On Halloween, the moon rose on the wrong side of the sky.

            Parents panicked, and confined their children, still dressed in costumes, to their rooms.  Doors and windows were shut and locked. 

            “Do not go outside!  Whatever you do, do not look at the moon on this cursed Halloween night!” they cautioned in their sternest voices.  “The moon is breaking the rules!  It’s bewitched, bedeviled, and dangerous!”

            James Heston Middleton was trapped in his bedroom.  If he so much as opened his door, his 3 older brothers, William, Donald, and John, would think up new excuses to torment him.  They had already teased him for not liking sports and not liking girls.  Then they picked on his costume, telling him that spiders don’t have wings.  Or tails.

            “I’m not just a spider, I’m a spider dragon!” James Heston explained.  Which only made them laugh harder.

James Heston only opened his door for his little sister, Ida, whom he called Lil’ Pickle because that’s what she looked like when she was born.  Ida, in a well-stuffed pumpkin costume, was sobbing and scared.            

“Lil’ Pickle, don’t believe what William says, your eyeballs won’t explode if you look at the moon tonight!  The worst that could happen, I guess, is that you might go blind or something…” which was of course the wrong thing to say. 

            After Ida ran sobbing to her own room, James Heston lay back on his bed, scratching the family cat, Nettle, and thinking about the moon.  Nettle wore a cat-sized witch's hat, and a little black cape fastened with a pumpkin-shaped brooch. 

          James Heston's mother had closed and locked his window, and drawn the curtains, and even hung up a string of Rosary beads.  James Heston liked things better when they were strange or abnormal, and he had to admit he liked the idea of a Halloween moon that broke the rules and did the unexpected. 

            Quietly, carefully, James Heston drew back the curtains, and unlatched and opened his bedroom window. 

            A strange man peered back at him.

            The strange man was wearing a long dark coat that was the same color and depth as the night sky.  Stars winked in it.  The man was standing right outside James Heston’s window, looking right in at him, unsurprised, as if he had just been waiting for James Heston to open that window.

            “Child, don’t look at the moon!” the strange man croaked urgently, waving a warning hand at James Heston.  “At least, not until you’ve taken one of these…”   He held out a long-fingered hand with a small pile of wrapped candies in it.

            “Who are you?  And what are those?” James Heston asked, backing away.

            “I am Doctor Blisterworm, and these are my patented Moon Drops.  If you take one, you’ll be able to look at the moon all you want tonight!  If you don’t eat a Moon Drop, this cursed Halloween moon, sailing away on the wrong side of the sky, could blind you instantly.”

            James Heston paused, staring longingly at the candies.

            The strange doctor leaned closer through the open window, and James Heston saw that where they should be white, the doctor’s eyes were black.  And against the black, instead of irises and pupils, there were two perfect pale moons floating.  “Even though it’s terribly cursed and dangerous, it’s a beautiful sight to behold!  Won’t you… try one?  There may never be another night like this…”

            James Heston reached out and took a handful of Moon Drops.  Doctor Blisterworm’s hand was ice cold and clammy.

            “What about everybody else in the neighborhood?” the boy asked.

            “Oh, yes, I’ve gone to each and every house.  Every single boring, identical house.  Plain as porridge, the entire town.”  Doctor Blisterworm’s smile tightened.

            James Heston unwrapped a Moon Drop, popped it into his mouth, and made an approving sound.  “So I can look at the moon now, and I can’t get hurt?”

            “That’s right, young man!  And make sure your brothers and sister take some of these!  And your parents, too!  They must all be protected!”  Doctor Blisterworm waved his arm and sent a shower of Moon Drops scattering across the boy’s bed.  Nettle snatched one with a quick black paw.

            James Heston turned to collect the candies, and asked, “Are you really a doctor, Doctor Blisterworm?” but when he turned back around, the strange man had vanished into the night. 

In a short amount of time, everyone in the family had tried at least several of the Moon Drops.  Father smacked his lips and said earnestly, “Well, after all, he is a doctor, right, James Heston?”

            Then front doors all across the neighborhood were flung open one by one, and everyone rushed into the night, still sucking on Moon Drops and talking about the good Doctor Blisterworm. 

            As all attention was still focused on the strange wayward moon sailing bright and unexpected on the wrong side of the sky, the changes began.

            Exuberant cries of “Trick or treat!” turned into shrieks and growls and gasps of surprise.  The streets filled up with real horns, real wings, real snarling teeth.

            James Heston, staggering against the tall oak in the front yard, felt himself shift, felt his dragon’s wings flapping.  He dropped to all fours, which became all eight spidery legs.

            He flapped and glided up onto the roof of his own house, and perched there, panting.  He watched as, in the street below, his next-door neighbor, wearing a cheap plastic werewolf mask, sprouted tufts of mangy hair, and dropped to all fours, twitching a newly-sprouted tail.  James Heston laughed.

            “Do you like your new form?” a voice purred next to him.

            A witch perched next to him on the roof, her face shadowed by the hat’s wide brim.  Her black cape was fastened with a pumpkin brooch that sparked a fiery orange.

            “Oh, I love it!  This is the best Halloween ever!” James Heston replied.

            “Is it?  Do you understand what has happened, James Heston?” asked the witch.

James Heston, the spider dragon, clicked his eight legs, beat his new leathery wings, and guessed, “Well, it’s the moon, right?  The moon has somehow changed all of us!”

“No, not the moon.  Listen carefully, boy.  Doctor Blisterworm has done this, with his poisonous Moon Drops.  He is no real doctor, but a bogey in disguise.  He wants to turn the mortal world into a bogey’s horrible paradise.  James Heston, you can save us from his evil plan!”  The witch’s eyes sparked.

“But… but I like my new wings,” James Heston cried, snapping and unfurling them.

The witch paused.  “Do you think the little one, Ida, enjoys her new form?”

In the yard below, a small lumpen jack-o-lantern slumped in the grass, its eyeholes flickering hollowly with candlelight. 

“Lil’ Pickle!” James Heston gasped.

“Pickle is a pumpkin,” the witch replied, “and pumpkins rot.  Within days she will turn brown and mushy.”

“Okay,” the spider dragon sighed, “What do I have to do?”

“You must follow Doctor Blisterworm to where he lives, in the Bogey World.”  The witch slipped a perfect round pumpkin out of her black robes and handed it to James Heston.  “Take this enchanted pumpkin, carve it into a jack-o-lantern, and light it with this enchanted candle.”  She laid the candle in his palm, and it was cool and white as milk.

“Should I get a knife from the kitchen?” James Heston asked.

“Don’t bother,” the witch answered, grinning with sharp little teeth.  Sharp little teeth that glinted like knives.  They were knives!  She reached into her mouth and slid one out of her gums.  “Use this!” she hissed.

As she began to slink away down the other side of the roof, James Heston called out, “Wait!  I don’t even know your name!”

The answer, barely a whisper, floated to him from the dark.  “You may call me Madam N.”

James Heston, the spider dragon, flapped down into the yard and scooped up the little jack-o-lantern that had once been his sister.  “I’d better keep you with me, whatever happens,” he told the glowing little face. 

He took the knife and quickly carved out the big enchanted pumpkin, making a leering, jagged face in it.  Then he lit the candle with his fiery dragon’s breath and set it down inside the emptied gourd.  He clutched Ida to him, careful not to crush her.

The enchanted jack-o-lantern seemed to grow, its maw opening wide, and James Heston and Ida were swallowed away into the Bogey World.

“Come on, Lil’ Pickle, we’ve got to--” James Heston began.  Got to what? He thought.  With a sinking heart he realized Madam N. hadn’t told him what to do once he was in the Bogey World. 

He scuttled nervously past strange mushy dwellings, and beat his wings to coast over fungal growths and stagnant pools of muck.

A gnarled bogey crept out of a crooked shack and gaped hungrily at the little Ida pumpkin.  “I smells me something tasty!  Oh, I could makes me a pie!”

James Heston blew fire at the creature, and clambered quickly away, deeper into the Bogey World.

“You’re going the wrong way, you know,” said a low voice.  James Heston jumped.  Two glowing eyes were peering at him from between a tangled clump of ropy vines.  He thought he could make out a tall witch’s hat in the undergrowth. 

“Madam N.?” he queried.

“Find Doctor Blisterworm’s keep, and find the antidote to the Moon Drops.  When you’re ready to return to the mortal world, jump right into the flame at the heart of the Bogey World.  It’s a portal.” 

There was a rustling, and a fast dry sound.  James Heston thought he saw the dark shape of Madam N. rising through the tangled growth.  He caught a glimpse of broom bristles.

“Wait, Madam N.!” he called.  Suddenly she was sweeping right over his head, her tattered black robes tickling the top of his head. 

“One more thing!” she hissed, “Remember, Doctor Blisterworm’s power comes from the light of the moon…” and with a snap and flutter of black rags, she was gone.

“Well, I guess we may as well follow that light,” James Heston said to Ida.  There was no answer.  James Heston flapped his dragon wings and soared toward the glow.

It was an enormous candle, towering in the courtyard of a twisted, misshapen castle.

“This must be Doctor Blisterworm’s keep,” whispered James Heston.  “Something tells me we should sneak in the back way.”

In Blisterworm’s Sweetshoppe, dirty, foul-tempered little bogeys were hard at work over steaming vats.  Some were pulling a vile and filthy taffy-like substance that gave off fumes.  Tubes and beakers bubbled and dripped with sickly-colored liquids.

The Moon Drops, bright and clean, were popping out of the end of a long tube and scattering into hills and ravines inside of a gigantic wooden tub.  Two particularly foul-tempered bogeys were wrapping them individually, and cursing and swearing furiously as they worked.      

James Heston was stopped and questioned, but he just flapped his wings, blasted a gout of fire into the air, and insisted that he was running a routine inspection for the good doctor.  “I guess everything looks all right,” he growled, his voice shaking only slightly.

One of the taffy-pulling bogeys stepped forward.  “And is this… your lunch, mayhaps?” it wheedled, poking a thorny finger into Ida’s soft pumpkin flesh.  “You know, Doctor Blisterworm says we should always share…”

“Why, YES,” James Heston panted, thinking quickly.  “Well, I mean, it’s not my lunch.  It’s the good doctor’s lunch!  And he’s terribly hungry today.  Ravenous, actually.” 

The bogey scowled and retreated.

James Heston slipped behind a barrel to gather his wits. 

Something smelled strongly of black licorice.  He picked at the little black chips in the barrel.  There was a poorly-lettered sign stuck to the barrel that read:

REEJEKT MOON DROPS         

(maed durring eeklipss)        

          “So this is what an eclipse tastes like?” asked James Heston, as he popped one of the black chips into his mouth.  It was sharp and bitter.  James Heston fell retching to the ground.  Four of his limbs withered like paper in fire, and his wings crackled away in a puff of smoke.

          “Oh, no!  My wings!” he gasped.  How he would have loved to show his tough, strong dragon’s wings to William, Donald, and John.  How they would have envied him.  And if they had teased him, he could have blown fire at them!  Too late now.  James Heston buried his face in his hands.

             An alarm blasted through the castle.

 “MORTAL!  MORTAL ALERT!!!  MORTAL ALERT!!!”

James Heston stuffed his pockets full of Eclipse Candies, grabbed little Ida, and ran. 

By the tub of Moon Drops he paused, his face lit by their glow.

James Heston slipped around corners, ducked under shuddering pipes, dodged the foul bogeys, and slipped in the back door of the castle keep.

He hid for a moment in a large empty hall.  On the walls, glassy-eyed trophy heads of fabulous and horrible creatures stared at him balefully.  Outside the door, a troupe of bogeys searched for him, screeching and snarling.

He checked to make sure his pockets were still full of Eclipse Candies, and then crept back out into the now-deserted hallway.  As he passed an archway, a familiar voice trailed out, echoing against the high stone walls.

“…cramped.  So cramped in this horrid place.  Just wait until I’ve turned their world into a bogey’s paradise!  Fabulous and monstrous, no two forms alike!  It will ooze with malignant vitality!”

It was Doctor Blisterworm.  James Heston crouched low in the cobwebbed shadows, holding Ida close to him.  He listened.

“I’ll do away with everything ‘normal,’ and ‘wholesome!’  I’ll turn the mundane into the extraordinary!”

James Heston had to admit he kind of liked the idea.  But he wasn’t sure what “malignant vitality” meant.  It sounded exciting.

Just then, a bogey came skidding around a corner, ran right by James Heston without seeing him, and scuttled into the room with Doctor Blisterworm.  “Doctor!  Doctor, we, um… we seems to have a problem!  We seems to have lost track of the mortal intruder—“ the creature began.

“WHAA-A-A-A-T?!” Doctor Blisterworm thundered.  James Heston saw the curtains billow, and a wave of terrified bogeys was flung up against the stone wall.

James Heston ran.

Through nests of cobwebs, down twisting stairways, past hanging bones and vast clinging draperies.

Then he was outside, standing breathless before the towering candle.  “Look, Lil’ Pickle, we made it!”  It seemed almost too easy.  He gingerly slid Ida down the inside of his sweatshirt for safekeeping, and began scaling the candle. 

The wax was soft enough that he could dig his fingers and toes into it.  He climbed quickly, but felt sure of their victory.  The ground already seemed far below, and James Heston hooted triumphantly.

The flame from the giant candle sparked and fluttered.  James Heston was dazzled by the stars winking in the vast night sky.  The sky seemed to rock, like waves, like fabric…  Like the long billowing cloak of Doctor Blisterworm!

The doctor, hovering in the air above the candle, reached out with one long, crooked, sinewy arm and clawed James Heston right off the side of the candle.  The boy fell.

He landed hard on his back, and the pain bloomed like red flowers in his vision.  His eyes watered and he fought back the tears.  He felt for Ida underneath his sweatshirt.  She was intact!  He breathed a little sigh of relief amidst the pain.

Doctor Blisterworm stood over him, the twin moons in his black eyes shining like ice.  “You are a fool.  But you’re mortal, so that’s to be expected.  Why try to defeat me, boy, when I could give you so much?”

The doctor knelt down close to James Heston’s flushed, tear-streaked face.  “I could give you your wings back.  I could make you anything you wish.  Just imagine…  And no need to worry about your little sister.  I promise I would change her back into the little girl you know and love!”

James Heston watched Doctor Blisterworm’s eyes glisten, his teeth grit together in that tight smile.  He thought of Doctor Blisterworm turning him into something monstrous, something strong and invincible, something that would never be afraid of anything else.

“No,” James Heston said clearly, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand.  “You’re a liar.”

The doctor drew back, hissing and spitting.  James Heston scrambled to his feet in fear. 

“What’s that smell?” Doctor Blisterworm snarled.  He advanced closer to James Heston, casting his long benighted shadow over the boy.  “Is that something… rotting?”

Quick as a bolt of lightning, the terrible doctor yanked James Heston’s sweatshirt, and the little Ida pumpkin dropped out, right into the clawed hand of Doctor Blisterworm.

“Give her back!” James Heston shouted.

The doctor grinned wider, his jaw creaking.  “I just love a rotten pumpkin pie, don’t you?” he threatened.  “Or perhaps we could go pumpkin smashing!” and he raised the little jack-o-lantern high in the air, ready to hurl it toward the stony castle wall.

 James Heston froze, shaking his head in a silent “No.” 

Doctor Blisterworm’s eyes glowed bright with malice.  He began to laugh.  Deep, hollow peals of laughter from his cavernous bogey mouth.

James Heston watched helplessly as the terrible doctor laughed at him.  It was just like when his older brothers laughed at him, holding his guinea pig, or his favorite monster magazine hostage.  The doctor’s cold moon eyes seemed to freeze James Heston where he stood.  Then he had a thought.  The moon.  Madam N. had told him to remember that Doctor Blisterworm got his power from the light of the moon. 

James Heston slipped one hand into his pocket, and closed his fingers around a handful of Eclipse Candies.  Then, as Doctor Blisterworm pulled his arm back further, threatening to give Ida a good long hurl at the wall, James Heston pitched several chips of the bitter black candy right into the doctor’s cackling mouth.

The doctor choked, dropping the little jack-o-lantern and clutching both taloned hands to his throat.

James Heston leapt forward, and caught Ida just before she hit the ground.

Doctor Blisterworm was changing.  The moons in his eyes were growing cloudy and dark, and even his teeth were blackening.  He coughed, wheezed, spat dirty flecks onto the ground.  It was as if his whole body were covered with a dark film.  James Heston realized he could now see right through the weakened doctor.

A disorderly troupe of bogeys had assembled at the castle entrance.  They had witnessed this sudden development, and seemed confused as to how to react.  “Maybe they’ll think we’re heroes, now!” James Heston thought.  Nobody seemed to like Doctor Blisterworm much.

The bogeys were shoving each other, arguing and biting amongst themselves.  James Heston heard one of them say, “Let’s eat them anyway.”

“We better get out of here,” the boy said, and darted right through the icy, ghostlike form of Doctor Blisterworm. 

This time, James Heston climbed even faster, and never once stopped to look up until he was at the top of the giant candle, and could feel the heat of the flame rolling over him.  “Here we go!” he shouted, and jumped right into the center of the flame. 

Which turned into the moon, so they could pass through it into the mortal world...

...drift down the Halloween night sky...

...and land softly in a lavish pile of red-gold leaves.

After James Heston had returned everyone to normal with the Eclipse Candies, he bragged to his three brothers of his exploits, and for once they actually listened. 

Nettle, missing a tooth, winked at him.

“Of course Doctor Blisterworm begged me to be his partner in crime, but I told him being a monster once a year is enough…”

James Heston glanced at his collection of masks watching silently from his bedroom wall.

“Well… once,

twice,

maybe thrice…”

-the end-