Trick or Treat

It’s that lovely time of year: Halloween. I am happy to once again participate in the AW blog chain. This month’s prompt: Some Things Dark and Dangerous

Choose a word from this list of Lovecraftian words or this list of obscure words (or one from both if you’re feeling ambitious). Use your chosen word(s) to craft your post. It doesn’t have to be Lovecraftian or even horror, but it should be dark, or unsettling, or scary, or Halloweenish in general.

Here’s my contribution. Warning: parents may find this story a little unsettling. Please click the links below to read more dark and dangerous stories. If you dare! I’ll be updating the links as more writers join the chain.

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Trick or Treat

Edgar Phillips sat in the dank silence of his mansion, staring through the windows at the decadent sunset. His fingers dangled into the basket of Halloween candy at his side, twirling the shiny dollops of chocolate by the little paper strings that jutted from their sparkling wrappers.

He rose and went to the desk behind him, checking one last time the recipe in his great-grandmother’s dusty manuscript. Yes. He’d done everything according to her specific directions, down to painstakingly injecting the vile effluence into each and every candy.

Soon they would come: the pustulating monsters who rattled pebbles at his windows in the middle of the night, the noisome curs who rang his doorbell and shoved excrement from their over-bred and under-trained dogs through his letter slot, and their loathsome parents, who would stand guard over their furtive offspring as if they were just innocent children in need of protection.

He went back to the window and watched the sun disappear behind the accursed sub-division. Where rows of stately maples had once shed their autumn finery, now only rows of identical houses shed their vile residents in a stinking rush of sugary greed. Dressed in costumes, both hideous and ridiculous, they gorged their way through the streets until, at last, they reached the end of the sub-division. Only his mansion was left to pillage. He set the bowl of candy at the top of the porch steps and retreated, checking the noose that hung from the banister before settling himself in his study, surrounded by his beloved books and the portraits of his ancestors.

He would not be the only one to die tonight. His death would be quick; theirs would not. He smiled and nodded at the portrait of his great-grandmother. There had been those who had called her a witch, but poison had been her only, her master craft. Edgar settled back in his armchair and waited for the piteous howls and shrill ululations of his suffering tormentors. He poured himself a sherry and raised his glass in the direction of the sub-division. “Happy Halloween, you daemonic brats. Happy Halloween.”

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Participants and posts:

orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Cath – http://blog.cathsmith.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Diana Rajchel – http://blog.dianarajchel.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alynza – http://www.alynzasmith.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
dolores haze – https://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
leahzero – http://www.leahraeder.com/words (link to this month’s post)
AbielleRose – http://stainedglassinthenight.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pezie – http://www.erinbrambilla.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
MysteryRiter – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Inkstrokes – http://drlong67.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
AuburnAssassin – http://clairegillian.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alpha Echo – http://writersramblings81.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
robieae – http://thepondsofhappenstance.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
JSSchley – http://www.jessicaschley.com/ (link to this month’s post)