The props are relatively tame and halfway through, you start feeling in control again. You utter a chuckle that still sounds more nervous than you would like it to, but the fear that sat at the base of your spine like cold water dissipates. You make it to the end of the haunted house without incident--the scariest thing that happened was when a plastic skeleton was swung out from an invisible ledge on the wall, its rickety limbs flopping from the motion. Your buddy jumped when it happened. So did you, but you acted like you hadn't. It's just kids stuff, right?

You're at the back door of the trailer. Your buddy fiddles with the lock. There's a black shrouded dummy wearing a silly mask sitting in the chair behind you--a werewolf with long, bloody fangs. You chuckle at the simplicity of it all. The whole thing had been a complete rip off. Your buddy curses under his breath as he tries to undo the latch. You ask what's taking so long and he snaps at you, looking away from his work for only a second, long enough for you to see the sweat glistening on his brow. You sigh. It's hot and something sweet fills the air. Sickeningly sweet.

You fold your arms across your chest and tap your foot absently on the floor. You look back into the haunted house, at the gaping black maw that is the exit to the silly attraction. A sudden but slight wind makes the hair on your neck stand up. That you can't see into the haunted house, can't see what might be lurking in the shadows, watching you as your friend fools with the door, unnerves you to the point that your bladder contracts. You look over your buddy's shoulder, wanting, needing him to open the lock.

That's when he stands.

The werewolf stands to its full height and towers over you. Suddenly the plastic mask doesn't look so fake--whiskers poke through hairy flesh of a wolf's muzzle, eyes that look alive and wild. You scream. You push your friend, instinctively trying to get away. The door bursts open, sunlight blinding you as you both run down the midway, unaware that you are still screaming.

Anyone want to go to the Fair?