Dare to Scare?

HALLOWEEN

A pair of frightening tales for the season

    The Piscataquis Observer thanks all who submitted entries for the annual Dare to Scare? story contest. While the staff is still recovering from all of the resulting nightmares, first- and second-place submissions were written by a pair of seventh-graders at the Ridge View Community School in Dexter. Medeau Gustin has the scariest story and will receive a pair of passes to the Dover-Foxcroft  Fall Boo-Nanza on Oct. 31.

The Spooky Bear
By Medeau Gustin

    “Mom, COME HERE!” I said.
    “What is it honey?” my mother asked.
    “Something is freaking me out!”
    “All right, all right, I’m coming.” I could hear the foot steps of my mother coming down the hall way. She stepped into the room.
    “See, look that stuffed bear keeps following me around and staring at me,” I explained.
    “It’s just a bear, what harm ever came from a stuffed bear?” She added.
    “Nothing, it is just really creepy. And it could eat my face off in the middle of the night. Now I don’t think you want my face to be eaten, right?” I put in.
    “Oh, don’t be silly. Now go to sleep and think about something else OTHER than that, OK?” She said.
    “YEAH, sure mom.” I rolled my eyes and turned to my side and went to sleep.
    The next morning I woke up and the bear was on top of my bed covers staring at me, like it was going to eat me up. I was very creeped out, so I went out to get some air and I thought I saw something behind me so I turned around. There it was. That stupid bear had followed me here.
    I walked over to the bear and picked it up and threw it in the dumpster! I was so tired of that bear making it so I couldn’t sleep any more! I slammed the dumpster lid tight and walked away furiously. I decided to walk down to the library, to take my mind off things. When I got to the library, I picked out a book called “Nightmare Bear” and I thought that I was seeing things! So I ran out the door and left the book lying on the floor.
    I started to walk back to my house. Then I see an advertisement sign, and I could not believe what I was seeing! There it was, the bear was on the sign! I ran a little faster and I picked up more speed as I went further. Soon I got to my house and locked all the doors and ran into my bed room and hid under the covers. I peeked out from under my covers and saw that STUPID BEAR! I whispered to my self, “Good bye world, as I know it.”
    Then, the next day, all of the sudden my mother steps into my room and sees the stuffed bear walking towards me and says, “What is wrong with that bear? She walked to the bear and pulled off its head and pulled out a WIND-UP TOY?
    “So that’s what was making the bear follow me everywhere!” I said.
    I thought to myself, “Wow, is this what I have been running from? A wind-up toy! I mean that is so ridiculous.”
    So the next day I went to the pantry to get a box of cereal. When all of a sudden, I turned around and I thought I was crazy because the bear was sitting on the counter holding a knife! All my fears came back to me as if I had never conquered them…
            DUN…
                    DUN…
                            DUN…!

Fall BOO-Nanza descends
on East Main Street

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Center Theatre is pleased to be working in conjunction with the Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming Committee to present the Dover-Foxcroft Fall BOO-Nanza.
    “Being part of an activity that the entire community can enjoy is both a privilege and a great deal of fun. We have had a great time planning the ‘Theatre of Terror’ and are amazed by all the work that the Homecoming Committee does on events like this. It is a true labor of love, and we are honored to work with them on a project that will bring so much joy to so many people,” says Center Theatre Executive Director Angela Bonacasa.
    The Dover-Foxcroft Fall BOO-Nanza kicks off at 4:30 p.m. with a Kids Costume Parade. Those taking part should gather at Central Hall, and the parade will go down East Main Street to the downtown parking lot, site of Freaky Fun & Games. Freaky Fun & Games will include games and entertainment for the entire family. The games begin at 5 p.m.
    For those interested in something a little more spooky, the Center Theatre is sponsoring the “Theatre of Terror” starting at 6 p.m. Starting in the theatre lobby, the tour will take visitors on a tour of the “haunted” Center Theatre. The cost includes entry to the Freaky Fun & Games.
    After the conclusion of the Halloween activities, the Center Theatre will be the host of a live shadowcast of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at midnight. Sponsored by Dave’s World, Dr. Dan, and the Center Coffee House, this show is geared toward mature audiences. Audience members are encouraged to attend in costume.
    Additional information is available by calling the Center Theatre Box Office at 564-8943, stopping by the theatre at 20 East Main Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday or by going to the website at www.centertheatre.org. The Center Theatre is a non-profit performing arts center dedicated to making the arts a part of life in the Maine Highlands.

Second place Scary Story
By Gage Stone

    We always hunt at least once in the spot every year. It’s right behind a cornfield pretty far back in the woods. I feel like something is watching me every year, but I thought it was just because I was nervous. I had no idea I was actually being watched, until we got the picture. Nothing could protect us from this, not even our guns, nothing…
    After school during hunting season, I go to my grandparents’ house. It’s right across the field where we hunt. My dad has hunted there since he was a kid. One day when we went down it was unusually silent. No birds. No squirrels. Nothing. But there were weird tracks in the mud near our stand in the woods. They were almost human like, but it looked like there were claws instead of toes. I asked my dad what they were but he said that the rain must have deformed one of our footsteps. But the weird thing was we didn’t have any rain in a week. I just tried to forget about it even though it is hard to ignore something like that.
    Once we got in the tree stand it was still dead silent. About an hour in I heard something crunching on leaves. It didn’t sound like a deer though, it sounded like footsteps. My heart was pounding. Whatever it was, was coming right at us from behind. I couldn’t just turn around because if it was a deer, it might keep going in front of us where we could shoot it. When it was about five to ten yards behind us, it stopped for a couple seconds.
    That’s when I heard it. It hissed at us, and that scared me because deer don’t hiss. I started to turn around slowly to find out what it was, it must have seen me because leaves exploded in the air, and it was gone. I only saw a black figure bolt off, and I thought it was on four legs. I asked my dad what it was, but he said it must have been a deer. That’s when I thought he was hiding something, or he just didn’t know. But I didn’t have any proof it wasn’t a deer because we never saw it. He got the chip out of the game camera after we were done hunting and looked at it when we got home. He grabbed the computer and put the chip in. I sat right beside him to see what the camera caught. All of the images were of deer but one, the last one.
    It was at night, a human-like creature was bent over. Bone skinny, with white glowing eyes, and a twisted smile at the camera as if it knew it was there. As my dad looked closer, he looked shocked, “That looks like your grandfather’s friend.”
    “Why would he be out wandering at night?” I asked.
    “Because he died in a hunting accident, 70 years ago.”