Countdown to Halloween!

by Charles M. Schulz

  Linus clapped. “Great! This is the one!”

  Snoopy nodded again, then grabbed a tiny pumpkin and placed it under his head to use as a pillow. Now it’s finally time for a quick snooze, he thought and closed his eyes.

  But suddenly the sound of a girl yelling startled both Snoopy and Linus. “Hey, you two! Get out of here, or I’m calling the police!”

  Snoopy panicked and hid behind Linus.

  The girl ran up to Linus. “Gotcha!” she shouted. “Don’t even think about trying to run away! I am faster than you, and I will catch you every time. So stay right where you are, thief!”

  She glared at Linus. She wasn’t kidding around. She was really angry at him.

  Linus was confused. “Thief? I don’t understand,” he said. “What have I done? I’m just trying to pick the most sincere pumpkin patch to wait for the Great Pumpkin! I would never steal anything—otherwise the Great Pumpkin may not come and bring me anything on Halloween night!”

  Now it was the girl’s turn to look confused. “Most sincere pumpkin patch? Great pumpkin?” the girl said. “Kid, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I guess it’s okay. I thought you were stealing pumpkins! Okay, carry on. Happy Halloween!”

  A Story for October 19

  Go Away!

  Linus realized he hadn’t been able to convince anyone that the Great Pumpkin was real, and the Great Pumpkin was probably very sad.

  That night, Linus wrote the Great Pumpkin a letter.

  Dear Great Pumpkin,

  I know you must be sad that I haven’t gotten anyone else to believe in you. I have been trying very hard, but I promise to try even harder.

  As a matter of fact, I am going to visit some of my neighbors tomorrow and tell them about you. I’m sure they will be very interested, and by the time Halloween is here, you will see a pumpkin patch filled with new friends.

  I am looking forward to meeting you soon.

  Sincerely,

  Linus van Pelt

  Linus mailed his letter, and later that night, he dreamed he was in a pumpkin patch filled with happy, smiling people, all cheering for the Great Pumpkin. When he woke up, he was determined to make his dream come true!

  It was Saturday, and so right after breakfast, Linus decided to visit some of his neighbors. He picked a pretty house with a bright white door and a big pumpkin on the porch.

  Linus thought the pumpkin was a good sign. He rang the doorbell.

  “Go away!” a girl’s voice yelled.

  But Linus was determined to talk to someone new about the Great Pumpkin.

  “Hello?” Linus shouted back. “I’d just like to speak with you for a few minutes—”

  “You had better leave right now!” the voice shouted. “Or I’m sending my dog out to get you!”

  Now Linus was nervous! He wanted to talk about the Great Pumpkin, but at the same time, he didn’t want to get bitten by a dog.

  “Okay, okay! I’m leaving!” Linus said hurriedly. “I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  Suddenly, a girl peeked out the front door.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” Linus said back. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. Please don’t have your dog bite me.”

  “That’s okay,” the girl said. Then she shrugged. “I don’t even have a dog.”

  A Story for October 20

  Lucky Snoopy

  Halloween was Snoopy’s favorite holiday. This Halloween, he was dressed up as a World War I Flying Ace. He wore a red scarf, goggles, and a cap. He got a lot of looks everywhere he and Charlie Brown went. But Snoopy didn’t mind. He loved being the center of attention!

  Soon Snoopy and Charlie Brown saw someone walking down the street in a ghost costume. A cloud of dirt swirled at the ghost’s feet.

  “Happy Halloween, Pigpen,” Charlie Brown said.

  “How did you know it was me?” Pigpen asked.

  Soon Lucy arrived, dressed as a witch, and the four of them set off to go trick-or-treating together.

  They walked up to the first house and rang the doorbell. A grown-up opened the door.

  “Trick or treat!” Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Pigpen said.

  Woof! Snoopy barked.

  The grown-up dropped treats into their bags one by one.

  Once they were back on the sidewalk, Lucy peered inside her bag. “Awesome, I got a lollipop!” she said.

  “I got a piece of chocolate,” Pigpen said.

  Snoopy looked inside his bag, beaming. He pulled out three giant candy bars.

  At the next house, Lucy got a stick of gum. Pigpen got taffy. Meanwhile, Snoopy received five peanut butter treats and taffy and gum!

  “That’s not fair,” Lucy complained. “Snoopy is just a dog! And he doesn’t even say ‘trick or treat’ or ‘thank you!’ ”

  I’m more than just a dog, Snoopy thought. I’m the famous World War I Flying Ace!

  As they went from house to house, Snoopy always received the most candy.

  Finally, after a girl gave Snoopy two full handfuls of gumdrops, Lucy couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “Why did you give him more candy than me?” she demanded.

  “Are you kidding?” the girl said. “Just look at him! That’s the best costume I’ve ever seen. I almost thought he was a real dog!”

  “Good grief,” Charlie Brown mumbled.

  Snoopy just clutched his full treat bag and giggled.

  It happened over and over again. Snoopy got the most candy at every house they went to.

  “It’s not fair,” Lucy repeated.

  Snoopy just shrugged. What can I say? he thought. I’m just a lucky dog!

  A Story for October 21

  Sally Loves Nicknames

  One Halloween, Sally agreed to wait for the Great Pumpkin with Linus in the pumpkin patch.

  She was thrilled. Of course, Sally would have been thrilled to do absolutely anything with Linus. She thought Linus was wonderful!

  “So now that we are here, what do we do?” she asked Linus.

  “We just sit and wait,” Linus said.

  “Okay,” Sally said. “What time is he coming?”

  “I have no idea,” Linus said. “He could come in five minutes or five hours.”

  Sally was a little confused when she heard that. “Why couldn’t we have gone trick-or-treating first, and then come to the pumpkin patch?” she asked.

  “Because then we might have missed him,” Linus explained. “We have to be here all Halloween night and wait. To show we really believe in him.”

  Sally smiled. “Okay, my Sweet Babboo,” she said. “We’ll wait.”

  Linus sighed. “Thank you, Sally. But I’m not your Sweet Babboo.”

  Sally smiled to herself. That’s what you think, she thought.

  “Linus, what’s your favorite color?” she asked.

  Linus thought for a moment. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Maybe green. I like green a lot. Why do you ask?”

  Sally shrugged. “Well, Christmas will be here soon. I was just thinking about what type of present I was going to get for you.”

  Linus was embarrassed. “Sally, please. You don’t have to buy me a gift.” Then he smiled at her and added, “Your presence here tonight is present enough!”

  Sally gave Linus a big hug.

  “Oh, thank you, my Sweet Babboo!” she gushed.

  “Sally, I am not your Sweet Babboo,” Linus repeated. “Please stop calling me that.”

  Sally sighed. When would Linus realize they were destined to be together? Then she had a thought. Maybe he does realize it, but he’s just being shy! That was it! He was just too shy to admit he liked her too!

  Sally gave Linus another quick squeeze.

  “Okay, Punkin!” she said.

  A Story for October 22

  Halloween Crush

  Charlie Brown remembered last year’s Halloween party. Everyone was having a great time. Some kids were bobbing for apples, some kids were dancing, some kids were decorating
pumpkins.

  Suddenly, Charlie Brown spotted the little red-haired girl on the other side of the room by the punch bowl. Her back was to him, but he could see her beautiful red hair.

  He gasped. She was wearing a princess outfit and a tiara.

  “Look, there’s that little red-haired girl,” Charlie Brown whispered to Linus. “She looks even prettier than usual.”

  “You’ll never find a better time to talk to her,” Linus said. “Go say something to her now!”

  “What should I say?” Charlie Brown asked. He was suddenly nervous. “You know I’m not very good at starting conversations, Linus. Especially around the little red-haired girl. Whenever I try to talk to her, my mind goes blank. I get tongue-tied.”

  “Just say hi,” Linus said. “Play it cool. Just act natural. You just told me you thought she looked pretty, right? Compliment her on her costume.”

  Charlie Brown decided to take Linus’s advice. He would start a nice conversation with the little red-haired girl. He slowly approached the punch bowl and took a deep breath.

  Linus is right, Charlie Brown thought. What do I have to lose?

  Then he tapped the little red-haired girl on the shoulder.

  “Excuse me,” Charlie Brown said. “I just wanted to tell you I really like your costume. But you look like a princess every day to me.”

  The girl turned around, and it was Peppermint Patty wearing a red wig! She gave Charlie Brown a huge smile.

  “Gee, thanks, Chuck,” she said. “Ha! Wait until I tell Marcie. I always knew you liked me, you sly dog!”

  Charlie Brown gulped. Not only did he not get a chance to talk to the little red-haired girl, but now Peppermint Patty was convinced he liked her!

  Good grief!

  A Story for October 23

  Halloween Means Naturally Curly Hair

  Last Halloween, Frieda decided to be a fairy princess. She was going to wear a glittery purple gown and a silver crown.

  “The crown will go perfectly with my naturally curly hair,” she said excitedly.

  After she was finished getting ready to go to Lucy’s Halloween party, Frieda heard a knock on the door. It was her friend Violet.

  “Hi, Frieda!” Violet said. “I love your costume!”

  “I love yours, too!” Frieda replied.

  Violet was dressed as a scary vampire!

  The girls headed over to Lucy’s house for the Halloween party. All of their friends were there. Franklin was dressed as a magician, and Charlie Brown was a superhero.

  “Okay, everyone!” Lucy suddenly shouted. “Time for Halloween games! We’re going to bob for apples. You have ten seconds to try and grab one.”

  Violet was excited to play. “Frieda, let’s do it!” she said. “My giant fangs will definitely give me an advantage.”

  Frieda tried to imagine playing. She imagined putting her head in the barrel and coming up with her wonderful naturally curly hair soaking wet, dripping all over her beautiful costume.

  “No, I’m sorry. It looks like fun, but I can’t play,” she said sadly.

  Suddenly, Franklin had an idea. He took off his magician hat and placed it on the ground.

  “Hocus pocus!” he said.

  A few moments later, he lifted it up. A giant purple bow had magically appeared underneath the hat!

  “Here, Frieda,” Franklin said. “You can cover your hair with this bow!”

  Frieda didn’t know how Franklin’s magic spell had worked, but she didn’t care. Now she could bob for apples and not get her beautiful curls all wet!

  “Thanks, Franklin!” Frieda said. “I love the bow. And it’s even purple to match my costume!”

  A Story for October 24

  And the Winner Is…

  Charlie Brown wanted to enter the costume contest at Violet’s Halloween party. He was determined to put together a fantastic costume and win!

  But what should he dress up as? A ghost? A big, scary monster? What about a baseball player? That would be really easy, since he already had a uniform, cap, and gloves. But then he thought his friends would probably tease him because he wasn’t a very good baseball player in real life.

  Charlie Brown decided to ask Snoopy because Snoopy loved to dress up. “Snoopy, what should I wear to Violet’s Halloween party?”

  Snoopy pulled out a big trunk with lots of costumes. After rejecting a bunch of them, he pulled out an oddly shaped hat with a feather.

  “You want me to be a pirate?” Charlie Brown said, surprised. But then he thought about it. “I like it!” he said.

  Snoopy nodded happily.

  But as the party drew nearer, Charlie Brown wasn’t sure about his pirate costume. He kept trying new things—he added a puffy shirt, a long velvet jacket, and boots. But it still didn’t seem special enough.

  When the night of the party finally arrived, Charlie Brown walked over to Snoopy’s doghouse for one last look. Snoopy was there with his best friend, Woodstock. They both looked Charlie Brown’s costume up and down.

  Something is missing, Snoopy thought.

  Then Woodstock chirped excitedly to Snoopy. He had an idea! Snoopy smiled. Woodstock’s idea was perfect!

  Charlie Brown entered the Halloween costume contest—and won! What was the difference?

  “I couldn’t figure out what was missing at first,” Charlie Brown said. “But then we realized, every good pirate needs a crew!”

  And then he pointed to Snoopy and Woodstock, who were dressed up as pirates too!

  They were a winning team!

  A Story for October 25

  Second Chance

  Sally had decided to give the Great Pumpkin one more chance. She told Linus she would wait in the pumpkin patch with him on Halloween night.

  So what if the Great Pumpkin didn’t show up? She would get to spend time alone with her Sweet Babboo, and that meant the world to her.

  It was a beautiful starry night. Linus had picked out a spot right in the middle of the pumpkin patch. Sally was pleased to see that her decision had been worth it. She was enjoying spending her time with Linus. They both settled in and waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  After a little while, Sally heard kids laughing in the distance.

  “Do you hear that? I hear people laughing,” she said to Linus.

  Linus looked a little uncomfortable. “Yes, you sometimes can hear kids trick-or-treating.”

  “Oh,” Sally said.

  Then they were both quiet again for a while. Then Sally heard something else.

  “Now I hear music,” she said.

  Linus squirmed. “That’s probably music from Violet’s house,” he told her. “She usually plays the music pretty loud.”

  The music was the last straw for Sally!

  She stood up angrily and exclaimed, “I tried, Linus, I really tried. I wanted to stay here with you and wait for the Great Pumpkin. But Halloween only comes once a year. And Violet throws the best parties. She has games and dancing and pizza! I just can’t do it! I’m leaving!”

  And with that, Sally rushed off, leaving Linus in the pumpkin patch alone.

  Linus didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t promise that the Great Pumpkin was going to show up because he wasn’t actually sure.

  In desperation he yelled out the only thing he could think of that might work. “Sally, come back! You… you can call me your Sweet Babboo!”

  A Story for October 26

  Check It Out!

  This Halloween, Linus had convinced Snoopy and Woodstock to join him in the pumpkin patch.

  Linus didn’t mind staying by himself, but sometimes it did get lonely. Besides, he wanted to spread the word about the Great Pumpkin, so it would be great if other people were with him when he finally did show up!

  “Make yourselves comfortable,” Linus said to Snoopy and Woodstock. “We may be here all night.”

  Snoopy stretched out in the grass, and Woodstock perched on top of his stomach. They enjoyed the
beauty of the empty pumpkin patch.

  This is nice, Snoopy thought to himself. No wonder Linus comes here every Halloween. I could get used to this peace and quiet.

  Woodstock was a different story. He was chirping at Snoopy constantly.

  When is the Great Pumpkin coming? How long do we have to stay here? Are we going to miss the big Halloween party?

  Snoopy shrugged. He had no idea. He just knew he wanted to support his friend Linus.

  Snoopy wished Woodstock would just lie back and relax, so he patted him on the head and told him to calm down.

  Woodstock let out a long sigh. He’d do anything for Snoopy, and he did like Linus. But this pumpkin patch was definitely b-o-r-i-n-g.

  Linus was looking around thoughtfully. After a minute he spoke.

  “I don’t know,” he said nervously. “I just don’t know. This pumpkin patch is so huge.” He pointed to one section in the distance. “The Great Pumpkin could be sitting there right now! How would we know? And what if he doesn’t see us? Maybe he won’t even know we’re here. And how will we ever see him?”

  We’re not going to miss him, Snoopy thought to himself.

  He tapped Linus on the shoulder. Linus looked down and saw both Snoopy and Woodstock had binoculars around their necks!

  We came prepared, Snoopy thought. Come on, Great Pumpkin! Show yourself! We are ready for you!

  A Story for October 27

  Let’s Cheer Up Linus

  One Halloween night, Snoopy and Woodstock decided to go to the pumpkin patch to check on Linus.

  Linus was alone, and he was shivering a little bit. He had wrapped his blanket around himself in order to stay warm, but it wasn’t really helping.

  He was glad to see his friends though. “I thought for sure this was the year, guys,” Linus said.