Tammy shivered in the coolness of the night. The line seemed to stretch for eternity.
"How many miles is it?" she complained.
Frank looked at her, "Well, if you didn't have that ridiculous tube top on, you wouldn't cold. Amy's tits are as big as yours but she covers herself up."
Joe's eyes ran up and down her outfit.
"He's right, "Joe sad, "You gotta be a slut on Halloween, huh? It's tradition!"
"I dress how I want!" Tammy said, "Anyway, Amy's prude."
"Am not!" Amy said. She had on long sleeves, a jacket, long pants, and looked warm and comfortable, if a bit poofy. The rest of the females in line were dressed similar to Tammy. Tammy wasn't the only one with a miniskirt, some nylons, boots, and a tube top showing plenty of the tops her big breasts. Yet, she was not showing as much skin as some other girls. All of them were shivering. The two girls in front of the small group nodded at Tammy in sympathy, freezing themselves.
"Anyway, why this haunted house? There are other ones," Tammy asked.
"This one is supposed to be super-intense. It's brand-new this year," Frank replied, "It's also 18 and older, supposed to have serious nudity, violence, and some mad-scary shit. It will.... Freak.... You.... Out.... Man!!!!"
Joe laughed and they high-fived. Amy rolled her eyes.
"So, tits are supposed to scare me?" Tammy asked, "Maybe if they're your mom's."
Amy laughed. Joe pointed at Frank and slapped his arm.
"Don't take that shit, son!" he cried.
"Whatev, at least my mom didn't drop me on my head a hundred times as a kid."
"Weak," Tammy replied.
The line continued to shuffle. Warning sighs appeared on the brick wall of the old factory. An ambulance crew was stationed under a pop-up tent in the main parking lot. Word trickled back down the line that there were two crews, but one took a heart patient to St. John's 20 minutes ago.
"Amazing things come down the grapevine," Joe noted, unimpressed.
Twenty people stood between them and the door and a guy masked as Jason handed them waivers.
"Never signed a waiver before," Frank said.
"Huh, I guess they're serious," Joe replied, "Hey, fella, what's this all about?"
Jason stood silently and pointed at the signature section. They all signed. Amy was the only one to glance at the paperwork.
"Extreme costumes, excessive violence, sexual humiliation, animal sacrifice, groups entering together may not exit together.... What did we get into?"
Frank laughed, "C'mon, it's a haunted house, whatever."
They shuffled forward. Everyone quieted down the last few minutes. The door loomed dark and near. The jocular attitude around them went somber as well. People were quiet, now able to hear a scream or two coming from inside the building. They did not sound like happy, fun screams to Tammy. Amy looked at her, concern in her eyes. Tammy shrugged. It was fun, they'd be okay.
Tammy felt her heart climb up in her throat as they paid their money and walked over the threshold. They were in a large room, weak red light filtering out from bulbs in the ceiling.
"Hello," a short , old woman whispered, "Please do be careful ahead. You may not make it out whole."
Frank laughed, "We'll be okay, auntie," he said, full of confidence.
They shuffled through the door. Suddenly, no one wanted to be first. Haze and cobwebs obstructed their view down the narrow hall. Tammy readied herself for anything, hanging on to Amy. Frank and Joe were wedged together, protected in their tight group.
A light turned on to their left. It was a butcher's room, stainless steel counters and table. Red blood dripped everywhere. The smell of iron drifted in from behind the separating metal bars. The butcher, a big man with a mask grabbed what looked like a squirming mouse, held it down, and chopped its head off with a cleaver. They saw a mist of blood spray from the mouse's neck. The light went out.
"HOLY SHIT!" Amy cred out.
"Woah!" said Frank, "Great special effects."
Tammy felt sick to her stomach. She thought the mouse looked awfully real.
"I want to go," Amy said, "That was fucked up."
"It was the first thing, relax," Joe said, "Let's see what else they got."
A gloomy room light up to their right. They looked in. Wax figures that looked very human were in various modes of torture. They were dressed in U.S. military fatigues and the scene evoked Vietnam. One man had bamboo driven under his fingernails, another had a cage of rats on the top of his head. The rats were real, the man was not. Another was frozen in agony, in the middle of being beaten by bamboo canes. Others were eviscerated, entrails hanging. One man, an actor, was crawling on the ground, moaning, shiny blood running down the stump of his elbow. The rest of his arm was on the chair next to him. The light clicked off.
"Damn! They must have had to find an amputee to play that part. Awesome!" Joe said.
Amy screamed. Frank and Joe cried out. Tammy suddenly felt small things rain down on her. She brushed at her hair and felt the plastic spiders and sticky worms that were dumped on them. Suddenly, there was breathing in her ear.
"We will get you!" the voice menaced. A hand grabbed at her ankle and let go as soon as she kicked.
"SOMEONE'S WITH US!" She cried out. She looked behind her, no one was there. Whoever it was, he was fast.
The group ground to a halt, picked at themselves, pulled out toys on their hair and clothes. Frank started moving again. Everyone stayed closer this time.
A light went on to the left. A huge skull of a cow loomed at them. It was the size of a big couch. A loud, growl sounded and the skull came out of its recess and moved for them. Everyone ducked, and it swung over their heads, its long neck serpentining from the wall. It pulled back and the light went off.
"What if you didn't duck?" Joe asked.
The next stop was even more unsettling. The light went on, a woman was chained naked, facing away, with what looked like a gag in her mouth. Her ass and back were marked with red streaks, dripping blood. A man with a whip and a hood pointed at Tammy, then lashed the woman with the whip. Her body bucked and she let out a muffled cry. A fresh red line appeared on her back. The light went off.
"Nudity! Awesome!" said Frank.
"They must dip that whip in a bucket to get the marks," Joe commented.
Both girls were revolted, insulted, and unhappy.
"Can we leave? It says we can leave at any time by shouting 'Uncle,' and I think I want to do that," said Amy. Tammy agreed.
"A little further!"
The light came on in the hallway. A girl was running at them, panic on her face.
"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" She screamed, "THEY'LL GET YOU! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!"
A man followed behind her, grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She was screaming, crying, pounding on his back as he stepped through a well-hidden doorway. With a slam, they were gone.
"Jesus," Joe said, "That was some good acting."
"This is getting weird, I don't like it," Amy said, "Let's just bail out and go drink or something."
"You're scared, right?" said Frank, "That's the point. We're all kinda scared. It's better than some crap kids' place, right?"
They climbed a set of stairs and found themselves in a well-lit room. Comfy chairs were arranged in a circle and elevator music played softly. A tray of cookies was set out on a table in the middle of the room. A sign on the door at the far end of the wall said, "Lead group is close, please wait."
They barely sat down before the door opened a crack. A hand flipped the sign. The door creaked shut.
"Caution: Depicted ahead are excessive perversities. Anyone of weak constitution or with heart problems can leave immediately," Frank read aloud, "Let's go check out some perversities." Tammy frowned. She wanted to stay in the room. She felt safe.
They pushed through the doorway. Another light popped on.
Everyone gasped at the same time.
"Isn't that the girl who was just running away downstairs?" Joe asked.
Inside a large clear plastic tube was the girl. She was banging at the plastic in slow-motion, sheer agony on her face. Her hits were weak, the water completely filling the tube slowing down her punches. She screamed at them, air bubbles escaping her mouth. She started to thrash as the lights went out.
Everyone stood for a second.
"Should we go see if she needs help?" Frank asked, his voice cracking with concern.
Before anyone could respond, the light went on behind them. A man was tied to a hook in the ceiling. Tammy looked closer. She screamed. The hook was threaded through the man's wrists. He hung limp, but she could tell it was an actual person, his chest rising and falling with breath. Two metal tubes were underneath him, pointing up. The four waited in horror, wondering what they would see.
The jets lit from a pilot light and the man's body began writhing in the two cones of fire. The jets cut off as the lights did.
"Okay, I'm done," Amy said, "UNCLE! UNNNNCLLLLLLE!"
They waited only a few seconds. A hooded figure appeared and beckoned. Amy walked toward him.
"It smells like pork all of a sudden," Frank commented.