The Halloween Party From The Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series Book 5) Read online

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  The Black Lagoon

  #1: The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon

  #2: The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon

  #3: The Class Election from the Black Lagoon

  #4: The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon

  #5: The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon

  #6: The Field Day from the Black Lagoon

  #7: The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon

  #8: Valentine’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #9: The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon

  #10: The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon

  #11: The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon

  #12: April Fools’ Day from the Black Lagoon

  #13: Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon

  #14: The New Year’s Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon

  #15: The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon

  #16: The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon

  #17: The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon

  #18: The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon

  #19: St. Patrick’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #20: The School Play from the Black Lagoon

  #21: The 100th Day of School from the Black Lagoon

  #22: The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon

  #23: Earth Day from the Black Lagoon

  #24: The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon

  #25: Friday the 13th from the Black Lagoon

  To Tom and Suzanne

  —M.T.

  In memory of:

  Eddie Stanley, Jr.

  February 21, 1998

  My best buddy ever.

  —J.L.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into

  any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

  whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without

  the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding

  permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557

  Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-69079-9

  Text copyright © 2004 by Mike Thaler.

  Illustrations copyright © 2004 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/ or registered

  trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, October 2004

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Hallo-when? .................6

  Chapter 2: Disguise the Limit............8

  Chapter 3: Go for Broke!...............13

  Chapter 4: A Home Remedy............18

  Chapter 5: A Scream of a Dream ........24

  Chapter 6: Clothes Encounters .........29

  Chapter 7: The Pick of the Glitter........32

  Chapter 8: Winging It! ..................35

  Chapter 9: The Big Day! ...............41

  Chapter 10: Halloween Scene...........42

  Chapter 11: Party Animals .............45

  Chapter 12: Sharing What You’re Wearing ..52

  Chapter 1

  HALLO-WHEN?

  Mrs. Green says that we’re going to have a Halloween party at school. Next Fright-day, we all have to come to class in costumes. Then we’ll all vote and pick the best one. Mrs. Green says there’s a totally awesome first prize.

  I have no idea who or what I should come as. Maybe I should just stay home that day and come as the Invisible Man.

  6

  Chapter 2

  DISGUISE THE LIMIT

  On the school bus, all the kids are excited about their costumes. Eric says he has a beautiful rubber mask. The eyeball is hanging out and there’s an ax stuck in the brain. Needless to say, there’s lots of fake blood on it.

  8

  The girls are not impressed. Penny says there’s an ax stuck in Eric’s brain all the time, and that she may come as a princess. Eric says he’ll be happy to crown her.

  9

  Doris waves her arm and says that she’s coming as a ballet dancer. The boys are not at all impressed.

  Freddy is coming as a werewolf—claws and all. Eric says he should come as an under- wear-wolf. Randy is coming as Count Dracula. He says it’s a disguise you can really sink your teeth into.

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  And Derek is coming as a mummy.

  Eric says, “Why not come as a daddy? And what about you, Hubie?”

  “Me . . . oh, my costume’s still in the planning stage,” I reply. The truth is, I have no idea what I will come as. I’m having an identity crisis!

  12

  Chapter 3

  GO FOR BROKE!

  When I get home, I empty my piggy bank, but there’s not a lot in it. I’m able to shake out $2.38. This is not good.

  I don’t have high hopes as I get on my bike and pedal toward the costume shop. When I arrive, it’s monster mayhem!

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  Every aisle is fiend-filled. Blood and guts galore. It’s like going to the movies. Every major monster is there—Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, and the Thing. It’s all fur, fangs, blood, and bolts.

  14

  Everything looks really cool. The only problem is the price tags are monstrous, too. There’s nothing less than thirty dollars. Even the masks are all more than ten dollars. I recount my money. It’s not $2.38. It’s $2.37.

  The saleswoman isn’t very

  15

  helpful. She just says to go look on the sale rack by the door. Well, there’s a scar for $2.99, an eyeball for $3.99, a set of fangs for $4.99, and a tube that squirts fake blood for $5.99.

  I open my hand and look at my $2.37. I can afford one Martian antenna or one witch’s wart, but that’s not going to make a great costume. I’m going to have to look elsewhere.

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  Chapter 4

  A HOME REMEDY

  As I slouch on the couch, Mom comes over and sits down next to me. “What’s the matter?” she asks.

  I tell her about the Halloween party, the contest, and my costume problem. She smiles, takes my hand, and leads me up to the attic. There she opens an old trunk and pulls out a cardboard crown.

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  “When I was a little girl, we didn’t have much money either,” she smiles while putting on the crown. “So I just made my own costumes, like this princess costume.” She straightens two of the crown’s droopy points.

  “That’s a great idea, Mom,” I say as she looks in the mirror.

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  She skipped back to the trunk and pulled out a big pink eras- er cap. “Another year, I was a number two pencil,” she winks while putting on the cap. “It was a pretty sharp costume.”

  “I get the point, Mom, but I don’t know what to be,” I sigh.

  “Just use your imagination, Hubie.” She smiles, pats me on the shoulder, and goes back downstairs as an eraser head.

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  Chapter 5

  A SCREAM OF A DREAM

  That night, I have one crazy dream. I’m at school, but my whole
class is full of monsters . . . real monsters! They all have a hard time fitting into their desks, especially the Blob.

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  Finally, they get settled down, and Mrs. Green calls the roll.

  Frankenstein raises his hand and it falls off.

  “I’m here, here, and here,” says the Blob.

  And Dracula pulls the witch’s hair, so she turns him into a bloodhound.

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  I just sit there as quiet as can be.

  “We’re going to have a party for Halloween,” says Mrs. Green.

  All of the monsters start fidgeting in their desks. They’re all worried about their costumes. Frankenstein says he may come as Elvis.

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  Dracula thinks he may be a nurse from the blood bank. And the Wolfman may dress up as a schnauzer.

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  I tell the witch that she could be a pencil, and the Blob that he could be a Brussels sprout. They all look at me. “And what are you going to be, Hubie?” they all ask.

  Luckily, I wake up before I have to answer them. I just stare up at the ceiling. I don’t even see the distant glimmer of an idea. I think my imagination still must be sleeping.

  28

  Chapter 6

  CLOTHES ENCOUNTERS

  The next day, I go to the library in search of inspiration. Mrs. Beamster gives me a book on costumes.

  Boy, people sure used to dress funny. They didn’t always wear baseball caps and sneak- ers. They wore tunics, tights, sandals, and bedsheets!

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  I wonder if in a hundred years our clothes will look as funny to future folks.

  Mrs. Beamster says that in other parts of the world, even today, people dress differently than we do.

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  I could wear my bathrobe and be a sheik, or I could be Santa Claus, or even a submarine. Whoa, now my imagination has finally woken up—I’m on my way!

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  Chapter 7

  THE PICK OF

  THE GLITTER

  Well, now the problem is I have too many ideas! I could make a big bun out of pillows and be a hot dog. Maybe I could put a pillow on my head and be a marshmallow.

  I could draw a dial on my belly and be a cell phone. I could even cut a window in a box, draw a keyboard, and be a computer. Or I could get between two pieces of cardboard and be a book. There’s so much to be!

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  On my way home from school, all the possibilities are parad- ing in my mind. Then we pass a billboard with an angel on it. Hmmm, an angel? That’s it! I’ll be an angel. I’m on cloud nine.

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  Chapter 8

  WINGING IT!

  At home, I get to work. I take a wire coat hanger and bend it into a halo. It’s easy—a little circle on top and a bigger circle on the bottom that fits on my head. It looks a little like a TV antenna, so I spray it with gold paint.

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  Wings—how am I going to make those? Two pillows don’t work. Two paper plates look lame. Mom says to get some cardboard and she’ll help me cut out wings. Mom is a good artist. She draws me a pair of wings. Then I cut them out, but they still look like they are made of cardboard.

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  “Bummer,” I sigh.

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mom yells out, “Feathers! We need lots of feathers.”

  We both look at Peeper, our parakeet. No-ooo way! Peeper needs all the feathers he’s got.

  “Hmmm. Let’s try the park,” says Mom.

  We drive over, but the pigeons want to keep all theirs, too.

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  So we rush over to the market. But we’re out of pluck. All the chickens are already naked.

  “Pillows!” shouts Mom. “What was I thinking?! Pillows are full of feathers. And we have lots of those at home.”

  39

  We speed home and find an old down pillow. Mom opens it up and shakes it out. Now we are in fine feather weather.

  Feathers float and fall all over the room like snowflakes.

  Mom and I catch them in mid- air and glue them to the wings. Now they look like they belong to an angel. I’m almost ready to fly!

  40

  Chapter 9

  THE BIG DAY!

  It’s Friday morning, and it’s the big day—Halloween party time! I am so excited I can’t stop moving.

  I start to get ready. I put on a white T-shirt and my white bath- ing suit. Mom puts my wings on my back with duct tape. Easy as pie!

  I put on my halo and look in the mirror. There was even some cardboard left over and I made a little cloud. I look cool—simply heavenly.

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  Chapter 10

  HALLOWEEN SCENE

  When the school bus pulls up, it looks like it just came from the cemetery. Eric’s eyeball is swinging back and forth. And instead of a hat . . . he’s wearing a hat-chet! Gross!

  Freddy’s got on rubber claws, and he’s trying to pick his nose. Even more gross!

  Penny decided to be a witch. I recognize her $1.99 wart. She’s casting spells on Derek to turn him into a frog. But he’s wrapped in toilet paper and already beginning to unwind.

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  Randy is Count Dracula. He’s got the $4.99 fangs and a cape. Doris is dressed in her tutu and ballet shoes. She looks a lot like a dancer.

  I have to stand up all the way to school because I don’t want to bend my wings.

  44

  Chapter 11

  PARTY ANIMALS

  Mrs. Green has done an awesome job decorating our classroom. It looks like a real swamp.

  There are big black spiders with crepe paper legs—wiggling on the walls. Jack-o’-lanterns with candles are glowing in the corner. And striped snakes made from toilet paper tubes are roll- ing around on the floor.

  45

  There are lots of funny signs like: look out for alligators!; welcome ghastly ghosts and gruesome ghouls from grisly graves!; and creepy crawling crossing!

  46

  Mrs. Green is in a cool costume, too. She’s dressed like a baseball player. She has a uniform, a cap, and a bat.

  We all sit at our desks and she takes attendance. “Wolfman?”

  “Here,” says Freddy, raising his paw.

  “Mr. Eyeball Hatchet Head?”

  “Here,” says Eric, swinging his orb.

  47

  Mrs. Green continues to do the roll call.

  “Count Dracula?”

  “Heeeere,” shouts Randy, as he chomps his fangs.

  “Miss Witch?”

  “I’m here,” squeals Penny, wiggling her fingers.

  48

  “Mummy?”

  “Here,” moans Derek, still unwinding down the aisle.

  “Prima Ballerina?”

  “Here,” sings Doris, raising her arm to look like a swan.

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  “And our Angel?”

  “Here,” I say, trying to flap my wings.

  Big mistake. A flutter of feathers fills the room.

  “Well, we’re all here,” says Mrs. Green as she closes her attendance book. “And how wonderful you all look.”

  Eric swivels his eyeball around to survey the room. “Now, let’s have our contest. Come up front, one at a time, and tell us a little about your costume. Penny, you’ll be first,” says Mrs. Green, pointing her bat.

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  Chapter 12

  SHARING WHAt YOU’RE

  WEARING

  Penny sails up on a broom to the front of the class. “I’m a witch, and you’re all going to be frogs,” she says, wiggling her fingers.

  “Which witch are you?” shouts Derek.

  “I’m the sand-witch in the kitchen,” proclaims Penny as she floats back to her seat.

  Derek’s next. He unwinds all the way up to the front. “I’m a mummy, and I’m two thousand years
old.”

  “You don’t look a day over one thousand,” yells Eric.

  “Watch what you’re saying, Eric,” says Mrs. Green.

  Eric puts his dangling eyeball into his mouth.

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  “I live in a state of deNile,” smiles Derek.

  “Time to wrap it up,” says Mrs. Green.

  “Okay. Knock, knock,” says Derek.

  “Who’s there?” asks everyone.

  “Mummified,” smiles Derek.