Photo by: J. Hardy Carroll
Hank trudged through the old woods to the abandoned factory, trying to lead the other six high-schoolers by example. More and more they rebelled. “C’mon guys! There aren’t really any demons.”
“Oh sure,” moaned Natalie, checking on her tablet. “Horrible murders every four years. Another one is due!”
“We’ll stay just one night!” said Hank.
“Don’t you watch movies?” complained Mitch. “Scream? Pumpkinhead? Saw? Everybody dies!”
Eventually, Hank gave into the wisdom of horror movies. The group retired to Monroe’s Pizza Emporium.
In the woods, one demon complained to the other. “What gives? Nobody sticks around to be terrorized anymore!”
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Written for the Friday Fictioneers. Look here for the original prompt and the blue button that leads to this week’s stories: https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/8-april-2016/
EagleAye
Momus News 
Lucky boys that appetite won out!
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No kidding. It’s probably not the first time pizza has saved lives. 😉
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🙂
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Something tells me Hank’s curiosity is going to get the better of him one of these days. Hopefully the demons won’t do anything except scare him a little in the future 😉
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Yeah, he needs to be careful. Those demons won’t leave it at “boo.” Luckily for him, he’s more interested in a particular cheerleader than spooky haunts. 😉
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Hahaha ooooh horror story with a rom-com twist??
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Oh yeah, why not? I love anything that’s different. 😉
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I feel like Hank is actually working for the demons.
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Haha! He might be. Way to look at all the angles. 😉
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Hollywood is just ruining business for murderers, monsters and demons. Whatever happened to those folks that would hear a creepy noise from the basement and then go down to investigate? Or the girl that falls down while being chased and then inexplicably can’t get back up again and is forced to crawl? We need more of them, not these savvy millenials.
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Hahaha! I know! Girls just don’t trip on blades of grass like they used to. I blame it on women’s soccer. Ever since movies pointed out that only idiots check something that’s really spooky, murderers armed with chainsaws are seeing their livelihood dry up. These are sad times, I tell you. 😉
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They’ll live to scare another day. Really good, E.A. 🙂
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Oh yeah, they’ll find someone foolish enough. Thanks so much! 🙂
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I almost feel sorry for those demons. Almost
T
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Hehe. Yeah, my heart doesn’t exactly bleed for demons either. 😉 Thanks kindly! 🙂
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Yes I smiles at this , for the demons are having a hard time.
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I’d say they’ve got a little disappointment coming to them. Hell for them is a very quiet, empty place. 😉
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I think financing the entertainment industry backfired for the damned.
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I think it did. The more graphic the violence the better the sales, until people decided, “Yikers. I’m not taking a chance on feeling THAT!”
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Dear Eric,
I’m relieved they decided to err on the side of pizza. You took the tired teens meet demons horror movie theme and turned it on its ear. Love it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yeah, I do that a lot: turn things on their ear. And if there’s no ear, I turn things on their antennae. 😉 Thanks so much, Rochelle! 🙂
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Oh, pizza would win for me against spending a night in an old factory, or any other old abandoned building. Very few people are murdered by a pizza…well, unless you choke on a slice 😉
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Of course! Pizza is mana from heaven. You’re always safe with pizza. This maybe gives me a story idea. Someday soon, PizzaMan may save the city. 😉 Thanks Lyn! 🙂
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Glad that Hank listened to his peers. Sometimes peer-pressure IS good, no?
Enjoyed your story, and the charming bit at the end. (Those demons seem rather cute, actually!)
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Indeed! Peer pressure can be good. The demons were getting old, I guess. Not as rambunctious as in their youth. 😉 Glad you enjoyed this. Thanks kindly! 🙂
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My pleasure! 🙂
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Oh these poor demons. Maybe they should get on social media too. I bet they’d get a bunch of clicks on facebook. And make more smombies (is that an international term, or only known to Germans?)
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“Smombies?” That’s a new one on me. But I think you’re right about Facebook. Maybe if they used it they’d get a few likes and maybe more folks would visit? Who knows? 😉 Thanks so much! 🙂
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It must be one of the German word constructs then that no one else understands (like Handy for cell phone). Smombies means Smartphone Zombies, people who always have their eyes on their smartphones and bump into things.
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Haha! I love it. It makes sense. 🙂
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Yah – demons, get with the program! You’ve nailed it – what ‘horrified’ audiences a couple of generations back is oh-so-tame these days. The demons need to open a pizza-and-video store…
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You’re right. With a pizza place they’d have company at least. And if their slogan was “Our pizza is hot as hell” no one could accuse them of false advertising! 😉 I remember when folks needed psychiatric help after watching “exorcist” when it came out. Now it’s kind of average scary. *sigh* 😉 Thanks so much, Matthew! 🙂
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They’ll never know how close they came. Nice story with some humor!
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Yep. Just survived by the width of a thin pizza crust. 😉 Glad you enjoyed the humor. Thanks Emily! 🙂
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Haha. Damn those horror movies ruining the demons fun. Teenagers are finally learning. Nice take!
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Right? The movies are giving away all the tricks of the trade! 😉 Thanks Mandibelle! 🙂
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Some wisdom of horror movies. At least they are saved. Superb ending.
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Luckily, the geeks in the group saw a bunch of horror movies. They knew enough to run away. 😉 Thanks Indira! 🙂
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Hilarious, Eric. Now this is the reality. The kids and demons were right. In a movie, kids who don’t have a clue pick the worst, most forsaken places to go and get eaten, dismembered, or killed in about a dozen gruesome ways. It’s refreshing to see kids who just say, “No!” to a horrible death or being scared silly. Well done. 😀 — Suzanne
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Exactly! Kids are getting smarter it seems. Maybe hiding from the serial killer in a shed full of bloody cleavers isn’t such a good idea. 😀 Movies saved these kids’ lives. Maybe horror flicks are like public service announcements. 😉 Thanks so much, Suzanne! 🙂
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