Peter and the Psycho Trick-or-Treaters — Darren Pillsbury

The sixth book in the young adult horror series PETER AND THE MONSTERS!

Peter was looking forward to a great Halloween. Lots of candy…lots of fun…

He didn't count on being attacked by a freaky band of tiny trick-or-treaters, led by a mysterious kid in a devil's mask.

Or that they would follow him home.

Or that they have a sinister connection to his family, and a murderous message for Peter's grandfather…


Praise for stories in the PETER AND THE MONSTERS series:

“I love that this series isn't just about your typical vampires and werewolves. We've got all kinds of monsters here! It's such a fresh take on the supernatural, told from a totally different perspective.” �" KGLawing

“I loved reading this book. It's got everything you could want, lovely, lovely characters, humor, great writing, some dead things that go bump in the night… It's been a long, long while since I've had this much fun reading a novel; I felt like a kid, and I loved every minute of it.” �" L.E. Olteano �" Butterfly-o-meter Books


Excerpt from Peter And The Psycho Trick-Or-Treaters:

The only thing cool about the kid's outfit was the mask: glossy red plastic, with curling ram horns that sprouted from either side of his head. The teeth were long, white, interlocking fangs that stretched out in an impossibly wide grin, like a cross between a wolf and the Joker.

There was no nose. The forehead bulged over two slanted, pitch black sockets; no trace of the kid's eyes could be seen in those deep holes.

“Cool mask,” Peter acknowledged.

“I know, right?” the kid said, his voice muffled behind the teeth.

“Crappy pitchfork,” Dill said, obviously trying to take Devil Boy down a peg. Dill didn't like anybody to be super-confident unless it was himself �" which was difficult when you were wearing a flowery bed sheet.

“Oh yeah? What are you dressed as, dirty laundry?”

"W �" wh �" ” Dill stammered as he searched for a good comeback. Not finding one, he snapped impatiently, “What do you want? We gotta hit another house.”

“Oh, you don't wanna go down there,” the kid said. “You definitely don't wanna go down there.”

“Why not?” Peter asked.

“They took my candy.”

“What?! Who did?!”

“The people in that house down there,” the kid said as he pointed with his pitchfork. “But don't worry. We're gonna mess ‘em up. We're gonna mess ‘em up reeeeal good.”

The sinister tone in his voice sent a shiver up Peter's spine. He had no idea exactly what the kid meant, but there was no doubt in Peter's mind that the kid really was going to do it.

Dill, however, was evidently not affected the same way. “Yeah, right �" you and what army?” he scoffed.

Devil Boy pointed his pitchfork right between Peter and Dill. “That army.”

Peter looked around, and his blood froze.

He hadn't heard them walk up, but there they were: five other kids, standing in a semicircle in the street, ten feet away from �" and completely surrounding �" Peter and Dill.

That they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and silently, was creepy enough. If Peter had heard them sneaking up, it wouldn't have been nearly so frightening. After all, the kids were hardly imposing; none of them were any taller than Devil Boy, and a couple were several inches shorter.

But their masks…their masks were unsettling. There was one with a canvas sack over his head, with ragged holes for eyes and a jagged frown stitched beneath. Another kid had what looked like a frosted fishbowl on his shoulders, nestled atop flowing green robes. There was a girl with a creepy, white, baby doll mask made out of porcelain. Another kid had what looked like a mop in place of his head, and the last one seemed to be wearing several layers of black pantyhose over his face.