The one creature that really creeps me out is a bat. I know they’re not all bad, but I prefer they stay far away from me.

When I think back on the creepiest Halloween moments of my youth, I remember one in particular. My parents let me invite five or six friends over for a Halloween slumber party at my house. My parents took their camper to the lake for the night (not even a quarter of a mile away), giving me free rein of the house. The catch was I had to watch my younger sister (nine years my junior).

I had gone all out for this party — I hung paper bats from the ceiling and we had plenty of jack o’lanterns to set the mood as we turned off the lights and listened to ghost stories on a record album.

When I thought something flitted past my head I just figured I was imagining things. Then I saw my friend, Janie, craning her neck trying to make out something near the ceiling. We caught each other’s eye, paused for just a beat and both began screaming “Bat!” at the same time. Seven high school girls and an 8-year-old can make a lot of noise. That poor bat didn’t stand a chance.

With every light now blazing, we rounded up our arsenal — a broom, a fishing net, a few bath towels and a cardboard box. We found the poor bat clinging to a tapestry on the wall in the living room.

After a couple of attempts and lots of high-pitched screaming, we perfected our capture procedure. With the net on the bottom and the broom on top, we managed to sandwich the bat and lower it into the box. With the net on top and towels over that, we all carried the bundle outside, where we flung it as hard and as far as we could.

We made a mad dash back to the house, lest what we assumed was now  an angry bat sought retribution.

When I checked the next morning, of course the bat was gone, much more frightened of us than we were of it, I’m sure.

Creepy creatures to be sure, but I have that little bat to thank for making my Halloween party a howling success.

-Kathy Reed, editor