the strange building suddenly drowned Boogy’s laughter out. His smile, however, did not fade in the least. “C’mon!” he urged, “We’re just in time!” “Just in time for what?” Sam asked, hoping that it wasn’t what she thought it was. Boogy grabbed her arm and led her inside before she could ask about anything else.
Samantha’s tour guide opened the metal door that stood prominently amongst the blackness of the rest of the room. The laughter and thunderous electrical charge immediately doubled in volume, but not too loudly that Sam couldn’t stand it. Through the door, it was suddenly a lot lighter; enabling her to see much better, and yet there was still no color anywhere in sight.
Machinery lined every wall, and there was even some that were standing in the middle of the floor. Sam had never seen so many motherboards in one place, let alone USB cables, electrical outlets, metallic coils, and test tubes. Like the ground-level room, all the floors and ceiling were dull steel all somewhat poorly bolted and plated together.
Boogy led her around a few corners made of scrap metal, his grip still tight on her arm. The cackling continued on and grew louder as they neared. By now, Sam could tell it was a woman’s laugh, and she wondered if it was coming from her soon-to-be-new acquaintance.
Samantha got her answer moments later, when they came around one final corner and into a circular clearing. In the middle, not facing the two, was an operating table slanted at a strange angle and, of course, devoid of color. Pointing at the table on either side were two huge electrical rods shining white from all the electricity being built up in them from the deadly lightning above ground.
The source of the insane laughter revealed itself when an odd woman stood up from behind the grayscale operating table, holding a plug-in in one gloved hand, and an electrical outlet on an extension cord in the other. She looked to be middle-aged, had medium gray hair that was extremely tangled and messy, and wore a white lab coat and black leather gloves. The woman cackled malevolently as she jammed the plug-in into the outlet and out shot two crackling, white-hot streaks from the spherical ends of the rods onto whatever poor thing was on the table. While the woman’s cackle rose up into all-out maniacal laughter, Samantha pulled closer to her guide, her nerves tensing.
Strangely, the creepy light show ended in only a few seconds, as the woman pulled the electrical devices apart, she dropped them onto the floor and picked up the tortured thing that had been lying on the terrible table. Sam screamed in utter horror and disgust, “WHAT IS THAT THING?!” The woman held up a strange creature with the body of a weasel and oversized bat ears twitching on its head, which was of a large snake. The entire mutation was covered in white fur, from head to toe, and looking at Samantha, it barked.
“Why, this is Roscoe!” the strange woman answered, scratching the thing behind the ears. Roscoe purred contentedly. “Sammy,” Boogy began, trying to ease her a little, “This is Dr. ‘X’ Hildenburg…” “Just call me ‘X’.” the woman -Dr. X- interrupted, her voice raspy, “Torror Hown’s Sad Mientist!” Sam stared at her, confused. “She means ‘Horror Town’s Mad Scientist’” Boogy explained, kneeling down and whispering in her ear, “Dr. X is a very confused woman-“ “I heard that!” X reminded, setting Roscoe on her shoulder and approaching them, “Boogy, I may be insane, but I am certainly not deaf!”.
Samantha looked between Boogy, who was now standing at full height, and the doctor nervously. She didn’t want her companion to be in a bad mood, so to change the subject, she asked, “Well, why were you electrocuting…ah…’Roscoe’?” Dr. X’s smile returned. “Well, I was just givin’ him his weekly shock treatment! It helps him stay healthy, and he absolutely enjoys it!” she said happily with Roscoe barking in agreement. It has a gender? Sam thought, still creeped out by the furry creature.
“So, Doc, what’re working on now?” Boogy asked, again trying to calm his disturbed friend and get her mind off Roscoe. “Oh, I’m glad you asked, Boogy!” X said excitedly. She walked past the two, but not before pausing in front of Samantha and asking, “But first, you’ve got to introduce yourself, young lady! I don’t want to be callin’ you ‘Red-head’ all the time!” she laughed lightheartedly. Sam put her hands behind her back and tried not to look at the lump of white on the doctor’s shoulder. “Samantha.” she said, “But I prefer to be called Sam.” “Well, Sam,” X replied, “I’m gonna go bring out my newest project, so how about you hold Roscoe while I get my hands full?” Samantha then found her hands wrapped around sleek, white fur. She held the creature out away from herself as far as she could and looked uncertainly at it. Roscoe’s black eyes stared back, and its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth. “Uh…” Sam wasn’t quite sure what to say, “H-hello Ros-“ Roscoe’s forked tongue made a line of saliva straight up the middle of Sam’s face. He barked happily.
Samantha, laden with spit, gave Boogy a dirty look when he started to laugh. She was about to come back with a smart comment, too, but was cut off when an ear-splitting screech emitted from amidst the machinery and wires. “Holy moly!” Boogy shouted as Dr. X wheeled out a huge heavy-looking rocket just a bit taller than Boogy. “This…” The doctor grunted, “…is my newest unfinished project.”