Free Ghouls Gone Wild by R.L. Stine Page A

the pile of meat began to move. At first, I thought it was just toppling over. But then I saw the rancid green hunks squeezing together.
    They were forming one big glob of rotten meat.
    And then the pile heaved forward.
    I heard a sick
squish
as the meat raised itself, moving slowly, silently. The meat piled high, rising to form a shape.
    It looked like a snowman! A snowman made out of decayed, stinking meat.
    “Uh—uh—uh—” I tried to warn everyone. But I was in shock. No words would come out.
    The pile of meat shifted again. Shifted to form a new shape—a human shape with chunky legs and wobbly, trembling meat arms. It rose up as tall as me! And, with a sickening
squish squish
, it came lumbering toward the dining room.
    I turned, and behind Mr. Grimmus I saw Nicky and Tara enter the room. Tara had her big spell book under her arm.
    “I can't believe you did this!” I screamed. “I can't believe you brought the meat to life!”
    Mr. Grimmus leaped up from his chair. “Young man, are you talking to
me?”
    The meat monster staggered into the dining room.
    “Stop
it!” I screamed at Tara. “Make it stop!”
    “I … I don't know how,” she said.

30
    M R . G RIMMUS WAS ON HIS FEET . His face turned even redder than before, and his mustache twitched. “Young man, what do you want me to stop?”
    “I wasn't talking to you,” I said. “I was talking to the meat!”
    “Max, please—” Mom said.
    But then Mr. Grimmus finally saw the huge meat monster plopping into the dining room. “Whoa!” He staggered back against the dining room wall.
    Dad saw it too. “Max, is this one of your tricks? I
warned
you!”
    “I didn't do it!” I screamed. “It was Tara. One of the ghosts.”
    Mr. Grimmus squinted at me. “Ghosts? Is that a ghost walking into the dining room?”
    I turned to Nicky and Tara. “Do something!”
    The rotten meat creature plopped up to the dining room table.
    I couldn't breathe. The sour stink was choking me.
    Colin jumped up from his seat, a sick expression on his face. He turned from the table, leaned over his chair, and began to retch noisily, barfing up his lamb chops onto the carpet.
    Mr. Grimmus stood pressed against the wall, frozen in wide-eyed horror. Mom and Dad hadn't moved. They stared at the meat monster as it squished and plopped toward them. They were so stunned, their faces were totally blank.
    And then I saw Tara hand the spell book to Nicky. She stepped forward, her eyes on the meat creature.
    “Go back,” she ordered it. “Go back. I created you. And now I'm ordering you to go back!”
    “Aaaagggggh.”
Colin retched up more of his dinner.
    Mr. Grimmus’ face looked green too. He covered his mouth with his handkerchief.
    The meat monster waved its arms and staggered forward.
    “Go back!
Back!”
Tara shouted.
    “It—it isn't stopping!” I cried.
    I tried to jump out of the way, but I was too slow. The disgusting rotten meat creature leaped at me and wrapped its foul body around me.
    “Ohhhh.” The putrid odor swept over me. Istaggered back, fighting hard, struggling to punch it, to shove it off me, to heave it away.
    But the horrible meat clung to me. The cold, chunky arms pressed around my waist. The creature smothered my face. Covered me in spoiled meat.
    Still twisting and squirming, I sank to my knees. “Can't…breathe …,” I choked out.
    I knew I didn't have much time. Holding my breath against the overpowering stink, I dove forward and knocked the meat monster to the floor.
    As it tightened its clammy hold around my waist, I dug my hands into it—and began frantically pulling out chunk after chunk of the disgusting green meat.
    Gasping for breath, I tore at its head. Ripped off one arm and flung it into the kitchen. Dug my hands in and grabbed away a big glob.
    Too late.
    Too late.
    I had no breath left.
    It rolled over. Rolled on top of me and covered my face.
    I lay on the floor. Gasping…gasping…My chest about to explode, I was too weak to