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It’s Halloween night, and his eleven-year-old son is out trick-or-treating with friends for the first time. The boy’s only rule: Dad can track him on the location app and text all he wants, but he can never, ever call.

In this original horror story, a newly divorced father keeps the deal while he’s home with his six-year-old daughter Junie, who is dressed as a raccoon who went to medical school, and Gus, a nine-year-old beagle who spends every Halloween hiding in the bathtub from the doorbell. Theo texts like a ransom note, in all caps, three words at most, calling him “bruh.” This is also the first year Theo gets a say in where he spends Thanksgiving. So when the app puts his dot in the half-built subdivision behind the middle school and the texts say he’s on Maple with everyone, Dad believes the texts. Then the questions start: is Mom coming tonight, is Junie still up, is the back door open.

A slow-burn, unsettling tale of Halloween night, a father trying to do everything right, and a phone that keeps texting back. No gore, no jump scares, just quiet dread that stays with you.

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📺 Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: Harrowing Tales

All Harrowing Tales stories are original works of fiction.