 Welcome to Microterrorz. Scary stories for kids, where it's always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks. Microterrorz 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. Parental consent is recommended. Now for tonight's Microterrorz. My little mad brain. Will you come inside? This will be your own. I just stared at the note in my hand. It was within an unmarked envelope taped to the front door of my house when I walked home from school. I brought the envelope inside, and that's when I opened it. I read the note over and over, not completely understanding what it meant. It was like a poem or something. Behind the note was an old black-and-white photograph of a castle. I didn't immediately recognize the castle, but on the flip side of the photo was an address for Castle Shade. According to Google Maps, Castle Shade was located in the Catskill Mountains of New York, and only about a mile from my house. I read the last line again. This will be your only invitation. Invitation for what? A party? A tour of the castle? I read more from the note. It's a house that haunts you. A house that draws you near, begs you to come inside. It was starting to sound like a haunted house attraction, and with Halloween only weeks away, maybe it was a grand opening for a seasonal haunted attraction. I checked my watch. It was only a little after three. My parents wouldn't be home from work until closer to five. Castle Shade would be a quick bike ride, I thought. I could check it out and then let my parents know about the note and the invitation. Maybe we could make it a family outing or something when the attraction opened. I looked across my bedroom at Scratch, a doll that I'd had since I was born, and after 13 years he was finally starting to show his age. His brown hair was matted down. His eyes, which were once perfectly painted on, were now fading in their vibrance, and his clothing smelled musty and old. Sometimes I thought I was too old to hang on to Scratch, but when I thought back to how many times over my childhood that I was able to confide in him, I knew I just couldn't bail on him. He would never bail on me. He was my trusted confidant. What do you think, Scratch? Should I check it out? I asked my doll. And just like always, he stared blankly back at me. I tossed my backpack over my shoulders and wheeled my bike out of the garage. A distant rumble of thunder brought my attention to the sky. The day had been mostly clear, but now there were dark grey clouds moving in. For a moment I thought about just going back into the house and forgetting the whole thing, but then I remembered the last line. This will be your only invitation. I couldn't pass this up. I hopped on the bike, pedaled down the driveway, and onto the main road that cut through a seemingly endless sea of trees. It took me 15 minutes to reach the iron gates of Castle Shade. The gates swayed open creakily in the wind as if it had been awaiting my arrival. Another distant rumble of thunder made me drop the bike to the ground and hurry through the gates. I jogged up a dirt road, a thick forest on either side, and it blocked out whatever light of day the incoming storm clouds failed to. I rounded a corner on the dirt road, and that's when I saw it. Castle Shade. It was much larger than the picture made it seem. It was made of black stone. It looked slick, like it was covered by an oily glaze, and dark green moss was present on most of it. I saw the front door, an arched wooden doorway reminiscent of that belonging to a medieval castle. Gripping the straps of my backpack, I approached the castle door and pulled it open. The hinges creaked loudly as I entered. It was dark inside, only the hindered daylight from outside snuck through tiny square windows along the walls. I stepped into the large, empty room. Each step I took echoed. Then a thunderous boom from the sky outside was followed by a howling wind. Dead leaves spun in through the front door before it slammed shut. I ran to the door and tried to open it, but couldn't. The heavy slam must have damaged the handle or lock or something. Help! I called out, only hearing my little voice echo through the room in return. Someone help me! When no one responded and no one showed themselves to help me, I realized something that made my skin crawl. There was no one here. There was no help coming. I had been lured to castle shade, and now I was trapped. But why? I dropped my backpack to the floor and pulled out my phone. There was no signal, but I was still able to use the flashlight. I flipped it on and aimed it around the large room from one corner to the next. The room was decorated in spiderwebs and old, dusty furniture, some of which were covered by white sheets. I heard the hiss of air coming in from somewhere above me. A ventilation system, perhaps. I walked through the room to get a closer look at a door across the way. I reached for the metal knob, but just as my palm touched its cold surface, I heard something rustling behind me. My heart stopped and I slowly turned around. I didn't see anything at first, but when I trained the light on my backpack sitting on the floor, I saw it moving, something wriggled inside of it. I trembled, unsure as to what would emerge. Then a small hand ripped through the side of the bag, another hand came out along with it, and finally I watched Scratch pull himself out of the bag and stand up. He just stood there, motionless and stared at me. Scratch, I called out. I rubbed my eyes knowing my mind was playing tricks on me. Scratch was just a doll. I've had him for 13 years and never once had he done anything like this. He was a doll. And now as he stood in the room across from me, I felt a fear of him. He was a feeling I had never had before. Get! Go! I shouted at him, but he just continued to stand there. A soft disembodied voice then spoke from the shadows of the room. This house haunts you. This house will entangle its specters with your own. Do you fear this house? Do you fear me? Was that Scratch? Was Scratch trying to speak to me? I chose not to answer because now I was convinced that Scratch was the one who lured me here. He was the only one home before I arrived after school. He was the one who left the note on the front door and come to think of it, I didn't remember even putting him in that backpack. Why are you doing this? I asked Scratch. Looking ahead though, I no longer saw him standing in front of the backpack. I panned to the light from one side of the room to the other. Nothing. Scratch was gone. I looked up to the ceiling next, but all I saw were small vents that were blowing cold air into the room. I heard something scamper in the shadows next to me. I aimed my light, but saw nothing. Scratch! I called out. He was choosing to ignore me now. He knew that I knew. And that was going to thwart his evil plan. Whatever it was. I heard the door behind me creak open by itself. I turned and aimed the light into the darkness. A crack of thunder and blinding flash of lightning exploded all around me, rattling my nerves. I pushed forward knowing Scratch was in the next dark room, but I didn't expect to fall when I crossed through the doorway. I fell down a flight of stairs, smacking the stone floor at the bottom. I groaned in pain and reached for my light, but someone picked it up before my hand could reach it. When the light glowed on his face, I saw it was Scratch. Let my specters tangle with yours. He uttered without moving his mouth. Just then I was lifted up by unseen forces. They held me tightly, torches along either side of a long hallway burst to life, letting me see the forces that held me so tight. They were white and wispy, transparent and evil looking. They were ghosts, horrible ghosts. I screamed trying desperately to pull myself away from them, but they held on. They weren't going to give up so easily. I screamed again, kicking my legs at Scratch. Eventually, I made contact, knocking the doll down. I'm not afraid of you! I shouted, and I meant it. After being filled with such fear, I conjured up every ounce of survival instinct I possessed. I wasn't going to let this doll and his ghosts take me. I'm not afraid! I shouted, and with that, the ghosts all let go. I raced up the stairs and through the large entry room, thunder roared outside, enlightening lit the room with blinding flashes of blue and white. I hurried for the arched doorway, but just before I reached it, it flew open. I skidded to a stop as a flurry of dead leaves and rain blew in. Standing outside the door with a swarm of police cars behind them were my parents. Mom! Dad! I screamed and ran into their arms. That night, after the storm passed, my parents tucked me into bed. Turns out one of my neighbors who was on their way home from work saw my bike outside the gates of Castle Shade and called my parents. A man named Hector Shade, the owner of the castle, was arrested that night. It was him who left the note on our front door. He left notes on a lot of doors around town, but I was the only one who irresponsibly accepted the invitation. Hector told the police that he inherited the castle from his grandfather and planned to open a one-of-a-kind haunted attraction for Halloween. But instead of filling the castle with fake body parts, animatronic monsters and creepy sound effects, he chose to use a chemical agent that his grandfather had perfected years earlier under the orders of a secret government assignment. The chemical agent was called Madness and would be filtered in through the vents, causing the willing participants at the attraction to see and hear terrifying things that weren't actually there. In hindsight, it was kind of an ingenious idea. It was a way to experience a haunted attraction like never before. To actually believe the things you were seeing and hearing were real would drastically raise the bar for Halloween thrill-seekers. But without my knowing consent, Hector Shade was arrested for alluring me to his castle of horrors in the woods. My parents turned off my bedroom light and closed the door when I left. I took a deep breath and tried to erase the horrible things I'd experienced from my brain. As I lay in bed with my eyes closed, breathing fresh air instead of madness, I couldn't help but notice the silence. A silence that was just begging to be broken. I imagined hearing something scampering around in the dark, giggling and asking me if my specters wanted to tangle with his. I imagined that scratch was back. It followed me back home. That little creep. Scary Story For more fun, visit our website at Microterrors.com where we will also have spooky games you can print out and play like wicked word searches, mysterious mazes and more. Microterrors.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you'll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon from Microterrors. Scary Stories For Kids. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com.