WEBVTT
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When Charlie Brewster takes the Halloween night shift at Strickfield Video,
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She's prepared for strange customers, but nothing could prepare her
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for a gang of mysterious miscreants who demand to rent
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their favorite film. Can she survive a night filled with
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supernatural threats and save herself?
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There's a hill in the air, must be fall Join
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me for a Tale of Falloween. You will experience tales
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all over ghosts sand. It is not recommended for the
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weak at heart. Join me for a Tale of fallowe
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This is weekly.
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Spooky Hello, my spookys. It's not Wednesday, but it is
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spooky season, which means lots of extra scary content just
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for you. I'm your host and narrator, Enrique Cuto, and
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yes it is Saturday, but as you know, we have
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special Halloween hours, which ironically is the title of tonight's
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terror tale, courtesy of our good buddy and Strickfield Maestra,
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Rob Fields. But before we get to the story, I
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want to say thank you from the bottom of my
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cold and black heart so much for listening to the program.
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It really does mean the world to me, and at
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Halloween time, I love knowing. I'm adding a little bit
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of fun to your spooky season, and of course the
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rest of the year, bringing you your spooky on the weekly.
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Whether you've been listening for the past six years or
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you're brand new to the program, I'm so happy to
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have you here. And if you love what we're doing,
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make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcasting app like
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Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also leave us comments
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over at Spotify. We do read them all, and you
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can send us an email at Weeklyspooky at gmail dot
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com with any ideas, suggestions, or the life for future episodes.
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And we have our own Facebook group that's totally free
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to join. It's called Weekly Spooky's Tomb of Terror. Just
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search Weekly Spooky's Tomb of Terror on Facebook and join
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a bunch of other spookies as we share memes and
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scary stories and everything in between and just enjoy the
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spooky side of life. And if you want to join
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our Patreon, it really means a lot and helps the
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show keep going. Just go to Weeklyspooky dot com slash
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join and sign up for as little as one dollar
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a month and not only get two shows every month
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as a bonus, but also over four years of back catalog.
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But now, my friends, it's time to rent a video
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right after these quick words Special Halloween Hours by Rob Fields.
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When I started my freshman year at Strickfield University, I
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wanted to get an evening job to both occupy my
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free time and make some cash. One of my professors
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said a great place to get a job was in
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downtown village itself. I couldn't believe my eyes when I
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first came into downtown Strickfield. This part of the village
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truly is an area that times it seems to have
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mostly forgotten. Sure, there's internet service HDTVs, video game consoles,
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and smartphones. Far from that, most everything else that seemed
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long forgotten is still here. Downtown village has things like
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a twenty four hour video game arcade that's part of
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a donut shop called Roth's Rings. There's a daily newspaper
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printed called The Strickfield Journal, and paper carriers on bicycles
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deliver them. People here still use landline phones. There are
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even payphones, including operator service. There's also this soda parlor
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called Big Eds. There's even a vintage movie theater called
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the Strickfield Centennial. Just outside the main village is a
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diner called Denoyer's Grill that'll take you back in time
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with their menu, the floor, the booths, and even the jukebox.
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Even the drive in theater plays by vintage rules where
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only the driver pays admission, not to mention all the
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vintage movies they play on film. Now, you'd take one
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look at me and you'd think right away, I don't
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belong here. I know, I stand out with all my tattoos,
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my long hair, my piercings. Yet who'd have thought fortune
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was with me? As soon as I stepped into Strickfield Video.
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Yeah you heard me, There really is a video rental
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place here in downtown Strickfield. When I walked in, my
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jaw practically hit the floor. This place is huge and
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rents VHS tapes to DVDs to Blu rays. Strickfield Video
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carries movies from every genre. The horror section is easily
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the biggest one here. They even sell movie theater style
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snacks and other novelties. It wasn't long before this middle
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aged man who looks like a gangster appears right behind
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the counter. You like what you see? Yeah, he even
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sounded like a gangster when he saw me with all
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my tattoos, piercings, and leather clothes. I thought he was
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gonna kick me out, but he didn't. You hear about
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the job, kid help wanted sign out there, you're really hiring,
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was all I could say, and that was it. No
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formal interview, no filling out an application or handing over
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a resume, not even a background check. The gangster guy
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whose name is Lenny, hired me right on the spot.
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He sneered again and told me to relax as he
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showed me around Strickfield Video. Like I said, this place
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is huge, He said, new movies come in all the time,
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and I would have my busy moments. Even though I
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didn't look normal, it didn't bother him. Here's my bodily dimensions.
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I got long jet black hair going down to my
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rear end. I'm really skinny, but don't look like I
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don't eat. The one thing people quickly notice are my
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sparkling blue eyes. Like I said, I got tattoos all
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over my body. I also got piercings, multiple earrings, lip hoops,
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eye hoops, tongue stud, nose hoop, and a belly button stud.
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Even my leather clothing speaks volumes. A top showing my tummy,
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a mini skirt and boots going up past my knees
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with fishnets. I also got rings on my fingers. Hey,
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when you come from a biker family. In fact, my
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Harley Davidson's parked right outside. What's your name, kid, Lenny asked, Charlie.
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I replied, Charlie Brewster. My name's supposed to be pronounced Charlie,
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but when people see it in print, they call me
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the guy's name. I finally gave up correcting people and
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go by what I told Lenny. Long story short. Lenny
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explained everything to me on that first day. He also
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said I'd get some weirdo characters that come in from
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time to time, but not to worry about them. Everybody
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comes in here because they want to watch movies. Nobody's
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gonna hurt you here, kid. Just find them what they want,
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ring them out, and you're done. That's simple. Honestly, I
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wasn't sure Strickfield Video was gonna be open that much longer.
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I mean, come on, it's all about streaming these days.
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Nobody cares about renting physical videos right not here in Strickfield.
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It was only my first day with Lenny breaking me
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in but Strickfield Video was busy. Believe me, I got
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lots of hands on experience. When Lenny felt I could
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do things myself, he started backing off. This place opens
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at ten am each day and closes late, with even
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later hours Friday and Saturday nights. Before long, I settled
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into what might be a dream job. I got comfortable
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enough to be able to work on my homework during
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the times I wasn't busy. I could even order out
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for food. It was just Lenny and me working Strickfield Video.
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Usually he'd open up and I was the night shifter.
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When one of us needed a day off, the other
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one would cover the entire day. When it was closer
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to October thirty first, Lenny said there'd be special Halloween
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hours for that night. When he gave me my schedule
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for that week, I saw my hours for Halloween night
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were six pm till We're open all night on Halloween. Lenny,
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Strickfield Video has been open all night on Halloween since
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my father first opened it back in nineteen seventy eight.
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He said, then there's the gangster sneer again. What's the matter, kid?
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You scared? I raised my hands in front of me. No, no,
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I can work Halloween night. Still sneering all night, sure,
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I quickly said, He patted my shoulder. I believe in you,
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but I'll come and check on you to see if
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you're all right. Now it's Halloween night. I'm riding my
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girl into downtown village. Sometimes I ain't sure if I
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want to live here or gun my motor and get away. Still,
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I pull my girl into its usual parking place and
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cut the motor. I dismount and walk into Strickfield Video
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with my backpack. On time as always, kid, Lenny says.
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When I walk in, seeing Lenny's got lots of customers,
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I get behind the counter and help him out. When
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we're caught up, he turns and points to a new
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coffee maker. Make all the coffee you need. Then he
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hands me some money, and get yourself some dinner. You've
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been doing great work here, he sighs. Hope you're here
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for the long haul. Good help is so hard to
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find today, Thanks, I say, Lenny sneers and pats my shoulder.
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Lots of stock that's gotta be put out. You're gonna
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be busy tonight for sure, And remember, kid, you're gonna
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get plenty of weirdos coming in tonight. Just rent the
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videos out like you've been doing, and you're gonna be fine,
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He assures me again. I'll be okay and leaves. Now
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it's just me here at Strickfield Video seeing I'm okay
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at the moment. I make some coffee and pour myself
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a cup yum. He did not buy the cheap stuff.
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Lenny's right about this place being busy on Halloween. As
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part of my job, I play a movie that feeds
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to every TV in here, including the one in the
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main window. Since it's Halloween, I've been playing nothing but
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horror movies. To be honest, I love working here. Even
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though Lenny looks and talks like a gangster. I look
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forward to seeing him every day. Also, he pays me
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good as for benefits. He leaves me money for dinner.
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He also lets me take videos back to my dorm.
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With all the foot traffic coming in here, this place
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ain't closing for good anytime soon. Who knows, Maybe I
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can keep working here all through my years of college.
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Now it's half past eleven. New inventories cataloged and out
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in the sections. Lenny ordered many more copies of Veranda
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Queen of the Night. We already have tons of them,
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but they're hard to keep in during October. Even after
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putting out all the new copies, they still flew right
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off the shelves. The people renting them also buy lots
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of candy and microwave popcorn. At first, I wondered if
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I'd be okay being the only girl working here at night.
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With all the foot traffic coming in, You'd think there'd
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be more than just Lenny and me. But Lenny taught
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me how to get my rhythm going. I can ring
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out customers, restock inventory, except new inventory, study, make coffee, eat,
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go smoke. I can really do it all. When I
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get another break, I go outside and smoke a cigarette.
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Lenny was here a couple times to check up on me.
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There's still lots of people out tricker treating at eleven
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thirty pm. Come to think of it, trick or treating's
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been going on all week here in Strickfield. Lenny explained.
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It's a full week here and there's absolutely no age discrimination.
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Anybody can do it. Oh yeah, I even hand it
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out the candy Lenny brought over. I finish my smoke
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and go back inside after midnight. Tricker treating is done
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for Halloween night, and the week after I pop in
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the classic Carnival of Souls, a fresh wave of people
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come pouring in. I get a few copies of Veranda
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Queen of the Night, back in, only to rent them
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back out just as quickly. This next wave of rentals
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lasts about an hour. When I get another break, I
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make more coffee, then I pour a cup and savor it.
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Just then this group of four walk lots of weirdos
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come in tonight. Like Lenny said, this group definitely fits
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that profile. There are two guys and two chicks. Then again,
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they could have been trigger treating or at a Halloween party. Anyway,
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They've all got on dark clothes, got pale skin, and
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gleaming red eyes. Unlike me, they're dark clothes, ain't leather.
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I finish my cup of coffee as they look over
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the selections. Suddenly a blonde chick breaks away and comes
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right to me. She checks me out and smiles, nice costume, sweetie,
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I ain't wearing no costume. I tell her I really
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am a biker. She looks outside and sees my Harley
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still parked. Cool. She leans on the counter with her
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elbows and smiles. We can't find Veranda, Queen of the Night.
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Your boss said more copies were coming in. I smile
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a little. They sure did, but they all rented out
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faster than I put them out. Suddenly she stands up straight.
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Now she looks upset. Her red eyes glow hot now.
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Then she calls out to the others she ain't got
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Veronda in. Now they're all looking right at me as
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they approach the counter. Their red eyes are glowing hot too.
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Then the other girl, the purple haired one, points right
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at me. You better be joking by her. Chick. See,
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my baby's sister here really wants to see that movie,
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and she wants to see it tonight. I shrug. I'm sorry,
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but we're sold out. I did get a few copies
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returned a little bit ago, but they went back out
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just as fast. The blonde girl slams her palms on
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the counter and shows me her teeth. I gasp when
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I see they look like that cover from Fright Night,
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which I had showed earlier. Also, those teeth are one
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hundred percent real. I mean, when these people came in,
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they had normal looking mouths.
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But now, are you afraid good weekly, spooky, We'll be
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right back.
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The blonde hisses and points to the drop box. Why
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don't you go check? I nod and do what she says.