Nightmare Before Christmas

by Daphne Skinner

  She peered through the thick fog at Jack. Had he given up?

  No! He was talking to Zero, his little ghost dog, who hovered in the air with his jack-o'-lantern nose glowing. "Zero, with your nose so bright," Jack asked, "won't you grade my sleigh tonight?" Zero's answer was a bark of excitement and a loop-the-loop through the air.

  "I guess that means yes," said Jack with a grin. He turned to the Crowd. "My friends," he announced happily, "Christmas is saved! Zero is going to lead my sleigh through the fog!"

  As the crowd whistled and cheered, Zero took his place at the head of the reindeer, his nose shining like a beacon. Jack leapt aboard and cracked his whip.

  "We're off!" he cried. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" The sleigh rose into the air to wild applause. Only one note of worry sounded in the crowd, and it was so soft and so sad that not a single creature heard it.

  "Good-bye, Jack," whispered Sally. "Oh, how I hope my premonition is wrong!"

  C H A P T E R · N I N E

  As Sally wandered away from the town square, her heart heavy with dread, and as Jack sailed through the skies laughing with joy, Lock, Shock, and Barrel were having a brief, but very interesting, discussion about their prisoner, Santa Claus.

  "So, where are we taking him?" asked Barrel.

  "To Oogie Boogie, of course," said Lock and Shock.

  "Of course!" said Barrel with a nervous giggle. "Oogie will like that."

  Santa didn't know who Oogie Boogie was. But he did know that Christmas was in grave danger. Why wouldn't these three terrible little children let him go?

  "Haven't you ever heard of peace on earth and goodwill to men?" he asked from inside the sack, struggling to get free.

  "No!" cried the trio gleefully. They tightened their grip. This was so much fun!

  Jack was having fun as well. He was spreading Christmas cheer throughout the world. Or so he thought. On his first stop, the little boy in the house where he crash-landed had stared at him in silence when he came slithering down the chimney. But when Jack handed the boy a present--one of his very own special shrunken heads--the cries of joy from the little fellow were very loud. Very loud, indeed.

  Jack had no idea that he had just given an innocent child the most bloodcurdling shock of his young life. And those sounds he heard as he drove off in his sleigh? They were far from cries of joy. They were shrieks of horror.

  As Jack continued on his rounds, delivering dozens of creepy, dark, and gloomy Christmas presents, he heard many shrieks. There were shrieks for the wreath with long arms. Shrieks for the toy grave digger's kit. Shrieks for the miniature electric chair. There were bloodcurdling screams for the eyeball marbles and the slug farms.

  Jack was pleased to hear them. But, of course, he didn't know any better. When people screamed, "These presents are horrible!" he thought he was hearing shouts of delight.

  So on and on he went, merrily delivering his dreadful gifts, unaware of the havoc he was creating. Time after time he mistook

  shouts of anger and disgust for cries of gratitude and answered them with a cheerful "Merry Christmas!" He never heard the doors slamming, the locks clicking, or the frantic telephone calls to the police. As far as Jack was concerned, everyone was having a wonderful time.

  He didn't know it, but down below, Jack was considered a criminal. And like a criminal, he was being hunted down--with very powerful guns.

  But when Jack first saw the bright searchlights and heard the explosions of gunfire, he was actually pleased.

  "Look, Zero!" he cried. "They're celebrating! They're thanking us for doing such a good job!"

  Then gunfire nearly struck one of the reindeer. And it began to dawn on Jack that something was very, very wrong....

  C H A P T E R . T E N

  Long before Jack began to worry, Sally the Rag Doll knew that something was wrong. She had seen the explosions in the sky, and the witchvine was abuzz with grim reports that Jack's trip was in trouble.

  Something told Sally that if anyone could help, it was Santa. But where was he? At best, he'd be with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. At Worst... he'd be with Oogie Boogie. Sally shuddered from head to toe. What a frightening thought!

  But something told her it was so. Sally knew what Lock, Shock, and Barrel were like. And she knew there was only one place those nasty little trick-or-treaters would take their captive--to the underground torture chamber that evil Oogie called home.

  So Sally headed for Oogie's lair. And there a terrible sight met her eyes. Oogie's dungeon was dark and dank, wreathed in cobwebs, littered with bones. It was a miserable, hopeless place, and right smack at its center lay Santa, bound hand and foot.

  On a giant roulette table was arranged a strange array of gambling paraphernalia from worm-ridden dice to slot machines designed to shoot real bullets. Standing over Santa, grinning with malice, was Oogie Boogie. His huge, baglike body was filled with buzzing bugs, which crawled in and out of his gaping mouth.

  Oogie was doing his best to make Santa miserable, and he was succeeding. But then, being creepy, scary, and disgusting was Oogie's job. He was the boogie man, after all. As Sally watched in horror, Oogie danced around Santa, threatening him.

  "You're ugly, old man, but you might be tasty," he said, rolling his dice. "And I'm getting hungry. Want to be the main ingredient in a nice snake-and-spider stew? I'll boil you alive! How about it?"

  "No!" cried Santa. "Let me go! Please! The children are expecting me. I've got to deliver their Christmas presents!"

  "Ha, ha, ha!" Oogie replied. "It's hopeless. You're finished! You haven't got a prayer. 'Cause I'm the big bad boogie man, and you ain't goin' nowhere!"

  Santa writhed and strained at the ropes that bound him, but it was no use. He couldn't get free. Oogie loomed closer ... and closer... and closer....

  Meanwhile, high in the sky, a missile was moving closer and closer and closer to Jack.

  When it hit, it destroyed the sleigh instantly and sent Jack on a dizzying, all-too, rapid fall to earth.

  Jack landed in the arms of a stone angel in a cemetery. His jawbone had come unhinged in the fall, so for a moment he lay there silently. He was unable to speak and unable to avoid the terrible truth: his version of Christmas was a complete and total failure. This thought was far more painful than the shock of falling.

  What a fool he had been! What a stupid mistake he had made! If Jack's jaw had been attached, he would, have groaned in frustration. But it wasn't. So he simply lay there and waited for Zero to retrieve his lost part.

  "Good dog," he murmured as soon as Zero brought it to him. Slowly Jack put himself together. And as he did, he made up his mind.

  He would set things right! But to do that, he had to find Sandy Claws--fast. Could he do it?

  "I've got to try, Zero" he told his faithful dog. "I just hope there's still time."

  Filled with resolve, he dashed to a tombstone, lifted it, and hurried down a long flight of steps to Halloweenland.

  C H A P T E R . E L E V E N

  Lock, Shock, and Barrel were having fun. As usual, it was because someone else wasn't.

  Perched above the trapdoor to Oogie Boogie's dungeon, they looked on as Oogie tormented not one prisoner but two! Sally the Rag Doll's desperate attempt to rescue Santa had backfired, and now she was

  Oogie's captive, too.

  But just as the three trick-or-treaters leaned in to get a better look, they heard a dreadful sound behind them. A sound like the rattle of skeleton bones. Could it be? It was! Jack Skellington. Shrieking in terror, the three of them turned and ran off into the night.

  Jack took their place at the trapdoor. Far below he could see Santa and Sally strapped to a craps table over a steaming cauldron. In spite of her plight, the brave rag doll was still defiant. "This isn't over!" she cried. "Not by a long shot! You wait till Jack hears about this. By the time he's through with you, you'll be lucky if--"

  At that moment the Mayor's voice interrupted her. It came blaring over a loudspeaker from his hearse out in the
street, and the news it delivered was terrible.

  "The king of Halloween has been blown to smithereens," announced the Mayor. "Jack Skellington is now a pile of dust."

  Sally heard this, and tears came to her eyes. Oogie heard it and roared with triumph. If Jack was gone, he would be king of Halloweenland!

  "A pile of dust!" he repeated gleefully, turning to his captives. He smiled hungrily. "And dust to dust." Dancing a little victory dance, he sang, "Ooh, I'm feeling hungry. One more roll of the dice ought to do it!"

  He tossed his giant dice. They rolled across the dungeon floor, finally coming to a stop with two ones showing. "What! Snake eyes?" Oogie roared, and pounded the floor with his fist until the dice bounced back, this time showing eleven.

  Oogie grinned in satisfaction. "Looks like I won the jackpot!" Turning the crank of the torture machine, he began to lower Sally and Santa into the enormous steamlng cauldron. "Bye-bye, Dollface and Sandman!" he bellowed as they screamed. Giving the crank one last turn, he dropped the craps table below the cauldron's rim.

  The boogie man cackled as he waited to hear his victims' final splash. But there was nothing. No sound at all.

  "Huh?" he said. Reversing the crank, he slowly drew the board back up from the cauldron. There, instead of Sandy Claws and Sally the Rag Doll, was Jack Skellington!

  "Hello, Oogie," said Jack, leaping nimbly from the craps table and onto the roulette wheel.

  "Jack?" cried Oogie, drawing back in fright. "But they said you were dead! You must be double dead!"

  Stomping on a lever near his foot, Oogie sent the roulette wheel spinning, throwing Jack off balance. Immediately a ring of giant playing cards, each showing the king of spades, rose up around the edges of the wheel. The kings, coming to life, lunged at Jack with very real swords. Dodging wildly, Jack managed to stay just out of reach of their twirling weapons. He was so distracted he didn't notice an enormous eight ball descending from the ceiling, its sides splitting open into spinning blades.

  Oogie laughed maniacally as Jack weaved around the wheel, trying desperately to dodge both dangers. The bugs in Oogie's sacklike body flew this way and that, making his sides heave and bulge. "Well, come on, Bone Man!" he said, pulling a chain above his head. The cards' flailing swords folded in and the cards retracted, but instantly an army of one-armed slot machines rolled forward.

  "Fire!" shouted Oogie, and the machines began shooting from their loaded arms. Quick as a wink Jack leapt on top of one of them. Cursing in frustration, the boogie man reached for another button and sent the roulette wheel flying toward Jack.

  "Look out!" screeched Sally. Just in time Jack jumped out of the way, letting the wheel's revolving blade slice off the arms of each of the shooting slot machines. The rag doll sighed with relief. Jack jumped again, landing in front of Oogie. Now they could have a fair fight. But just then the boogie man stepped onto another lever.

  "So long!" he shouted, catapulting himself up to the top of the eight ball and out of Jack's reach.

  Jack looked up at him. "How dare you treat my friends so shamefully," he said in a quiet voice. Reaching up with a bony arm, he tugged on a small string hanging low from Boogie's body.

  For Sally and Santa, watching from the corners of the dungeon, it took a moment to realize what was happening. Slowly at first, but then more and more rapidly, the boogie man began to unravel. Though

  Oogie wriggled and writhed, there was nothing he could do. In a matter of seconds there was only a mass of loose bugs where he had been.

  "Now look what you've done," Oogie's voice cried pitifully from the swarm of creeping insects. "My bugs, my bugs!"

  Creeping, crawling, and flying, all the insects except one quickly dispersed. Then, splat! Santa squashed the last bug with his big black boot.

  Oogie Boogie was gone for good.

  Sally beamed with relief. Santa wiped his damp forehead. And Jack apologized.

  "Forgive me, Sandy Claws," he said. "I'm afraid I've made a terrible mess of your holiday.

  "Bumpy sleigh ride, Jack?" said Santa. "Christmas is a lot more than a bag of toys and a red cap!" Snatching his hat from Jack's head, he turned to leave.

  "I hope there's still time," Jack called after him.

  "Of course there is," said the old elf. "I'm Santa Claus." And with that, he pressed a finger to the side of his nose and shot up the narrow tube that led outside.

  "He'll fix things, Jack. He knows what to do," said Sally, trying to make him feel better.

  Jack turned to the rag doll. Suddenly it was as though he were seeing her for the very first time. "How did you get down here?" he asked.

  "I was trying to . . . well, I wanted to . . ." The little doll blushed and fell silent.

  "To help me?" asked Jack. "Why, Sally, I never realized..."

  Just then a booming voice rang out. "Jack! Jack!" The Mayor appeared, with Lock, Shock, and Barrel following right behind him.

  "Here he is!" said Shock.

  "Alive !" said Lock.

  "Just like we said," Barrel chimed in.

  "Grab ahold, my boy!" cried the Mayor, lowering a ladder into the late Oogie's lair. "Everyone's waiting for you!" He and the trick-or-treaters pulled Jack out of the dungeon and into the town square.

  As Jack appeared, the adoring crowd cheered its greeting.

  And then another greeting was heard from the sky. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" came a deep, jolly voice from above. "Merry Christmas to one and all!"

  The citizens of Halloweenland looked up. There was Santa Claus, sailing across the moon in a sleigh laden with gifts. Jack waved at him. As if in reply, something soft, white, and cool drifted down. It was Santa's Christmas gift to Halloweenland--snow!

  A cry of goodwill and happiness filled the air. The Christmas spirit had come to Halloweenland at last.

  High above the town square, Sally the Rag Doll watched the celebration with a wistful smile on her face. The moon was full. The snow was beautiful. The world was content. Only Sally's heart was filled with yearning.

  She sighed. Would her loneliness ever end? Would Jack ever love her, too? She picked a flower and pulled off its petals one by one. "He loves me, he loves me not," she whispered.

  A long, elegant figure made its way across the snowy ground until it stood next to her.

  Sally the Rag Doll looked up, hardly daring to hope.

  "He loves you," said Jack Skellington.

  E P I L 0 G U E .

  Santa never forgot that Christmas Eve; it was the longest one of his life. But though it was frightening, even terrifying at times, Santa remembers Jack Skelhngton fondly.

  For the truth is that Santa actually enjoyed himself that night. In a strange way, one he hardly understands, the thrills and chills were actually fun. Of course, Santa has never revealed this to another living soul--not even to Mrs. Claus or his most trusted elves.

  They never suspect that every now and then, when he's feeling just the tiniest bit bored with his jolly, cheer-delivering life, Santa climbs into his sleigh and disappears for a while.

  And where does he go?

  To Halloweenland, to visit Jack.

  And there the two old friends sit, reminiscing about the way they met and sharing a joke or two about Jack's fascination with Christmas--and Santa's secret affection for Halloween.

  At the end of every visit, Santa always asks Jack the same question.

  "Jack, my boy," he says with a twinkle in his eye, "if you had it to do all Over again, would you? Could you?"

  To which Jack always replies, with a smile of pure delight, "Of course I would. Wouldn't you?"

 

 

 
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