Halloween At Nightfall

Summerween Writing Challenge#5 TREAT

Old wooden cottage with broken roof and moss-covered chimney in leafless forest

Artwork by WP AI

Mary Mannering ‘s house was the house to visit on Halloween because she handed  out crispy sweet popcorn balls dipped in orange icing and stuffed  inside the Popcorn Pumpkins were sweet and sour gummy worms. Along with the treats. Sometimes she made cookies that looked like bones and when they snapped open in your mouth cinnamon flavored gel would ooze out and coat  the inside your mouth red.

Mary’s house certainly looked like a witch’s house with it’s pointed roof and ivy chocked chimney, her windows that glowed by candlelight and her giant black dog  Freybug always on her porch or at the end of her walkway.

For Halloween she put Devil’s horns on Freybug’s head and she replaced his collar with a length of rope  with his name written in red along the coils.

Mary Mannering dressed  herself like a Witch and she would answer the door holding a plastic cauldron  with her sweet treats piled inside.  ” My, my  ” she said  ” have you been good little trick or treaters this year? ”

The collection of scarecrows and zombies and Princesses would assure Mary Mannering that they were very good trick or treaters,

” I egged two houses. ” said a Princess with no eyes and a jaw holding on to her face with a few tendons and  a blood stained pink ribbon.

” I laid on Mr Kelvin’s front yard and pretended to be dead ” said a scarecrow with a missing arm ‘ then when Mr Kelvin came outside and said who left that gory decoration in his yard , I jumped up and screamed ” my arm, my arm Mr Kelvin took my arm!”

” I chased some people around a cemetery with an ax ” said a zombie with a rat looking out from  his the hole where his left ear used to be. ” But I caught one on  accident though so…” his voice trailed off.

With a beautiful big smile she would  hold her cauldron out and the Trick or Treaters would help themselves to her treats and happily stuff them into their treat bags.

‘ Now remember children ‘ Mary Mannering would say as the  Children left her porch to Trick or Treat the other houses in town- which is known as Nightfall. I don’t know what that little town up in the Cascade’s is really called. Maybe it never had a name.  Some towns are like that, they just spring up in the middle of nowhere and one day they just disappear ” what happens when you raise Hell? ”

In one voice that sounded like the rustle of dry, dead leaves they said, ‘ you raise a mirror. ”

Mary Manning, the Witch of Nightfall hugged her cauldron to her chest and she said, ” Oh yes, yes we do.  Indeed we do.”

Rustic kitchen with cobwebs, wooden cabinets, old stove, and lantern

Artwork WP AI

Step Right Up Step Right Up!

My Summerween Writing Challenge: TRICK

Spooky Halloween carnival game booths with haunted clown and zombie themes at night

WP AI Artwork

One of my family friends owns a business that  sells and  distributes plushies and prizes to Fairs and  Carnivals.

He used to give our kids those big giant plushies- the ” Grand Prizes ” so that we didn’t waste our money trying to win them. To his credit, he didn’t spill the beans on how the games were rigged but all we had to do was read the room to know what our odds were in winning those games.

So.

Google is a thing now ( it didn’t exist back when my kids were little ) so I will spill the beans because WHY NOT:

Common Tricks and How to Counter Them

1. Ring Toss

  • Trick: Often set up to be harder than it looks.
  • Tip: Toss the ring upward with a nice arch and a slight spin to increase the chance of landing on the bottle

2. Milk Bottle Game

  • Trick: Bottles are weighted at the bottom to make them harder to knock over.
  • Tip: Aim for the space between the two bottom bottles and hit the center bottom bottle with force; this can topple all of them WikiHow+1.

3. Balloon Dart Game

  • Trick: Balloons are under‑inflated and dart tips are dull, making them harder to pop.
  • Tip: Scan for the most inflated balloons (thinnest skin) and aim for outer‑edge balloons where top prizes are often placed. Hit at a 45° downward angle WikiHow+1.

4. Basketball Toss

  • Trick: Hoops are smaller, balls overinflated, and backboards extra bouncy.
  • Tip: Ignore the backboard, aim for the net with a high arc, and focus on accuracy over power WikiHow+1.

5. High Striker

  • Trick: The bell may not ring unless you hit the pad dead‑center.
  • Tip: Aim for the exact center of the pad; hitting elsewhere rarely triggers the bell DoYouRemember?.

6. Duck Pond / Fish Games

  • Trick: Some older games used rocks to “catch” fish, which is now banned; others are rigged to be nearly impossible.
  • Tip: Avoid these unless you’re sure they’re fair; buy a prize directly if you want a guaranteed toy

General Carnival Strategy

  • Avoid the biggest prizes — they’re often the hardest to win WikiHow.
  • Choose skill‑based games you can practice, like milk bottle or basketball toss WikiHow.
  • Observe before you play — look for clues about equipment setup and prize placement Reader’s Digest.
  • Use physics to your advantage — adjust aim, force, and angle based on how the game is rigged Reader’s Digest.
Abandoned carnival with spooky carousel horses and empty game booths

WP AI ARTWORK

Now go forth and have some fun.

She Haunts Me Too

 

Writing Prompt#3 Bats

My Summerween Writing Challenge

 

Every horror fan worth there salt has read or taken a stab  ( hahaha) at reading ” Dracula ” by Bram Stocker.

I’ve read it a couple of times because it’s a fun read, plus I find Victorian erotica funny. Don’t ask me why.

But truth be know, I have read a Vampire story that actually got under my skin was Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

Illustration by Michael Fitzgerald for Le Fanu’s story Carmilla in “The Dark Blue” (January 1872), electrotype after wood-engraving, reproduced in Best Ghost Stories, ed. Bleiler.

I read it when I was about 12 years old- I bought a copy at a Used Bookstore/Comic Book store that I used to visit when I stayed with my Aunt Sharon over the Summer. I read it a couple of times and my Aunt read it too.

I remember I could clearly see Laua and Carmilla in my mind’s eye ( I can still see them ) as I read the book and I also remember that when I visualized what I was reading, there was always a mist or fog at their feet or creeping around Laura’s  windows.

On top of that I know the iconic lines from Dracula about the Wolves by heart because they show up at Halloween  on decorations and in movies .

I haven’t read Carmilla for years but I remember at the ending Carmilla gets hacked up and cremated and her ashes dumped in a river… I will always remember the ending where Laura thinks she hears Carmilla’s footsteps outside her door.

She is haunted by that sound and you know what?

So am I.

Who You Gonna Call?

We have prayers, rituals to protect us from Evil, some of us though have a favorite- which do you find yourself saying when those things that go bump in the night are pounding at your front door?

*“From ghoulies and ghosties
And long‑leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!”

Midjourney creations and styles by Irina Shamaeva


I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Amen.

Sekhmet is the daughter of the sun god, Ra, and is among the more important of the goddesses in the Egyptian Pantheon. Sekhmet acted as the vengeful manifestation of Ra’s power, the Eye of Ra. Sekhmet is said to breathe fire, and the hot winds of the desert were likened to her breath. She is also believed to cause plagues (which were described as being her servants or messengers), although she is also called upon to ward off disease and heal the sick.

The Invocation: “I am Sekhmet who cometh forth in the dawn. I am the power of Ra by day. Nor man nor god shall hurt me, nor shall the living… My name is created to defy all evil. I am the flame that shineth in the sanctuary”.

Prompt#2 Ritual

My Summerween Writing Challenge.