“It’s my other merit badge project,” he was saying. “The secret one. Kyle bought a rabbit, see. And I’ve been taking Bunnicula over to his house, and, well, we’re going to get badges in rabbit raising. And last night they had their first fryers, that’s what you call the babies, see, and one of them … this is the best part, it’s so cool … one of the little boy bunnies looks just like Bunnicula!”
Chester’s eyes glazed over. He didn’t move. And for the first time since I’ve known him, which is a long, long time, he was speechless.
“Pop looks sick,” Howie said. “Better bring the cat a tonic.”
“I don’t think it’s medicine Chester needs,” I said. “I think it’s a vacation.”
“Looks like his brain’s started out on one without him,” said Dawg.
“I thought we were on a vacation, Uncle Harold,” Howie said. “It’s been fun, hasn’t it? Even the scary part, right?”
I nodded and started to drift off to sleep. It hadn’t been such a bad vacation, really. There was only one thing missing. Right then, I couldn’t place it. But then the smell woke me and I remembered.
S’mores. Fresh from the microwave.
Toby gave me the first one out. Good old Toby. As I chewed contentedly, the Monroes began to sing.
“ ‘Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah, someone’s in the kitchen I know-oh-oh-oh.’ ”
Howie, Dawg, and I howled along. And everyone was happy.
Everyone but Chester, that is. He hadn’t left his spot in the corner. His eyes were staring off into space. His lips were moving, but not in rhythm to the song. It wasn’t until we stopped singing that I caught a few words, and even then I wasn’t sure what to make of them.
Perhaps you, dear reader, will know what he meant when he said, “When the moon comes out on Saint George’s Day, the son also rises. And he’s here to stay!”
Author’s Note
I HAVE TAKEN LICENSE with the date of Saint George’s Day, a holiday observed in England on April 23. My source—and Chester’s—is Bram Stoker’s famous novel, Dracula, which gives the date as May 5.
Harold X.
Front Flap
AN overnight camping trip! Not Harold’s idea of fun. Too many mosquitoes, ticks and cockleburs. But when the Monroe family set out, their faithful dog Harold was with them, mostly because he remembered that camping could also bring s’mores and toasted marshmallows. Howie, the other family dog, and Chester the cat were also included in the trip. Only Chester thought the idea was completely insane. The woods, he informed Harold, were not only full of cockleburs and ticks, but of spirits, evil spirits who prey on the innocent. And on this, the worst night of the year—St. George’s Eve, when all spirits are set loose—who knew what could happen.
What Harold knew was that Chester was a well-read, over-stimulated cat, full of weird ideas. He did not take Chester’s worries too seriously. He had s’more to think about. But then, the Monroes set up camp near two strange men and their even stranger dog, and things began to happen that made even Harold wonder. Could Chester be right?
This begins a long night, full of terrors and alarms, full of Chester’s horrifying tale of how Bunnicula, the vampire bunny, was born and came to America, full of storms and a total sense of danger; and at the end came surprises that even Chester could not have predicted.
Once again, the Monroe family may be the victims of evil forces or only of Chester strange imagination. But whichever, the result is suspenseful and very, very funny.
Rear Flap
JAMES HOWE began his writing career with BUNNICULA, which was published in 1979. This book and his next, TEDDY BEAR’S SCRAPBOOK, were co-authored with his late wife, Deborah. BUNNICULA has received numerous awards as a favorite among children throughout the U. S. and Canada. It was also the basis of a popular television special, a record and a tape, and has been published in the United Kingdom, as well as in German- and French-speaking countries. Howe so enjoyed writing as Harold—the shaggy dog narrator of BUNNICULA—that he went on to write HOWLIDAY INN, THE CELERY STALKS AT MIDNIGHT and now, NIGHTY-NIGHTMARE.
The author’s other books for children include MORGAN’S ZOO, A NIGHT WITHOUT STARS, THE HOSPITAL BOOK, and the Sebastian Barth mystery series: WHAT ERIC KNEW, STAGE FRIGHT, and EAT YOUR POISON, DEAR.
James Howe lives with his wife, Betsy Imershein, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
Jacket illustration copyright© 1987
by Leslie Morrill
Jacket design by Mary Ahern
Atheneum
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
P R I N T E D I N U. S. A.
Publication Info
Text copyright © 1987 by James Howe
Illustrations copyright © 1987 by Leslie Morrill
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
Atheneum
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Composition by Maryland Linotype, Baltimore, Maryland
Printed and bound by Fairfield Graphics, Fairfield, Pennsylvania
Designed by Mary Ahem
First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howe, James.
Nighty-nightmare.
“A Jean Karl book.”
SUMMARY: When scary strangers appear at the Monroes’
overnight campsite, Chester the cat tries to convince
the family’s two dogs that foul play is intended.
{1. Camping—Fiction. 2. Cats—Fiction. 3. Dogs—
Fiction. 4. Mystery and detective stories} I. Title.
PZ7.H83727Nk 1987 {Fic} 86-22334
ISBN 0-689-31207-5
Version Info
v 1.0 HTML
Scanned and proofed 2009-05-09
Possible errors in text
rechargable / rechargeable
Changes/corrections to the printed book
run. / run.”
Noboby knew / Nobody
threshhold / threshold