This post is part of NPW’s Choose Your Own Blogventure, Spooktacular edition! If you got here from Definitely RA, keep reading. If not, visit NPW for the beginning and hopefully you’ll get here eventually.

(Eds note: If you read this post between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m., I had the links screwed up, so read again!)
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I looked at Julie. Her gaze was fixated on the trunk, and she didn’t appear to have noticed the book sitting on a table next to one of the armchairs. I knew I had to grab the book. If I couldn’t watch the rest of Haunted Happenings, I could at least read the rest. Plus, it would be so much less scary without the images of the trunk that seemed to be torturing Julie.

I yanked Julie’s hand and pulled her toward the entrance of the library set up. She followed me, still distracted by the sight of the trunk up ahead. I began to hear the sound of a thumping heart. It grew louder with every step we took. I looked toward the gramophone as we approached it and saw two glowing red spots just beyond it.

“CA-CAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Julie and I screamed in unison as we were met face-to-face with a black object with glowing red eyes that had lunged from behind the gramophone.

We collected our wits in about 30 seconds and realized the thing that was staring us in the eyes was a fake but realistic looking raven perched on the end of a long stick. Holding the other end of the stick was a man with shaggy eyebrows, a shaggy moustache and wavy hair. He was wearing a long black coat and gazing upon us with an amused look.

“Ohmygod, he looks JUST LIKE THE PROFESSOR!” Julie said in the loudest whisper I’ve ever heard.

“You half-wit scaredy cat burglar! He’s supposed to be Edgar Allen Poe!”

Julie shot me The Look as I grabbed her arm and pulled her further into the library.

As we passed the armchairs, I grabbed the Haunted Happenings book. It felt hollow and made a rattling sound. I couldn’t look inside yet, as we were still encountering characters. Along the way, Dante popped out from the center of the fireplace, and Lovecraft’s Cthulhu had been hiding near the chess set.

Finally we made it to the door. I opened the book to see what was causing the rattle. It was an ancient iron key, just like the one Annelise had held in her hand in the movie. The glow of the porch light made the key sparkle, which pulled Julie’s gaze away from the trunk.

“What’s that?”

“It’s … it’s … it’s a key,” I responded.

“Ohhhh, no, no, no, NO!,” Julie said. “Let’s just knock on the door, get our candy and get the flip OUTTA HERE! … Wait, no. I changed my mind. Let’s just run. I don’t need the candy. I’m too old for this shit anyway.”

“No way, I’m not leaving here without my candy at the very least. Besides, I want to see if there’s more haunting inside the house. And, I’m still curious about the trunk.”

If you think Kate and Julie should try to open the trunk, click here.
If you think Kate and Julie should knock on the door to get candy, click here.