SCARY STORIES

The Little Brown Dog 

a Tale from Yorkshire, England

Eva was a very old woman who had no family or friends. She only had her little brown dog, Chester, who went everywhere with her.

Unless it was really cold, when Chester would sleep by the fire, the dog always slept right beside Eva's bed. If Eva was frightened or was having a nightmare, she would put her hand down and Chester would lick it.

One night it was dark and very cold.

Eva put logs on the fire, turned out the lights, and tried to sleep. But she was shivering and couldn't stop thinking about a scary murder she had read about in the newspaper.

She reached down to where Chester slept. Sure enough, a warm wet tongue licked her hand.

As she started to fall asleep, she opened her eyes and looked through the door into the living room. There, in front of the fireplace, was Chester looking right at her. Down beside her bed, something was licking her hand.

1. Who was Eva?
2. What was her dog's name?
3.Where did the dog sleep?
3. What did the dog do when Eva was frightened?
4. What happened one night?
5. What did the dog do?
6.Where was Chester?

Never Mind the Gummy Bears

based on an Alabama ghost story 

Sam didn't believe in ghosts. Not one bit. All her friends knew the old log cabin in the woods was haunted, but Sam just laughed whenever her friends talked about it.

One Halloween, her friends dared her to spend the night in the haunted cabin. If she stayed until morning, her friends would give her all of their Halloween gummy bears. Sam was delighted. Gummy bears were her favorite candies.

Sam went into the old cabin, sat on the floor, and started to read her book. Soon she heard a creaking sound. Looking up, she saw a creature with glowing red eyes, a long tail, and two horns on its head, claws, and sharp teeth that poked right through its large lips.

Sam's heart nearly stopped with fright. She jumped to her feet and ran right out the door. But it wasn't long before she heard the creature with the red eyes behind her.

"You run pretty fast for a girl," said the creature to Sam.

"Oh, I can run much faster than this!" cried Sam.

Sam took off like a bolt of lightning. As she ran past her friends she shouted, "Never mind the gummy bears!"

Sam ran all the way home and hid under her bed for the rest of Halloween night. After that, she was a firm believer in ghosts, and she refused to go anywhere near that old cabin.

1. Did Sam believe in ghosts?
2. What did she do when her friends told herabout the haunted cabin?
3. What did they offrer to give her if she spent the night there?
4. What did she do?
5. What did she hear?
6. What did she see?
7. What was it like?
8. How did she react when she saw the ghost?
9. What did she say when she went past her friends?
10. Does she belive in ghosts now?

The Halloween Skeleton

The Halloween Skeleton

based on a New Mexico ghost story 

One Halloween night, a boy got lost and had to spend the night in an empty old house. He fell asleep and woke up suddenly when he heard a thump on the roof and a voice calling out, "I'm falling down!" 

The boy ran out of the way just as an arm bone came crashing to the floor. Then another arm landed - then a leg, a skull, and a second leg. Before he could count to ten, a complete skeleton was standing there. 

The boy did not want to show his fear. The skeleton was impressed with the boy's spirit and said, "You have courage. Are you brave enough to wrestle me?" 

The boy was very afraid, but he dared not refuse this strange ghost. He remembered a trick his brother taught him. He twisted suddenly and threw the skeleton onto the ground. 

"You win!" said the skeleton. "Your courage deserves a reward. Open that door in the floor and promise me that you will share the reward that you will find." 

The boy agreed to do what the skeleton asked. He opened the door and saw a room filled with gold coins and jewels. 

The skeleton laughed, said "Happy Halloween," and then began to disappear, piece by piece, until he was gone. 

The boy did as he promised, and his family and many others in his village lived in comfort all of their days.

1. Where was this story first told?
2. Why was the boy in the old empty house?
3. What was the thump that the boy heard on the roof?
4. What helped the boy wrestle the skeleton?
5. Where was the skeleton's treasure?
6. What did the skeleton make the boy promise?

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