How Ed Shepp Saved Halloween

It was a beautiful Halloween in Isppequaiac, where Ed Shepp was visiting a friend. Fiery autumn leaves danced through the air and ghosts and jack-o-lanterns dotted every house, but still, Ed Shepp was sad. He wished he were back in New York, where his good friend Christina Aguilera was holding a special concert. “I guess I’ll console myself by baking this replica of the Taj Mahal out of pumpkin,” he sighed as he entered his hotel room near dusk.

But otherwise the town was brimming with excitement, as Mandy Spears put on the last parts of her witch costume and her friends Justin and Jessica arrived to go trick-or-treating. “Now remember, Mandy,” her mother warned her, “don’t go too far. You should only go as far as Melba street, then turn and come back.” Mandy assured her mother they wouldn’t go any further—if they did, they’d get uncomfortably close to the haunted factory at the bottom of the hell. Mandy kissed her mother and the three left for a night of Halloween fun.

Outside the town bustled with excitement. The smells of Halloween filled the air—autumn leaves, pumpkin pie and a peculiarly strong smell of candy corn, and although Mandy couldn’t smell anything because of her cold, she was happy nonetheless. It was a magical night. As the three left the last house before Melba street, Mandy reminded them that it was time to cross the street and turn back, but the two seemed to not be listening. She stopped them and told them again that it was time to turn around, and then she noticed something peculiar: Justin and Jessica were acting strange; they had glassy eyes and seemed to be in some sort of trance. Moreover, they kept walking past Melba street and down the hill, and nothing Mandy said could stop them.

Then Mandy saw the haunted factory in the distance. It glowed with an eerie green light, and smoke billowed out from the chimneys, and dozens upon dozens of the neighborhood children were walking towards it and going in, all seemingly in the same trance as Justin and Jessica. As she watched in horror, she became aware of the faintest odor of candy corn, which she figured must have been very strong if she were able to smell it through her cold. Then it dawned on her: A candy corn-scented gas was coming out of the factory and luring all the town’s children there. She knew she had to get help, and ran to the nearest building, a motel.

Mandy wrapped on the window, and then someone opened the door to ask what was the matter. It was Ed Shepp! Mandy told Ed Shepp what she had seen, and they rushed down to the haunted factory immediately, sneaking up to the window to see what was going on inside. The sight was terrifying: countless children working on an assembly line producing pies, all in some strange trance. But before they could see much, some entranced children captured them and netted them and took them inside the factory, right to the evil being in charge of the whole scene, who was seated in a giant throne with his back to them.

When the children announced their capture, the being turned around in his chair, and Mandy and Ed Shepp were shocked to discover that the person in charge of the scene was none other than Elvis Presley, resurrected as some undead pie-eater from the grave. “Aha!” Elvis spouted, “I should have known you’d discover me, Ed Shepp! But thanks to my special candy corn hypnogas, not even YOU can foil my plan! With these children supplying me with a constant fuel of pies, I will finally be able to make the ultimate comeback, from beyond the grave!” Then the children took Mandy and Ed Shepp away and locked them in a cage, guarded by one child.

“What are we going to do, Ed Shepp?!” Mandy asked, frantically. “I have an idea!” Ed Shepp replied. “Get behind that guard, who is standing right outside the cage with his back to us, take off your prosthetic witch nose and stick it over his nose. It should block out enough of his sense of smell to break the spell of the gas. Then he’ll set us free and we’ll find the gas and shut it off.” The plan worked, and once free, Mandy and Ed Shepp set out to find the source of the gas. They finally found it at the base of a large smokestack; Ed Shepp started to turn the lever to close of the gas when the two were discovered.

“What are you doing?! The master will not be pleased!” a guard child said. Ed Shepp frantically continued to turn the gear to shut off the gas, when the children netted him and Mandy again. The guards started to pull them away when Ed Shepp finally finished closing the vent, and in a few moments the guards let go of the net and the trance was broken.

“Quick! We have to get all the kids out of the factory, Mandy, before Elvis hatches another sinister plan!” Ed Shepp and Mandy led all the kids out of the factory and told them to rush home. After the last child was out, Ed Shepp turned to go and find Elvis, but was too late. A huge blimp suddenly rose from the factory, and a voice came out of it: “You may have won this time, Ed Shepp, but I’ll be back, and I’ll make a bigger comeback than ever!! You watch, Ed Shepp!!! You watch!!!”

And Halloween was safe again. Ed Shepp and Mandy Spears then said their goodbyes, and Ed Shepp began to walk back to the hotel, when he suddenly remembered his pumpkin Taj Majal! He rushed back to the motel as quickly as he could, but when he got there, he noticed a huge blimp parked next to it. “Elvis is back!” he said, and readied himself to go in. But when he got to the front door, it opened right away, and a huge crowd yelled “Surprise!” It turned out that the blimp was Christina Aguilera’s, and she had flown in just to celebrate Halloween with Ed Shepp. And her friends had taken the Taj Mahal out of the oven at just the right time, and everything was perfect. Christina Aguilera even performed an impromptu concert at the party, and a beautiful, wonderful Halloween was had by all. All thanks to Ed Shepp.