The Lantern Man
Steve and Eddie went ghost-hunting in Hollow Creek Woods on Halloween night.
They’d heard of the Lantern Man — a spirit carrying a pumpkin that burned with blue fire.
Around midnight, they saw it: a tall figure in torn burial cloth, his lantern flickering cold and unnatural.
“Who disturbs my rest?” it hissed.
Eddie bolted. Steve stood frozen as the blue flame flared—
—and suddenly, he was underground. Dirt pressed around him. A coffin.
Then a knock.
“Steve? You good?” Eddie’s voice.
Light flooded in — it was just the haunted fair’s coffin exhibit.
Steve laughed shakily… until he noticed a man at the exit, holding a blue lantern.
When he blinked, the man was gone.
The next morning, one jack-o’-lantern still burned at the woods’ edge — glowing blue.
“SEE YOU, STEVE.”
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