I remember the doors opening, jack-o-lanterns and animatronics waving me into a world of spooky wonder. It was only October 4th, and I was already so excited for trick-or-treating I could barely breathe. I looked at the sign above, the generic “Halloween Store” logo half-hazardly plastered over the once bright and wonderful sign to Hidey’s Palace, a back-in-the-day hybrid clone of both Chucky-Cheese’s and Toys-R-Us, one that apparently didn’t exist anymore. I could recall the commercial for the grand opening, a comically tall mascot in a suit with an eyeball for a head cutting a big ribbon with a large set of golden scissors.
I remembered the cartoons airing on TV, but was too young to know it had gone bankrupt and closed, leaving a shell in a corner of the otherwise busy mall. The thought of it being painted so easily made me feel strange, but the dancing ghosts and zombies inside were quickly changing my tune.
“Come on buddy, let’s go see some scary stuff!” My dad patted me on the back, and together we went in.
As soon as I was through the doors, a blur of movement flashed before me, and a clown screamed with outstretched arms. I nearly jumped out of my skin, and my dad laughed. I recoiled at his menacing face, one that quickly melted away, and said “If you need help finding anything, let me know!” before chuckling and dancing away. I felt tears welling, but my dad said it was just a joke and assured me he was just trying to spread some Halloween spirit.
In seconds I had forgotten about the old Hidey cartoon, my world consumed by bags of candy corn and hanging costumes. The Halloween store was a magical place, with loads of decorations and disgusting props, even a lady dressed as a witch behind the counter. My dad corralled me around the skeletons and prop heads, letting me get close but not letting me touch anything.
“These things are expensive. If we break it, we have to buy it.” It was something he always said, a voice that echoed in my head every time I reached for the light-up pumpkins or giant spiders. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t touch them, just being in the big spooky world made my heart race so fast I thought I would pee myself. Hundreds of costume choices, anywhere from a zombie pirate to a giant hot-dog. The bigger kids were crowded around the wall of masks, so my dad decided to avoid it, and distracted me with costumes from popular scary movies. I kept expecting the clown to pop out again, but I never saw him.
We made several laps around the store, and each time I saw something I had missed previously. With each round my dad got more and more tired, and I could hear the patience thinning in his voice. I still hadn’t found a costume. I could tell we were about to go, and I was doing everything I could to keep us in the scary wonderland. Just as he was steering me towards the register, I thought of something that made my world crashing down.
We had never looked at the masks.
I looked back at the wall of faces, and saw the bigger kids had cleared out. I thought of the clown lingering, and decided to chance it for an opportunity to see them. My dad was talking sweetly to the witch cashier, and she was leaning towards him, twirling a long lock on her finger. I tugged on his hand to get his attention, one he pacified by squeezing my hand in warning.
“Well, I never thought I could really pull off a lumberjack, but—”
“Dad, can I please go look at the masks? Please?” I blurted, making both of them look at me. I could see my dad’s flash of anger, one that seemed to fizzle away when the witch put her hand on his. He sighed, and reluctantly agreed.
“Only for a minute, and don’t touch anything—”
But I was already gone, ready to have the whole wall of masks to myself.
I dashed through rows of costumes, blinking lights, and weaved through other customers as I made my way to the wall. I could see them clearer now, all of my Halloween spirit writhing in a torrent of anxious excitement. I burst out of an aisle and into the open wall, feeling dwarfed under the size of the collection. I looked for the clown, and saw no sight of him. Without my dad trailing behind me, I suddenly felt very alone, the wall of masks staring down at me.
I looked over each face, some I recognized, others I didn’t. A man with nails protruding from his face. The wild-eyed face of a man wearing someone else’s face. A black unicorn, with burning stars for eyes. I looked at each one, marveling at both the detail in the masks, and the feeling of dread it inspired in me. Despite my growing fear I kept looking, each one more unsettling than the last.
An unsettling white face with brown hair, a man with horribly burned skin—
Something between the hangers caught my eye, and I found myself stopping. There was something hiding in the shadow, the faintest glint catching the lights from overhead. Like a mask had fallen down behind the others. It was roundish, and looked like it had a dot in the middle. I tried to see it better, but it was just too dark. I had to get closer.
I looked for my dad, and realized I was too far away from the register to see him. The store suddenly felt very empty, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I decided I would just take a peek and run back to him.
I turned around and parted the other masks with my hands, trying to get a better look. It was round like a beach ball, a singular dot right in the center. I moved my face closer, the familiar shape slowly making sense in my head. After a moment I realized it wasn’t a dot, but a pupil. It reminded me of Hidey’s Playhouse, but the realistic features made it look more unsettling than friendly. And there wasn’t another like it in the whole store.
It was perfect, and I wanted it to be my costume.
I reached for the mask, but it was too far away. I tried to worm my way between the hangers, keeping the mask in my view as I inched between them. When I reached again, one of the hangers caught my shirt, preventing me from going further. When I tried to shake it off, I felt something grab my hand. I looked to see long black fingers wrapped around my hand, an icy grip that came from the shadows of the rack. I felt a sickening pit in my stomach and tried to pull away, but it wouldn’t let go.
The pupil on the Hidey mask dilated, and blinked. Before I could scream, the hand yanked me into the wall, and I blacked out.
When I awoke, I felt the cold press of the floor on my face. I jumped to my feet and looked around, feeling a kindling panic when I didn’t recognize where I was. I was in an aisle, black and white checkered tile reaching for as long as I could see. There were shelves on either side of me, neatly organized toys stacked high until they almost touched the fluorescents above.
“Dad?” I called out, my voice meeting nothing but dead silence.
The aisle seemed to stretch forever, hundreds of toys lining the path both ways. I found myself shivering, wanting desperately to go home.
Next to me was a cardboard cutout, bold letters announcing the grand opening: Hidey’s Palace! Join Hidey and his side-kick Shep the Sheepdog on the greatest game of hide-and-go-seek, everrrrrrrr!
The cutout depicted an unusually tall and lanky man dressed in a suit, with a large eyeball serving as his head. Beside him was an adorable looking Sheepdog with sparkling eyes, that stood on its hind legs like a person. It looked just like the cartoon I had seen on TV. At the bottom of the sign read it’s catchy slogan:
NO ONE CAN HIDE FROM HIDEY
A scream echoed down the aisle, and I looked to see the clown from the store. He was running towards me, flailing his hands. I’m not sure what frightened me more; the sight of him, or the fact that he looked terrified.
“Kid! Oh my god, kid! We gotta’ get out of here!” He shouted, grabbing me by the shoulders. He was breathing hard, tears streaking through his clown makeup. I started to cry.
“Kid! Tell me— how did you get here? We need to find a way out! He’s coming!” He shouted, frantically looking back down the direction he came. There was nothing but darkness, a billowing, shifting void that seemed to churn at the end of the aisle.
“Who’s coming?” I blubbered, lips trembling.
“I-I-I don’t know who he is, he’s just not fuckin’ right. We gotta go, kid. We gotta—”
Suddenly a large hand gripped the clown’s shoulder and yanked him away, pulling so hard his oversized shoes kicked off his feet. The arm that grabbed him stretched from the darkness and held him up in the air, wrapping around his throat until he choked for breath.
“No-please-”
I watched in horror as the arm slammed him down, an impact so hard it rattled the boxes on the shelves. The clown coughed and clutched at his stomach, and the long arm slithered away and into the darkness.
“Run kid! Run!” He coughed, but he wasn’t looking at me.
From the darkness poked a large pair of golden shears, reflecting in the fluorescent light. The blades opened like a guillotine, worked by two long hands that gripped the loop fiercely. Out stepped an incredibly thin body, standing tall with a massive bloodshot spherical eyeball. I froze with fear as the scarily shaped Hidey crouched to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. He cast a shadow over the clown as he approached, who was holding his hand out in surrender.
“YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE FROM MEEEEEE?” It spoke with no mouth, the massive eye narrowing in front of him.
“No—”
The blades closed, shearing the clown’s arm and head from his body. The separated pieces flailed and sprayed but Hidey was already opening the shears again to give it another go. He closed them again, and then again, flinging a spatter of minced guts and bloody spray as he kept snapping the giant scissors. As red speckles peppered his giant eye, Hidey looked at me, and stopped, snapping the shears at the air.
I turned and ran, heading into the opposite direction as a piercing shriek emitted from the eyeball. The limbs skittered like a spider, closing the distance in seconds as I screamed.
I woke in my father’s arms, crying hysterically. We were sitting on the floor, and he was rocking me back and forth as a crowd gathered around us. I was back in the Halloween store. The checkered tile beneath me was once again old, scuffed carpet. Hidey was nowhere to be found.
My dad asked me what happened, saying he found me on the floor crying by the masks. I told him everything, Hidey with his scissors and the clown in the long store-like hallway. The girl witch cashier suggested maybe I had gotten lost in the back, and found some of the old store cutouts. She said “Harv” the clown was supposed to be grabbing more items to restock, and she would go get him to apologize.
She returned moments later confused, saying he was nowhere to be found.
Underneath the wall of masks, a red stain was growing in the carpet.