Young Tommy lived at the end of Elm Street, next to the ancient, decrepit mansion everyone swore was haunted. Every Halloween, Tommy stared at the mansion’s towering silhouette, shivering, yet strangely drawn.
On his 10th birthday, a dare from his fearless friend Billy saw Tommy standing before the mansion, armed with a jack-o’-lantern. It was the eve of Halloween. With a shaky hand, he knocked on the weathered wooden door and started counting to 10, hoping no one answered.
To his dread, the door creaked open on the final count. A ghastly voice wafted out, “Who dares disturb me?” Panic welled up, but before he could bolt, a sudden gust blew his jack-o’-lantern into the mansion, casting flickering shadows on its cobwebbed interior.
However, as his eyes adjusted to the eerie light, he saw not a ghost, but an old woman, draped in veils as thin and white as cobwebs. “Oh dear,” she sighed, “it wasn’t my intention to scare you. I was rehearsing for my play!”
And this is how Tommy discovered that the ‘haunted mansion’ was in reality a retired actress’s abode. And every Halloween hence, Tommy and the actress arranged the most theatrical and delightful Halloween plays, thrilling and amazing Elm Street more than any ghost story!