My name is James Davenport and I'm 11 years old. Oh, and I was struck by lightning a couple of years ago. You see I snuck out of the house to try to get more candy. I had more than enough sweet treats but I got a little greedy. As I headed for home, I was blinded by a flash of light. it was a lightning bolt! I ended up having to stay at the hospital for an entire week. Even though I felt fine, the doctor wanted to keep me there to run a bunch of tests. For the first few days after I came home everything seemed to be fine. I had a bit of a headache but other than that I felt fine. Well, except for the fact that I could now see and communicate with monsters.

At first they kinda gave me the willies. These were some pretty scary monsters. But soon I realized that they weren't to be feared. They were just misunderstood. The monsters and I quickly became good friends. They told me that they would always be there to protect and help me whenever I was in peril. However, I wasn't allowed to use them for selfish purposes like revenge or greed. It was quite the motley crew I had befriended. There was a goblin, a werewolf, a mummy, a witch, a vampire, a ghost and Dr.Frankenstein's latest monster, Francois. Francois? What kind of name was that for a massive, marauding creature? And what was with that mustache?

Aside from the occasional ninja attack, a common occurrence in my quiet little town, I found that I really didn't need the monsters' help. I was so disappointed. Imagine having some of the most feared monsters in the world at your disposal and not being able to use them. It was nice knowing that they'd always have my back though. I never really had to stick up for myself because I always knew that I could send a vampire or a ghost to take care of all my problems.

But all of that would change with the arrival of Elmer Bigelow, the new school bully. His family had moved to my home town of Grimmingthorn, New York. Elmer was my age but was much bigger than I was. Heck, he dwarfed the rest of the students in the class as well. He was a big, mean, ugly brute. He never talked to anyone. He would grunt at the other kids, teachers, and the bus driver. I tried to make friends with him one day but he knocked the books out of my hands and pushed me down. I thought about calling on my monsters to teach him a lesson but decided to give him a second chance. Big mistake.

Halloween has always been my favorite day even with that whole being struck by lightning business. I remember going trick-or-treating for the first time when I was about 4 years old. My Mom dressed me up in a fuzzy bunny costume. She said I looked 'cute as a bug's ear.' For the past few years I have been trick-or-treating with a group of friends from school. We've all been pals since kindergarten. We're too young to go alone so my friend Tegen's older sister comes with us. "Don't you all look precious!" "Mom, you're embarrassing me" I replied as my parents took their usual set of Halloween photos.

"Let's go guys!" Tegen's sister called out to us. "Have a good time and be safe!" my Dad said with a smile. We liked to start at the far end of the street and work our way back to my house. But when we got to the front door of the Gribbles' house I noticed that I had forgotten my candy bag. "I'll be right back you guys. I forgot my candy bag." I ran home where my Mom was waiting at the front door with my bag. I sprinted back to the Gribbles' home as fast as i could only to find 3 empty bags but no friends. Even Tegen's sister was absent.

The streets are usually filled with happy children laughing and singing as they trick-or-treat. But not tonight. It was completely silent. My heart started to race and my mind began to wander. Where did everybody go? It was early in the night but the Gribbles had already turned off their front lights. Before I could head over to the next house I saw a young girl wander up to the front door. "Trick-or-treat!" the apple-cheeked little girl shouted. And then I saw him.......Elmer Bigelow! He growled at her giving her quite the fright. She dropped her candy bag and ran. He proceeded to dig through her candies looking for chocolate bars to eat.

THE YOUNG

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THE HEADLESS

"Oh that Viktor is incorrigible!" RING! RING! "Now who could that be? People know not to call me when I'm watching my soaps. I'll just have to put a spell on them. Hello my little pretty?" "Mave Darkmore? It's me, James Davenport." "Oh, hello dear. Is everything okay? We haven't heard from you in a while." "No, actually. I'm going to need you to send the monsters here to deal with a local bully." "Don't worry James. I'll call upon the creatures and send them to your town. Oh, and I'll have one of the monsters bring you some of my Eye of Newt soup." "Yuck! I mean maybe next time. Hurry! This guy is a real terror!"

The witch sent a cauldron of bats to locate her fellow monsters. The bats were seen spotted spanning the globe from Egypt to Transylvania to Rancho Cucamonga. Okay, maybe not Rancho Cucamonga. It's just a fun to say. Say it with me, 'Rancho Cucamonga.' The beasts assembled at Willow de Wisp's condominium in Wales. It was a long drive from The Gargoyle Tombs (an expensive apartment complex for scary monsters) to Grimmingthorn so the gang arranged for a Boo-Ber to pick them up. "Let's go help our friend James!" Mortas the Vampire shouted. "Mmmph!" Khen-em-khonsu the Mummy chimed in. "Um, yeah. What he said" Mortas replied.