The
Mystery On
written by: Carole Marsh Longmeyer Illustrated by: Sarah McCarthy
The Mystery on Haunting Lodge Road written by Carole Marsh Longmeyer illustrated by Sarah McCarthy
Copyright Carole Marsh Longmeyer Published by Gallopade International www.gallopade.com A Bluffton Books book www.blufftonbooksandmore.com Spooky Art Director: John Hanson Candy-eating Editor: Janice Baker Death-defying Designer: Susan Van Denhende Silly, Illy-strations: Sarah McCarthy Written by: Pirate Carole Marsh Longmeyer Printed by: the zombies, vampires, ghosts, and etc. at Gallopade Publishing
You know Halloween? You know what that is, right? The holiday on October 31- All Hallow’s Eve- when kids don costumes of all types, grab a plastic pumpkin or some other container, and go Trick-or-Treating. It’s easy. It’s fun. Always. Isn’t it?
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On this Halloween, the Hickey children prepared for the big night. They climbed up to the attic to find the box marked HALLOWEEN. “Is this my old costume?” “I don’t think this fits me.” “This one’s too scary for me!” “I want a really scary costume!” “I want a scary mask.” “I want a sweet costume, please.”
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“I want the pumpkin!” “No, that’s mine from last year.” “Where’s that big old grocery sack? It holds a LOT of candy!” “I made a bucket at school last year- where did it go?” “Hey, here’s Grandma’s big ol’ purse…I think I will use that!”
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Now that the kids were finally costumed and ready to head out, they kissed their mom and dad goodbye. “Be careful out there!” “Don’t get scared!” “Stay away from candles!” “Look both ways before you cross a street!” “Hold the youngest one’s hand!” “Don’t eat any candy until you bring it home so we can inspect it!” “Be sure and say thank you!” “Don’t leave our neighborhood!”
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“Let’s go to the Smith’s first! They always give out chocolate bars!” “No, let’s go to Andy’s house…he’s my best friend!” “Let’s go in order down the street, guys.” “Don’t be silly- let’s follow those kids over there. It won’t be as scary with another group of kids.” “Who’s scared- not me!” “Me…maybe?” Up and down the streets they went, house after house.
It was so much fun to run up to a door and ring the bell and shout, “TRICK-OR-TREAT!” “That was a good house! We got two pieces of candy each!” “I got an apple- bah, humbug!” “My bag is getting full already!” “My bag is almost empty- are you sneaking some of my candy?” NONE of their neighbors’ moms or dads recognized them. “Who are you guys?” Mrs. Rodriguez said. “Do I know you kids?” asked Mr. Jones. “Oh, dear- you ghouls about scare me to death!” squealed Grammy Dearborn. Even their teacher, who lived on their street, had NO idea who was at her door! “Dear me! I wish I could tell who you are,” she said and smiled. Then she gave each kid a whole handful of candy.
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As the kids went on, it began to get darker. There was no moon. No stars. Their legs grew tired. Their bags of candy grew heavy. They were hungry. They were even a little sleepy. Most of the other kids had gone inside to sort and eat their candy. But the Hickey kids did not want Halloween to be over! “Let’s go down this street!” “No, that’s out of our neighborhood- Mom said…” “Just one more house, please!” “It looks dark and scary down there!” “No, it looks like a good place to go and fill our bags to the TOP with candy- let’s go!” And so the kids started down the street. It was a dirt road. They probably should have read the street sign. It said: HAUNTING LODGE ROAD. “I’m nervous.” “I’m scared.” “My legs are tired.” “I don’t even see a house.” “There are no lights out here.” “Probably no one is home.” “We are going to get in trouble, guys!”
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Finally, a house came into sight. The kids bravely (well, more or less bravely!) walked up to the porch. They looked up at the house. “What kind of house is this?” “It says it is a lodge.” “What is a lodge?” “It says it’s a h…a…u…n…” “Haunting!” “What does that mean?” “I don’t think we want to know…let’s go home!” “NO! Knock on the door!” And so they did.
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The bell rang. It was an eerie sound. The front of the house was so scary. There were dead animals plastered all over it. It looked like a camp where no kid would ever want to go. It looked cobwebby. It looked, well, haunted. SUDDENLY, the door began to c…r…e…a…k open! Much to the kids’ surprise, a bunch of kids bounded out onto the porch and stared at them. The Hickey kids were almost too scared to speak, but they finally squeaked out… “T…” “Trrrriiiiii…” “Trrrriiiiccckkk…” “Or…” “TRICK OR TREAT!”
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The kids from the lodge just stared at them. “Who are you?” “Why are you dressed like that?” “What are those bags you are holding?” “Why are you here?” The Hickey kids were stunned. “Who are YOU?” “Why are you dressed like that?” “Have you been Trick-or-Treating?” “Why don’t you have any bags of candy?” “Did you come to our house? That would have confused Mom and Dad!” The haunted lodge kids grinned. “We are the Stinkberger kids.” “We live here.” “We’re getting ready to go to school, of course.” “We don’t do tricks. We don’t need treats.” “Want to come in and have breakfast with us?” Bravely (or not so bravely!), the Hickey kids tiptoed up the steps. They… went…inside THE HAUNTED LODGE! The door SLAMMED behind them! “Yiiiiiiii!!!!” “Ohhhhhhhhh!!!!” “Eeeeeekkkkk!” “Whoaaaaa!”
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“You eat CANDY for breakfast?” “Of course!” “Your mom and dad let you?” “Don’t yours?” “Every day?!” “No…three times a day, plus dessert.” “Do you get cavities?” “What are cavities?”
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“Bye! See you next Halloween!” “Hey, do you do Christmas?” “What’s that?” “You know… Santa Claus… stockings…presents…” “Never heard of it.” “Then come to our house for Christmas-you’ll love it!” “Ok! Sure! Thanks!”
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About the author… Carole Marsh Longmeyer loves Halloween (and Christmas!). She lives on Hunting Lodge Road, which her husband, Bob, calls “Haunting Lodge Road.” Her favorite costume to wear on Halloween is pirate! Other books in this series are Ghost Banquet and Welcome to Goblinville.
About the illustrator... Sarah McCarthy felt that illustrating for Carole Marsh’s Halloween series books was her calling card. As a lover of all things spooky, Sarah was more than happy to make these monster-filled books come to life. Or rather...the “afterlife”? Check out more of her work on her portfolio website be.net/FrozenFire.
About the book designer... Susan Van Denhende loves dressing up in costume for Halloween almost as much as she loves getting free candy. She doesn’t do very well with all things scary and spooky though, and she’s pretty sure she would have chickened out at the things the kid in this book encountered. You can see more of her work at be.net/auroradesilva.
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The
Hickey
Halloween!
They’ve
costumes and candy.
kids
are
been
to
all
the
jazzed
attic
and
about
found
masks and pumpkins or buckets to hold
Like all the other kids in their neighborhood,
they head out to Trick-or-Treat. They are first
out, and last to return. That’s because they LOVE Halloween (and candy!), but also because they spot
a street sign that reads HAUNTING LODGE ROAD… and can’t resist going down it.
What do they find?
Are you sure you want to know? Well, come along then, but be ready for a big surprise!
P.S. You’re not a scaredy cat, are you? No? Gooooood.
ISBN 13: 978-0-635-12076-2