What was that I heard? Children's ghost stories 2013.

• Position: Coulter

Editor's note: We asked children in grades 1 through 5 to start a ghost story with the question "What was that I heard?'' The following is the second installment of this year's stories. If your story is not here, don't fret. We'll keep running stories right through Halloween.

Boylston Elementary School

Grade 4

Runaway Cat

Jack and I were outside and my cat Neely ran away. We looked for him and saw him at the witch's house. Neely hissed and scared the witch back into her house. Neely still didn't come back. he sat at the door and hissed. Neely started running around the house like crazy. Then he started to groan and went crazy. then, finally, we got some treats and shined a light on them and he came home and we got him inside safely.

Emma Kelly

Uh Oh

One late Halloween night Isabella Uva and all of our friends were out trick-or-treating. Bella and I had alreay filled up an entire bag of candy. We were almost done trick-or-treating when we stopped to get candy from a black house with a tint of navy blue. All the lights were on and we heard loud music. They lived on a big hill, so we caught our breath and ran up. On the way down, I tripped on a stump and rolled down the hill. I was waiting for Isabella, but she did not come down. I was looking all over for her. I quickly ran over to her mom to see if she knew where Bella was, but then I slowly backed away because I wanted to find her on my own. I looked and looked, but she was nowhere to be found. I saw bats in the air and stars in the sky. That's when I got worried. I looked inside the house's window. there were so many people in there that I could not see her. I opened the door and crept inside. I looked everywhere. Then, when I went over to get some punch, I was shocked to see Bella with her dad. I said, "Bella, what on Earth are you doing here?'' She told me this was her Auntie's house. I was so relieved. And, from that Halloween on, I stay with Bella.

Sydney Fuller

The Haunted McDonald's

Once upon a time there was a McDonald's in the middle of nowhere. People said it was haunted. In the middle of the night, the Ghostbusters named Joe and Myles came. Joe heard movement ... and then he saw something. The door automatically locked from the outside. BOO! they ran and hid behind a large cash register. They got their gear out and Myles got the ghost. "SUCK!'' went the machine. There was still one more, but it flew to Burger King. "How are we supposed to get out?'' cried joe. "I don't know,'' replied Myles. POP! A zombie climbed out of the tomb. "We don't have the right equipment.'' "Oh, no. I see the equipment that we need. let's go get it.'' Myles blew up the zombie, and then he blew up McDonald's so that they could escape. They were free.

Jake Gross

Mr. Skost and th e

Halloween Party

One dark, cold night on October 30, in the state of Kentucky, Mr. Slost was preparing his Halloween decorations. He was hoping that he would get more trick-or-treaters this year because he had always scared away the children. The only kid who wasn't afraid of him was little Suzy. The Halloween party was coming in a few hours and Mr. Skost worried that he would scare away all of the guests. When it was time, Mr. Skost walked with Little Suzy. Over the lake, on a bridge, through the forest, into the Halloween party they went. When they got to the party, they walked though the door and, suddenly, the music stopped and everyone screamed and ran around like crazy people. Then, Little Suzy got everyone's attention and said, "Don't be afraid. Mr. Skost isn't as scary as you think. In fact, he's really funny. Everyone looked at her. "As I was saying, he is pretty funny. Mr. Skost, tell them one of your jokes,'' Suzy said. "OK,'' Mr. Skost said. "What is brown and sticky?'' Everybody stared curiously at him. he finally said, "a stick.'' then, everybody started laughing out loud, especially Little Suzy. "That one is my favorite,'' she said. "It's so funny!'' After that, everyone had fun. There was a group of people who were listening to Mr. Skost's jokes. it was a lot of fun. Then the party was over and everyone was sad. At least everyone had fun.

Fiona Healy

The Scary Robot

Ryan and Trinity are trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. "Finally,'' said Ryan. "The last house.'' When Trinity knocked on the door, no one answered. "Let's go to my house,'' said Ryan. When they were walking, someone ran so fast and stole all of their candy. Ryan and Trinity screamed, "AAHHH!'' "What was that?'' asked Trinity. "I don't know,'' said Ryan, but it took our candy.'' Two hours later they found him and got back their candy, but it turns out the person was a robot. "We need to destroy it,'' said Ryan. Later, they found the battery box and shut it down.

Ryan Jones

The Gumball Machine

Once upon a time there were two girls named Sydney and Rachel. They were doing gymnastics and being very loud. Soon, the witch who lived next door got mad. Her face turned red and she cast a spell on Sydney and Rachel. They did not know it. Later, they got tired and got a gumball out of the gumball machine. When they ate the gumball, they turned into little people because the witch cast a spell on them. Rachel and Sydney climbed into the gumball machine. Then Sam put a quarter in and Sydney and Rachel came out. They were scared. Quickly they escaped and they lived happily ever after.

Rachel Benway

Tricks, not Treats

On Halloween night in Boston, Massachusetts, two kids...