Midnight Creature Feature, Chapter One: The Wolf Who Came to the Dance
A Halloween double-bill in five nights. A sleepy 1950s town hall dance, a plucky cheerleader, and some guests whose costumes are a little too good.
Nothing has happened in Pinecrest Hollow since the hailstorm of 1931. Tonight is the Town Hall Spook-tacular, and the moon looks far too big.
The Moonlighters are on stage. Mayor Fisk is in his plastic horns. Somebody has dressed as a scarecrow, which is a bold choice for a farming town.
Dottie Lane still wears her old squad sweater, white scarf in her ponytail, to the dance. Chet came as “a cowboy”, which is to say, in a hat. “Swell sandwiches,” says Chet.
The doors bang open. Fog rolls across the floor, and a very large guest in a bow tie ducks politely under the frame.
“Marvellous! Simply marvellous! Is that yak hair?” The guest grins. Dottie notices the ears. Costume ears do not twitch.
The moon slides into the skylight. Vernon throws back his head and howls; his jacket gives up at the shoulders. Everyone claps. Dottie claps too, mostly so she can think.
She grabs his paw and hauls him onto the floor. “Can you twist?” He can’t, but he does it anyway. The band plays a surf stomp, and by the last chorus the Mayor has pinned Best Costume to his fur.
Nobody notices the footprints. Wet, webbed and trailing pond weed, they lead straight to the cloakroom.
Soundtrack (instrumental): Full Moon Stomp
Tomorrow night: Chapter Two, Fangs for the Memories. Follow the whole series in Midnight Creature Feature.
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