| Trick or Treat by Kenna Clayton |
| A podcast of this script may be heard here |
|
SOUND: WIND NARRATOR The night air holds a chill and the wind howls; perfect atmosphere for a Halloween night. Snow begins to fall on the city streets of the icebox, as John and Joann Baker, along with their son and his two friends, return to their own neighborhood after exploring the town, with it ghoulish sights and sugar filled treats. TIMMY Mom, can we trick or treat just a little bit longer? Please. JOANN You kids can go up and down our block, that�s all. Then we�ll go home and I�ll fix us all some hot chocolate. TIMMY You can go in the house now. We don�t need anyone to go with us. JOHN No I don�t think so. TIMMY Please, we�ll just go up and down the block. JOHN What do you think, Joann? JOANN Well, okay, but you have to be back in twenty minutes, or we�re going to come looking for you. TIMMY Thanks mom. DOUG Let�s go to Mrs. Adams house first. She has the best treats - chocolate candy, gummy bears, and I heard she�s got some of those Harry Potter jelly beans. BRIAN I loved the granola bars she handed out last year. But I don�t want any Harry Potter jelly beans; I heard they have flavors like earth worm. Yuk! TIMMY. Wonder if they really taste like earth worms? DOUG What do earth worms taste like? TIMMY Don�t know. We can�t forget to go to Lucca�s. Bobby told me they were having special homemade treats. He called them Graveyard Bars. They�re made with Rice Krispies, and decorated with body parts � that are really gummies, licorice and other neat stuff. SOUND: FOOTS STEPS UP TO THE PORCH: KNOCK ON DOOR ALL 3 BOYS Trick or Treat! MRS ADAMS Ooooh what have we got here, Spider Man, Harry Potter � love the glasses and the wig. Timmy, is that you in the pirate�s costume? TIMMY Yes MRS ADAMS Love the eye patch with drips of blood beneath. SOUND: TREATS DROPPING IN BAG DOUG Mars bars, they�re my favorite. Thank you. TIMMY & BRIAN Thank you. MRS. ADAMS You�re welcome. Good night boys. Have fun! MUSIC: BRIEF TRANSISTION BRIAN These Graveyard Bars, Mrs. Lucca gave us, are good. Let�s cross the street and go up the other side. DOUG What about that house? TIMMY Oh no! That�s Mr. Crow�s house. He�s mean. DOUG Mean? Why? What�s he done? BRIAN He�s always yelling at us to stay off his lawn; no skateboarding on his sidewalk. Says he�s going to whip us if he finds us messing around his house. TIMMY Yeah. He even called the police on my big brother; just for driving a snowmobile across his lawn, last year. DOUG Okay, let�s forget that house. BRIAN Wait! Did you hear that? TIMMY Hear what? MR. CROW (OFF, FILTERED ECHO) Help me! H-e-l-p Me. BRIAN That. Maybe he�s hurt. TIMMY Yeah. Maybe we should go see if he needs help. DOUG I don�t see any lights on. Sounds like it�s coming from underground. TIMMY Dad says he�s and old skinflint. He doesn�t like to spend money on unneeded electricity. Only turns the light on when he needs them. (Beat) Maybe he fell down the basement stairs. BRIAN Lets go knock on the door. SOUND: FOOTSTEPS ON PORCH. KNOCK ON DOOR THAT OPENS WITH A SCREECH. DOUG The door opened, all by itself. TIMMY Must not have been all the way closed. (CALLS OUT) Mr. Crow? BRIAN Hello? SOUND: A FRANKENSTEIN GROAN DOUG What was that? Let�s get out of here! TIMMY No we need to see if Mr. Crow is hurt. BRIAN Sounds like those sounds are coming from the basement. Come on, let�s go in. SOUND: CRASH OF SCARECROW AND SKELETON HITTING DINING ROOM TABLE AND KNOCKING THINGS OFF DOUG (SHORT SCARED SCREAM) What was that? BRIAN I hit something and it fell. It felt like something made out of straw. (BEAT) Mr. Crow, you here? TIMMY Sounded like dishes or something hitting the floor. BRIAN Are we alone or is there someone else in the room with us? TIMMY Hello? Is anyone here? DOUG Brian, what are you doing? BRIAN Picking up stuff� ooooh Yuk! DOUG What? BRIAN I just picked up something and dropped it. It was all wet and gooey and kind of soft. It felt just like an eyeball. TINMMY Brian, come off it�. Ahhhhhh SOUND: TINNY HITTING THE FLOOR DOUG Timmy? You okay? TIMMY I slipped in something and fell. It feels all wet and sticky. � Oh my Gosh! I think it�s blood. SOUND: (OFF) KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK DOUG What was that? TIMMY Sounded like someone knocking on a door, or something, in the basement. MR. CROW (FILTERED ECHO) Who dares knock on the crypt of Paul Bunyan? DOUG I�m getting out of here! BRIAN Wait! We gotta help Timmy up DOUG Give me your hand ( BEAT) (SCREAM) SOUND: BONEY HAND OF SKELETON CRASHING TO FLOOR BRIAN What�s wrong? DOUG (SCARED VOICE) I reached for Timmy�s hand and got a boney hand. Like that of a skeleton. SOUND: (OFF) KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK MR. CROW (WICKED WITCH VOICE) Who knocks on the door of Hilda the witch? TIMMY Brian, give me your hand, now � and not the bloody one. DOUG Eyeballs, blood, skeleton�s, too much for me. I�m getting out of here. BRIAN What about the sounds in the basement? DOUG Who cares I just want out of here. SOUND: FOOTSTEPS ON PORCH. TIMMY It�s dark in here. Where�s the door? JOHN Boys, you in here? Joann, turn on the light. SOUND: LIGHT SWITCH JOANN What on earth are you boys doing? ALL 3 AT ONCE TIMMY We heard a cry for help DOUG It was dark BRIAN It was an accident JOANN Whoa, whoa. One at a time. TIMMY We heard� MR CROW (OFF, FILTERED ECHO) Help! Help me! The monsters of the night are going to get me. BRIAN A call for help, kinda like that. JOHN That�s just Mr. Crow. (Beat) What is this mess on the floor? BRIAN That must have happened when I accidentally hit the scarecrow and skeleton, and they fell into the stuff on the table. TIMMY See we knocked on the door, because we thought Mr. Crow needed help. DOUG And the door opened, all by itself. MR CROW (OFF FILTERED) Enter at your own risk. JOHN (LAUGHS) That�s Mr. Crow. He does sound effects and such for the local theater. SOUND: FOOTSTEPS UP THE BASEMENT STAIRS AND INTO THE ROOM MR. CROW (GRUFF VOICE) What are you people doing here? JOHN I�m terribly sorry Mr. Crow. The boys heard you recording and thought you needed help. BRIAN When we knocked the door came open; and when I entered I must have knocked over your scarecrow and skeleton. I�m sorry. MR CROW This is an awful mess! TIMMY We didn�t mean to. We thought� JOANN I�m afraid the boys� imagination got away with them. We�ll help you clean up. MR: CROW Were you boys hurt? TIMMY No sir. BRIAN Why are your grapes peeled? MR. CROW Never could stand to eat the skins, so I peel them. BRIAN Felt like an eyeball, when I picked one up in the dark. MR. CROW (LAUGHS) That�s a good one. TIMMY And when I slipped and fell in whatever that red gooey stuff is, I thought it was blood. MR. CROW That�s a concoction I�m experimenting with for a play. You boys are a riot. I�ll have to see if we can use you in our Halloween play next year. JOHN Boys, let�s get busy cleaning up this mess. JOANN Mr. Crow, when we�re done, would you like to join us, at our house, for some hot chocolate and apple pie? MR. CROW Thank you. I�d like that. DOUG (WHISPERS) He doesn�t seem so mean to me. TIMMY Guess he can be nice. MR. CROW (IN MONSTER VOICE) Beware, the walls have ears. BRIAN Look at your faces. (LAUGHING) Mr. Crow got you two good. SOUND: POLICE SIRENS JOANN What�s that? MR. CROW I think it�s the police? JOHN Let�s go see. POLICEMAN Everyone stay where you are. Hands where we can see them. MR CROW (GRUFFLY) Officer, what is this all about. POLICEMAN We�ve had a couple of calls from neighbors. One said they thought someone was breaking into this address. Another thought she heard children being abused. MR. CROW Abuse? Nonsense! JOHN Afraid it�s all a misunderstanding officer. OFFICER: And you are? JOHN I�m John Baker and this is my wife Joann, our son Timmy, and his two friends Brian and Doug. OFFICER What kind of misunderstanding? JOHN Mr. Crow was recording for a play, in his basement. My son and his friends thought there was someone in need of help. The house was dark and the door open. When they entered, to see if anyone was hurt they accidentally knocked over some things, and were frightened is all. OFFICER You sure you�re all okay and nothing�s wrong here? MR. CROW We�re sure. OFFICER Okay, I need to fill out a report and then we�ll be on our way. TIMMY This has been one cool Halloween. DOUG Yeah, kind of like discovering a haunted house BRIAN And we can tell our friends, it even fooled the police. The End |
 |