The Howler by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

clothing dummy,” Vanessa replied. “And then he told everyone in school how he fooled you and made you scream.”
    “And he’s been lying for months about how his house is haunted,” Ed chimed in.
    “So what if we play this trick and make Scott think his house really is haunted?” Vanessa continued. “He’ll freak. He’ll totally freak!”
    “Whoa! And once we tell everyone, he’ll never be able to brag again!” Ed exclaimed.
    They turned to me, waiting for my reaction.
    “I didn’t buy the Howler just to play tricks with it,” I said sadly.
    Vanessa put a hand on my shoulder. “But wouldn’tit cheer you up to fool Scott and scare him out of his mind?”
    I couldn’t hold back a smile. “Well…maybe a little,” I said. “Let’s do it!”

19
    On Monday, Vanessa, Ed, and Justin met at my house after school. I had the Howler ready to go. I just wanted to talk over the plan to scare Scott.
    “Vanessa, Ed, and I will go in through Scott’s back door. We’ll make sure the door isn’t locked, so Justin can sneak in later. Then we’ll keep Scott busy in the living room or in his room, so he doesn’t see Justin come in.”
    “And where do I go?” Justin asked. “Up to the attic?”
    I nodded. “Yes, you sneak up to the attic. It’s a big L-shaped room. You’ll see a closet just before the room turns. You hide in that closet.”
    “Then we bring Scott up to the attic and set up the Howler next to the closet where Justin is hiding,” Vanessa said.
    “Cool,” Ed said, grinning. “This is totally cool.”
    I chuckled. “I’m so sick of Scott bragging about how his house is haunted. I can’t wait to see what hedoes when he thinks he’s hearing a real ghost!”
    “He’ll die!” Vanessa exclaimed, grinning. “He’ll just die!”
     
    “What’s up, guys?” Scott greeted us at his kitchen door. He had a half-eaten brownie in his hand and chocolate smeared on his chin.
    “Do you have any more of those?” Ed asked, pointing at the brownie. “I’m starving.”
    Scott shoved the rest of the brownie into his mouth. “That’s the last one,” he said, chewing hard.
    The three of us stepped into the kitchen. “How come you weren’t in school today?” Vanessa asked him.
    “I had a bad stomachache this morning,” he said.
    Probably from eating too many brownies, I thought.
    “I brought something you might be interested in,” I told Scott. I held up the Howler.
    Scott wiped his chocolaty fingers off on the legs of his jeans. He took the Howler from me and examined it. “What does it do? Didn’t you have another one of these in your room last week?”
    “This one is different,” I said. “This one works.”
    “We saw it work,” Ed said. “It’s no joke.”
    “But what does it do?” Scott asked, turning the box over in his hands.
    “It’s called the Howler,” I said. “Can we sit down somewhere? I’ll explain it to you.”
    Scott led the way to the small den on the other side of the living room. I hung back in the kitchen for just a second. I pulled the back door open just a crack so that Justin could slip in.
    Then I hurried to catch up to the others. As I made my way across the kitchen, I saw a plate on the counter stacked high with brownies.
    What a liar, I thought. He wanted to save them all for himself.
    We tossed off our coats and threw them on the den floor. Then we sat around on the green leather furniture, and I explained the Howler to Scott.
    At first, he laughed. “You’ve been watching too many cartoons.”
    “But we heard ghosts howling,” Vanessa insisted. “It was really creepy, Scott. We heard a ghost, howling and begging us for help.”
    “I heard it too,” Ed said. “It—it gave me nightmares last night.”
    Scott’s grin faded.
    Behind me, I heard the front stairs creak. I knew Justin was making his way up to the attic. We had to keep Scott talking a little while longer and give Justin time to get settled in the closet.
    Scott studied the little