The Fear of Fear, Vol 1; Kinemortophobia

Just as Marcus slowly slipped into that surreal feeling between asleep and awake, the loud 'ding-dong' of the doorbell snapped him back into reality. As he sat up and shook the cobwebs from his head, he stood up and headed over to the door. He looked out the peephole and saw an evil looking scarecrow, with a jack-o-lantern for a head. Standing next to him was a vampire, with a long black cape and a pale face, licking his long white fangs. Next to the vampire stood Satan himself. But something was different about them, they weren't as terrifying as they seemed in the storybooks. Mainly because each of them only stood three and a half feet tall.

Marcus swung the door open. "TRICK OR TREAT!" the three creatures yelled in unison. Marcus smiled, "Wow, look at you guys! You look awesome! Great costumes!" He dropped a mini candy bar into each of their plastic bags that they had outstretched in front of them. "THANK YOU!" the ghouls called back as they headed back up the driveway. "Happy Halloween!" As Marcus headed back inside he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a man, probably in his late 20s or early 30s headed towards them. His face was gray and his clothes were covered in blood. He walked with a shambling gait. Marcus shook his head and muttered to himself, "A little old for trick or treating, ain't ya, guy?" as he headed back inside and closed the door.

As he plopped himself back down on his couch, he heard the children scream. He sat up for a moment, but then just shook it off as that man playing a prank on those kids, or perhaps they were just scared by his costume. He sank back into the cushion. He raised his remote control and flicked on the television. Suddenly there was a loud bang outside, like someone had just run into his house. The noise then changed to a scraping, as if someone was dragging a branch or some other large item across the front of his house. The scraping stopped for a second and then there was a second loud bang, this time on the front door. Marcus jumped up to the door and looked out the peephole to see the man, now clawing at his door. Marcus sighed and opened the door.

"Seriously, dude? Aren't you too old for this?" The man's head was flopped to one side, as if he couldn't hold it up under his own power. He could barely stand up straight and he leaned forward towards Marcus with his arms outstretched. "Whoa, there, buddy. Are you drunk? Jesus. Hang on, I'll call you a cab." Marcus pushed the man away and the man's arms fell limply to his side. "Started partying pretty early, eh?" The man stepped into the house and started following Marcus. "Hey, just stay on the porch, I'll call for you." The man continued to follow him, reaching out. As Marcus lifted the receiver, the man grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. "What the f---" was all Marcus could get out before the man leaned in and bit a large chunk out of Marcus's neck. As Marcus screamed and fell to the floor, blood pouring out of his neck, the man chewed up the large piece of flesh.

As Marcus tried to claw himself across the floor, a tiny hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist. He looked over to see the vampire from his front porch, now covered in blood from a large wound on his shoulder. The vampire bit down hard on Marcus's arm and tore off another piece of flesh. Marcus screamed again, blood flowing from his neck and now arm. Just then the scarecrow and devil staggered into the room and grab Marcus's already injured arm. They begin feasting on it like dogs with a chicken leg.

Marcus is no longer screaming at this point. In fact he is trying frantically just to breathe. As he gurgled one last breath, the life left his eyes as he died of massive blood loss. The creatures feasting on his flesh slowly disperse, no longer interested in his now cold flesh. As the four ghouls stagger out of the house to find their next victim, Marcus slowly opens his eyes. He's not alive, but he's not dead. He's not breathing, his heart isn't beating, but he is able to raise himself up to his feet and shamble out the front door to join the others. Trick or treat.