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Dr. Venom’s House of Horrors

A story from The Last Word

Paul Combs
Fictions

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Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

The line of cars stretches to infinity and beyond, or so it seems to Sal. Of all the stupid ideas…

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into going to a ‘haunted house’ on Halloween night,” he says.

“It will be fun,” Julia assures him.

“I could be back at the bookstore handing out candy to little kids, or stealing candy from little kids, or scaring the hell out of little kids.” He cranes his neck in an attempt to see an end to the traffic, to no avail. “I’m turning around. It will be Thanksgiving before we get there.”

“I have endured two months of Jets games for you, Terranova,” she says sharply. “You will do this haunted house thing with me.”

He can’t argue with that, and endured is the right word; the Jets have been awful. He’s not even sure she likes football. He starts to reply but quickly reconsiders.

“You will enjoy the haunted house,” she continues firmly. “And if you give me any more trouble, I will most definitely not wear the slutty librarian costume when we get back to my place.”

“I didn’t realize that was a costume,” he says with a grin, and inches the car forward.

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