 Welcome to Microtarrers. Scary stories for kids. It's the Halloween season. Time for chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks. Microtarrers are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up. And while our stories are for younger years, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can. For rental consent, he is recommended. Now for tonight's Microtarrer. The Curse of the Curse of Claws Bobby lingered outside his parents' bedroom door until he knew they were sound asleep, with the loud pig-like grunts from his sleeping dad and the soft, gentle breathing from his mom, he knew they were out cold. He closed the door completely, as quietly as he could, and then retreated back downstairs. His friends, Noah and Jimmy, were on the living room floor, still eating the candy they had collected only hours earlier during trick-or-treat. Glowing from the TV screen in front of them was the Disney-classic Halloween town. Jimmy grabbed a Tootsie roll from his dwindling pile of candy and heaved it at the TV. It clicked against the glass screen and plopped to the floor. It's always the same movies every year, Jimmy complained. Halloween Town, Hocus Pocus, Monster House, ugh! He threw another piece of candy, planking it off the screen as well. Stop, Jimmy, Bobby said. You'll break my TV. We're going to need it if you want to see something different. Jimmy looked at Bobby intrigued. What do you mean, different? Bobby nodded to Noah, giving him the approval to carry out the secret plan they'd concocted for this Halloween. Noah grabbed the duffel bag head brought for the sleepover, tossed his clothes out and revealed a grey box, a strange electronic device. Jimmy scooched closer. What is that thing? A VCR, Noah said. A what? A VCR, Noah repeated. It's what they had before DVD players. Oh, then what's that? Jimmy pointed to the next thing Noah revealed. It looked like a hardcover book at first. A VHS tape, Noah laughed. It's what they had before DVDs. Jimmy nodded. He'd never seen anything like these ancient artifacts before. Noah here came across an old scary movie called The Curse of Claws. Bobby spookily said as he helped Noah hook the VCR up to the TV. It was made in the 1970s and it's supposedly a haunted or cursed movie. How so? Jimmy asked, curious and nervous. Bobby shrugged. No clue actually. Well, what's it about? Jimmy asked. Bobby shrugged again. It's about a humanoid lizard man named Claws who stalks kids in a cemetery on Halloween night. Jimmy cocked his head. Why is a lizard man in a cemetery? Shouldn't it be a swamp or something? That would have made more sense. Noah shrugged off Jimmy's analysis of the movie. None of these movies ever make any real sense. It's all about watching monster attacks. He took the VHS tape out of its case and slid it into the VCR. The screen went black and the lights flickered in the room. Jimmy looked around at the flickering living room lights. Is this part of The Curse? Noah and Bobby laughed but truthfully they weren't really sure. Bobby flipped the light switch against the wall to turn all the lights out. On the TV screen, a blue screen appeared followed by a warning written in red. What's that warning say? Jimmy asked, squinting at the screen from his seat on the floor. But before any of them could read it, the warning went away and the movie began. It opened on a full moon on a clear night. Bats fluttered in front of it and a wolf howled in the background. Old creepy music kicked in as the frame panned down to the front gates of Salem's Cemetery. Lightning flashed revealing three small kids around ten years old standing in front of the rusty gate. Where'd that lightning come from? Jimmy asked. It was a clear sky just a second ago. Bobby hushed his friend. The three of them sat on the floor several feet from the screen and watched the movie intently. On screen, the kids pushed the creaky gates open and entered the graveyard. Fog weaved in and out of the cracked gravestones. Owl sat on the branch of a tree watching the kids walk by, hooting creepily at them. As the kids walked past an abnormally large and out of place gravestone, the lizard man claws leapt out from behind it as lightning flashed and thunder boomed from above. Jimmy rolled his eyes hard. That's the monster. That clearly looks like a rubber suit. You can see the zipper in the front and the edging of the mask. This movie stinks hard. Jimmy grabbed a tootsie roll and threw it at the screen. But instead of clicking against the glass and bouncing away, the candy seemed to enter the screen and land in the grass next to the oversized gravestone. Claws looked down at it. Whoa! Noah said, jumping to his feet. Bobby stood up too, his mouth wide open and shook. How did that happen? He said. Jimmy just stared to the screen, unable to believe what he had witnessed. Noah rushed over to the screen, trying to keep his eye on the tootsie roll in the grass as long as he could before the scene changed back to the three kids walking through the foggy cemetery. That's impossible, Bobby said, joining his friend by the TV. Bobby made a fist with his hand and tried to knock on the glass screen, but instead of knocking, his hand went through the screen like he was sticking it in water. Suddenly, Bobby's entire body was sucked into the screen. Bobby! Noah shouted, but the same force that dragged Bobby in activated again and sucked Noah in. Jimmy just sat on the floor, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in pure shock. Bobby and Noah stood in the foggy cemetery from the movie. Lightning flashed overhead and thunder rumbled in the distance. This can't be real. We're dreaming, right? Bobby asked his friend. Noah tapped one of the gravestones. It was soft like it was made out of foam or cardboard. It felt like the Halloween decorations in the garden at his home. These are fake, Noah said. Just then, a bat flew by, but it was sliding on a fishing line attached from one tree to another. The boys watched it slowly struggle by, confused by the fishing line. Are we in the movie or just on the set? Hey, you guys! The kid's voice called from just out of frame. Bobby and Noah looked to see the three wandering kids approach them. The lead kid, a young boy and a backwards baseball hat was the one doing the talking. Um, Bobby mumbled, not sure exactly what to say. You shouldn't be here, another one of the kids said, a young girl still in her Halloween costume. We're looking for the legendary claws, she said. He supposedly comes out on Halloween night every 20 years to terrorize anyone who trespasses in his graveyard. Then why would you willingly come here? Noah asked. The three kids didn't know what to say. He's right over there anyway, Bobby said, pointing back to the oversized gravestone. The three kids looked to see claws, large and green, still standing by the gravestone. Lightning flashed again and thunder cracked in the cloudless night sky. The three movie kids screamed and scattered throughout the cemetery, splitting off into three different directions. Bobby and Noah just stood there, watching the third kid, the younger one who hadn't said anything, put his back to a large tree hoping not to get seen. But then claws randomly appeared from behind it. It roared and raised its claws into the air. The kid screamed, but then a heavy drift of fog blew in to conveniently block Bobby and Noah from seeing anything happen to him. The young girl in her Halloween costume shrieked in the other direction. Noah and Bobby turned to see her running away. She tripped over the only tree branch that was on the ground, but instead of getting up to keep running, she flopped over onto her back to scream more as claws somehow appeared from the fog and loomed over her, displaying a sharp teeth in the mask's mouth. Bobby quickly looked back at the tree where the younger kid had been cornered by the lizard band, but neither of them were there. How did he just appear over there? Bobby asked. Claws slowly raised its sharp fingers into the air, growling ferociously at the young girl. Slime now dripped from its mouth for some reason. The young girl kept screaming and put her hands up in front of her face to shield the attack. That's not gonna work! Noah said to Bobby. That's not going to work! He then yelled to the girl. Just get up and run! This is ridiculous! The fog rolled through, just as claws swung his arms down at the girl. Bobby and Noah couldn't see anything yet. Suddenly, something tugged at Bobby's leg. He jumped, just as lightning struck again and looked down in the grass. The lead boy, the one with the backwards baseball hat, was on his hands and knees. He was dirty, bruised, and his clothes were shredded. You need to get out of here, the boy huffed, coughing and moaning. What happened to you? Noah asked, confused as to where this boy had been and what even happened to him since claws was taking out the other two kids. There's more than one! There's another claws! The kid said, as a heavy fog engulfed his lower half. How? Bobby said, annoyed. Why would there be two? That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes any sense. Noah yelled, fog doesn't just come out of nowhere. Lightning needs clouds. That bat was on a string. Save yourselves! The boy on the ground whispered. Suddenly, something unseen in the fog pulled him into it. His scream echoed into silence. Noah and Bobby remained where they were, not entirely sure if they were in danger or not. They heard the roars of the now multiple lizard men, for some reason, erupt somewhere in the cemetery. How do we get out of here? Noah asked. Bobby looked around, but he wasn't sure. It's not like there was just a random TV sitting around that they could jump back through. Just then, the heavy fog rolled in again, covering the entire scene. When it faded away, Bobby was gone. Now a frantically looked around. Bobby! Bobby! Where are you? He looked down. In the grass next to him were Halloween store bought body parts. The smell of the ketchup that covered them rose into Noah's nose and made him hungry for burgers and fries. Bobby? Are these fake body parts supposed to be yours? Bobby? Come on, let's go. I'm hungry now. Bobby, where are you? Jimmy sat on the floor in the living room, watching the events of the movie unfold on the screen. After saying what happened to his friends, he knew better than to get too close to the screen. He popped another piece of candy in his mouth and watched as the two claws both jumped out from behind a tree and chased Noah through the graveyard. The light in the living room flipped on and Jimmy turned to see Bobby's dad standing there, half asleep and rubbing his eyes. Where are Bobby and Noah? He asked groggily. Jimmy turned back to the screen and popped another piece of candy in his mouth. Well, he said, I really hope they make it to the sequel. We're listening to Mike Rowe Terrors. Join us each Saturday in October for another scary story. For more fun, we also have Halloween themed games that you can print out and play, like a wicked word search, a mysterious maze and more. We've placed links to these free printouts in this episode's description, along with a link to our Facebook page and information about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join us again soon for Mike Rowe Terrors. Scary stories for kids.