The air was cold and chilly as the wind cooed at Jonathan's window. It rustled the trees that shook under the moonlight. It was well past midnight, days before All Hallows Eve. The waxing moon shone as it careened far above the sky.

It fell quiet, the wind ended its bluster, the howls of the night shrank to not even a whisper, and the weakened panes of the windows, with the creaking of the almost ancient house came to a stuttered state of silence. Only the small sound of a fleeting breath could be heard within the earie silence of the night.

The clock ticked, ticking. Tick, tick, tick...BONG.

The clock was chiming, striking it's bell within the writhing silence, filling it with the essence of dread as it reached Jonathan's ears, waking him from his unresting slumber.

The silence held it's grip, as the clock struck it's sixth toll, only to be quickly snuffed. The unrelenting silence being able to drive anyone mad with its horrifying stillness.

Jonathan rose from his bed as he crawled from his sheets, seeming almost as if he had not slept a wink, despite just being under the wake of his dreams, his mind filled with naught but a dark vision of his home.

The fleeting darkness did not impede his thoughts as he walked to the wash room, his feet reaching the floor boards with a creaking of the floor, sending shivers throughout his spine.
His small hint of fear at the silence around him was nearly unnerving enough to send him into shock, but it would soon be nothing compared to what he saw.

Jonathan walked through the unending halls, the stretching shadows reaching for him. Eyes seemingly shone from the darkness, only within the corner of his eyes.

The whispering silence licked at his ears, chilling his soul. A lanky form in the darkness behind him, as it seemingly glided along. The shining moonlight could not illuminate its figure as it slid along the the ceiling. The only light around it was dim moonlight, illuminating stringy wires that came down from nowhere above, and its grinning black smile from under its skull like head, seemingly radiating darkness.

It crept along the hall towards Jonathan, only seen from the corners of his eyes. It was blood curdling, spine chilling. It horrified him from his soul, even though it was a mere fleeting glance.

He decided to ignore the being, the creature, and the entity in its entirety. He was clearly in denial of the beast which would soon torment him.

The whispers called out to him, slowly becoming deafening as the silence stowed him. The hallways seemed endless with how long he'd felt her been walking. He felt a chilling fear in his soul. He could barely worry of anything but himself as he felt his own sanity draining him. The silence was deafening. He could hear everything, for there was nothing to hear. Nothing to hear but his own hitched breath.

He kept towards his parents room, worried about them as he could, for he had no other family. He approached the door as the figure behind him immediately vanished from sight. His heart sighed in relief, but began to pound as he opened the door. The violently bloody sight behind him was horrifying.

His parents had become a bright red mist in the air. There limbs were over one another as their bones were bent and crunched into a singular horrific mass. Their flesh rended, looking nearly eaten and torn from their bodies.

His father was bent backwards as his spine jutted through his scalp, while his mother was viscerally torn to pieces. Their entrails splattered against the walls and cieling.

Jonathan's breathing hitched as he saw the scene, panicking more than ever before as he turned to flee, only to be met by the pained grin of the beast. The one of the false god. The one who'd done this.

He quickly leapt away, only to be met with a hand bursting out of the wall, reaching to grab him. It's size was enormous as it swung. As he dodged the hand,.more began to burst forth. One after another, hands began to burst through the floors, walls, and cieling, attempting to impede his escape.

His heart raced as he was grabbed repeatedly. His clothes tore as he sprinted, unwilling to look back to the beast, as he sprinted down the halls.

The arms grasped at his surroundings, aiming for him as he sped past. Their claws scraping his flesh. It felt like days had passed. The beast continuing its chase as he finally fled outside his home.

Jack-o-lanterns lined the streets, the moon was full and red, as Halloween had somehow come despite the three days. He ran to the tunnel near his home, as the sight of cursed toys entered his sight.

They dripped blood as their smiles shone, their razor sharp teeth shining in the moonlight. His blood cuddled as they charged him like a wave. Screeching could be heard from the wave of monstrous toys. His head splitting at the sound. His terror overwhelming as his breathing picked up, inhaling blood.

The tunnel was just up ahead. Jonathan's heart pounded as he sprinted, trying to get away from the horrors behind him. His mind filled with terror as he ran.

He entered the dark, empty tunnel, not noticing as the entrance closed behind him, the bricks wrapping around and closing off his only other path.

He sprinted, the silence around him now flavoured with horrifying laughter and the sound of scraping stone. His heart pounded as he ran almost forever. His life flashing past his eyes.

As he reached the nearby exit, he saw people standing there, facing away from him. He felt like he could almost recognize them, but he called out anyways. Fear shaking his voice.

"Heeeeeeeeelp!!!" He cried out, waving his arms, not looking back to worry if he was still being chased by the floor of monstrous creatures. He kept waving.

"HEEEEEEELP!!!!" he cried out once again, even louder than before, and reached for the person.

What he found when he turned them around was a horrifying realisation. A realisation that he could not escape this nightmare just like that. What he was face with was not human, or at least...not anymore.

It had no face, with an eerie smile painted onto it's flesh, like a knife carved through its flesh, with glowing lights shining where it's eyes should be from underneath its skin.

He screamed in horror, backing away as it reached out its long, lanky hand. It's long fingers extended as it reached out to grab him.

He recognize the form, but not as he saw now. It was his neighbor,
Mr. Crautsher, but different. This was not who he knew before. He was mangled and warped into this monstrous shape, and as he found out soon, he was not the only one.

Soon, hundreds of others crawled through the walls and bushes, climbing over fences like human reptiles. Like animals they groaned, like zombies they shambled, and like people he could hear them crying out for help, even if they could not express or speak.

The silence filled his ears, now no longer silent, but the chilling feelings in his would did not stop, as clawed arms came from everywhere, grasping for him, as the familiar figures surrounded him, soon joined by the monstrous you like beasts.

He was trapped, being corned as he was surrounded outside the tunnel. He was frightened, terrified, horrified as he was bearing witness to the nightmare he could never awaken from.

His mind was lapsing, his thoughts slowly fading as all of them closed in, until they nearly stopped, his gaze on the beast above the trees. It's smile from under it's mask like goat skull, filled with glistening white teeth, it's eyes radiating darkness. It looked like it was painted and carved. It's strings looked down to all of the monstrosities that loomed before him.

His eyes gazed up at it, the beast, entity, monstrosity. It could not be called any one word, it was far too horrifying for words alone.

Its sharp claw like fingers dropped down, nearly a foot in length as it held it's strings, it's lanky black body with white draped in a cape of shadows, as it looked down at Jonathan.

He blinked and it was gone. All of it was gone.

"This is just a bad dream, I...I have to go home..." he muttered to himself as he walked home, not noticing the stalking figure looming over him as it crawled up his spine.

In a dark, warped, and guttural voice, its mangled words came out, both as a high screetch and horrendous deep growl. It spoke into his ear in a silent whisper, speaking with volume.

"Happy Halloween~..."

And so the nightmare continued, for no one could ever stop the demon of the Hollowed Gallows.