From PRX, this is the Moth Radio Hour.

I'm your host, Chloe Salmon.

To me, the most beautiful thing about stories is a simple thing.

The storyteller extends their hand and says, I have something to show you.

And the listener takes their hand and says, thank you.

I'll come and see.

And suddenly, you can be in a whole new world with a generous guide by your side.

So in this episode,

four stories that take place in peculiar,

mysterious, and wondrous new worlds.

First up is Amir Baghdachi,

who gives us behind-the-scenes look

at what goes into creating a Halloween haunting.

He told it at a story slam in Ann Arbor, where we partner with Michigan Public.

Here's Amir, live at the Maw.

All right, Amir.

Okay, listen, this is going to be educational.

Look, I don't know if you know this, but children are the future, okay?

And we have to teach them.

We owe it to them to teach them facts, to teach them history.

Which is why when I was invited to dress up as a mummy and frighten some suburban school kids on a haunted hayride, I put my foot down. I was like, one,

if you consult the ancient Egyptian papyri, chasing tractors is not something the mummy

...