HALLOWEEN DISPATCH
Jack-o'-Lanterns Ignite in Grove City Cemetery as Winged Creatures Appear
The second installment of a children's horror serial finds a character named Shawn Dyer awake on damp grass, with company.
GROVE CITY, OHIO — On Halloween night in Grove City, Ohio, a young man named Shawn Dyer wakes on the damp grass of Marsh Cemetery, across Home Road from Gantz Park. So says the synopsis of the latest installment of "The Blood Bats of Gantz Park," a story in the MicroTerrors series, published by Weird Darkness.
According to the synopsis, a jack-o'-lantern bursts into flame a few yards from where he lies, and a second follows beside it. In the orange glow stand two furry creatures with pointed ears and beady eyes, which are unfolding leathery wings.
The account adds that a voice, the same one that spoke Shawn's name in the creek in the earlier part, is heard from somewhere in the dark. It tells him it never expected to see him again. The synopsis does not say whose voice it is, and this newspaper declines to speculate.
The piece is presented as a podcast episode, part of a line of what its producers describe as family-friendly frights. The story is credited to author Scott Donnelly and narrated by voice artist Darren Marlar. It is available on Spreaker and the usual podcast platforms.
Readers hoping to learn what became of Shawn, or of the pumpkins, are directed to the full audio. The synopsis itself offers no further word.