They called it the “Devil Puppy” because of its pointy tail and propensity to release small clouds of smoke that smelled like rotten eggs and beer. It was discovered at a train station in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1852. The cute little “dog” was brought home by a local woman whose house burned downed shortly after. The dog disappeared and reappeared at several different train stations along the same train line with the same results. After a string of nine unexplained fires, the dog found its way to New York and became part of P.T. Barnum’s New York Museum on the corner of Broadway and Park Row. The museum burned down in 1865.

The lower levels of the Northern Parkway School in Uniondale, New York are said to be haunted by the ghost of Smedley the janitor who died in October 1924. It was surmised that he choked on his sandwich while he was trying on his Halloween costume for that evening’s costume party. He was found in the boiler room where he usually ate his lunch dressed as Count Orlok from the silent film Nosferatu.

Sometimes known as the “Buffalo Devil”, all Chauncy ever wanted to do was give people his approval with a very animated “thumbs-up”. He would often follow people around until they did something that he thought was very agreeable, . . .and then there would be a “thumbs-up” It’s all he ever wanted to do.

Thumbs up, . . thumbs up, . . .he would get so adamant about giving that thumbs-up, . . . he would chase people down for miles even. One day, he ran into his nemesis: Charlie the “thumbs-down” Rhino.

They right into each other with great force and there was a big cloud of smoke. Thumbs were being pointed in all directions. When the dust settled Chauncy was standing by himself, . . .of course, . . . with his thumbs up!

A giant toad was sighted having drinks with his friends at a tavern in Red Bank. The fastidious toad was previously known as Doctor Robert Poole, a kooky biologist whose specialty was amphibians. He had discovered that he could turn himself into a toad by drinking a glowing green liquid extracted from a unique specimen he discovered in the wilds of New Jersey. Having lost a wager with his rowdy scientist friends, he had to spend the night out as a toad.

Grendel was a boy once. He was turned into a cat by an old woman who caught him stealing a pie that she left out on their windowsill to cool. He spent the rest of his days living under a stairwell and would frighten small children with his cautionary tale of what can happen to boys who steal freshly baked desserts.

An alien creature came down from the sky every Halloween night in Kalamazoo, Michigan to follow trick or treaters to feast on sweets. Once enough was consumed, the fuzzy little space traveler would disappear into thin air. His annual visits did not go unnoticed and locals referred to him as Mr. Fluffy. His appearances were thought to be a good omen to many of the towns he visited and extra candy was left out just for him.

Young Cynthia George didn’t have many friends because she was considered by her classmates to be quite peculiar and was mostly left alone to amuse herself. She kept a special secret from everyone, . . . including her parents. She discovered at a very young age that she could turn small animals into beings she called “mostly humans”. At first, she transformed insects like ladybugs and grasshoppers into what looked like small “bug” children that quickly would run away into the woods. The transformation was temporary and only lasted a few hours. As Cynthia got older, the change would last for weeks at time and eventually it became permanent. One day she decided to transform her favorite toad Mr. Croaker into a “new friend”. Mr. Croaker grew as large as a bear. He was the biggest “mostly human” that she ever created and had the best time dressing him up.

No one knew for sure how Peter Strom’s head ended up preserved in a jar in the “Mertz family’s Cabinet of Curiosities”. He was known as “Pickled Pete” and was famous for telling people’s fortunes. The head was passed down from several generations of Mertz’s. The most recent owner was miss Hazel Mertz who had inherited the prized disembodied soothsayer and charged two bits per prognostication.

(This piece was recently printed in the New York Times Magazine as a Halloween illustration)

Uncle Marvin was a monster who lived in the wetlands in Florida. He loved talking to strangers and giving them advice on all sorts of things. When the town that was closest to his habitat was swallowed by a sinkhole, there weren’t as many folks left to talk to. But that all changed on a warm summer’s day in 1906 when phone service was made available in his area. Uncle Marvin was so delighted to be able to talk to strangers again. To this day, he spends his time making hundreds of calls a day and dispensing his homespun advice to all his newfound strangers.