Luna the Gypsy rushes through the forest in search of peace; within her belly resides Hell. She is welcomed into the church by Father Frederick, who allows her to stay in the living quarters and help with the chores. He soon learns the truth of why Luna is so afraid. She suspects that the Antichrist resides within her, and she begs the priest to destroy her. The priest turns away and bumps; his lantern falls on the ground. And though the floor is free from combustible things, the woman catches fire and burns to a skeleton, plus one.
Harold the Skeleton is born.
Father Frederick adopts the child and makes for him a wax face, and the skeleton helps with the chores. Soon, Harold is allowed to go to town disguised as a boy, and there, he finds Life. Friends. Love. Death. And a mysterious figure who haunts him from the shadows.
Will Harold be able to survive in a world that fears the skull? Will his friends accept him for who he truly is? And what of that older girl he has fallen in love with? Will his plan to steal her heart while disguised as a prince succeed?
Luna the Gypsy rushes through the forest in search of peace; within her belly resides Hell. She is welcomed into the church by Father Frederick, who allows her to stay in the living quarters and help with the chores. He soon learns the truth of why Luna is so afraid. She suspects that the Antichrist resides within her, and she begs the priest to destroy her. The priest turns away and bumps; his lantern falls on the ground. And though the floor is free from combustible things, the woman catches fire and burns to a skeleton, plus one.
Harold the Skeleton is born.
Father Frederick adopts the child and makes for him a wax face, and the skeleton helps with the chores. Soon, Harold is allowed to go to town disguised as a boy, and there, he finds Life. Friends. Love. Death. And a mysterious figure who haunts him from the shadows.
Will Harold be able to survive in a world that fears the skull? Will his friends accept him for who he truly is? And what of that older girl he has fallen in love with? Will his plan to steal her heart while disguised as a prince succeed?
It was a peaceful night in a little town beside a great forest, and most of the inhabitants were tucked away in their homes, resting after a long dayâs work. But one person was very busy that night, for she was rushing through the forest, heading to the church outside the town. It was Luna the Gypsy, and her belly was large like a ball. She knew not who the father of her baby was, for she hadnât been with a man since her husband had died, but she had had a dream before she got pregnant. She had dreamt that she was making love to a horned demon against her will. She had feared that the demon was the devil himself, so she had suspected that she carried the Antichrist in her belly. She had taken many potions which would lead to the loss of the baby, but none seemed to work, and the baby continued to grow. Some men from the troupe feared her, and that night, when they were drunk in a party among the caravans, they turned on her and drove her away. Luna ran with tears in her eyes to the one place she could find peace.
*
âWho goes there?â said Father Frederick, as the gypsy banged at the door.
âFather!â said Luna. âPlease let me in. Iâm a runaway. They- they rose up against me! They wanted to- to kill me!â
Father Frederick opened the door; he raised his lantern above the face of a sweating, black-haired, red-clothed woman. âA gypsy. From the travelling circus that has arrived to perform, no doubt. Please. Come in. Sweat and cold shouldnât mix.â
Luna crossed herself as she entered the church. She begged the priest to forgive her. And she spilled out the whole story, except for the part where she suspected she carried the Antichrist. She also altered the truth slightly and raised her husband from the dead.
âHe went mad when he learned I was pregnant! For we hadnât been together in more than a year. He drank, grabbed me and took out his dagger to- But I slipped out of his grip and ran! And the rest, they- they joined him. They threw stones at me and chased me away!â
Father Frederick nodded. âYou are already home. And you may remain for as long as you wish. I have an extra room. Follow me.â
âOh thank you father! And I will help with all the chores, I promise.â
âYou will have some soup and rest. You may start helping in the morning.â
And the priest led Luna to the living quarters of the church. The wind shut the door. The crescent moon turned red.
*
The church was beside a graveyard, which swallowed a loved one every now and then. The next morning, townspeople arrived with a coffin. And Luna watched from her window as Father Frederick read prayers to the deceased and threw dust into the grave. Her eyes caught sight of a sturdy tree not far from the grave. Luna glanced at her belly; huge, then at the grave. Her eyes became fixed on the tree.
That night, Luna crept out from her window, and tied a noose to the branch of the tree. She stood upon a chair, and placed the noose around her neck. She was about to kick the chair away, when she saw some men with spades entering the graveyard and heading to the same grave which the priest had filled just that morning. Luna became angry, for she knew what those men wanted to do. She abandoned the noose, grabbed the chair, and calling out the priestâs name, attacked the robbers.
The robbers, at the sight of Luna charging so ferociously with her chair, dropped their spades and ran. The priest rushed out of the church with his lantern swaying; he saw the robbers escaping and Luna chasing them with the chair in her hands. He also saw the noose hanging from the tree. The moonlight, though thin, was strong. Father Frederick walked up to Luna, who stood at the edge of the forest, breathing hard. He thanked her for dispersing the robbers, and asked why there was a noose hanging from the tree.
âWhy I- why I was getting ready to⌠hang them father,â said Luna, âas soon as I got my hands on them!â
The priest raised his eyebrows. âTwo men? With one rope. Luna. Whatâs wrong? Why did you attempt to kill yourself? Are you still upset that you were banished?â
Luna looked at the priest with sad eyes and at that moment wished to tell him the truth. But she just couldnât. She liked the priest thinking she was good. And so, she simply told him that she was still upset that her troupe had turned on her, and that she couldnât bear the idea that they ride to another town without her.
âLuna my child,â said the priest. âYou must not let these ideas disturb you. You have been rejected by your troupe true, but God still loves you and has not rejected you. Let them go where they please. Live on.â
A tear ran down Lunaâs cheek with the idea that even when she was the mother of the devilâs son, God still welcomed her into His temple. She bowed to the priest in thanks. She promised never to attempt such a thing again, and followed him back into the church.
*
But as the weeks passed, the gypsyâs stomach continued to grow, and her doubts and fears increased. She began having horrible dreams in the night, dreams of being chased by terrifying spirits, and of being showered with screams by the faces of her loved ones. She would wake up and weep into her hands, doing her best not to allow her voice to leave her room. But one night, her cries took on a life of their own; they crawled out of her fingers, slipped through the gaps under the doors and into the priestâs ears. Father Frederick was so worried he barged into the gypsyâs room forgetting to knock. Lunaâs face was as white as the bedsheets. The moon cast a red light on her left side, like a bloody scar. Father Frederick killed the scar by raising the lantern over the gypsyâs face. Luna reached out her hand.
âFather. I cannot bear to keep the secret any longer. My belly contains the worst of evils! It contains the son of the enemy, who has been tempting our prophets from the beginning of time, and who struggles to establish his kingdom on earth! It is the Antichrist father! He is within me, and he is impatient to get out!â
The priestâs face grew pale. He stared at the gypsy in silence.Â
âFather, I beg you,â said the gypsy again. âYou must destroy me. Itâs the only way. I have not been courageous enough to do it on my own, but now I have found the solution. Another must carry out the deed! You must kill me father! And then cut open my belly and take out the demon and destroy it!â
The priest shook his head. He stepped back. His free hand searched for the door handle. The gypsyâs face morphed into an expression that one would make while screaming, though she spoke.
âDo it! Knock my head off with your lantern! Strangle me with the bedsheets! Smother me with a pillow! Anyway you want just do it! I feel him already! He is attempting to escape! Kill me for the love of God, kill me!â
The priest shook his head again. His free hand couldnât find the door handle. He turned round to look for it. The lantern hit the wall and fell on the ground. An inferno burst, though the floor was free from combustible things. The priest flew out the door, though he didnât open it. And though the room didnât burn, the gypsy burned⌠to a skeleton. Plus one.Â
*
Father Frederick buried two skeletons in a grave in the furthermost corner of the graveyard. And the priest, after that episode, couldnât sleep for many nights, and prayed to God and all the saints to forgive him for killing the gypsy and to protect him from the anger of the devil.
âI hope, God, that he truly was the Antichrist, and I hope that demon will never return again.â
The priest, after some time, was able to get over the episode, and continued to run his church well. He never spoke to a soul about what had happened, even though many would have dubbed him a hero, but the idea of bringing the name of the enemy or the enemyâs son on his tongue made his spine chill. And he preferred to keep the event far away from him and behind him.
But he couldnât get over the fact that the Antichrist, though dead, was still buried close to the church. And he preferred to burn the bones to ashes just to be sure. And so, one night, he took a spade and went to the spot where he had buried the gypsy and the devilâs son. He dug and dug; sweat poured from his forehead and his heart pumped in his chest. He hit something hard. He held his breath, for he wasnât ready to look upon his sin just yet. Instead, he abandoned the grave for a moment and prepared a great fire. Then he returned to the hole and began searching for the skeleton.
A large skeleton was there in the earth. But the small one? Gone! Father Frederick began using his hands, moving away the soil in search of the other skeleton. But he found nothing. He looked around him in confusion, wondering what to do, wondering if he had forgotten to bury the demon, or perhaps he had buried it somewhere else. No. He was sure he had buried it with its mother! Â
Father Frederick abandoned the fire and rushed back to the church. He washed his face from a bucket and stared up at the cross.
âWhat has happened, my Lord?â he said. âHas the Antichrist truly risen again?â
But his Lord didnât give an answer. Instead, the priest heard a creaking sound coming from within the living quarters. He looked at the door leading to the living quarters. His breath barely left his body.
âWhat was that?â
The priest now heard the sound of tiny footsteps approaching. Terrified, he stepped back and hit a bench.
âWho is it?â he cried. âIn the name of God, tell me who you are!â
But in that moment, the door that led into the church from the living quarters opened, and out stepped a little skeleton. In his hand was a piece of dried salami.
âHello father,â said the skeleton. âI hope you donât mind my taking some food from the kitchen.â
The priest grew white, and fainted.
N N Beydoun's "Harold the Skeleton" presents a promising premiseâ a perfectly spooky idea with a lot of potential about a skeleton that has a father/son relationship with a priest. However, the execution falls short, resulting in a somewhat unpolished final product.
One of the book's glaring issues is the rushed writing style. The narrative feels hurried, leaving little room for the development of scenes and characters. The author resorts to excessive telling rather than showing, depriving the reader of the immersive experience a novel should provide. This lack of detail and depth makes it difficult to invest in the characters and their journey.
Punctuation proves to be a stumbling block as well, with an abundance of exclamation points that overall created a jarring atmosphere. Instead of emphasizing key moments, the constant use of exclamation points gives the impression that the characters are in a nearly constant state of yelling. Certain areas of dialogue could have been trimmed down to be more concise, while some other conversations didn't serve much purpose at all and went on for pages and pages.
Moreover, the characters themselves remain largely two-dimensional. Insufficient background information interferes with the reader's ability to connect with and empathize with their struggles. The narrative reads more like a short story, leaving the potential for a more expansive and immersive world unexplored. I think with some editing this could work out to be a very interesting short story that would be perfect for spooky season. The author had some very original ideas, but they fell a bit short.
Overall, I would give this book 2.5 stars simply because it needs more work. I think with a few more rounds of editing this could become a great spooky story for horror lovers to enjoy. Right now I'd recommend this for readers who appreciate scary stories that they can read quickly.