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Tentacle Kitty This is Meowlloween!

Created by Raena Merritt

Cats, tentacles, spooky creatures! Halloween is here, and we're celebrating with our spookiest plush yet! Join us... if you dare! *International Shipping does NOT include VAT. Please be aware that your country may have fees upon reaching your customs.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Campaign Critters 2nd Edition: Locking Addresses
23 days ago – Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 11:46:02 AM

Hi Everyone,

Quick but important note: fulfillment is coming up soon, so please take a moment to make sure your shipping address is correct.

We've already sent out an address lock notification that should end in about a day, so now is the time to take care of things.

Here’s how to check:

  • Log into BackerKit and open your  Campaign Critters 2nd Edition survey.
  • Review the shipping address currently listed on your order.
  • If anything needs to be changed such as a new address, new phone number, name or any other shipping changes,  please log into Kickstarter, visit the Campaign Critters 2E project page, and send us a direct message with your updated information.

If you backed both projects, please check both surveys. Addresses must be updated separately for each campaign, because changes will not automatically transfer between them. Once fulfillment begins, address changes become much harder to make, so the sooner we hear from you, the better. 

Thank you for helping us get your rewards safely to the right home!

-John & Rae

Very Important Update, Final Shipping Address Needed!!
23 days ago – Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 07:48:21 AM

Hi everyone,

Quick but important note: fulfillment is coming up soon, so please take a moment to make sure your shipping address is correct. 

Here’s how to check:

  1. Log into BackerKit and open your Meowlloween survey.
  2. Review the shipping address currently listed on your order.
  3. If anything needs to be changed such as a new address, new phone number, name, or any other shipping changes, please log into Kickstarter, visit the Meowlloween project page, and send me a direct message with your updated information.

If you backed both Meowlloween and Campaign Critters 2E projects, please check both surveys. Addresses must be updated separately for each campaign, because changes will not automatically transfer between them.

Once fulfillment begins, address changes become much harder to make, so the sooner we hear from you, the better.

Products will arrive at the fulfillment center on August 2nd, so please don't wait to reach out.

Thank you for helping us get your rewards safely to the right home!

—John & Rae

Meowlloween Update: Fulfillment On Schedule + SDCC Clarification
23 days ago – Mon, Jul 27, 2026 at 01:54:39 PM

Hi Everyone,

Quick Meowlloween update: The main shipment is currently in the US and is expected to reach the fulfillment facility on August 3rd. Once it arrives and is checked in, fulfillment begins.

We’ve also gone through the incoming inventory counts by hand. Everything needed to fulfill Meowlloween pledges is accounted for, including the Kickstarter-exclusive rewards reserved for backers.

We also want to clear something up from over the weekend. A small, separately purchased retail allocation was air-freighted to SDCC by Toynk, who runs our booth for us at shows like this. When that shipment went out, we genuinely didn’t know whether it or the main backer shipment would arrive first.

Once it became clear that the SDCC allocation would arrive before backer fulfillment, John was supposed to send an update explaining that. He didn’t get it out in time, and that’s on us. You should have heard this from us before seeing it in convention photos, and we’re sorry.

We also want to explain how Kickstarter-exclusive items ended up at the booth.

John knew that Meowlloween products were being sent to SDCC, but he did not realize that the allocation included Kickstarter-exclusive items until backers pointed them out in the booth photos. Those exclusives should not have been included, and missing that was an oversight on our part.

To be clear, these were limited extras from the original production run, not a separate production run and not inventory taken from backer rewards. We always order a small number of extras for possible replacements and, in some cases, to meet manufacturer minimums. Those were the items that ended up at the show.

We have now double-checked the inventory and confirmed that every backer order is fully covered, including all Kickstarter exclusives, with additional units still reserved for replacements. We are also working to have any unsold exclusives returned to us.

We’ve also asked Toynk to hold any remaining Meowlloween inventory rather than offer it elsewhere until backer fulfillment is underway.

Truthfully, it has been a rough stretch behind the scenes. Our house flooded, our AC gave out in the middle of a Houston summer, and we’ve been working to keep fulfillment and promised content moving while dealing with both. None of that excuses the missed update. It is simply the honest reality of how two people running this by hand can sometimes drop something important.

We’d rather tell you what has actually been happening than pretend everything has gone smoothly when it hasn’t.

On a lighter note, the Meowlloween blankets and golden pins are getting a personal escort: John is driving them to Chicago himself so the fulfillment facility has everything it needs.

Thank you for hearing us out. We’ll update you again as soon as the shipment has been received and checked in.

-John & Rae


 

Need to update your address?
about 1 month ago – Sat, Jul 18, 2026 at 06:34:42 AM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick note: if you need to update your address, you can log into backerkit and do it there in the project survey. If you need assistance, please send me a DM here on Kickstarter, and I'll be happy to help. 

I'll be checking messages on Monday.

<3 Raena   

My gift to you.
about 1 month ago – Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 07:38:13 PM

Hello everyone! 

I want to start with something I've been sitting with for a while: this has been our longest production timeline ever, and that's not something we're proud of. This collection was meant to arrive by last Halloween, and it didn't. I'm sorry for that (and embarrassed). I know waiting is hard, and it's weighed heavily on me. 

The good news is that the Meowlloween Collection will arrive at our ports within the next week or so, and we will have them in hand in time for this Halloween season! 

We'll get to unbox them and decorate together. I can't wait!

While we've been waiting impatiently right beside you, I found myself inspired to write something. A story set in the same little world our plushies live in... sort of... 

I'd like to share it with you now, as a small thank-you for your patience through a much longer wait than any of us wanted. 

Just a heads up, I will be releasing chapters as I build them. I may need to revise them on a later pass when the whole story is complete. 

This is the first chapter of Becky and the Midnight Ticket.

Chapter One:

The Uninvited Guest

Becky's face hurt from grinning, but no matter how much it ached, she couldn't stop. She couldn't believe her luck.

Somehow, she’d found her way into the Meowlloween Party, even though she hadn’t been invited. 

Becky stood in the eerie ballroom of Meowlloween Manor. Its ceiling arched so high it disappeared into shadow. Overhead, hundreds of ghost lights drifted in the air, casting spooky light on the reflective obsidian dance floor below.

She was surrounded by loud music and the delighted squeals of the crowd, and absolutely certain this was going to be the best night of her life


That was
 as long as no one figured out who she really was.

Becky was a small Tentacle Kitty with vivid violet fur and a tremendous love for Halloween. She wore her favorite pumpkin-orange bow with a skull on it, clipped in front of her left ear, an oversized sweater with a pumpkin-and-bat pattern, and orange-and-plum plaid socks to keep all seven of her tentacles warm. 

Tucked under one arm was her journal. It was standard issue for every member of her family: half guide to major supernatural creatures and phenomena, half blank pages for her own notes and sketches. She kept the cover pressed flat against her side, the way she always did, the bold letter B hidden against her body. She also kept a sharpened wooden stake tucked behind her, underneath her giant sweater, but that was just in case


The night was going great. Not a single creature had cringed at her outfit, and while Becky piled her plate with Wiggling Witch's Fingers and a heap of Pumpkin Mallows, Bast-o'-Lantern herself had complimented her bow.

THE Bast-o'-Lantern!

Bast looked so cool tonight. Usually, she had pitch-black fur and wore gold, Egyptian-style makeup and jewelry. But tonight, she’d miraculously transformed to look just like a glowing jack-o’-lantern version of herself. She’d even gotten the green on her tentacles the exact color of pumpkin vines.

Becky found a velvet chair at the edge of the dance floor, next to a small table, and settled in with her plate, trying not to be noticed. While she munched on a Witch's Finger, she sketched the extraordinary guests of the party. 

Most of the Meowlloween guests were Tentacle Kitties like her, with fuzzy feline heads and wiggly tentacles, but that's not what caught Becky's attention. She fawned over their wonderfully frightening features: fangs, wings, horns, and whatever was going on with that green guy's wiggling face.

When Becky glanced toward the refreshment table, she caught sight of a long-eared, white-faced bunny who didn’t have any tentacles at all. She wore a satin black-and-red cloak, antlers curling from her forehead, and a small orange stain near her mouth. Becky's breath caught.

Countess Dracalope. She'd read about her, a creature who could drain an entire field of pumpkins in a single night. For just a moment, the Countess’s eyes landed on Becky and lingered just a little too long for comfort. Becky tried to wave, but before she could get her tentacle in the air, the Countess turned away.

At the far side of the ballroom, Hexebelle brewed a fresh batch of candy in her Chaos Cauldron. Warm, sugary steam billowed over its rim, curled down its iron sides, and drifted among the dancers. 

The ghost lights made the candy-fog glow an eerie green, and the whole room looked like an incredibly spooky, haunted forest. Becky adored it.

Count Cuddles, a tiny black tentacle kitty with huge, yellow eyes, danced past her, his silky cape fluttering in the fog. She caught a flash of his fang and a wink before he slipped back through the other dancers.

Becky blushed and scribbled faster. She tried to catch as many of the dancers as she could. She captured Mummy mid-twist, and Gargoyle, who was surprisingly light on his feet for someone carved entirely from stone, tap dancing.

She had read about many of these creatures in her family's enormous library, but this was the first time she'd seen them up close. In all of the books in her library, not a single one had mentioned dancing.

A faster song began to play. Becky gasped as every winged guest flapped into the air above the dance floor and arranged themselves into a line. Then the Orange Candy Corn Bat led them around the room in a conga line, kicking out their tentacles to the beat as they weaved through the ghost lights overhead. Becky giggled and hurried to capture the scene in her journal. 

Becky had spent most of the night sketching the party, and she was beginning to grow tired of recording. She closed her journal and rested it in her lap. Sometimes it was nice just to watch
 

Plus, she thought as she shifted in her chair, this wooden stake really needed to stop poking her in the back. 

Just as she got comfortable and relaxed back into her chair again, the energy in the room changed. The ghost lights dimmed, and a slow, romantic song began to play. 

The dancers stopped moving and crowded around the center of the dance floor. Becky, who couldn't see through the crowd, stood up on her chair to see what was happening. 

In the center of the dance floor, for the first time all night, Mr. and Mrs. Nightshade had come together to dance. In his pinstripe suit, Mr. Nightshade knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and offered Mrs. Nightshade a pale paw. 

“Oh, he’s so handsome,” said Bast-o’-Lantern from Becky’s left, “for a cat with no tentacles.” 

“I like his four legs and his tail,” said Becky. “It really makes the suit shine.”

Mrs. Nightshade wore a black hooded cloak, which covered all but her blood-red lips. A grin cinched at one corner of her mouth, and a fang stood out against her lipstick. She gently placed a tentacle in his waiting paw. 

Becky looked away, embarrassed as Mr. Nightshade leaned in to kiss Mrs. Nightshade’s tentacle.  But when the music swelled, and Mr. Nightshade glided with Mrs. Nightshade across the room, Becky couldn’t look away. They swayed and twirled, pausing at the dip to stare deeply into each other's eyes. 

Fluffy, their enormous pet dragon,  watched from the front of the crowd, with little bits of candy stuck to her here and there. Her body was inky black except for her rounded belly, which was covered in scales that looked just like candy corn. She had long horns banded in orange, yellow, and white. Her glowing eyes sparkled with tears, and she dabbed at her face with a giant, glowing, purple-webbed wing.

Something green and glowing darted past the ankles of the onlookers and started circling Mr. and Mrs. Nightshade’s feet while they swayed on the dance floor. Becky could see its skeleton right through its glowing skin. A single rainbow horn stuck out from its forehead. 

“It’s a UNICORN!” someone shouted from the crowd. 

“No, wait! It’s a Rad-Tailed Unicorn!”  Becky squealed. “I’ve read about those!” she said to no one in particular. “They used to be regular Rat-Tailed Unicorns, but they fell into Hexebelle’s Chaos Cauldron once and came out like that!” Becky clapped two little tentacles together, pleased.

More and more of the tiny glowing creatures emerged from between the watching crowd’s legs. They pranced around the Nightshades in a circle until they formed a glowing halo around the couple. 

The whole scene was so elegant and romantic that Becky completely forgot to be on guard.

Then she noticed a strange feeling
 like someone was watching her


She checked herself quickly to make sure her stake wasn't showing through her sweater, when she realized the front of her book was facing outward for the whole room to see. Her family crest on the front of it reflected the ghost light like a mirror.

Her eyes went wide. OOPS. Better hide that.

She shoved the journal under her sweater as fast as she could and froze, heart pounding.

She searched the crowd and saw two dark eyes staring back at her from across the room
 

Countess Dracalope trembled and looked away as fast as she could. 

Becky tried to appear non-threatening. Why would a creature who could drain an entire field of pumpkins in a single night be frightened at a Meowlloween Party?

She glanced around the room, searching for whatever might have spooked her. 

Her eyes landed on a podium standing in the middle of the stage at the front of the room. It was covered in a shimmering black cloth, and Becky noticed that something under the cloth twitched. Behind the podium stood a giant grandfather clock that ticked toward midnight.

She looked back at the Countess, but she’d vanished.

Maybe she's just uncomfortable in a crowd, Becky thought. Surely she couldn't have seen my journal from all the way over there. But just in case
 maybe it's time to leave.

The song ended, and the whole room erupted in cheers. Becky clapped politely as she started toward the exit.

Conversation roared all around her as she pushed through the crowd. 

“It’s happening, it’s really happening,” she overheard from an unidentified creature who had giant red eyes and moth-like wings.

“I know, I can’t believe it. I’ve never been this excited,” mumbled the Plague Doctor from beneath his glowing, hook-nosed mask.

After pushing through the crowd, she arrived at the exit door. Whew, I made it!

Just when she grabbed the doorknob, the sharp chime of a silver spoon striking crystal rang out behind her.

Becky froze, one tentacle still on the knob. She could turn it and leave
 or, she could turn around and watch
 

Becky turned around.

Beneath the grandfather clock at the front of the room, Mr. and Mrs. Nightshade stood beside the cloth-covered podium. Guests crowded the stage to get a closer look. 

Whatever was hidden beneath the cloth on the podium thrashed and growled. Becky didn’t like the look of that. Mr. and Mrs. Nightshade ignored it, and smiled warmly at the crowded room.

"My darklings," said Mrs. Nightshade, holding up two elegant tentacles over the crowd, "the party was a success!"

Screams of joy roared up from the crowd. 

Becky, not quite understanding the excitement, clapped along, but kept an eye on the podium.

Mr. Nightshade smiled, and held out a paw to calm the crowd as he said, “Thank you, thank you.” 

When the crowd quieted, he cleared his throat and continued, "This wasn't just any old party, you see. This party was held on a night when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest...”

"From across the void we heard whispers of wanting, and drew each of you here with thousands of wishes. Now, the time has finally come, at the strike of twelve, to turn this dream into a reality!” Mr. Nightshade declared loudly. 

The crowd burst into cheers again. Mr. Nightshade smiled and nodded, clearly enjoying the applause.

“But first,” he held up his paw again and the crowd quieted instantly. “Miss Arachniss has something special for Mrs. Nightshade, the Hostess with the Mostest, and without whom this party would never exist.”

He bowed low and backed away, and watched from the edge of the stage.

Mrs. Nightshade stepped into the center of the stage and beamed at the applauding crowd. Then, she lowered her head until the hood covered her face, and stood motionless. 

The crowd grew silent. The whole room was so quiet that Becky was pretty sure she heard a Rad-Tailed Unicorn toot.

Becky kept searching the edges of the stage for whoever Miss Arachniss was when she realized a huge, wriggling spider was dangling over Mrs. Nightshade by a nearly invisible strand of spider-silk.

“It’s gonna fall!” Becky yelled out. 

“Shh,” hissed the Death Moth in front of her. 

Becky silenced herself, but her heart kept pounding in her chest.

Miss Arachniss was the biggest spider Becky had ever seen. Her eyes glowed red as she hung there, fiddling with something between her legs. Then she spread all of her legs out as far as she could, stretching a silvery web over Mrs. Nightshade like a giant sticky net. Then the spider dropped, capturing Mrs. Nightshade in the net, like a helpless bug.

It felt like ice water flooded Becky’s body.

Becky pushed through the crowd toward the stage, one tentacle under her sweater, resting on the wooden stake.

The spider circled Mrs. Nightshade like she was preparing a snack. Becky realized she wasn’t wrapping Mrs. Nightshade in more silk, but was adjusting the web on her. She tugged and trimmed, and pulled at the web until it fit on the surface of the black cloak perfectly. 

With a final snip near Mrs. Nightshade’s hood-opening, the spider scuttled back up to the ceiling above the stage.

Smiling, Mrs. Nightshade held up her tentacles to reveal the spider’s gift to the crowd. Translucent strands covered her midnight black cloak like delicate lace.
When the light hit it, it sparkled and glinted and Mrs. Nightshade looked like she was cloaked in a night sky.  

Becky’s jaw dropped open. Then she let out a cheer along with the crowd.  “It’s gorgeous!!” she shouted towards the stage, applauding.

The Nightshades began to count down to midnight, and the whole crowd chanted down from ten: “Three! Two! One!”

Just then the three hands of the grandfather clock aligned on the number twelve, and the clock began to ring out into the ballroom. 

“We did it!!!” shouted Mr. Nightshade punching the air. Mrs. Nightshade began to tear up and the whole crowd broke out into thunderous cheers, claps, and whoops of delight. 

While the crowd carried on, Becky noticed that with each toll of the clock, the thing under the fabric got more agitated. Now the fabric was shaking, and convulsing, as the thing under it snarled, and lunged. But she seemed the only person to notice.

And on the twelfth and final chime Mr. Nightshade stepped up to the podium, and grasped an edge of the cloth.  

“And now
 we are ready
” called Mr. Nightshade. 

“Ready for what?” Becky called out fearing what was under the cloth.

“Production!” whispered Ink-Cap Mushroom to Becky before Mr. Nightshade continued. 

“TO SIGN THE MEOWLLOWEEN MONSTER GUEST BOOK!” Mr. Nightshade boomed, then pulled back the cloth so fast that it fluttered up and flared out behind him. 

“Oooh,” the guests crooned as they leaned in.

Becky was shocked. The thing that stood on the podium wasn’t what she expected at all. It wasn’t a deadly Estonian Sea Devil or even a Chihuahua. Instead, it was just a book. 

Along the spine, in gold, she read: Meowlloween Monster Guest Book. 
It was exactly the size you’d expect for an ordinary guest book only
 it just happened to be covered in shaggy, crimson hair, and was blinking its buggy, yellow eyes rapidly in the light, and... were those teeth between the covers?

Aww, it’s kind of cute, Becky thought.

The book spun towards Mr. Nightshade, and yipped. Mr. Nightshade flinched. The book seemed to like this, because then it snarled and snapped as it hop-scooted after him like some kind of hairy attack clam.

But when Mrs. Nightshade stepped up to the podium, the book immediately forgot all about Mr. Nightshade and shuffled toward her, panting with excitement.

“That’s a good book,” she cooed, as she reached down and scratched it near its spine. The book closed its eyes and leaned into the scratch, purring until she stopped. 

“Now, book,” she said to it. “Will you be a good boy? And not bite any of these nice creatures?”

The book panted and yipped once, then tippy tapped in place.

“I guess that means yes,” Becky said aloud to herself. But she wasn’t so sure she believed it.

Mr. Nightshade leaned forward towards its toothy mouth, talking to it like it was a harmless puppy, “Now you know what we have to do. Yes, you do.” The book nipped at him. Mr. Nightshade jumped back and laughed. “He’s a spirited little tyke,” he said to the crowd.

“Now for the signing!” said Mrs. Nightshade. “Family,” she called, “won’t you join us?”

Becky heard the flap of great leathery wings, and felt a rush of air as Fluffy glided overhead from across the room to the stage. She landed heavily on the stage, then sat tall behind her parents. Squeaking, glowing Rad-Tailed Unicorns spilled onto the stage from every direction.

“Allow us to demonstrate how to sign the Meowlloween Monster Guest Book!” said Mr. Nightshade. “Book, would you please?” he asked, and with that the book opened up flat on its back to a blank page, its razor-sharp teeth pointed to the sky. 

He took a step back, stood tall, and said loudly, “Mrs. Nightshade, the feather!” 

Mrs. Nightshade held up a long, black feather that glinted purple, green, and orange in the light. It floated into the air above them, turned its needle-sharp tip directly towards the book, and waited to strike.

“Now, the quill will record us! It captures who we are, what we look like, and our very essence. It doesn’t hurt at all!”

“Watch! Fluffy? Unicorns? Ready?” The unicorns jumped at his feet, and Fluffy nodded, her candy jewelry sparkling in the light. 

Mr. Nightshade turned to look Mrs. Nightshade in the face, lifted his chin, held out his paw to her, and asked, “Together?” 

She looked deep into his eyes and leaned forward, placing her tentacle into his paw. “Always,” she replied with a delicate nod.

“Then it shall be done!” declared Mr. Nightshade as he lifted her tentacle in his paw above them, then placed them both directly onto the page of the book. 

The quill darted to the book. The tip sizzled with tiny purple sparks as the quill scrawled in burnt indigo: The Nightshades, of Meowlloween Manor.

Then the feathery pen swooped and jabbed so close to where the couple touched the page that Becky braced for a scream. But none came. Instead, the quill began to trace. 

Becky thought it would just outline where they touched the book, but something else entirely happened. 

The quill outlined them in a flurry, then began to scribble so fast that it blurred. It wasn’t just tracing where they touched the page. It was capturing their perfect likeness. First it outlined Mr. and Mrs. Nightshade, then each of the tiny Rad-Tailed Unicorns at their feet, and finally all of Fluffy, from the tip of her nose to the end of her long tail. But it didn’t stop. The feathery pen kept flying across the page, sketching in each fine detail, shading in every shadow.  Mesmerized, Becky watched. The more detail the quill added, the more transparent the Nightshades became, until nothing was left of them in the room and they existed only on the page.

The quill shot backwards from the book, and hung in the air again, waiting. The book chomped once, and burped. Then it opened up to a new blank page, and lay flat on the podium again like a bear trap, teeth gleaming in the open air.

“Oh!” cried Bast-o’-Lantern. She placed a tentacle on her chest and crooned, “What an elegant exit. Beautiful, really.”

Becky blinked. She couldn’t believe her eyes. This must be some kind of illusion! She looked around the room, expecting to see the Nightshades giggling in a dark corner watching. 

“It worked!” cried Hexebelle in a shrill, croaky voice. “Out of the way!” she called through the stunned crowd. She appeared to be gliding above everyone towards the stage, Nevermore swooping clumsily in the air behind her. 

Hexebelle began to rise up the stairs, metal footsteps clanged loudly beneath her, and Becky realized she was riding up to the book on the smiling Chaos Cauldron.

“Wait!” she cried at Hexebelle. “Are you sure you want to do that?!”

Hexebelle turned and cracked a wry smile. “Stand back, Missy!” she commanded. “You can stay here, if you want to, but we want to sign the Guest Book!”

The Chaos Cauldron lumbered across the stage and planted itself in front of the podium. Hexebelle raised a single green tentacle into the air and screeched,  “Nevermore!” The shiny little corvid swooped and perched on her tentacle. “Are you ready?” she asked. Nevermore flapped his feathery wings and began to caw, “Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore!” The Chaos Cauldron stomped its feet with excitement. “Then let’s begin!” said Hexebelle, and she broke into shrieking laughter. “HAHAHAHA!” 

Everything in Becky wanted to grab them and stop them from touching the book, but who was she to do that? This was clearly something Hexebelle wanted. Nevermore, and the Cauldron, too. She frowned as she watched Hexebelle place her tentacle onto the open page of the book. 

The dark quill swooped to the page. It spiraled and looped, burning their names onto the page: Hexebelle, Nevermore, The Chaos Cauldron: Witchcore of Meowlloween.
Then with another flurry of tracing, all three disappeared as they were drawn onto the page. 

The guests around Becky began pressing forward all at once to sign the book, and she was caught in the current of the crowd.

Becky watched in horror as Ghost, then Gargoyle, and even the Plague Doctor disappeared into the book. Nothing she could say would dissuade them. 

One after another, each remaining guest stepped up to the book, and excitedly held still for the feather to trace them into the book, until finally just she and one other remained.

Countess Dracalope quivered in front of the book, staring at the blank page.

“Countess, it’s OK,” Becky said softly to her.  “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” 

The Countess startled at the sound of her voice. She glanced up, and when she realized it was Becky who had spoken to her, she quickly placed her trembling bunny paw onto the page, and with the flick of the quill, she was gone. 

Becky stood in the ballroom all alone. The big, empty room felt hollow without the others. The ghost lights had gone out, and the room was dark and lonely.
The only remaining light shined upon the book. With a heavy heart, Becky wondered where everyone had gone. Her stomach twisted.

She noticed a glint between the book’s pages. She climbed onto the stage and moved carefully towards it. When she leaned close to the book’s gaping maw, she caught the faint smell of old libraries and puppy breath. 

The book didn’t snap, and the feather remained still. 

Tucked between the pages of the book was a shining golden ticket. Words gleamed across its mirror-like surface: Good for One Passage. 

Becky could see her weary face reflected in it, and above her, the quill waiting like the needle of an enormous sewing machine.

But there was something else in the reflection, too. Something moving. 

She delicately plucked the ticket from between the pages of the book. The book lay still and purred.

She raised the ticket to her face to get a better look. Her own reflection stared back at her, again, but behind her stood all the guests of Meowlloween Manor, crowded together as though posing for a group photo. Fanged smiles, glowing eyes, spiky horns, and fluttering wings filled the shining surface. Mrs. Nightshade rested a tentacle on Becky’s shoulder. 

Becky turned to look behind her. But the room was empty. She was alone. 

She looked back at the ticket. There she was again, surrounded by all those friendly faces, part of the group, accepted exactly as she was. Her heart squeezed. It looked so warm. So perfect. Exactly as she wished things could be.

But they never could.

Soon she would have to go home and hide her clothes in the back of her closet, where her family would never see them. She felt hollow.

Her family always said that monsters were dangerous. But everyone here had been so kind to her. What if her family had been wrong about them?

Then another thought struck her.

All of those creatures were so trusting; they just walked right into the mouth of a sharp-toothed book.  What if something bigger and hungrier waited on the other side? 

Would they just saunter right into its mouth, too
?

Becky glanced once more into the golden ticket. The guests of Meowlloween Manor waved behind her. 

She hesitated. 

Then Becky did something very dangerous
 and more than a little foolish


She placed her tentacle upon the open page.

The quill plunged and struck the book below her tentacle. Becky squealed, but kept her tentacle firmly on the page. The tip of the quill sparkled and swooped as it burned letters into the book. 

The quill pulled back. Becky gulped. Gripping the golden ticket, she held perfectly still as the quill struck the page right against her tentacle and began to trace.
It didn’t burn where the sparks hit. Instead, it tickled and itched all the way through her, wherever the quill traced. 

And it didn’t seem to just outline her tentacle.  She felt as though the quill traced her entire being, inside and out. Even the lines of her soul. 

The sound of swishing feathers filled her ears. The room began to fade around her. And just before everything disappeared, Becky saw her name elegantly scrawled on the page below: 

Becky Belmont: Monster Hunter