Free Party Games by R. L. Stine

a crazy Fear!” Eric shouted. “We’re all going to DIE!”
    I laughed and so did a few other kids.
    Brendan rolled his eyes. “Why do I put up with you?”
    â€œBecause I’m an awesome dude?” Eric answered.
    â€œNo,” Brendan said. “That’s not it.”
    â€œBecause you feel sorry for him?” Spider Webb shouted.
    â€œYes,” Brendan said. “You got it.” He waited for everyone to stop laughing. Eric laughed, too. Eric is obnoxious but there’s something lovable about him, too. I’d always wondered if it was possible to have a serious conversation with Eric. I’d never seen him be serious, even in school. Especially in school.
    â€œWe’re going to start with a real old game from back in the day,” Brendan announced. “Later, I’m going to tell you about a game I’ve been developing. I’ve been working hard on it, and I think it’s way cool.”
    A waiter walked down the line of kids with a tray of beer glasses. Brendan took a glass off the tray and drank half of it down. “The first game is old,” he said, licking his lips. “Like it goes back to the nineteenth century. A scavenger hunt.”
    A few kids groaned.
    â€œI thought we were going to play Spin the Bottle,” Eric said.
    â€œYes, you should let Eric play Spin the Bottle,” Kerry shouted to Brendan. “It’s the only way he’ll ever get a girl to kiss him.”
    More laughter.
    â€œNot funny,” Eric muttered.
    Brendan waved everyone quiet. “I know, I know. You all probably think a scavenger hunt is a game for kids. But not in this old house. Once you leave this ballroom, you’re in a different world. You’ll find miles of dark, twisting hallways on all the floors. Some of the rooms haven’t been opened for years. Some of the rooms have mysterious objects, masks, figures … weird things we can’t even recognize.
    â€œMy ancestors were strange. Everyone knows that. And over the years, their interests and hobbies caused them to collect many things most people have never seen. Maybe there are things you won’t want to see.”
    â€œOooowooooo.” Kerry did a ghostlike howl.
    â€œCall the Ghost Hunters.”
    â€œBrendan is trying to scare us.”
    â€œNext he’ll tell us the house is haunted,” Patti said.
    â€œThe house is haunted,” Brendan said. “Do you really think an old mansion like this doesn’t have its ghosts? My dad said when he was a teenager, he took his girlfriend up to the attic, and they both saw a ghost. The room suddenly turned cold as ice. And he and his girlfriend saw someone in the doorway.
    â€œIt was a young woman in a long, old-fashioned dress, like from the 1800s. She was all silver, glowing in a silvery light. Like it was shining out of her, so bright my dad said he had to look away. And when he turned back, she was gone. Dad said he was badly shaken. It was too bold and too real. He never went up to the attic again.”
    Silence for a moment.
    Then Eric murmured, “Good one, Brendan.”
    That got a pretty big laugh from everyone. “Eric,” Brendan said, “maybe you’d like to start in the attic.”
    Eric stuck his chin out. “Dare me? Do you? Dare me to start in the attic? Your dad’s fake ghost story doesn’t scare me, dude.”
    Brendan frowned at him. “Fake ghost story? Eric, you know my father. Oliver Fear. The most serious man on earth. I don’t think he has ever cracked a joke. I don’t even think he ever laughed at a joke. And believe me, he never made up a story in his life. If he says he saw a ghost in the attic…”
    â€œWe’re all shivering and shaking,” Eric said. He did a wild shimmy, shivering and shaking his whole body.
    â€œEric, I’ll come with you.” Delia Rodgers spoke up. “To the attic. I’m desperate to see a