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regular kitchen to a white door with a plain brass knob. “It’s down in the basement. I won’t be coming. You sure you want to go? It’s really messed up.”
    Blake opened the door and led the way down. Cole and Dalton shared a glance. They had come this far. No way were they wimping out now. None of the others chickened out either.

C HAPTER
2
SPOOK ALLEY
    C ole followed Jenna down into the dark basement. Not far beyond the foot of the creaky stairs, black curtains ran from the floor to the ceiling on all sides, concealing most of the room. The only light leaked from an old lantern on a low stool. Grimy and rusty, it looked like a relic from the Old West.
    Dalton tugged on Cole’s sleeve. Dramatic shadows fell across his face, making his frowning clown makeup look eerie. A painted tear sparkled on one cheek, the glitter in it barely reflecting the lantern’s glow.
    “That guy locked the door,” Dalton whispered. He had been the last one down the stairs.
    “What?”
    “The Boo shirt guy. When he shut the door, I heard it click, so I checked. We’re locked down here.”
    Sighing, Cole glanced up the stairs. “He probably just did it to add suspense.”
    “I don’t like it,” Dalton insisted.
    Cole had been friends with Dalton since moving to Mesa, Arizona, from Boise in first grade. They liked a lot of the same books and video games. They both played soccer and liked riding their bikes. But Dalton tended to get easily stressed.
    Cole recalled a time at the movies when Dalton accidentally left his ticket stub in the restroom before the show. Dalton had spent the rest of the time freaking out that the movie police were going to catch him without it and accuse him of theater hopping. He finally went and confessed to a worker about his lost stub. Of course the guy told him not to worry about it.
    “It’s just for effect,” Cole assured his friend. “They’re trying to make it scarier.”
    Dalton shook his head. “He did it quietly. I barely heard it. What kind of effect does it have when nobody hears it?”
    “You heard it. You checked. You’re scared. Seems like they’re experts.”
    “Or psychopaths.”
    The five other kids were milling around at the bottom of the stairs. Blake had crouched to inspect the lantern. Stepping away from the light, he tugged at one of the black curtains. “This way.”
    As he pulled the drapery aside, Blake revealed a large man. Lantern light reflected off a mostly bald head with a bristly fringe around the sides. His wide, flat nose topped a drooping handlebar mustache. A fragile bone protruded from one earlobe. His overalls looked homemade, sloppily patched together from rough material. Curly hair sprouted from his thick bare shoulders.
    Most of the kids jumped or stepped back. Lacie shrieked. The bulky stranger grinned at the reaction. Two of his teeth looked like they were made of dull gray metal.
    “Ready to be scared?” he asked, eyes eager. His voice had a vaguely Southern twang. He rubbed his meaty hands together.
    Cole glanced at Dalton. Maybe his friend had been right. He didn’t like the idea of being locked down here with this weirdo.
    “Who are you?” Jenna asked.
    “Me?” the man replied, squinting at her. “You came here to be frightened, am I wrong?”
    “That’s right,” Blake said.
    The big stranger leered. “I’ll make sure you get what you came for. I’ll take you around, be certain you behave. You mustn’t touch anything.”
    Dalton stepped closer to Cole. Jenna held hands with Chelsea.
    “They call me Ham,” the man said, picking up the lantern. He reeked of dust and sweat. “Tonight I will guide you to terrors like you have never known. Sure you want to keep going?”
    “The door is locked,” Dalton said weakly, twitching his chin toward the stairs.
    Ham glared at Dalton. “Then you’d better stay with me.” The big man held the curtain aside. Blake led the way through. Cole and Dalton brought up the rear.
    Cole was one of the