The King and I

Welcome back!

It's the second Haunted Humpday of the year!

This week's post is very, very special.

(It also contains spoilers for a couple of his stories so please read at your own risk)

Today is Stephen King's Birthday.

We go waaaay back..

I was around 6 when I read Carrie.

 I had older siblings that left books in the main bookshelf, so.....

To say I completely understood it would be a lie.

But I did know I was frightened by what I did understand and I loved the feeling.

Throughout the years, His stories have remained with me...

I've talked about it before...

whether I'm celebrating or mourning, he is there.

I can reach for his books

for entertainment or comfort.

They welcome me like old friends, no matter what.

So, today

We celebrate him and his incredible tales.

We started the day off with a couple of movies while we finished up a few crafts.

We weren't sure where to set up the goodies,

 

But finally settled on a spot...

then we set out the

 Pet Sematary cake

Rainy Season (cake pop) toads

A young husband and wife on summer vacation rent a house in a small town called Willow,Maine, only to be warned repeatedly (if vaguely) to leave by the local inhabitants. They do not comply and, having purchased groceries, return to the house. They never learn the price for prosperity the citizens of Willow must pay: every seven years a husband and wife will go there from outside and will stay, despite protests, to become sacrifices during the rainy season. When the "rain" starts, the couple learns the nature of the precipitation: an army of grotesque black toads the size of footballs, armed with needle-sharp teeth and able to chew through doors and walls.

 (wikipedia)

( as you can see the toads aren't black nor football sized, but they were fun to make)

And some Popsy cookies

(Sheridan, a gambling addict, has taken to abducting children for a man known as Mr. Wizard in order to pay off his enormous debts to a mobster who has threatened Sheridan with grievous bodily harm; Wizard has told Sheridan only that the children go "on a boat ride" (implicitly for human trafficking overseas), and Sheridan wants no further information. While lurking in a mall parking lot in his modified van, Sheridan spots his newest probable target of opportunity - a child standing near the entrance, obviously separated from his parents and distressed. Sheridan approaches him, convincing him that he has seen the child's Popsy (as the boy calls him).
After luring him into the van, Sheridan handcuffs him and drives off to make his delivery. On his way to the drop-off point, the boy shows unusual strength, biting the main character hard enough to leave two deep marks on his hand, as well as nearly ripping out the steel bar he is handcuffed to. In addition to these demonstrations of strength, the boy makes odd comments about his Popsy, such as his ability to find him and his ability to fly. By the time they are nearing their destination, night has fallen, and Sheridan sees an odd shape swoop by. The boy claims this is his Popsy, and although Sheridan doesn't immediately believe it, he becomes nervous. Moments later, a wing covers the windshield and the door is ripped off, revealing a horrific, bat-like creature which slits Sheridan's throat and feeds the blood to the child.)

(wikipedia)

Helena invited/created some grotesque creatures from the Mist...

and Joe Cambers old pup.

Monsters were practically knocking down our door for an invite.

even the Mr Barlows were there.

We made a couple of Dr. Harper's closets,

you know, the ones where The Boogeyman lives...

but what's inside?

Well, it's him of course..

after he's ripped his mask off.

We all know that person..average looking on the outside..

completely slimy and repulsive on the inside.

   

The closet can be a frightening place, definitely an area where monsters may lurk..

but what about wells? or attics? even under the bed?

And what does the boogeyman look like?

I'm thinking it's different for everyone..

something crouching? something creeping? something just out of your line of sight?

  I have a story about the house down the road where 

a little girl's version of the boogeyman still haunts me.

The nights are cooling down and getting longer,

so let's sit close together in front of the fire..& don't mind the slight rustling behind you,

it's probably...nothing...

This was around fifteen years ago.

Our neighbors were awful.

Loud, incessant 'music' at all hours,

fights that usually ended up with the police handcuffing a few of them.

drug use and from the looks of it they sold it too.

Sadly, this family had two young daughters..under the age of nine.

I was tending to my garden late one  afternoon, when the girls wandered by.

They asked if they could come in and sit on the grass for a while since their mother was not home.

I let them in and they settled down and got comfortable.

The younger one immediately fell asleep.

I asked her sister if she was ill

she said no

I asked if they were alright

she said sort of..

 she told me they were having problems sleeping at night.

She said that for about a month they had been hearing

bumps and scratching under their beds.

When they told their mother, she dismissed the sounds, claiming it was probably cats or mice 

that had gotten in the crawlspace.

I asked her what she thought it was..

She told me that a couple of weeks ago 

she had seen slight movement under the bedclothes that hang over the side of the bed..

when she looked there was nothing.

But a few nights ago 

she heard whispering..

Then, she swore on her life that when she glanced toward the murky darkness under the bed,

she saw two infants, just sitting there.

When she looked closer she noticed they had very sharp looking teeth 

and eyes that had a dim reddish glow.

When she went to turn on the light the bulb burned out.

she said every time they went to bed the infants appeared ..

And light bulbs malfunctioned constantly.  

The things didn't do anything, just crawled around under the bed all night.

The girls refused to sleep in there, so their mom made them stay in the 

living room, but they were too afraid to close their eyes while it was dark.

Instead opting to nap during the day when they were sure the creatures would not appear.

 They eventually got evicted and moved away..

I never found out anything else about them.

I still wonder what was going on..

and I still try not to think about what might be 

lurking in the dark corners of the bedroom..

when a pile of papers falls over or a bulb burns out suddenly,

& that noise could of been one of our cats, right??

Thank you so much for stopping by and helping us celebrate such a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday to Stephen King

and Happy Haunted Humpday to you!