Read Online 48 - Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) - Free Book Online Page A

gone.
    Disappeared.
    Tabby gasped. Lee’s mouth dropped open.
    “Where did they go?” Walker murmured.
    “They were standing right there!” Tabby insisted. “Both of them. Holding
their heads in their hands! Really!”
    The man let out a long sigh. “You kids have a good Halloween,” he said
wearily. “But give me a break, okay? I just got off work, and I’m beat.”
    He shifted his black lunch box to the other hand. Then we watched him make
his way up the driveway. He disappeared around the back of the house.
    “Let’s get out of here!” Lee cried.
    But before we could run, the two pumpkin heads leaped out from behind a low
hedge. The red flames hissed inside their heads. Their jagged mouths were turned
down in angry snarls.
    “More houses,” they insisted, rasping the words together. “More
houses. You can’t stop trick-or-treating.”
    “But we’re so tired!” Tabby protested. Her voice cracked. Again, I saw tears
wetting her eyes.
    “Let us go—please!” Lee begged.
    “More houses. More!”
    “You can never stop! NEVER!”
    “I can’t!” Lee cried. “My bag is full. Look!” He held out the bulging
trick-or-treat bag to the pumpkin heads. Candy bars spilled over the top.
    “Mine is full, too!” Walker declared. “It’s filled to the top. I can’t
squeeze another piece of candy corn in it!”
    “We have to go home!” Tabby cried. “Our bags are totally full.”
    “That’s no problem,” one of the pumpkin heads replied.
    “No problem?” Tabby wailed. “No problem?”
    “Start eating,” the pumpkin head ordered.
    “Huh?” We all gasped.
    “Start eating,” he insisted. “Start eating.”
    “Hey—no way!” Lee protested. “We’re not going to stand here and—”
    The creatures appeared to rise up. Bright yellow flames shot out from their
eyes. A roar of hot wind escaped their jagged, snarling mouths. The wind burned
my face.
    We all knew what would happen if we refused to do as they said. We’d end up
inside the flames.
    Lee grabbed a chocolate bar from the top of his trick-or-treat bag. He tore
off the wrapper with a trembling hand. And he shoved the candy into his mouth.
    We all started to eat candy. We had no choice.
    I shoved a Hershey bar into my mouth and started to chew. I couldn’t even
taste it. A big gob stuck to my teeth. But I shoved in more and kept chewing.
    “Faster! Faster!” the pumpkin heads ordered.
    “Please—!” Tabby begged, with a mouthful of red licorice. “We can’t—”
    “Faster! Eat! Eat!”
    I shoved an entire bag of candy corn into my mouth and struggled to chew. I
saw Walker pawing through his bag, looking for something he could eat quickly.
    “Faster! Eat!” the fiery heads demanded, floating over us. “Eat! Eat!”
    Lee choked down his fourth Musketeer bar. He grabbed a Milky Way and started
to unwrap it.
    “I—I’m going to be sick!” Tabby declared.
    “Faster! Faster!” came the raspy command.
    “No. Really. I feel sick!” she cried.
    “Eat more! Eat—faster!”
    Lee started to choke. A gob of pink taffy shot out of his mouth. Tabby
slapped him on the back until he stopped coughing.
    “More! Faster!” the pumpkin heads ordered.
    “I—I can’t!” Lee cried in a hoarse whisper.
    The creatures leaned over him, angry flames shooting from their eyes.
    Lee grabbed a Crunch bar, tore off the wrapper, and bit into it.
    All four of us huddled there on the curb, gobbling down candy. Chewing as
fast as we could. Forcing it down, then shoving in some more.
    Trembling. Frightened. Feeling sick.
    We had no idea that the biggest horror was still to come.

 
 
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    “I… can’t… eat… any more,” Tabby choked out.
    We had been stuffing ourselves with candy for several minutes. Tabby had
chocolate running down her chin. And I saw chocolate stuck in the tangles of her
blond hair.
    Lee was bent over on the grass. He held his stomach and groaned. “I don’t
feel so hot,” he murmured. He let out a