Beware the Box Monster

What is the scariest monster you've seen on Halloween? A zombie? A werewolf? A ghost?

When I was a pre-teen boy trick-or-treating, I saw a creature that chilled my blood.

From a distance, the figure looked like a box: a box with feet and long arms that dragged on the pavement. The box was the same height as I was, so there must have been a child wearing that odd disguise.

As I approached the box costume, I saw that it wore a ghoulish, terrible face. And then it spoke:

The voice was gravelly—like an elderly man—but distorted like a smoker's artificial speaking valve. Was there a grown man inside that child-sized costume? Was it even... human?

The box costume became the Box Monster. I ran away, convinced the Monster's snake-like arms would grab my ankles and pull my fright-filled self into its eternal embrace.

I made it home alive, but I stayed frightened of the Box Monster for many nightmarish nights. If I never went trick-or-treating again, my excuse was that I had outgrown it. But I knew the real reason:


So be careful this Halloween. There are scary monsters out there. And there is one monster who may put you in a box too.

Beware the Box Monster