Halloween: Scary Short Stories for Kids

Rafael and his mom were at a garage sale one warm July day when Rafael discovered a large clay jack o’lantern on one of the sales tables. It was carefully sculpted, painted, and glazed. It was designed so you could put a candle inside it, just like a real jack o’lantern!

  “Look, Mom!” cried Rafael, showing her.

  “Oh, how cute!” said Mom. “Maybe I’ll buy it and use it as a table decoration this fall.”

  But before Rafael could reply, the older woman who was running the garage sale hurried toward them with a panicked expression on her face. “How did this get out here?” she gasped, snatching the jack o’lantern from the table. “I was sure I told Ned to put it in the Dumpster!”

  Rafael was confused. “Why would you want to throw that away?” he asked. “My mom was thinking of buying it.”

  The woman held the jack o’lantern tightly against her and gazed at Rafael and Mom with a dark expression. “Trust me,” she said, “you don’t want this in your house. It was made years ago by a gypsy who put a curse on our family. Every generation to own this jack o’lantern has had nothing but trouble!”

  Mom looked amused. “I don’t think—” she began, but the woman cut in.

  “I didn’t believe it myself,” said the woman, “until last fall, when my cousin Lily put the pumpkin on her bookshelves.” She shook her head sadly.

  “What happened to your cousin?” asked Rafael.

  “Things so terrible I don’t even wish to speak them aloud.” A stiff summer breeze blew, making the woman look half-crazed, her hair flying around her in the wind.

  Rafael tried not to laugh. He could tell Mom was holding back laughter of her own. How could that lady expect them to believe her insane story?

  “We’ll chance it,” Mom said, reaching for the pumpkin. “It will look great with my Halloween decorations. How much?”

  “If you insist on taking it, take it!” The woman’s voice shrilled. “I won’t charge you a penny. But you’ll be sorry!” She shoved the pumpkin toward Mom and ran away like a frightened animal.

  When they got back into their car, Mom turned to Rafael and said, “Well, I’d say that was the most interesting garage sale yet.”

  Rafael tipped back his head and let the laughter escape.

  At home, Mom packed the jack o’lantern in a big box with other seasonal decorations, and it was completely forgotten about until a couple of weeks before Halloween. Then, she took it out of storage and put it in the center of the dining room table.

  Rafael thought it looked great! When he remembered the crazy lady who had given them the pumpkin, he grinned to himself. What a loony!

  That Saturday morning, Rafael was just coming out of a cozy and comfortable sleep, when he heard his little sister Luisa screaming from down the hall.

  “Help me! Mom, Dad, Rafael! I can’t walk!”

  Rafael tossed back his covers and jumped out of bed. He found Luisa in her room, crumpled into a ball beneath her pink pony bedspread. “You can’t walk?” he asked her, alarmed.

  Mom and Dad spilled into the room right behind him.

  “Look!” wailed Luisa. She threw back the covers and swung her legs down to the floor. But from there, she couldn’t even stand, let alone walk!

  “We’ve got to get you to a doctor!” gasped Mom.

  All morning, the hospital ran tests on Luisa, but the medical team could find absolutely nothing wrong with her. They didn’t understand why Luisa couldn’t walk. But she truly couldn’t, not even with the help of a walker!

  The family went home that night, sad and discouraged.

  “We’ll get some answers,” Dad promised Luisa, tucking her into bed.

  Rafael hoped he was right.

  Sunday morning, Rafael woke up and tossed back his covers. But when he tried to get out of bed, he gasped in horror. Now he couldn’t walk, either! What was going on?

  All of a sudden, he heard Luisa crying hysterically in her own room. “Mom, Dad!” she screamed. “My legs fell off!”

  With growing terror, Rafael realized that he was next. Tomorrow morning, he wouldn’t have any legs, either! And then he remembered the clay jack o’lantern on the dining room table.

  He thought about the woman at the garage sale who had tried to talk him and Mom out of taking it. Her sinister words of warning flashed through his mind again, words about gypsies and curses and Cousin Lily and troubles too horrible to even mention.

  “No, no, no!” Rafael moaned to himself, hiding his head in his hands. “She’s not the crazy one, after all! We are! We’re the ones who took that jack o’lantern!”

  Just for Fun Activity

  Make an adorable jack o’lantern that will not bring you bad luck!

  You will need:

  • Orange bath poof

  • Black felt

  • Glue

  • Green pipe cleaner

  Start with an orange bath poof. You can find these at most dollar stores.

  Cut the loop off the poof.

  Turn the poof over so the end that used to have the loop is now hidden. This is the way your pumpkin will sit.

  Cut jack o’lantern eyes, nose, and mouth from black felt. These can be any shape you like, but should be small enough to fit on the front of the bath poof like a face.

  Glue the felt pieces to the poof.

  Have an adult help you hot-glue a piece of green pipe cleaner to the top of the poof for a pumpkin stem.

  All done!

  ~ ~ ~

  Hey! Can you do me a small favor? If you enjoyed these stories, please leave an honest review. Your reviews help me so much! They inspire me to create more fun books for you to enjoy. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

  Halloween Jokes