Allyson and Aleah have been best friends since kindergarten. They are inseperable and love each other like sisters. The girls grew up in a sleepy Northern Ontario town called Olive City. The town has one mall, a theatre, a grocery store, and little else. If somebody wanted to buy something special, they would have drive to a bigger town. But they enjoyed the simple, quiet life in the city of about 5,000. Everybody was incredibly friendly and life was good in the town where nothing ever happened. That would soon change however.

Rumours began to circulate around town that there were some strange things happening at an old abandoned house. The house was located on a dead end street. Nobody had lived there in years and yet the house had not been demolished. The girls began hearing whispers on the playground that the house couldn't be torn down because it was haunted. There were even more outrageous rumours floating around that the house would actually eat trespassers. Whether these stories were true or not, there had been an unusual feeling in town ever since Halloween night.

Aleah and Allyson would often sleep over each other's houses and tell ghost stories well into the night. But on this particular night the pair were unable to get to sleep. "Hey Aleah, you still awake?" Allyson whispered. "Yeah. I can't sleep." "Me neither. What do you think about that creepy house that eats people? Think it's real?" "I don't know. Probably not but ya never know" Aleah responded. "My parents are asleep. Maybe we should go check it out." "I don't know Ally, it sounds pretty dangerous." "Aren't you even a little curious? We'll sneak out the window, check out the house, and be back well before morning." "Alright" Aleah reluctantly agreed.

The girls quietly got dressed, opened the bedroom window, and climbed out. Aleah was still a little unsure about visiting the infamous house. "Don't be afraid. I'm sure it's just a run-down old house. The worst thing we'll probably find in there will be some mice. And besides, we'll have the coolest story to tell our friends on Monday." For a mid-December evening it was actually quite nice outside. "I never noticed how quiet the city is at night-time" Aleah mused. The crisp cool air temporarily managed to put her at ease. It would last for a little while until she laid eyes on 'The House That Eats People.'

KEEP OUT

"What a dump!" Allyson exclaimed. "And I thought my room was messy" she laughed. Aleah remained silent as she could feel her heart starting to race. "Okay, uh, we saw it. Now let's go home." "Our adventure has only just begun. We still have to take a look inside." "Can we make it quick? The windows are all boarded up and there are signs telling us to keep out." "Don't be a scaredy-cat Aleah. If it makes you feel better, we can pretend that we're a couple of fortune hunters in search of gold and riches." "Uh, sure" Aleah nervously replied.

Inside the house, everything was completely dark. The only light guiding the girls from room to room was from a full moon that hovered in the sky. The floors creaked everytime one of the girls took a step. They could hear the sounds of something scurrying around overhead and beneath them. "What was that?" Aleah shrieked. "It's probably a family of mice or some other critters." "Well, we've explored the house and there's nothing to see. Guess we should be going now. Right?" "Not yet" Allyson grinned. "We still haven't gone into the basement. Maybe we'll find some rare pieces of art or antique furniture." Aleah closed her eyes as she tightly held on to her friend's sleeve.

"I'm scared Ally, let's go home." "Haven't you ever watched a horror movie before?" "No, they're too scary." "There's nothing to be afraid of. Usually one of the characters will try to turn the lights on in the creepy basement. But the lights are usually burned out. Then they begin to slowly walk down the rickety staircase. And then from out of nowhere......" Aleah grabbed Ally's arm even tighter. "A curious kitty cat jumps out from the shadows!" "Then what happens?" "I don't know. My Mom tells me to go to bed after that part" Allyson shrugged.  "Gee, thanks. I feel much better now" Aleah said as she rolled her eyes.

"Actually that is when the monster appears." "VAMPIRE!" the girls shouted in unison. "Don't be afraid. I am just here to find my cat. Come here Mortimer!" "You live here?" Allyson mumbled. "Yes. We all do" he replied. "W-w-w-we?" Aleah stammered. "My family. I'd love for you to meet them." "Oh, well, it's kinda late. I think we should head for home" Allyson said as she tried to run up the stairs. "Ow! My ankle" she cried out in pain. "Is there any blood?" the vampire smiled. "No! I'm okay." "Oh, alright, just checking" the vampire smirked. "Follow me" he urged. The girls clung to one another as they followed the vampire down the darkened corridor.

"Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to Frankie, Wolfram, my wife Elvira, and our darling children, Constantine and Benedict." "Ahem!" "Oh, and my lovely mother-in-law Desdemona." The girls couldn't believe their eyes. Standing in front of them was a collection of monsters that they had only seen in the movies. "Don't be shy. Go over and say hello. We don't bite. Um, bad choice of words." The vampire gently nudged Allyson and Aleah towards the monsters who were surprisingly very friendly. "That's enough. Let's get outta here" Aleah said under her breath. "Not yet. This is amazing. We're in the same room with real-life monsters" Allyson smiled in awe.

"I'm sure you must have a million questions for us, so ask away" the vampire grinned. "Have you always lived here?" "We have been living in this house ever since it was abandoned in the late 1800s. It's a nice neighbourhood but we can only go out at night. We love Halloween because it allows for us to walk among the humans for a couple of days." "What a lonely way to live" Allyson frowned. "So, uh, what about the rumours around town that this house eats people?" "Bah! That is so funny. Nobody in this house eats people, right Wolfram?" "Yup" he mumbled with a mouth full of something. "Wolfram! Bad werewolf!" "Sorry Vincent. I just can't eat any more of this fruitcake!"

Vincent gave the girls a tour of the house which was in shambles. Everything was dusty, dirty, and covered in spiderwebs. "Aargh!" Vincent cried out. "What is it dear?" his wife asked. "Sunlight! It's almost morning." "Morning?" Allyson hollered. "We gotta go! It was very nice meeting you" she said as the girls climbed out the front window. "What a nice group of monsters" Aleah beamed. "Yeah, super-nice. And you know what, I think the older vampire boy was totally checking you out." "Yeah right. What is this, Twilight?" Aleah giggled as the pair began to pick up the pace. Eventually they were able to sneak back into Allyson's room and get a couple of hours of sleep.

The next morning the girls woke up and began discussing the crazy things they had seen the previous night. They actually felt a little sad for the monsters. "You know what we should do? We should set up some decorations at the monster house" Allyson suggested. "What a cool idea!" Aleah delightedly agreed. And so over the course of the next couple of days, the girls began to slowly set up lights, a wreath, and a fake Christmas tree at the monsters' house. Aleah couldn't be sure but it appeared as though one of the monsters was peaking out an upstairs window. "They're gonna love this!" she squealed.

Soon there was a lot of rumours and gossip about the creepy old house going on at the girls' school. Aleah overheard a couple of boys discussing the house so she pretended to check her phone as she listened in. "Hey Garland, did you hear about all the crazy things going on at that haunted house?" "Yeah, I heard somebody actually put up some Christmas decorations." "What's the point? The city's going to tear it down at the end of the week anyway" Chase added. "Who could've decorated that dump?" "Who knows bro, but I'm sure they probably ended up being eaten by the old house" Chase snickered. "Oh no!" Aleah thought to herself. "I have to go tell Allyson."