I can't help but feel a little sorry for the victims I choose to prank. It's known widely that I prank well. There's a forest at Camp Silver Beach that has a spooky legend of it's own. One night as I was leading my campers through the forest back to their cabin when we heard some trees rustling off in the distance. Having been there for a few months already I knew this was just a regular forest creature out hustling for his nightly dinner. My cabin didn't. As we were walking across the bridge I came to a sudden halt and said "Did you hear that?!". The girls, already used to my pranking antics, weren't convinced. "Whatever Elise, you don't scare us". I then said in a worried tone, "No seriously I heard something over there..", I beamed my flashlight toward the over grown part of the forest, suddenly I let out a loud gasp and then bolted up the trail with the only flashlight, leaving the girls in the dark, screaming, in the middle of the forest. It wasn't until they could hear me laughing up ahead that they realised it was a joke.
Muahahahaha!
Halloween Pranks
Mystery Bowls: Blindfold your "victim" & bring out an assortment of different "body parts" that she has to guess what they are. Use spaghetti for brains, add grapes for eyeballs, bags of pudding for hearts, and slivered almonds for witch's fingernails. Keep her guessing until she gets it right; you'll both laugh at her responses.
The Hidden Monster: Use colorful, patterned poster board or wrapping paper to make a life-sized monster -- how scary is up to you -- and hang it in a place your child will least expect for a startling surprise
Sitting Skeleton: At dinnertime have your kids set the table as usual, then sneak back in to the dining room and put out an extra place setting for a plastic skeleton. Sit the skeleton in the chair; if he can't sit up tie him to the chair with twine or ribbon. Don't worry if it doesn't look artful, it's supposed to be creepy. When your child comes to the table he'll be spooked by the ghastly guest.
Monster Chase: Dress up as a monster for your lawn. Be as still as you can. When someone walks by, jump out and scare the heck out of them.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Visit friends' houses and write on the mirror with your finger, delivering a scary message such as "I'm watching you!" Breathe on the mirror and you can see your words. Let it dry naturally. When your friend takes a shower, the words will appear again when the mirror fogs up.
Spooky Stories
The Flying Dutchman
The legend of The Flying Dutchman started in 1641 when a Dutch ship sank off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. The captain, VanderDecken, failed to notice the dark clouds looming and only when he heard the lookout scream out in terror did he realise that they had sailed straight into a fierce storm. The captain and his crew battled for hours to get out of the storm and at one stage it looked like they would make it. Then they heard a sickening crunch – the ship had hit treacherous rocks and began to sink. As the ship plunged downwards, Captain VanderDecken knew that death was approaching. He was not ready to die and screamed out a curse: ‘I WILL round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until the end of time!” So, even today whenever a storm brews off the Cape of Good Hope, if you look into the eye of the storm, you will be able to see the ship and its captain – The Flying Dutchman. The legend goes that whoever sees the ship will die a terrible death. Many people have claimed to have seen The Flying Dutchman, including the crew of a German submarine boat during World War II. On 11 July 1881, the Royal Navy ship, the Bacchante, was rounding the tip of Africa when they were confronted with the sight of The Flying Dutchman. The midshipman, a prince who later became King George V, recorded that the lookout man and the officer of the watch had seen The Flying Dutchman and he used these words to describe the ship: “A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the mast, spars and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief.” It’s pity that the lookout saw the Flying Dutchman, for soon after on the same trip, he accidentally fell from a mast and died. Fortunately for the English royal family, the young midshipman survived the curse to become The King of England!
Hide and Seek
Two young brothers were at home alone as the parents had gone visit their neighbours for a while. ‘Be good’ they said, so to keep themselves occupied the boys decided to play a game of hide and seek. The older boy turned his head to the wall and began to count, he could hear his little brother’s feet as he scampered about looking for a place to hide. ‘Ready or not I’m coming,’ cried the older brother and off he went looking for his brother. He looked in all the usual places, behind the sofa, in the bath, behind the curtains, under the bed, but he couldn’t find him. The apartment was eerily silent, then he heard a scraping sound coming from the wardrobe. The boy was sure he’d already looked there but anyway he went and called out ‘Come out I’ve found you!’, but there was only silence. Again he called for his brother to come out and again nothing…. Opening the door, the boy tries to peer behind the wall of dresses coats hanging there, he bends down but doesn’t see any feet standing there. Then as he outs his hand through the coats a small white, icy cold hand come out and grabs his wrist, trying to pull him into the closet. Trying to pull himself free, he hears a noise behind him and turns around only to see his brother behind him…. ‘Couldn’t you find me?’, asked the boy. The older brother screams in fright and desperately tries to free himself from the grip of the hand, all the while being pulled into the wardrobe, the younger brother grabs him and together they manage to pull him free. They both run screaming from the apartment. Nobody knows what would have happened if the hand had managed to pull him in.
The Clown Statue
A girl in her teens, was babysitting for a family one night. The family was wealthy and had a very large house with many rooms filled with lots of old artefacts and ornaments from all over the world. As the family are leaving to go out the father tells the girl that once the she puts the kids down she should go down to the basement and watch TV there, and don’t go wandering about the house. Once the kids are asleep, the girl retires to the basement room to watch TV, but in the corner of the room is a life-size clown statue that is standing there grinning at her. He can’t concentrate on the TV so she decides to drape a blanket over the statue so she can ignore it. After a while she can’t stand looking at the clown statue’s over-sized feet sticking out from under the blanket and she decides she would like to go and watch TV in another room. She phones the father of the family to ask his permission and says that she is freaked out by the giant clown statue in the room. ‘Listen very carefully’ the man says to the girl. ‘Our children have been complaining about a clown that comes into their room in the middle of the night but we just thought it was nightmares. We don’t own a clown statue, you need to get the kids and get out of the house NOW! I’ll call the police. The girl hangs up the phone and turns around to face the clown statue, but all there is a blanket on the floor…
The Legend of Bride's Head Bridge
There's a bridge near Hanover in Germany called 'Der Kopf der Braut', which means bride's head. A 15th century legend has it that Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt and his bride Gretchen were approaching the bridge in their horse and carriage when their way was blocked by an elderly crone. The Reichsgraf or 'Count' ordered the old lady to get off the bridge instantly and make way for their carriage. But it was dark, and the old lady had difficulty in herding her sheep off the bridge. Because the old witch was moving none to fast, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt took his whip and have her a sound thrashing. Bleeding, and cowering in a ditch, the old witch put a curse on the carriage. Consequently when the bridal party eventually crossed the bridge, one of the horses shied and the other reared up. The upshot was that Gretchen was thrown from the carriage into the river below. It seems certain that she drowned as the river was in torrent and Gretchen was never seen again. However, it is said by Hanoverian wicca that at Halloween you can see a headless bride standing on rocks in the middle of the river. Some say she is looking for her lost head, while other say she is looking for her beloved Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt.
The Old Witch by The Brothers Grimm
There was once a little girl who was very wilful and who never obeyed when her elders spoke to her - so how could she be happy? One day she said to her parents, 'I have heard so much of the old witch that I will go and see her. People say she is a wonderful old woman, and has many marvellous things in her house, and I am very curious to see them.' But her parents forbade her going, saying, 'The witch is a wicked old woman, who performs many godless deeds - and if you go near her, you are no longer a child of ours.' The girl, however, would not turn back at her parents' command, but went to the witch's house. When she arrived there the old woman asked her: 'Why are you so pale?', 'Ah,' she replied, trembling all over, 'I have frightened myself so with what I have just seen.' 'And what did you see?' inquired the old witch. 'I saw a black man on your steps.' 'That was a collier,' replied she. 'Then I saw a gray man.' 'That was a sportsman,' said the old woman. 'After him I saw a blood-red man.' 'That was a butcher,' replied the old woman. 'But, oh, I was most terrified,' continued the girl, 'when I peeped through your window, and saw not you, but a creature with a fiery head.' 'Then you have seen the witch in her proper dress,' said the old woman. 'For you I have long waited, and now you shall give me light.' So saying the witch changed the little girl into a block of wood, and then threw it on the fire. When it was fully alight, she sat down on the hearth and warmed herself, saying: 'How good I feel! The fire has not burned like this for a long time!'
Frightful Jokes
What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost? BamBoooooooooo!
Where do baby ghosts go during the day? DayScare Centers
How did the ghost sew his sheet? With a pumpkin patch.
What do ghosts like to dance to? Soul music!
What did Dr. Frankenstein get when he put a goldfish brain in the body of his dog? I don't know, but it is great at chasing submarines.
