SHANNON HOWELL

She had been waiting for Halloween to come around for weeks. It was after all one of her favorite holidays and she was really looking forward to it since she had found old spell books in a dusty old bookstore.

She never believed they were real, but it would still be fun to go to a creepy graveyard on Halloween night and read them aloud. She never expected anything to happen, but she did have to admit that it scared her with the black cat jumped up on the tombstone.

Her faithful pug “Gizmo”, always ready for an adventure, would not allow tonight to be any different and demanded to stay by her side. She was surprised that he hadn't gone off barking at the cat when it jumped up on the tombstone.

She kept hearing a scratching, digging sound and figured it was Gizmo digging a hole but when she turned to look at him, she noticed his gaze was locked on something as he growled deeply.

What she saw was beyond belief, she had no words for what she was seeing and surely this couldn't be real.

But it was and she couldn't pull her eyes away from staring at the arm reached out from the grave. The scratching noise she heard wasn't Gizmo, but the undead breaking through the hard ground and rocks.

She was starting to wish that she had just stayed home and watch her favorite Halloween movies on t.v. as the doors of the crypt behind her creaked open and a green eerie fog rolled out with the sounds of moans and something sliding across the floor....