On a crisp, eerie Halloween night, under the vibrant gleam of a full moon, old Mrs. Smith quietly prepared her famous pumpkin cookies for the neighborhood’s trick-or-treaters. Her house, the oldest in the village, was rumored to be haunted.
The kids, too frightened to step past the rickety, creaking gate, usually forfeited the chance of her delicious cookies. This year, however, little brave Jessie decided to face the rumored spector for a taste of Mrs. Smith’s treats.
As Jessie approached the cobweb-ridden porch, she heard a wailing moan. She gulped down her fear, reminding herself it was probably just the wind. Raising a trembling hand, she knocked on the door.
What opened the door was not Mrs. Smith, but a spectral figure, bathed in ethereal white light! Jessie shrieked but remained rooted to the spot. The apparition, it sighed, “Ah, finally, someone brave enough! Here, these are for you,” and it handed Jessie a tray of heavenly-smelling pumpkin cookies.
To her surprise, Jessie found the apparition’s spindly fingers solid, not ghostly at all. Squinting, she realized – it was Mrs. Smith, doused in flour, bathed in moonlight.
The true horror that Halloween night? It wasn’t ghosts but the lethal combination of local gossip and fantastic baking!