Horrific Tales From the Minds of McEwen's Macabres
Students from Mr. Riggs' art class provided artwork for McEwen's students' works. Contributions came from (Bottom Middle) eighth grader, Sabina Munoz, and (Right) eighth grade Celeste Moreno. Photo on right by Fabian Escamilla.
Three Horrific Tales Selected from a Gambit of Students' Works Dwell Here, Read If You Dare
A Trash Bag, A Girl, And A Hole In The Ground
by Zach House
One day, Claire could feel the tension in the air, almost
strong enough to make her gasp
for air. Although she knew something was different, she was
unsure whether it was large
enough to notice or so small it was almost transparent. It was
the last day of school and she
couldn’t have been happier, she’d always dreaded the awful
place. She had never really fit in or
had the best grades, however she had managed to scrape by.
When she was on her way to
school she saw some of the “Popular kids” as they liked to call
themselves. She tends to avoid
them but today she saw something strange. They turned in the
abandoned alleyway making
sure nobody had seen them. While walking past, Claire heard
the wretched cries of a young girl.
As opposed to calling someone she decided she would come by
after school to check it out.
She went through the day like any other, the bullying, the
failed tests, everything was just
how it was any other day. Although towards the end of the day
she noticed one of the popular
girls were missing. She was still paranoid about what she heard
on the way to school. Claire
thought about telling someone, and then decided it would be too
risky. She couldn’t risk it. She
decided she would mind her own business until the bell rang.
Although she had to practically
drag herself through every second of the day, she was finally
done with school. Two months of a
bully free, worry free life. Or so she thought.
The bell just rang and she was terrified of what she might
find in the alleyway. Once she
arrived she had to make sure that there was nobody watching
her and that the coast was clear.
It was. In contrast, she got about halfway down the alley and
saw wet spots on the dirt leading
into the trees and shrubbery. The second she stepped towards
the bushes Claire could smell
something horrid, something almost traumatizing. She moved
some of the fallen branches and
dead shrubs to find a trash bag, lots of them. Next to some of
the bags were holes, so deep they
could almost be for… bodies. Claire heard the maniacal yet girly
laughs of a group of teens
behind her, she had to hide. She decided to hide in a nearby
bush, but Claire had fallen and
landed with a hard thud. She was knocked unconscious for a
few minutes. When Claire had
finally came to she realized she was in a hole. Paralyzed with
fear she had not heard any of the
girls nearby so she waited until she calmed down and crawled
out of the hole. Once Claire
finally managed to climb out she didn't see any other holes, trash bags, or any signs that
anyone had been there.
Right then she woke up, she was only dreaming. Claire
was gasping for air and weeping
in fear at the same time. She got up, got dressed, and walked
out the door to head to school.
However about halfway there she was knocked unconscious.
Once Claire had woken up she
was in a hole just about snug enough for someone her exact
size, almost snug enough to be the
same hole she had fallen into during her dream. She came to
only to realize she could hear the
laughs of girls. These were the same people she had heard in
her dream. She stood up only to
be struck over the back with what felt like a metal pole. She was
then stabbed in the side
multiple times. She let out the most agonizing scream even she
had ever heard. She was
stuffed into a trash bag and her body was bent in a way that
shouldn’t have been humanly
possible. Then she was buried alive and left to die. It didn’t
matter whether she bled out or the
air was slowly drained from her almost lifeless body, she was
going to die either way. Which she
did, 7 years ago. And still hasn’t been found, and for this reason,
the town is now a ghost town.
Nightmares at McDonalds
by Daniel Rios
Jesse walked into McDonalds. She noticed something out of place but this didn’t stop her from ordering. When she went up to the counter and noticed it wasn’t the usual teenager who took her order. Instead it was that friendly clown, Ronald McDonald. This clown had a big smile spread across his face. The smile was a creepy smile, not the usual nice smile. The clown asked Jesse “What would you like to order,” in an evil, sinister voice. Jesse was freaked out but still hungry. She replied, “I’ll take an Egg McMuffin.” She paid and noticed there was another customer near her. This customer had an identical face to the cashier. Jesse moved away and grabbed her receipt. As she glanced at it, she saw “behind you” written on it. She turned around and was bludgeoned on the head by something, unconscious.
Many hours passed and Jesse finally woke up. She was on the kitchen floor in a back area at McDonalds. Ronald came up to her and with his sinister voice he said, “You finally woke up.” Paralyzed with fear Jesse, didn’t move. Ronald began to talk again. “For years, people have enjoyed our food. But, they have no idea what they are eating.” Jesse started to make a run for it, but there were clowns everywhere, they trapped her.
The clowns grabbed Jesse and took her to a meat grinder. She tried to wiggle out but couldn’t. The clowns were going to start with her feet. She could hear the sound of the grinder. Suddenly Jesse felt pain. There was blood everywhere. The clowns proceeded until they got to her head. Ronald grabbed her head by the hair. He grabbed a giant knife and then ….
Jesse woke up, it had all been a bad dream. She was sweating and her heart was racing with fright. Even so, she was pretty hungry. She headed to McDonalds. This time everything was normal. She ordered a Sausage McMuffin. She sat down to eat it. She took a bite and there was a large chunk of something in the meat. She spit it out. Upon close examination, she realized it was part of a finger with a pink-painted-fingernail…. the same color her nails were.
Disney Disembowelment
by Manuel Hernandez and Lindsey Perez
Raven was visiting Disney World when she decided to buy a souvenir at the gift shop. As she walked in, the lights started to flicker. Outside the bright blue sky faded to midnight darkness. Raven spotted a stuffed-life-size Mickey Mouse and made the decision to go purchase it. While she was walking she looked at it again to admire it but when she did, Mickey-Mouse looked different, too different. Suddenly, with a quiet pop, the lights went out altogether. Raven stumbled around trying to get to the door when she heard Mickey-Mouse’s friendly voice laughing.
Raven stopped and looked around the store. She glanced to her right and saw the exit, Raven heard Mickey's voice now a painful shrill, as he beckoned closer. Raven felt him drawing nearer, outlined with a shadow of the darkness. Raven was paralyzed with fear, her eyes widened, her cheeks dampened with silent tears
Furthermore, Raven heard the hollow sound of a drum banging as she slowly drifted from consciousness. Raven ‘woke inside a circular chamber, chained to the floor. Raven tried to scream for help, however much to her dismay, the silence that met her was louder than ever. In the distance she heard a Jack-in-the-box being wound up, the song rising to a crescendo, then stopping as it foreboding what would happen next. Finally, Mickey devoured Raven. Her last breath was that of a piercing scream.