College was grueling and everyone was getting weighed down by so much work. Halloween was coming up and six young students were looking forward to spending it together in the woods nearby the town. It had a reputation of being the spookiest spot with old tales of monsters roaming through the woods, especially the dreaded Banshee. All the locals knew the stories and would tell them freely to all the newcomers in town, but no one would give any proof of the tales. They told of many who would venture out to the woods at night, yet no one ever stayed all night because of the stories and the sounds they heard while out there. When asked why no one has ever seen or tracked down these banshees they were told that the banshee were shapeshifters and would hide during the day as one thing and come out at night as themselves. The only defense from the banshee was the campfire. They couldn’t change into their natural form except in the dark, so no one has ever seen one and live to tell about it. You could tell if one was in the area by the screams. It would sound like a woman screaming for her life. During the nights of the full moon it was said that an outline of the creature could be seen in the distance, amongst the tree lines. This Halloween weekend was the weekend of the full moon. Everything was perfect for the scariest night of the year.

One old man in town boasted about staying out all night in the woods many times. He wanted to write and tell stories to sell to the general public. Everyone knew him as a crazy old man and his wild appearance added to the stories he told. He told of his many adventures into the woods and heard the sounds of the banshee and even thought he had seen the outline of one during the full moon. He would always respect the stories in case they were true by staying awake all night and keeping a fire going until daybreak. Then he felt safe enough to go to sleep. All the young students loved this old man with all the crazy stories and the six asked him if he would like to join them for their camping trip that following weekend. The old man hesitated at first and saw a chance to work on his storytelling while having a captive audiance. The old man laughed and said that they wouldn’t last the night out there. It was on, they would all meet early in the morning on Saturday and head out to the woods. The old man promised them a fantastic last meal and went home to prepare for the outing.

That Saturday everyone met the old man in town at one of the restaurants and had a big breakfast before heading out to the woods. Everyone was laughing and taunting each other with anticipation of being scared to death that night. Even the old man was jovial and saying that before the night was through that they all will be crying for their mamas.

As they arrived at the site they all began to set up their tents in a clearing, suggested by the old man. He told them that they would be able to see anything that would come up on them and they could get to their vehicle in plenty of time to be safe from whatever was out there. The girls insisted upon it and it became so. Lots of wood was brought into camp, enough to last the whole night if the old man’s stories would last that long.

As promised, the old man made a feast worthy of kings for all of them. The air was chilled and the campfire was made strong to counter the cold. Blankets were brought out and the stories began. A bag of reafer was brought out and to everyone’s delight the old man joined happily in with them. It wasn’t often that he smoked, but would jump at the chance whenever it came along.

The old man’s stories grew wilder and wilder and was only broken by the described sounds made in the distance. Screams were heard and movement all around made the stories come alive. The old man would ease their fears by describing other creatures of the woods making the sounds they heard. At one point, late that night, two of the youths declared that they saw something along the tree line that they thought could have been the banshee. The others laughed and said that the old man’s stories were getting to them.

Soon the wood for the fire ran dangerously low and everyone was wondering if they had enough wood to last until daybreak. Of course the old man, laughing, asked if anyone was brave enough to get more. About an hour before daybreak the wood was almost gone and a brave volunteer stepped up to the plate and ventured out to get more wood. The old man snickered and told the others that they won’t be seeing him again.

Several minutes passed by and the brave lad was still gone. Another loud scream sounded and the old man said that he has met the banshee. Everyone started to get worried as the fire began to go out. The embers were still glowing bright and everyone started to look to the old man to guide them into looking for the missing boy. As the embers faded away they saw the old man starting to change shape. His hair grew all over and his nose and jaw formed like a wolf’s snout. His eyes started to glow red and his hands turned into claws. Then as the light dimmed they could hear him scream. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”