Read the following story to your students and/or give them copies of the text. Ask them to guess the following:

 

1. Whose words are these?

2. What could the phrases in bold refer to?

 

In the beginning, my life was peaceful

Days spent with my family in the garden

The sunlight warming my skin

Peaceful

 

And then one day, they came without warning

Cruel hands dragging me from my dreams

Into a wheeled box

 

They carried me past my brothers and sisters, my friends and family

I cried for help but my kin remained silent

My home began to fade in the distance

And suddenly

Everything went dark

 

When I woke up, I found myself on hard grey earth

Where was I?

And then they came

With large kitchen knives!

 

The pain was terrible – I became dizzy – I felt sick

They made a giant hole in my head

They pulled my insides out and threw them in front of me

Like ribbons from a gift

 

When they finished, I sat in shock

Praying that it was over

But of course...

It was not!

The knives returned

They cut a face in my side

And they put a stick of hot fire in my belly

Burning, burning flame!

 

Who were these people and why did they do this to me?

Why? Why? Why?”

 

So, whose words are these?

As much as I love this story, I can't take any credit for it. The text is an adapted version of the monologue from this ingenious short film by Aaron Yonda.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

I love voice actor Matt Sloan's Halloween-rich tones as well as the Hammer House of Horror sound effects. Isn't it great?

I actually find this film as terrifying as it is funny. And for this reason, I always encourage teachers to reassure students that although the story might sound horrific, they will later discover that it is not all that bad. You can even tell students from the beginning that the words do not belong to a human or animal. Ask them to guess what the object is.

Click here to see the original activity on Lessonstream

So happy Halloween from the Halloween pumpkin man (that's me!)