School of Fear Read Free

are performed on both candidates and their
     families. These background checks are so thorough that Mrs. Wellington often learns information that belies logic: everything
     from eating paste in preschool to misspelling one’s own surname in second grade.
    After acquiring all pertinent information on the applicant and family, Mrs. Wellington then requests an essay of no less than
     one thousand words detailing the child’s fears and the traditional methods that have failed them. Points are deducted for
     grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and poor penmanship. The application explicitly states that all essays are to be handwritten,
     as Mrs. Wellington doesn’t care for dubious technologies such as typewriters and computers.

    Not since the Mastersons changed health-care plans had they heard of a process with so much red tape. There was fingerprinting
     and extensive tests with peculiar names such as The Standardized Childhood Insanity Exam and Personality Defect Assessment.
     Overall, finishing the elaborate application was quite a feat considering it was all handled through the mail. Mrs. Wellington
     did not wish to disclose the identity of her employees prior to acceptance. While the candidates may have been in the dark
     about Mrs. Wellington, her private investigators ensured that nothing escaped her attention.
    If Mrs. Wellington was notified of an information leak during the application process, candidates were immediately disqualified
     and sent a stern warning from her private attorney at Munchauser and Son. As anyone could tell you, no one messed with Munchauser
     Senior, absolutely no one. Many former students became fixtures in society while never breathing a word of their days at School
     of Fear. It was a two-part vow of silence, one for extreme loyalty to Mrs. Wellington and the other for fear of the infamous
     Munchauser wrath.
    Leonard Munchauser Senior was known for his wicked temper, ruthless nature, and cold heart; and that was with his family.
     The story goes that he once removed his son’s eyebrows, one hair at a time, as punishment for spilling milk. Worst of all,
     Leonard Munchauser Junior’s eyebrows were permanently affected, growing in spottily and lopsided. As atrocious as that may
     have been, it paled in comparison to the treacherous tactics Munchauser Senior employed to protect his clients. And no client
     was of greater importance than Mrs. Wellington and School of Fear.

CHAPTER 2
EVERYONE’S AFRAID OF SOMETHING:
Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts.
     
     

    W hat do you mean Grandma’s dead? How could you let this happen?” Theodore Bartholomew howled in the kitchen of his family’s
     messy Manhattan apartment. The stout boy with alabaster skin, dark brown hair, and milk chocolate eyes framed by glasses stared
     at his mother in shock.
    “Grandma was old, that’s what happens. Old people eventually die,” Theo’s mother, Mrs. Daphne Bartholomew, explained compassionately,
     placing her hand on top of Theo’s.
    “But you’re old. Look at all those wrinkles. You’ll be dead soon too!”
    “I’m not
that
old.”
    “All I see are liver spots and wrinkles,” Theo said as he started to hyperventilate. “I feel faint — quick, get the smelling
     salts!”
    “I can’t remember! Where do you keep those?” Mrs. Bartholomew asked with exasperation.
    “Must I do
everything
myself?”
    Theo pulled a first-aid kit from his jacket, grabbed a white stick, and snapped it under his nose. Even from a few feet away
     Mrs. Bartholomew felt the effects of the pungent smelling salts.
    “Sweetie, are you okay?” Mrs. Bartholomew asked softly.
    “My grandmother’s dead, my mother’s on the way out, and I just used my last smelling salt,” Theo droned.
    Twelve-year-old Theo was the youngest of seven children, and by far the most, well, everything. That was the thing about Theo;
     he was rather hard to describe since he was so many things. He was definitely the most dramatic,