Hello again R. L. Stein Story Club members. I'm Ivy, your ghostly host and keeper of those strange and spooky tales from the hidden vault of R.L. Stein. Today is another chilling tale. This wild tale story club members might bring out the beast in you. It's one I call

Friday Night Frights. The October rain poured down in the stadium. What a crappy night for a

football game, Billy Bland thought. I'd much rather be at home playing the retro bowl football

game on my iPad than playing out here in this miserable wet and muddy night.

Well, not that he was actually playing. He was benched and had been all season. He was only there to run the ball if one of the other better players was hurt or needed a rest. Let's face it,

Billy wasn't a good player and he knew it. His heart just wasn't in the game. Somewhere in the

stands was his dad, Jobland, who had pushed him into playing fifth-grade tackle

football.

Billy liked football, and he was decent at catching a ball and running, but he just wasn't as good

as he could be because it wasn't his idea to join the team.

It was his father's.

His coach even asked him this, and Billy foolishly admitted that he was playing for his

dad to make him proud. So, here Billy was, playing for the Winstonville Wolves. They were behind ten points.

The neighboring town of Granger, the Granger Giants, were stomping them into the muddy field. Billy

was glad to be benched. He also wasn't feeling too well, not surprising. He hadn't felt well since he'd been bitten by a wild animal a month ago on Labor Day weekend.

He'd been up with his dad and mom on a hike and they'd gone out later than usual.

A beautiful full moon had risen over the mountain. Billy had strayed behind his parents as they were heading down the winding trail.

Then something huge jumped out of the bushes, threw him down, and

bit him. It all happened so fast he didn't even know what was going on. It was his scream

that alerted his parents. They turned, but they only saw something massive and hairy diving

back into the tree line. Billy's mom tied up his bleeding wound with a scarf and they headed

down the mountain. Billy fell in and out of consciousness as his parents rushed him to the hospital.

...