The Halloween Party

Curtis rang the doorbell and admired his neighbors elaborate Halloween decorations while he waited on someone to answer the door. He was new to the neighborhood, having just moved into town a few weeks ago, and his neighbors, The Martin’s, had welcomed him to the neighborhood by coming over to his house and bringing him a bottle of wine as they introduced themselves. Although The Martin’s were white, Curtis thought they were cool people, so he’d happily accepted their invite to their Halloween party.

“Hey, neighbor, come on in,” Thomas Martin said as he opened the door.

“Where’s your costume?” Curtis asked as he entered the home. He wasn’t big on dressing up in corny costumes, so he’d simply dressed in all black, threw on his leather jacket, and went as his television idol, Richard Roundtree, also known as Shaft.

“Oh, I don’t do the costume thing, I leave that to the wife. Now Sherry, she really gets into dressing up and all that.”

“Yeah, I feel you. Here, I brought you guys a bottle of wine for the festivities.”

“Thanks, that’s very nice of you,” Thomas said as they walked into the living room.

The party was actually a small get-together, about seven of The Martins’ close friends. For the next two hours, they ate, played games, and told ghost stories.

Around ten o’clock, all the guests except Curtis said their good-nights. Since he lived right next door and didn’t have to work the next morning, he wasn’t in a big rush to go home.

“Would you like some wine?” Sherry asked him.

“No thanks, I’m not much of a wine drinker.”

“How about some more punch then?”

“Sure, that will be fine.”

“Coming right up.”

Sherry disappeared into the kitchen while Curtis and Thomas sat in the living room and watched TV. A minute later, she came back into the room, carrying a pitcher of red punch and a glass. She poured Curtis a glass then went and sat beside her husband.

“So, how are you liking it here now that you’re all settled in?” Sherry asked Curtis as he sipped his drink.

“I love it here. Everyone I’ve met has been really nice, especially you guys.’

“That’s great,” Sherry said.

The three of them sat and talked and snacked on the rest of the party food for another hour. During that time, Curtis drank three more glasses of punch.

“Well, I’ve had a good time hanging out with you guy’s but I think I’d better head home.”

“What’s the rush?” Thomas asked.

“No rush, I’m just…not feeling well all of a sudden. My head is throbbing,” Curtis said as he massaged his temples. He attempted to stand, but his legs, suddenly weak and heavy, gave out from under him and he fell back down on the couch. His vision was blurry and the room seemed to be spinning.

“You alright, buddy?” Thomas asked him.

Curtis felt sleepy and could barely keep his eyes open.

“Just go to sleep, you’ll feel better when you wake up,” he heard Sherry say as his eyes closed.

***

Curtis opened his eyes and wished he’d stayed asleep. He had a migraine and he felt like he needed to vomit. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on his neighbor’s couch. He attempted to sit up, but his body was restrained. With his eyes barely open, he realized that he was no longer lying on the couch, instead he was on some kind of table and his arms and feet were tied down.

“What the hell?” he said.

“Oh look, he’s awake,” he heard Thomas say.

Curtis looked around the room. He wasn’t in Thomas and Sherry’s living room anymore, that was for sure. Unable to sit up, Curtis let his eyes peruse the dimly lit room. Was that a skull he was looking at? His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. He opened his eyes as wide as he could and not only was he looking at a skull, he saw other human bones piled in a corner of the room. The distinct smell of rotting meat assaulted his nostrils and only made the nauseous feeling worse.

“Where am I?” he said out loud.

“In our basement,” Thomas said matter-of-factly appearing to stand beside him.

“Why am I in your basement and why am I tied up and what the hell was in that punch, man?” Curtis asked.

“Ooh, honey, I can hardly wait to taste him. My mouth is watering,” Sherry said. “And I know just which part of him I plan on eating first,” she said as she ran her hand over Curtis’ crotch.”

What the fuck, Curtis wondered.

“You naughty little thing,” Thomas said winking at his wife.

“Yo, is this some kind of joke, cause I ain’t laughing,” Curtis said, attempting to sit up again. “Why the hell am I tied up?”

“He’s getting impatient, and so am I,” Sherry told Thomas.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty hungry myself.”

Curtis watched as Thomas walked over to a wall that had an assortment of knives, axes, and other tools hanging on shelves. Thomas reached for an ax with a wooden handle and a shiny, silver blade.

“Oh honey, don’t forget the duct tape for his mouth. The last one screamed so loud, he gave me a headache and I couldn’t enjoy him like I wanted to.”

“Of course, dear.” Thomas removed a roll of duct tape from a drawer, then walked back over to the table Curtis was lying on. He tore off a piece of the tape and pressed it firmly over Curtis’ mouth.

“Now, I promise to make this quick so you won’t feel any pain, ok,” Thomas said.

Curtis, realizing what was about to happen, tried to scream, but the tape over his mouth muffled the sound. His eyes widened as Thomas raised the ax over his head and brought it down hard over his neck. Curtis was never seen or heard from again.

 

Strange Sex

It was the night before Halloween and Traci and her boyfriend, Eric, had planned to spend a quiet evening alone, snacking on junk food and watching scary movies.

Traci hurried around the kitchen, preparing chips and dip, baking peanut butter cookies- Eric’s favorite- and making finger sandwiches. Eric would be getting off work shortly and was coming straight to her house. As soon as Traci had all the snacks done and the cookies were in the oven, she went into the living room to watch tv and wait.

A little over ten minutes later, her cell phone rang to the familiar ring tone she had set especially for Eric.

“Hey, babe, are you on your way?” she asked.

“Uh, no, that’s why I’m calling. I have to work late tonight and probably won’t be able to make it over. I’m sorry.”

Traci pouted. “Ugh, I wish you’d called before I fixed all this food for nothing. Now what am I supposed to do here all alone by myself?”

“Call Kelly over.”

“What I had planned, I can’t do with Kelly.”

“I’m sorry babe, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah…you’d better.”

Traci ended the call just as the oven timer went off, indicating the cookies were done. She went into the kitchen and removed the cookies from the oven, then snacked on the chips and dip while she waited for the cookies to cool.

After eating and putting the food away, she decided to watch a movie until she fell asleep. She could have called her bestie, Kelly over, but she was hoping that Eric would still come over.

Thirty minutes into the movie, there was a knock at the door. Thinking Eric had gotten off work and came over after all, she happily skipped over to the door and swung it open.

“Hey ba…,” she started until she saw a man standing there in a creepy looking mask.

The man was the same height and had the same build as Eric and Traci assumed her boyfriend was playing a joke on her, so she decided to go along.

“Get in here, boy,” she said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him inside. “What’s up with the mask though, babe? It’s kind of creepy.”

The man said nothing.

“Oh, I know…is this what you meant when you said you wanted to incorporate role-playing into our bedroom activities?” Traci said with a sly grin.

Still, the man said nothing.

“Well, I’m down with it,” Traci said seductively.

She grabbed his hand and led him into her bedroom. Once inside, she made a show of slowly removing her jeans and t-shirt, as if she were performing a strip tease. Then, she went and laid down on her back on the bed.

“Well, your clothes aren’t going to take themselves off, or do you want me to do it?” she asking, noticing he still hadn’t taken his clothes off.

He stood there and stared down at her, so she hopped back out of the bed, walked over to him, and removed his leather jacket and button down shirt. Winking at him, she playfully pushed him on the bed, then climbed on top of him and reached for his belt buckle and unzipped his jeans.

After undressing him, she straddled his lap and stared down at his masked face.

“Can’t you at least take that thing off, it’s kind of ruining the vibe up in here,” she said, running her hand across the grotesque looking mask, which resembled the one in the Halloween movies.

He shook his head.

“Fine, leave it on. I said I would role-play, so what are we calling this, getting my freak on with the masked serial killer?” she joked.

He shook his head yes.

Traci leaned down and planted kisses on his chest and worked her way downwards. She licked her lips before she planted a kiss on the tip of his erection. This elicited a response from him, as he reached down and grabbed a handful of her box braids.

Traci, seeing that he was into it, worked her lips further down his shaft, preparing to pleasure him like never before. That is, until something happened that gave her pause. Right in the middle of their strange role-playing, she heard a familiar sound…the ring tone she had set especially for Eric when he called her. But how could Eric be calling her on the phone if he was lying there with a handful of her hair tightly in his grip?

Traci quickly jumped up and out of the bed. Her cell phone was in the living room on the coffee table where she’d left it. She grabbed her bathrobe from the chair beside her bed and put it on.

“Uh, I-I need to go get that,” she said nervously, not sure what was going on. She didn’t mind playing along, but the whole scene was making her a little uneasy.

Was Eric playing some kind of sick joke on her, she wondered as she walked to the living room? How was he calling her, yet lying in her bed at the same time?

By the time she made it to the living room, her phone had stopped ringing. She was about to call him back, but a loud knock on the door caused her to jump and she dropped the phone on the floor.

“Dammit,” she cursed as she picked up the phone and looked at the screen.

Dropping her phone, yet again, had caused the crack in the screen to spread a little more. She frowned, realizing she’d have no choice but to buy another phone soon. The knocking got louder and more persistent, so she ran over to the door. She opened it and was shocked to find her boyfriend, Eric standing on the other side of it. What the hell?

“Oh, thank God, you’re okay,” Eric said, pulling her into an embrace.

Now Traci was really confused. If her boyfriend was just making it to her house, then who had she just been in bed with? Who was the masked man lying naked in her bedroom?

“Eric…what? I thought…,” Traci couldn’t get the words to come out of her mouth.

“Haven’t you heard?” Eric asked as he walked into the living room?”

“Heard what?”

“There’s a masked killer going around the neighborhood, stalking women and killing them. He’s wearing some creepy mask and knocking on random doors and if a woman answers, he gets inside and kills them. There have been three murders already tonight. Luckily one woman managed to get away from him and she called the police. There are cops everywhere outside.”

Traci thought she was going to be sick.

“Once I heard the news, I told my boss I had to come make sure you were okay. I tried calling you on my way over and when you didn’t answer the phone, I was so worried something had happened. I thought…,” Eric let his words linger as he hugged his girlfriend again.

Traci was stunned. Speechless. And scared as hell because the masked killer the police were searching for was still in her bedroom.

“Oh my God,” she screamed as she pulled away from Eric and ran towards her room.

“What’s wrong?” Eric asked, going after her.

“He’s here,” Traci cried.

“Who’s here?” Eric asked.

However, once she made it into her room, with Eric in tow, she realized the killer was gone. The bedroom window was open and the nighttime breeze caused the curtains to blow softly in the wind. Traci felt a chill travel through her body, but it had nothing to do with the fact that it was cold outside. She ran over to the window and looked out into the darkness, wondering where the masked killer was. Was that a shadow she saw? Did she see movement in the bushes? Was he watching her…waiting? Would he come back?

“What do you see out there, babe?” Eric asked, coming up behind her. His presence caused her to nearly jump out of her skin.

How could she ever explain to her boyfriend that a serial killer had been in her house…in her bed, and that she’d been about to sleep with him? The thought of what she’d done before her phone rang made her nauseous.

“Nothing,” she said, turning to look back out the window.

Her eyes focused on something shiny lying on the ground. The streetlights made visible the long blade of a butcher knife. In his haste to get away, the killer had dropped it. He was never found.