In the heart of Autumnville, there sat a decrepit old house known by locals as the Spook’s Shed. It was a classic haunted house: mysterious noises at ungodly hours, unexplainable lights from the worn-out windows, and a chilling tale of Mr. Percy, the original owner who disappeared on a misty Halloween night.
One Halloween, a cocky teenager named Max decided to snag himself an alleged photo of Mr. Percy’s ghost. Armed with just a flashlight and his camera, he plunged into the belly of the brooding house.
Heart pounding, Max explored room by room until he saw a flickering flame in the corner of the drawing-room. He gasped, spotting an ethereal figure by an old-fashioned fireplace, exactly as the local legend described, he quickly snapped a photo.
Max sprinted away from the house, the wails of the wind echoing his panic. He couldn’t wait to share his ghostly evidence with the town.
However, when he developed the photo at home, everyone burst into laughter. The ‘ghostly figure’ was nothing more than a standee of a Victorian dressed man the local theatre troupe had dumped there years ago—cue a deflated Max and the sound of a town’s collective chortling.
And so goes the tale of the bravest fool at Autumnville. The haunting mystery of Mr. Percy’s house remained intact, but Halloween had a new legend that day: ‘Don’t be a Max.’