R. L. Stine_Mostly Ghostly 03 Read Online Free PDF Page A

PLAYING it cool, saying everything in the house was a fake. But I saw his expression change, and I heard his rapid breathing. He was afraid too. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked with all his strength.
    We both gasped when the door flew open.
    Aaron burst out into the snow, and I followed close behind. Back in the house, I could hear the eerie howls that had chased us through the halls.
    “Yes! We’re out! We’re out!” I cried happily. My heart was racing. I dropped to my knees in the snow, took a deep breath, and held it, trying to calm down.
    Aaron packed a big snowball between his hands and heaved it at the house. It splattered against the shingles over the front stoop.
    “Did you enjoy my haunted house?”
    Startled by the voice, I turned and saw a young man smiling down at me. His hands were jammed into the pockets of a long gray overcoat, and he had a black fur hat perched over long blond hair.
    “Uh … hi,” I said, scrambling to my feet. Aaron had another snowball in his hands. But he let it drop to the ground.
    “Kinda late for you boys, isn’t it?” the man said. “I didn’t see you go in.” His bright blue eyes studied us. “It's not really open yet.”
    “Open?” I said. What was he talking about?
    He nodded. “The haunted house. I’m not going to open for another week or two.”
    Aaron and I both stared at him. “You mean—?”
    “I bought the Grover Mansion last fall,” he said. “My name is Martin Morgo. When I moved to town, a lot of people told me stories about the house being haunted, and I thought it would be a good tourist attraction. So I bought it and—”
    “But—but—” I sputtered. “There are
real
ghosts in there! I saw them. I felt them. It's not just ghost stories. They’re
real
!”
    Mr. Morgo laughed. “Fantastic special effects, huh? I had some Hollywood guys come out and work on it. They were expensive, but they did a great job.”
    I opened my mouth but no sound came out. Was he kidding me? Did I let myself get terrified by a bunch of movie special effects?
    Mr. Morgo stared at me. “You didn’t think it was
too
scary, did you?”
    “Oh no. No way,” I lied. “It was … way cool.”
    He smiled. “That's good. Because I want little kids to be able to enjoy it too.”
    “Well … the goo dripping down the walls and the ceiling—that was pretty scary,” I said.
    He nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. Do you know we had to install a really powerful spraying system to clean the room each time we do that effect?”
    “Awesome,” I said. I glanced at Aaron. I think we were both starting to feel pretty stupid for getting scared at a fake haunted house.
    Morgo shivered and turned to Aaron. “How come you’re wearing shorts in this freezing cold weather?”
    Aaron shrugged. “Beats me. I just like shorts.”
    Morgo blinked. “Well, come again, guys. Okay? Thanks for testing it out.” He shook hands with us. His hand was surprisingly hot. “You boys should get home. It's nearly eleven o’clock.”
    Aaron and I started clomping through the snow toward the sidewalk.
    “Tell your friends about it, guys!” Morgo shouted after us. “Tell ’em how terrifying it is—okay?”
    The snow had stopped coming down, but the wind blew the icy flakes into our faces. Clouds covered the moon. I pulled up my parka hood and leaned into the wind as we walked to the bus stop.
    Aaron jogged to keep up with me. He laughed.“Max, you’re the one who's totally into ghosts and haunted houses. How could you believe that stuff was real? The whole place was totally fake.”
    I heard Aaron's question, but I didn’t answer. I was staring behind us, staring at the snow in front of the Grover mansion.
    The snow had totally
melted
where Morgo had stood!

10
    MONDAY AFTERNOON, AARON AND I still had the Grover Mansion on our minds.
    “Look, Max—another ghost!” Aaron pointed to a big snowdrift and laughed. “Ghosts! Everywhere you look!”
    I didn’t like Aaron making fun of me