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“The Lantern Keeper”
Every Halloween night, our town of Hollow’s Edge glows with carved pumpkins. But there’s one lantern that no one lights — the one at the end of Wraith Hollow Road.
They say it belongs to the Lantern Keeper.
Fifty years ago, a man named Elias Crow used to carve lanterns for every doorstep. His pumpkins were perfect — smiling, grimacing, some even looked alive. But one Halloween, a group of kids stole his biggest lantern, laughing as they smashed it in the woods.
Elias went after them with his lantern still burning. Only the flame came back. His body was never found.
Now, every year on Halloween, people leave one pumpkin uncarved — a silent offering. But last year, my friend Mason dared me to break the rule.
“Let’s light them all,” he said. “It’s just a story.”
We did. Every porch lantern in town flickered awake.
All except the one at the end of Wraith Hollow Road.
Mason kicked it over.
And from the woods, a faint orange light blinked — like a lantern swinging slowly through fog.
We ran, but the light followed. Every shadow bent toward us, stretching longer than it should. I heard footsteps behind me — heavy, dragging, steady.
Mason tripped. When I turned back, the light stopped beside him. His scream cut through the wind — and then it was gone.
I told the police he ran off. They never found him.
Tonight is Halloween again.
Someone left a pumpkin on my doorstep — carved perfectly, grinning wide.
And when I stepped outside to bring it in…
there was a faint orange glow waiting at the end of my street.
Swinging.
Closer.
