“Bill. Junk mail. Bill, bill, junk, junk. Why is it I always only get bills and junk mail through the post? No one sends me a nice cheque” thought Sam as he carried on going through the pile of letters he had picked up. “Bill, to the occupant of the house, must be junk. Bill, junk, junk. Wait a minute, that letter to the occupant was written by hand. Oh well, I will have a coffee and read it before dumping it”

The letters sorted and the junk mail dumped, Sam sat down to drink his coffee and opened the letter. “You are cordially invited to attend the party at Salem House on the 31st of October. The party commences at 8.30 pm sharp.  Dress code is Warlocks, Witches and Wizards. Bring a friend”

Sam was surprised. He had been in the town for six months and did not know where Salem House was.  In fact he had been so busy; he had not had a chance to meet anybody, let along get an invite to a party.  Okay, he will go to the party. It should be fun. Should he go as a witch and take a broomstick? No, they would think he was kinky. He will go as a Wizard. He could buy an outfit on the internet. Harry Potter had made it easy to find such an outfit.

He had a week to go before the party, so there was plenty of time.

A quick trawl around the internet found him the right outfit. He will go as Dumbledore.  He paid for the item and shut down his laptop computer and headed for work.

All day long he kept thinking about the party. Who will be there? Who will know him? Will everyone turn up in fancy dress? He would hate to be made look a fool if everyone else was in normal clothes; still, it could be worse. It could be a beachwear party and he would be stuck in his swimming trunks and have to go home like that. 

On the way home that night, he just happened to fancy a drink. He saw a pub, “The Witches Cauldron”. “Very apt” he thought to himself. In the bar there were no customers, just an attractive young lady behind the bar.

“No customers?”

“It’s too early. They don’t come in until about eight. What can I get you?”

“A whisky please”

“Double or single?”

“Single. I’m driving”

She poured at his drink and took the money from him and handed him his change.

Sam swallowed the drink and took leave of the pub, but not until he had found out her name was Hazel.  “Take care” she called out, “It’s getting foggy”

Sam carefully drove the car at a more than cautious speed. The fog was getting thicker, but at last he reached home.  Sam was glad as the fog had really thickened by then. But one thing puzzled him, why had he stopped for a drink? He had never stopped on the way home before.

Sam read the invite once more. It was a shame that he felt too old for the girl in the pub or he would have asked her to go with him. “Oh well, time to start dinner”, he thought. He should have had a meal in the pub while he was at it.

Dinner over, he looked at the computer once more to see what e-mails he had. To his dismay there were none.  A quick look at the order he had made for the costume and he turned off the computer to watch television.

There was an interesting program on about Halloween. Sam sat enthralled by all the different aspects of the meaning of the word and how it came to be known as Halloween. Quite a few interviews were held with white witches and excerpts from films were shown. But eventually Sam tired of the program and went to bed.

Looking out of the window, Sam saw the fog was getting thicker. If this kept on, then he would not be able to find his way to the house and the party. It must clear up soon.

For the next three days, the fog was so thick, Sam never went to work. But if he could not find his way about, then how could the postman find his way to Sam’s house to deliver the parcel?

Mid day of the 31st of October and still no parcel. He phoned the shop who told him they had sent it the same day Sam ordered it. Sam tried ringing the Royal Mail depot but could not get an answer.

He looked out of the window as he listened to the ringing of the phone.  It was amazing. There was no fog, it was brilliant sunshine. Perhaps he could run into town and get a costume.

Sam jumped in his car, started the engine and raced off towards town But when he got to the pub, “The Witches Cauldron”, there was a bank of even thicker fog across the road stopping him from going any further. Sam decided to have lunch there.

Hazel was serving. “Whisky?”

“No, I think I will have a pint of best bitter and what have you got for lunch?”

“It’s Halloween today”

“Don’t remind me. I was invited to a fancy dress party. I ordered a costume, but because of that damn fog, it never turned up”

“Shame. Perhaps I can do something for you. In the meantime, here’s the menu”

Sam selected a meal. Hazel got it for him and he sat at the bar eating it and talking to hazel. He felt as if he had known her for years instead of this being only the second time they had met.

“What were you going as?”

“The invite said it was to have a theme of Witches, Warlocks and Wizards. I was going as Dumbledore. It said I could bring a friend”

“I love Halloween fancy dress parties”

“I thought it would give me a chance to meet people. But it looks as if I won’t be going”

“I have a long black dress that might make you look like a witch, but I don’t think it would fit you”

“I wouldn’t have worn it anyway”

“I tell you what. I get finished in a quarter of an hour. By the looks of it, you are too late to reach the fancy dress hire shop. Mind you, I don’t think they would have had anything left. If you don’t mind me tagging along, then I can come and make up your face like the undead”

Sam looked at his watch. It was four thirty. He hadn’t noticed how quickly the time had flown by. He agreed to pick up Hazel and they could get a cab from his house to the party.

“I have just had a thought. We have a lot of old bandages that need throwing out. They have been here for years. Each of the owners stocked up on bandages and never threw the old ones away. They don’t last forever”

“What has that got to do with me?”

“Silly. If you have a nice tight pair of swimming trunks. You know, like those sexy Speedos. I could wrap you up in the bandages and you could go as a mummy. Now that would steal the show”

Sam thought about it. It sounded great and would certainly break the ice for him.  Hazel finished the shift, ran upstairs to her room and grabbed a witch’s costume and a big bag full of bandages. She raced downstairs again and jumped in Sam’s car.  Sam drove as fast as he could in the dark and now swirling fog,

“It certainly gets foggy fast around here”

“That’s because we are in a valley. The mist rolls down the hills”

Sam said nothing, but was glad when he reached his house. Hazel told him to have a shower, put on his trunks and report back to her. “Oh and put some of this on” She handed him a lotion. “Use the lot”

“What is it?”

“It is musk. It gives the scent of the undead”

By the time he had showered, Hazel had changed and applied her makeup. “You look terrific. I would have taken you for a real witch”

“We had better get started”

Hazel started to wrap each of his legs up.  Sam was surprised to find it took two reels of bandages for each leg. Even then they were not over wrapped. Hazel continued quite expertly wrapping Sam up until after thirty rolls of bandages, only Sam’s eyes, nose and mouth could be seen.

“Time for the cab. It is seven thirty. Where is the party?”

“Sorry, I forgot to say” Sam handed her the invite and Hazel phoned for a cab. The cab pulled up ten minutes later. When he was told where the party was he replied, “I am not going there. I will drop you off at the end of the lane, but you will have to walk the rest” Hazel said she put the keys to Sam’s house under a stone as he had no pockets to put them in.

“That’s okay. It is only a fifteen minute walk”

The two jumped in the cab and they departed for Salem House.  Twenty minutes later, the cab stopped and Hazel paid the driver. They got out and the cab shot off.

The mist swirled round the couple as they walked along the pitch dark unmade road. “I think you ought to roll around in the dirt”

“Why?”

“Surprisingly, those bandages look too clean. A mummy is thousands of years old, so you could expect it to be dirty”

“True”

Sam lay down and rolled around in the dirt. Hazel heard “Yeuk”

“What’s the matter?”

“I have just rolled around in a deep mud puddle”

Hazel laughed.

As they reached the house, Sam could feel the mud starting to dry. “At least it won’t be wet and drip mud everywhere, Hazel”

By the light of the house Hazel could see it was dry. “It looks like it has been there for thousands of years”

The door opened and a character looking like Frankenstein’s monster opened the door. “Come in. We have been expecting you”

Hazel and Sam entered the lounge and Sam was surprised at how many people were there.  Along one wall was a coffin which people were using as a bench. He was offered a drink and drank it quite readily. It was nice. The hostess, Samantha kept plying him with drinks from a cauldron set on the table. In no time at all, Sam felt woozy.

“Perhaps you had better lie down. That drink is rather potent” Samantha said. What with that and the now solid mud set in the bandages, Sam could hardly move.

“He is ready" said Peter, the Frankenstein’s monster, who was the host. Quickly Sam was grabbed and the crowd started to wrap even more bandages around him. Sam tried to move but was completely immobilised by the time they had finished. It didn’t take them long to only leave his eyes and nostrils clear.

One of the wizards started to do an incantation, which Sam could not understand, but it had brought him round. He was now stone cold sober. It became apparent when Sam realised the wizard doing the chanting was the cab driver. He had really shot off to get changed.

Sam was lifted up and carried towards the coffin. Sam struggled, but it was hopeless. The lid was removed and Sam was lowered into the coffin. What were they going to do? Bury him alive. No one would ever find his body.  He squirmed helplessly as they lowered him into the coffin.

He watched in horror as the lid was lowered over his body. Now he knew why they had not blindfolded him. They wanted him to watch in horror as his coffin was closed. He heard the brass catches being screwed up. That is when the party livened up. He could hear a couple making love on top of the coffin while everyone was cheering. A new life for an old? What was Hazel doing all this time? “Surely she will rescue me” he thought. Soon the woman on top and the man screamed as they reached a tremendous climax together. The crowd roared with appreciation.

Sam felt the coffin being lifted. “Oh God, they really are going to bury me” he thought and tried to scream. But the bandages formed a perfect gag and not much sound came out.

Same heard spades digging at the ground around him. He recited the Lord’s Prayer in his mind. Tears rolled down his face. Supposing they did this every year to a new victim? How many others were buried in the garden? Were there any gravestones marking their graves? He doubted it.

Sam heard lots of screaming. He could hear timbers crackling as they burned. Something must be burning. Did they intend to burn him alive instead? There was a large crash and everything fell silent. Sam fell asleep.

He woke to find he was no longer in the coffin or bandages. All he was wearing was his Speedos. It was cold and the sun had just cleared the horizon. Sam had to walk home dressed like he was.

He found the road and started to walk. A car pulled up. A young girl leaned out of the driver’s window, “I like what you are wearing, but you will catch your death dressed like that. Come on, I will give you a lift home. Where do you live?”

Sam told her. “That’s strange. I got a parcel yesterday for your house by mistake. I was going to bring it along, but my car wouldn’t start. So I tried again this morning and it started first time. So here I am delivering your parcel”

“It’s a wizard’s outfit. I went to the fancy dress party last night. I had to go as a mummy instead. Perhaps I should put it on. It will cover me better than these things”

“No, please don’t feel you have to because of me. I think you look lovely dressed like that. My name is Wendy”

“I’m Sam”

“I know”

“How do tyou know? Are you some kind of a witch?”

“By the name on the parcel silly! There is no such a thing as a witch”

“I feel embarrassed dressed like this”

“Don’t be. That’s all you will wear once we are married?”

“Who said anything about a wedding?”

“Accepting a lift from a girl is an offer to accept her hand in marriage around here”

Sam never said anything. They passed the spot where the ruin of a building used to be. “What’s that place?” Sam asked.

“It used to be a pub called  The Witches Cauldron. There is an old wives tale about it”

“I have been in there”

“You couldn’t have done. It burned down five years ago”

“Do what? It couldn’t have. I’ve been in there”

“The story goes it was run by a couple involved in witchcraft. Complete nonsense of course. They say they had a daughter Hazel who was a supreme witch. She was supposed to look after the pub while the couple went to a party at Salem House.  Hazel was supposed to find a victim and take something from him and give him something back. "My money and change" Sam thought. Wendy went on talking, "That way they ensured the victim went to the party. They found a coffin badly burned when the house burned down. It was hit by lightning, which is strange as there were no storms that night. Inside the coffin was a mummified victim who they were going to bury alive. He choked to death on the smoke. They had dug the hole for the coffin and were ready to put him into his grave, but they never had a chance. They rushed into the house for some reason. there was no survivors. They say that when a new victim moves into the area, a week beforehand the pub appears and hazel goes out to catch him. Sudden fogs appear. But we haven’t had fog for weeks. The strange thing is though, that when the house burned down, the pub did at the same time. Strange”

Sam knew better than to argue about the fog and the house. He was sick to death of what had happened.

They arrived at Sam’s house and Sam invited Wendy in. “I think some nice chains fitted to the wall so I can sit and watch you in your trunks would not go amiss”

“Who said I am going to marry you?”

“I think you are. We had better start to work out the plans. I think a nice dog cage and a little cell in the basement would be lovely. Maybe as a change from your Speedo’s I will let you wear a chastity belt. In fact, perhaps I should get you one to save you playing with yourself until we get married”

With that, Wendy got down and kissed Sam’s erect member through the material of his Speedo’s. Sam knew she was just the girl for him. The night had gone from one of terror to a day of happiness. "Just saying hello to my present" Wendy said.

Wendy left Sam and drove off in her car. Someway from his house, she took out her mobile and phoned the vicar. “Dad, thank you for letting me know it had started again. We must put an end to it now as I have found the perfect man for me. I was right on time to pick him up as he started to walk home”

“That’s alright Wendy. I will phone the Bishop and we will arrange an exorcism on the pub and the house. Have a nice day. By the way, are these furry handcuffs anything to do with you?”

“Yes. I forgot them. I never realised until I was near the house. Sorry”

Wendy heard her father laugh at her mistake. But he knew that when Wendy made her mind up, she would not change it.