A special Halloween episode begins as if it’s going to be an hour of terror, until – PSYCH! It becomes, instead, an hour of exciting, funny stories, and even stories that are “a little bit ghosty” but never terrifying. It’s a Halloween episode that the whole family can enjoy, with stories from Motoko (the wonderful mime and storyteller who brings to the episode a Japanese ghost story called “The Candy Shop”) and Bill Harley (whose “Eeny Weeny Ghost” will have leave you laughing). You’ll hear family stories too, including a camp story from when Sam’s dad was a 15-year-old scaredy-cat facing a terrifying noise, and a mostly-made-up story from Sam about a haunted cabin in his childhood neighborhood. All this, and tales “of a time when you were scared” from members of the Apple Seed Team, too. It’s plenty Halloween-y, and may also inspire you to preserve and share some of your own stories.

 

On today's episode, enjoy the following:

Radio Family Journal: “Camp Sounds” by Sam Payne (4:59)

In this story, a young camp counselor finds himself faced with a terrifying noise in the middle of the night. Will he have the courage to turn on his flashlight and see what it is?

 

"Eeny Weeny Beeny Ghost" by Bill Harley from The Battle of the Mad Scientists & Other Tales of Survival (4:59)

You've heard that 'size doesn't matter'. And that's certainly true of this next story from Apple Seed favorite, Bill Harley, about an Eeny Weeny Beeny Ghost. But to divulge more than that would ruin the surprise. 

 

“Wicked Witch” by Jeff Simpson (1:59)

What movies scared you as a kid? A generation of kids who watched The Wizard of Oz on holiday TV broadcasts knew what the face of evil looked like: Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West. 

 

“The Candy Shop” by Motoko from In Ghostly Japan (7:53)

Why is the mysterious woman begging for rice candy after hours? And why can no one see her feet? Motoko takes a Japanese ghost story and makes it a family story in this tale from her “In Ghostly Japan” collection.

 

“Ghost Dog” by Sam Payne (11:04)

Inspired by Motoko’s “The Candy Shop,” this ghost story from Sam infuses a tale of the supernatural with people and places from his own childhood. When the neighborhood starts hearing noises around the abandoned cabin across the horse pasture, Sam and his brother investigate. 

 

“My Uncle and the Scarecrow” by Karani Namunyu (2:15)

Life on the farm in rural Kenya is tough enough without a pranking uncle trying to figure out a way to keep his nephews from sneaking out at night. 

 

“Stranger Danger” by Ashley Zollinger (2:11)

You know that classic tale about the schoolgirl who comes home and thinks she’s the only one in the house, and then hears footsteps upstairs? Yeah…this is one of those stories. Everything turns out okay, but for a minute, Sahley feels like she ought to grab a kitchen knife and a frying pan, just in case.

 

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by The Acting Company (5:42)

A readers theater presentation of the breathless climax of Washington Irving’s classic tale.