[Child's laughter]
It's about time!
Where were you?
[Hoarse voice] Writing my story.
Are you sick?
Laryngitis.
Yo-- I don't want your germs.
What is that?
[Hoarsely] A typewriter.
I found it in the attic.
[Frank] Shoulda left it in the attic.
Hey, it works. I typed my story on it.
What for?
'Cause my throat's killing me and I don't want to tell it.
Can you read it out loud for me?
Uh...I'm not sure.
We've--we've never done that before.
Go ahead, Gar. Be crazy.
Throw away the rules.
Start from the top.
Yeah...I figured that.
Ahem.
"Writing a story down on paper
"is very different than telling it out loud.
"When a story's on paper,
"you can feel it. You can see it.
"And others can read it as well.
"But beware:
"For once a story's written,
"it no longer belongs to the author,
but has a life of its own."
"And for some stories,
"that can be a very dangerous life...
Indeed."
[Scratchy voice] Submitted for the approval--
ahem--of the Midnight Society,
I call this story...
"Now it is the time of night
that the graves..."
Sean Hackett had one passion in life:
Writing.
Actually, he had 2 passions:
Writing...
And Jennifer Johnson.
Every other story in Sean's notebook was about her,
but Jennifer only thought of him as a friend.
Too bad.
"...this hallowed house.
"I am sent with broom before
"to sweep the dust
behind the door."
[Bell rings]
Great story. I was moved.
Hang on! Hang on.
Hang on.
Your assignment is to write a short story.
Your topic,
but it's got to be at least 2 pages long.
Now, go away.
Ooh!
Ow.
Oh, man, sorry.
It's OK.
Ow! Ow!
Wait.
Really swept her off her feet there, Romeo.
What are you gonna do next,
run her down with your bike?
I think she likes me.
Yeah, right. Bet she can't wait
till you get your driver's license
so you can hit her with the car!
This place is a disaster.
I know. My parents thought they were getting this great deal,
but they spend a fortune from keeping it from falling down.
Boy, is this place creepy.
Remind me not to come over
if there's thunder storms or something.
Uh-oh.
You got a detour?
Oh, no. How am I supposed to get up to my room?
How dangerous could it be?
Be careful. The stairs are kinda--
Aah!
Rotten.
Thanks.
Wait a minute.
Yo, what's down there?
I dunno.
I'll get a flashlight.
Whoa! This is wild!
Cool! It's like a secret stash.
"October 13, 1932.
"The new mystery novel by the late James Ellington
is a spine-tingling masterpiece."
Must be the guy who owned the place before.
Check this out.
"James Ellington, writer and inventor,
"disappeared in 1931
"and was found dead one year later...
Murdered."
A secret room just to hide this?
Waste.
No, it's a classic.
They don't make 'em like this anymore.
That's 'cause it's junky.
I gotta go. Later.
Yeah, later.
Shawn: It was the night
of the school Halloween dance,
a night when anything could happen,
and it did.
[Upbeat music plays]
Vat is your name, Princess?
Jennifer.
Good evening, Jennifer.
I am Count Sean.
[Snap]
[Fast music stops]
[Slow music plays]
We danced for hours.
Nothing could have ruined the night.
Then slowly, we moved to a dark corner of the room.
And with that fatal kiss,
she will be mine forever.
Aah!
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Oh!
Whoa! What's wrong?
Um...Nothing.
You sure?
Yeah. I'm just being strange.
Don't worry about it.
I, um...
I had a nightmare last night.
Can you believe that?
I'm still having kids' nightmares.
Everybody does.
But this was, like, so real.
I was at the school dance,
and a vampire shows up.
Weird thing was...
Don't laugh.
The vampire... was you.
So she saw a vampire movie on TV,
thought of you, put the 2 together,
and bingo-- nightmare time.
But it was exactly what I wrote.
What are you trying to say?
You think she's a mind reader?
No. I don't know. It's just weird.
I gotta do that story for English.
Do yours yet?
No. I'm a last-minute kinda guy.
OK.
[Sean] One cold and foggy night,
Billy snuck into a crumbling old graveyard on a dare,
searching for the grave of...Blind Paul.
He didn't believe the stories
about the graveyard being haunted...
But he should have.
No way!
[Twig snaps]
[Heavy breathing]
W-who--who's there?
[Breathing]
Who are you?!
What do you want?
Aah!
No!
Let me out!
Billy never found his way out of the graveyard,
and nobody ever discovered what happened to him.
As far as anyone knew,
it was Blind Paul resting below.
The end.
Aah! Let me out!
Please....
H-help.
Then the lid slammed, and I was buried alive.
It was so real! Talk about weird.
More than you know.
Does this sound familiar?
"One cold and foggy night,
"Billy snuck into a crumbling old graveyard
on a dare, searching for the grave of--"
"Blind Paul"?
No way!
I'm not buying it.
Does this sound familiar?
"Billy pounded on the closed coffin, shouting,
no, let me out! Help!"
I think this is what happened to Jennifer, too.
I wrote it, and you guys dreamt it.
It's the typewriter.
That's why it was hidden!
It's got some kind of power.
Is that possible?
Could this be a...
Dream machine?
Oh, baby!
This is like power!
Whose head do you want to get into first?
We gotta think about this.
What's to think? We can terrorize everybody!
We can--no! My mom's gonna kick my butt.
Don't tell anybody about this, all right?
Don't worry. I don't want to get locked up.
Cool. Sean, my man, this is gonna be an amazing adventure.
Sweet dreams.
Jennifer? Will you come with me
to the most private place on earth?
[Typing sound]
Sean?
Where are we?
The most private place on earth:
Your dream...I hope.
Jennifer...
Do you remember that vampire nightmare you had?
Yeah.
I think I wrote it.
What do you mean?
Well, I made it up...
Like I'm making this up right now.
This isn't real.
It's a dream I'm creating for you with this.
I don't get it.
It's a dream machine.
If I type out a story about somebody, they'll dream it.
Bla!
Look familiar?
Anything I imagine can happen.
Hold out your hand.
It's wonderful.
But it's scary.
I need to find out if it's true.
When I end this, I want you to call me, OK?
OK.
Sorry.
The white cloud rose up around them...
And the dream was over.
The end.
Oh, I knew this was bogus.
[Ring]
[Bell rings]
Ahh.
OK, kiddies.
Turn them in.
Now?
Let's go.
This is it.
And, uh...
This is it.
Lemme read this masterpiece.
Ahem.
"The Halloween Dance, by Sean Hackett."
"It was the night of the school dance,
a night when anything can happen... and it did."
Whew. Ha.
Sean?
Sean!
What is your name, Princess?
What's going on? This is my dream!
I know! It's the story I wrote, but--
But this is real!
It's really happening!
"We danced for hours.
"Nothing could ruin the night.
Then slowly we moved to a dark corner of the room."
Hey! This is pretty good.
Sean, I'm scared. How is this happening?
It's the story.
Billy's reading it, and it's coming true just the way I wrote it!
Wait. If this is all coming true, that means--
Aah!
"The vampire opened his mouth,
bearing his razor-sharp fangs."
Fangs?!
Man, this is pretty gruesome for--
Hey!
Guys?
Whoa!
Aah!
What was that? What happened?
That wasn't a dream, was it?
We were really there, weren't we?
And I was gonna bite you on the neck for real, wasn't I?
Guys... what is this?
I think we just discovered
another feature for our little dream machine.
Watch.
"The Halloween Dance, by Sean Hackett."
Yo!
What does it mean?
It means that it isn't just a dream machine.
If you read a story written on this thing, it's gonna come true!
So if I didn't stop reading--
I would have bitten Jennifer on the neck like the story said.
This is too weird. We have to tell somebody.
We--we have to--
Uh-oh!
What's the matter?
Guys, this isn't the only story I wrote!
Wait a minute. What other story--
Oh, man!
What?
We gotta stop her!
Hello?
Mmm!
So what happens in the story?
You don't wanna know!
Hey, I don't wanna know.
"Trapped, by Sean Hackett."
Hmm.
Yes!
It's not here!
It's gotta be!
She must have it with her!
She's still here. Her car's outside.
Guys, if we don't find it, I'm--
"Billy snuck into a crumbling old graveyard on a dare."
Ha.
He would.
Oh, no!
No.
No!
Help!
We gotta find her!
Where would she be?
John!
Jennifer!
This is nuts!
Stop reading!
Oh, great!
Mrs. Dodds?
Mrs. Dodds!
She was here.
Come on!
"Billy tried to escape,
but the strange shadows surrounded him."
Mrs. Dodds?!
Where is she?
Mrs. Dodds!
"The ghost of Blind Paul
was creeping closer and closer."
[Giggles]
I'm not going into that grave.
I'm not going into that grave!
I'm gonna stay right here and--
No!
It's too late. We're not gonna find her.
We can't give up!
When that story ends, Billy's going to--
The story.
The stories come true!
Aah!
What are you doing?
No!
Help!
Let me out! Stop!
"Bill never found his way out of the graveyard,
and nobody ever discovered what happened to him."
Help!
Yes! Yes!
"As far as anyone knew,
it was Blind Paul resting below."
No!
Read it.
Read it!
"The typewriter stopped glowing,
and all the stories ever written on it never came true."
Aah! Aah!
Welcome back, dude!
Yes!
I don't know what you did,
but you did it!
Sean wrote his best story yet.
Man, I say we trash that thing.
I don't think we have to worry about it anymore.
A-he-he-hem!
Is there something I can do for you?
No, I think we're fine.
The end."
That was great!
What happened to the--
Kiki?
What's it say?
"The headless warrior chased down
"each one of the Midnight Society one by one,
until they were too tired to run."
Yeah, right.
Captioned by Grant Brown