Short horror stories

Pumpkin heads

  Everyone loves pumpkins on Halloween. Carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds has been enjoyed by many families for years. Candy, monsters, costumes, and pumpkins. It's all part of the Halloween spirit. Some people even go nuts when it goes to carving pumpkins. So many faces and so many possibilities....

  It was just a regular Halloween night. Kids ran around the streets in their costumes looking for candy. A group of them ran off to a house that appeared empty. They figured it was their chance to get all of the good candy there before the other kids. They rang the doorbell and waited excitedly. They waited a moment, but no one answered.
  "Maybe no body is home," one girl sighed.
  "Let's try ringing the doorbell one more time! I'm not missing out on anymore candy!" One of the young boys shouted excitedly.
  He reached for the doorbell before the door swung open, making the kids jump.
  "Boo! Did I scare you you kids?" Laughed the man who opened the door. The kids began to laugh as they began to smile wide.
  "Trick or treat!" They all shouted as they held out their bags.
  "You guys are adorable! Actually, I have so much candy and cookies, I'll need you to come inside! There's no way I can carry that much over! Please,  come help yourselves!" He said in a cheerful voice with a huge grin.
  The kids rushed inside the house excitedly. Their little hearts filled with joy from the thought of all the treats. The man closed the door behind him once the group of children was inside. Their eyes beamed at the sight of a huge table filled with candy, chocolate, cookies, and even cupcakes.
  "Take as much as you want!" The man smiled.
  The kids all rushed to the table at once as they filled their bags with candy. Their bags grew fuller and fuller as they continued to grab more. The children all laughed and smiled. Once their bags were full, they decided to start eating the sweet cookies and cupcakes.
  "Are those treats yummy?" The man asked as the kids with their icing-covered faces.
  They all smiled and cheered together, "Yes, thank you sir!"
  Suddenly, one of the girls collapsed to the ground. The kids all looked at her in shock. Their heads suddenly began to grow dazed, as they struggled to keep their eyes open. The man smiled as each of the children collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.
  After what felt like only a moment, the children began opening their eyes. It was dark, and they couldn't move their bodies. One of the girls went to scream, before she realized her mouth was covered with duct tape. They kicked and screamed, but it was all muffled. The ropes that were tied around each of them scraped against their skin with every move they make. Some of them were even starting to bleed from the ropes. They were tightly secured. Their little bodies had no hope of breaking free.
  Suddenly the lights were turned on. The children took a moment to key their eyes adjust to the bright light, before they saw the man standing in front of them. The children tried to scream once again, but it was muffled and illegible. The man was so longer happy and full of joy like he was when the children first met him. Now he stood there in silence with an evil grin that he wore on his face. No matter how much they kicked and screamed, there was no way anyone would hear them.
  "Hi kids! Do you love carving pumpkins? I know I do! Let's carve pumpkins together! It'll be so much fun!" The man says in a cheerful voice.       
  This cheerful voice was nothing like the other one, however. His voice now shook and seemed to grow louder with each word that came from his mouth. The kids tried to cry louder, but it did nothing. It only seemed to bring the man even more sick joy.
  "Now, who's gonna be my first pumpkin?" He asked as his eyes gazed at each kid.
  They all held their breath as the man stared deeply into each set of eyes one at a time. The man then slowly lifted up his finger.
"How about you, young one?" The man smiled as his finger pointed towards the youngest boy.
  The little boy's eyes grew wide as the man approached him. The man removed the ropes from the boy, and then carried him across the room. The boy attempted to kick and swing his arms to attempt to free himself, but the man's grip was just too strong.
  The man dropped the boy to the ground and picked up a nearby ax. The boy attempted to get back into his feet but it was too late by the time the man swung the ax over the boy's neck. The head was cut off swiftly and before the kids knew it, the decapitated head of the boy rolled around the floor. Blood began to surround the body and even made its way to the children's shaking feet.
  "Let's carve our first pumpkin head!" The man cheered as he grabbed a nearby knife. The knife was already stained with blood before the man stabbed it into the boy's decapitated head. He dug the knife deep into both eyes and then traced yep triangles around both eyes. Once the skin and thick layers of flesh came off, all that remained around the eyes were two keep triangles that dripped with blood.
  The children continued to weep as the man continued to carve into the head. He then sliced off the nose and widened the mouth to unnatural proportions. Once he was done with his first "pumpkin head", he sat it onto an empty wooden shelf that stood behind him.
  "Isn't that just beautiful, kids? I'm feeling the Halloween spirit now! I love carving pumpkin heads!" He laughed as he stared at the shelf with pride. "So, who's going to be my next little pumpkin?"
  One of the girl's were passed out as one boy and another girl sat there staring directly at the man in fear. The children could barley process what they just had seen, which made thinking about the same thing happening to them even worse. Their tearful eyes soaked their faces.
  "Well I suppose I won't carve her quite yet since she decided to take a little nap..." the man sighed. "Where are my manners! Ladies first! I can't believe I carved my young boy pumpkin first! I'm so sorry darling! Come over here with me!"
  The man then untied the girl who's eyes were wide open. Once again, the man used one swift swing of the ax to take off the head of the girl. The little boy cried as he looked over at the young girl who was still passed out next to him.
  The man then stabbed both eyes, and then carved out two use squares around the eyes, before taking out the two huge chunks of flesh. Next, he cut off the nose and threw it towards the body. He then turn carved out the classic pumpkin smile into her face before sitting it onto the shelf. The man then crossed his arms and stared at his two beautiful pumpkin heads.
  As he admired the heads, the girl slowly opened her eyes. To her terror, this wasn't all just a bad dream. She was still tied up in a basement with a crazy man.
"Oh look, you're finally awake sleepy head! That wasn't quite nice! Since you slept during the last pumpkin, you're gonna have to watch this next one!"
  The man then made his way over to the last boy and threw him on top of the decapitated corpses of his two friends. Down the ax went, creating a third headless body. The little girl weeped as the blood splattered onto her face.
  The man smiled at her as he kicked the head away from the bodies. She wanted this all to be a bad dream that she could wake up from but she knew that she wasn't going to be that lucky. She was such a young girl yet she already had to accept her own death.
  Her widened eyes watched as the man carved into the face. He happily hummed as if he wasn't doing anything wrong. The girl's body grew stiff as the man added the head to the self and began to approach her. No more tears could be produced from her eyes. All she could do is stare into the eyes of her killer. He bent down on his knees and stared into her eyes.
  "It's my beautiful, final pumpkin," he grinned.
  She didn't bother moving a muscle or struggling as the man untied her. She felt all hopelessness. He dropped her onto the ground and reached for the ax, holding it over his head with both arms. She stared up ah the ax that she knew would soon be through her body. The last thing she saw was the man swinging the ax down at her.
  Four little pumpkins then sat on the shelf. Each one was carved with different expressions and shapes. The man smiled as he looked over each head. Halloween had to be his favorite time of the year. Too bad pumpkins started to rot after a while.