But the look on his face was what made me shiver. His eyes were so wide, and he had a big smile on his face. He looked like he was hypnotized by the music!
There was no doubt about it. This ghoul had to be the Boogie Man!
He was dancing up a storm even before he got to the mirror-box. I felt my own feet start to bounce. Luckily, I stopped as soon as he stepped inside.
Desmond and I watched and waited… then watched some more. The Boogie Man didn’t come out. It was amazing. Desmond Cole’s idea totally worked!
I went to give Desmond a high five. That was when I kind of lost my balance. It was okay though. I was strapped into a safety harness. Desmond always says safety on the ropes course is very important.
Of course, nothing is safe when you’re dealing with the Boogie Man. Sure, the harness caught me. Then it swung me right into the mirror-box!
I came in like a wrecking ball, knocking everything over! I broke the mirrors, shattered the lights, and even unplugged the speaker. When the music stopped playing, the Boogie Man stopped dancing.
Me? I hung in the air like an unwound yo-yo.
The Boogie Man walked over to me—closer and closer. Slowly, he reached out, took my earmuffs off, spun me around, and said, “Groovy moves, my man. I dig your swing style.”
Then that ghoul did a twirl, snapped his fingers, and pointed at me. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Save the last dance for me.”
Then he boogied away.
CHAPTER EIGHT HEY, DJ
Sometimes the best plans don’t work.
At school the next day, we begged our teachers to call off the dance. But we couldn’t exactly tell them why. There was no way they’d believe there was a dangerous, dancing Boogie Man on the loose!
The teachers just laughed us off and said they would see us on the dance floor. It was no use. Grown-ups just don’t get this monster stuff.
After school, Desmond walked home with me. “There’s no other choice, Andres. If the dance is in danger, then we need to save it.”
He was right, but I tried not to show him how scared I was. The Ghost Patrol was all that stood between Kersville and the Never-Ending Dance.
When we reached our houses, I nodded to Desmond. We needed to get dressed, Ghost Patrol dance-party style.
My parents always made me dress up for dances. I had to wear a tie and a nice button-down shirt.
But I kept on my favorite sweatshirt and jeans. Then my mom combed my hair for a long time. When she was done, it looked a little bit like the Boogie Man’s hairstyle!
I bounced over to Desmond’s house. He answered the door, and I couldn’t believe what he was wearing. He was fancy, but he was also dressed for ghoul-battling action.
At school, Desmond and I headed straight for the gym. Now, the gym at Kersville Elementary wasn’t like other gyms. As a matter of fact, our school wasn’t like other schools, either.
Before it was a school, it was a mansion. The town’s founder lived there. After that, it was a hospital.
Now it’s a school, but seriously, it’s one of the weirdest schools I’ve ever been to!
The gym was in the mansion’s old barn. And it usually looks like a barn. But not that night! It had been completely transformed into a disco on the inside!
I couldn’t believe it!
The first thing I noticed was the dance floor. It was a glowing checkerboard of lights that flickered in different colors. Above the dance floor was a disco ball that reflected the light and beamed in every direction. There was even a smoke machine pumping out fog.
“This is going to be the coolest school dance ever!” I exclaimed, smiling big as I looked around the gym.
Desmond leaned closer to me and whispered, “Don’t forget why we’re here: to stop the Boogie Man.”
I gulped. Why did he have to remind me?
“Do you have a plan?” I asked.
Desmond laughed. “I always have a plan,” he said.
Suddenly, a loud voice boomed out of the speakers. “Party people! Are you ready to hip, hop, and groove, Kersville Elementary?”
It was the DJ. All the kids cheered back to her, and the music started. Bass and drums pumped throughout the gym. The rhythm was catchy. I felt my body start to move to the beat. It was the weirdest thing. I was not the kind of kid who liked to dance.
I panicked. Oh no! Is the Boogie Man here already? Are we too late?
Then I looked at Desmond and calmed down. He wasn’t dancing at all. I guess it was just the music that was making me want to dance.
And that’s just what I did. It didn’t even matter that I didn’t know how to dance. I was too busy having fun.
Maybe I was having a little too much fun. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see the danger until it was too late.
The Boogie Man was already out on the dance floor, and he was taptapping his toes! There was nothing we could do to stop him.
The Kersville Elementary school dance was absolutely, positively, 100 percent doomed!
CHAPTER NINE DANCE OFF
Here’s a fact: The Boogie Man has a long tongue. A long blue tongue!
As he moved wildly on the dance floor, his tongue hung out like the crazy ghoul he was.
Pretty soon, all the kids were on the dance floor too.
They grooved right next to the Boogie Man. Even Desmond and me!
Here’s another fact: Dancing with the Boogie Man is hard. Really crazy hard!
Things got out of control so fast. Everyone was moving, and we couldn’t stop, no matter how hard we tried. Our bodies had been taken over by the power of the Boogie Man.
Kids were dancing on the tables, knocking over the trays of cookies and the huge punch bowl with the fruit cocktail floating in it.
Even the teachers and parents were dancing, but they had their eyes closed. They didn’t even know what was going on!
After a few songs, my feet started hurting. I did one more funky twirl on the dance floor and looked at Desmond. “We’re going to need that perfect plan now!” I sang out.
Desmond nodded and did a backflip over to the Boogie Man. He yelled over the music, “Hey, ghoul drool! I challenge you to a dance off!”
Instantly, the music paused, and everyone stopped, except for the grown-ups, who kept dancing and humming to themselves.
The Boogie Man raised his long blue hand in the air. “You look like a groovy opponent. The dance off begins now!”
The beat dropped back in, and I covered my eyes. No one wants to see their best friend get into a dance off with the Boogie Man. But that night I learned something new about Desmond Cole.
That kid could dance!
We all watched as Desmond salsa danced, ballroom danced, and Bollywood danced. He danced the Electric Slide, too! You name it—he danced it.
But it still wasn’t enough. The Boogie Man was doing everything Desmond was doing. And more!
There was no way Desmond could beat him—not by himself.
So I joined Desmond on the dance floor and boogied too!
The Boogie Man looked surprised. Then all the rest of the kids joined us.
The next thing we knew, that ghoul started sweating, then he started to lose his breath. His dance moves slowed down until he finally stopped.
The Boogie Man gave up, and everyone cheered!
We’d saved Kersville!
As he walked off the dance floor, the Boogie Man smiled and said, “Thanks for the dance, dudes and dudettes.”
CHAPTER TEN BOOGIE DOWN
Once we showed the Boogie Man that we knew how to move, his dance curse was lifted. Turns out that all he was looking for was a good time with good dance partners. Luckily, Desmond Cole knew how to boogie down!
Actually, the Boogie Man is a cool guy. He comes over to my house for dance parties sometimes. Even Zax gets in on the fun. He’s not afraid of the Boogie Man anymore. In fact, they’re friends now.
Do you want to know the best thing about the Boogie Man? He loves teaching us ne
w moves. We even learned a few ghost dances. We learned the Scary Shuffle, the Creepy Krump, even Deep Haunted House Music dancing, and something there wasn’t even a name for.
We got pretty good, but there’s no way we could do any of these at the next school dance.
The gym teacher would never allow us to dance on the ceiling!
More from this Series
Escape from the Roller…
Book 11
The Haunted House Next…
Book 1
Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes,…
Book 2
Surf's Up, Creepy Stuff!
Book 3
Night of the Zombie…
Book 4
The Scary Library…
Book 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
Andres Miedoso is still afraid of everything as a grown-up, even after all his adventures with Desmond Cole. He lives in New York City with his family, and he remains very close friends with Desmond but returns to Kersville only when he’s needed.
Victor Rivas was born and raised in Vigo, Spain, and he lives outside of Barcelona. He has been a freelance illustrator for thirty years, illustrating children’s and teen books, concept art for multimedia and animation, and comics.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Andres-Miedoso
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Victor-Rivas
Little Simon
Simon & Schuster, New York
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Little Simon hardcover edition March 2020
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Designed by Steve Scott
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This book was cataloged by the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-5344-6109-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-5344-6110-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-5344-6111-6 (eBook)
Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun Page 2