Like most people, the things that I feel are the most authentically “Halloween-ish” are the stories, movies and TV specials that came out when I was a kid, Obviously because it’s the time Halloween is the most “alive” for you, what with Trick Or Treating and all, but occasionally, some new movie or story will “get it right”, and I’ll get properly ”Halloweened” out by it, and such was the case with the awesome story THE UPTURNED STONE.
Written and Illustrated by Scott Hampton and published in the 1993 Fall Issue of HEAVY METAL, The Upturned Stone, though a “modern” fable, had all the nuances of the best vintage Halloween stories, dark and misty and colored with the full spectrum of autumn reds, yellows and oranges as it painted a tale of four boys, a pumpkin and a pie. And HELL, was it SCARY!!!
The Story begins with the introduction of four young boys on the edge of adolescence a la STAND BY ME…
Pete‘s Mother has given him two dollars to pick up a pumpkin for their Halloween Jack O’ Lantern, but his friend George says that he knows a place where he’s seen a huge one they can pick for free, and keep the two dollars. They, along with friends Dave and Mark, head out across town to the site. Upon laying eyes on the specimen, they agree that it is indeed a huge pumpkin, but then they suddenly realize the thing is growing right out of a grave!
The grave is marked “unknown” as it belongs to a boy whose body was found by a hunter in the woods brutally tortured and murdered. No one knows who he was or where he’d come from. Pete, Dave and Mark are appalled at the idea of picking the pumpkin right off of the boy’s grave, but George decides it’s just right for Halloween, and chops the thing off its vine.
On Halloween Night, the Jack O’ Lantern is revealed, and though it’s done well, they notice that the face of the pumpkin seems more sad than frightening. “It just turned out that way” Pete’s Dad explains. No matter, the boys soon are off on their merry way Trick or Treating, knowing that this may well be the last time they are old enough to do so.
Upon returning home, they are startled to find that Pete’s mother has taken the pumpkin filling and made a pie out of it! They are horrified at the thought of eating the “haunted” pumpkin, but once again George stands up, declares that they’re all being silly and has the first bite of pie. Soon they’re all digging in, all fears cast aside!
That night, after watching a scary movie with the boys and his parents, Pete is having a fitful sleep. He has this most disorienting dream of an old man inviting him into his musty old house. He follows the man into his dark living room where the old man gives him a drink and then all goes black.
A few weeks later, he’s out camping with Mark and George, and when they are telling each other ghost stories, Mark mentions that he’s been having this really strange recurring dream. Mark’s dream is of being led into a musty room, drugged and tied up to a bed by an old man. With this, George mentions that HE’S been having a recurring dream too, this time of being a hitchhiker and getting picked up by an old man.
By comparing their dream stories together, they realize that somehow, they are piecing together the untold story of what happened to the murdered boy: An old man picked up a hitchhiking boy, brought him to his house, drugged him with a drink, and then tied him up…and probably killed him! Though they don’t recognize the old man, George DOES recognize the house- Old Man Bremer’s place. Suddenly they realize that they haven’t talked to Dave in weeks and it is HE who must be dreaming the horrific “last part “of the murdered boy’s fate.
Cutting their camping trip short, the boys race back to Dave’s house, where they find him tossing and turning in bed, lost in the middle of the horrible nightmare he’s been dreaming for the last few weeks! What he’s been dreaming is too chilling for words.
The next morning, awake and clear headed, the four boys realize a sobering thought: They have been having these dreams because the murdered boy wants them to kill Bremer for him. Though a terrible thought, they believe it’s the right thing to do. But can they do it?
By the time they have reconnoitered near Old Man Bremer’s house late that night, some of them have had second thoughts and have nothing to do with it. Can they live with murdering someone? DO they have the guts to go through with it? And what if they’re wrong? What if Bremer is innocent? They begin yelling and fighting with each other…Then suddenly they realize they are…not…alone.
Looking off in the distance, the boys see a shimmering image of some kind of spirit lurking at the edge of the woods. The shape reaches out to them and at once, their bodies and minds are no longer theirs. Like a possessed mob of villagers, the boys are guided and coached by this mysterious force towards the old house to take care of the ordeal once and for all.
With hands moving on their own accord, they find themselves breaking into the house, subduing the Old Man (who has been waiting for them with an axe that does him no good) and ceremoniously setting the entire house ablaze. Still entranced, they leave the burning wreck behind and return to their homes.
The following day, the boys take the remains of the Jack O Lantern back to the site of the grave, knowing that their job here is done. They boys have done the favor that this unknown boy has asked of them, and they realize he has passed something onto them as well. They have grown up.
