It was a cold and foggy Halloween night, where the air smelled of sugar and fallen leaves. Two children, Emma and Lucas, excited by the prospect of gathering mountains of candy, wandered through their neighborhood dressed as a witch and a vampire. The streets were filled with costumed kids and glowing pumpkins placed in front of the doors. The evening was in full swing.
They had already filled half of their candy bags, but there was one house they hadn’t visited yet: the old house at the end of the street, the one all the kids avoided. Its shutters were always closed, the garden overgrown with brambles, and no one seemed to live there. But this year, a flickering light shone through the living room window. Intrigued and a little scared, Emma and Lucas decided to go there. After all, it was Halloween, right? Maybe the old house had more delicious candies than the others.
Holding onto each other, they approached the creaking gate. Their footsteps crunched on the fallen leaves as they slowly climbed the steps of the porch. In front of the imposing door, Emma raised her hand to knock, but Lucas beat her to it and pressed the rusty doorbell. A strange chime echoed in the house, like a distant echo.
They waited, their hearts racing, ready to shout “Trick or treat!” The door creaked open slowly with a sinister sound. A figure appeared in the darkness of the entrance. It was draped in a large white sheet, floating gently above the ground.
“Who… who is there?” whispered Emma.
Suddenly, the figure raised its arms and, with a hollow voice, shouted: “BOOOO!”
Emma and Lucas screamed in terror, dropped their candy bags, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They raced down the street without looking back, breathless, their hearts pounding.
Once home, they slammed the door behind them and ran straight to their rooms. Each slipped under their bed, breathing heavily, adrenaline keeping them awake. They stayed there for a long time, listening to every sound in the house, fearing the ghost had followed them.
But nothing happened. Just the silence of the night.
Finally, Emma slowly emerged from under her bed and whispered:
“Lucas… do you think it was a real ghost?”
Lucas, still hidden under his bed, replied in a trembling voice:
“I… I don’t know… but we’re never going back there!”
And so, that night, Emma and Lucas decided that some Halloween houses were perhaps better left alone. They may not have brought back all the candy they wanted, but they had a story to tell. As for the ghost? It was none other than Mr. Dupont, the old owner of the house, who enjoyed scaring children... but they would never find that out.