“GINGER’S GINGERBREAD DISASTER” by Danie Dreadful #MicroTerrors
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We all dream, but for some people, what should be a time for their bodies and minds to rest turns into a nightmare from which they cannot escape. Our next Weird Darkness live stream is Saturday night, December 28th on the Weird Darkness YouTube channel. And during the live broadcast, I'll share some of these chilling nighttime stories.

Tales of shadow people, sleep paralysis, and demons who stalk their victims in that place between dreams and reality. I'll share true tales of prophetic dreams, some joyful, some not. Sleepwalking incidents that are both amusing and disturbing. I'll also share real stories of night terrors so horrifying that sleep

became something to fear and dread for those victimized by the night. You might not want to sleep after joining our next live-screen. It's Saturday, December 28th at 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern. On the lighter side, I'll also be responding to comments and questions live on the air and doing a giveaway of some Weird Darkness merch.

Prepare yourself for our next live scream for chilling tales of what some people must endure in an attempt to get some sleep. Find the details on the live screen page at WeirdDarkness.com. Ah!

Welcome to Micro-Terrors. Scary stories for kids. Where it's always the spooky season. Full of chills. Thrills. And spine-tingling spooks.

Micro-terrors are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up. And while our stories are for younger ears, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended. Now, for tonight's Micro-Terror. Micro-Terror

"Ginger's Gingerbread Disaster" by Danny Dreadful "It's December 16th!" shouted Ginger from a distance. She burst out of her room with her pen and notebook in hand and darted for the kitchen. "And you know what that means?" Ginger's mother, Debbie, exclaimed. "It's…" Ginger was already sifting through the pantry before her mother could finish her sentence. "Tomorrow is the holiday fair, which means the gingerbread bake-off competition!" Ginger cried.

She was smiling ear to ear. This was a very special year for Ginger. This was the year she could finally enter the competition without an adult. This was the year she would bake all on her own. It was a rite of passage for all the women in her family. She, like all the others before her, took this very seriously.

To Ginger, this was more than a light-hearted competition. She longed to please her mother, especially given the significance of this event being tied to her namesake. "Before you go raiding the pantry, you'll need this." Debbie grabbed her cookbook and pulled out Nan's gingerbread cookie recipe. She smiled warmly as she reminisced about the holidays spent in the kitchen with Nan. It was a magical time.

They'd bake gingerbread men while listening to Christmas songs as the snow glistened through the tiny window that sat just above the kitchen sink. It was always snowing whenever they baked the gingerbread men, and that was the real magic. Debbie carefully handed Ginger the recipe. "You must be very careful with this recipe, Ginger," her mother said sternly. These were not just any ordinary cookies. They were award-winning.

The recipe had been passed down from generation to generation, and it was Ginger's turn to "wow" the judges this year. As she stood in the pantry with her recipe in hand, she began making a checklist of all the ingredients needed. She checked off each ingredient one by one. Until Ginger furrowed her brow and frowned. "What's wrong, sweets?" Debbie asked, already knowing what her daughter would say.

"I have all the ingredients in the pantry except for one. I don't know what the 'special' ingredient is," she sighed. "Oh, don't you worry about that. Once you get to baking, I'll be sure to share it with you." "Thanks, Mom. You're the best," Ginger gave her mother a big hug, then continued to pull all the goods needed from the pantry. Now it was time to get baking.

Ginger grabbed a big mixing bowl and added in the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves, baking soda, eggs, brown sugar, unsalted butter, molasses, and of course, fresh ginger. She was just about finishing up when she called out for her mother to bring the special ingredient. She was as giddy as could be as she impatiently waited for her mother to enter the kitchen. Debbie arrived holding a small brown leather satchel.

It looked as old as time. The leather was weathered and worn out, and it was tied shut by a single piece of gold thread which was barely hanging on. Ginger was not expecting the special ingredient to be packaged in such a way, but she did not question it. She was too eager to finish up her hopefully award-winning cookies.

"Now only add a dash of this. Do not add any more, do you hear me, Ginger? It is very important that you abide by this rule no matter what." Debbie's tone was forbidding, and Ginger took note of the sternness in her mother's voice. Ginger eagerly nodded her head in agreement and impatiently reached for the satchel, almost tearing it from her mother's hands. "I'll be in my office if you need anything, honey."

She thanked her mother and shooed her out of the kitchen as she added in the final touch. Ginger shaped her fingers into a pinch-like state and dug into the satchel. "Perfect!"

Just as she was about to mix all the ingredients together, she heard a faint whisper. She shrugged it off and plugged in her hand mixer, chalking it up to her overly active imagination. This time the whispers grew louder, and it sounded as though someone or something was trying to get her attention. She could not pinpoint where the sound was coming from until she saw it.

The leather satchel was glowing an iridescent green color, and the whispers were now audible. It sounded like someone was in her ear. No, in her head. More of me if you want to win, the voice said. Do it now before your mother comes back.

"If you don't add more of my delicious spices, you will never win. You will be a disgrace to your family. Is that what you want?" Ginger was in a state of shock. What in the world was she witnessing right now? On the one hand, she didn't want to disobey her mother, but on the other, she couldn't bear the thought of being the first girl in her family to lose the competition.

The voice spoke again, this time in a softer, more gentler tone. "Go on, just a few more pinches. That will do the trick, I promise." Ginger, knowing full well she should have ignored the voice, went over to the satchel, took three more pinches and mixed them into the batter. She did not care what the repercussions would be, she just needed to win. "Good, good, child.

"You are sure to win now, I promise," the voice hissed, and with one last menacing laugh the green glow dissipated and the voice faded away. "Hahahaha!" Ginger continued on. She mixed up the batter, rolled out her dough, cut out gingerbread shapes and put them in the oven. BAKESALE DAY

Ginger walked into the dimly lit gymnasium. It looked like a scene straight out of a Hallmark movie. Santa's sleigh was front and center, surrounded by his little helpers. Hand-cut snowflakes were dangling from the ceiling and walls as a snow machine blasted artificial snow. Christmas lights glimmered all around. There was a menorah and a ten-foot Christmas tree both shining brightly.

Various vendors sold hot cocoa, popcorn, and other goodies that Ginger was sure to indulge in after the competition. This was certainly her favorite day of the year. It would be even more so once she won the competition. As she was taking in the sights, she saw it – the life-sized gingerbread man cutout holding a sign that read "Gingerbread Competition."

She grew giddy and raced over cookies in tow to set up her booth. As the judges made their rounds, savoring each cookie one bite at a time, they finally made their way to Ginger's booth. Her palms were sweating and her heart was racing as they each reached for a perfectly shaped and beautifully decorated gingerbread man.

Just as one of the judges was about to dig into her cookie, a green glowing mist emerged. It was the exact same mist that appeared in Ginger's kitchen. Not long after the mist took over, a familiar, eerie voice echoed through the gymnasium speaking in an unknown tongue. Debbie stopped dead in her tracks with a look of pure terror upon her face. She looked over at Ginger, whose facial expression was of equal terror.

Debbie raced towards Ginger, but it was too late. The once nearly three-inch gingerbread men were now a staggering nine feet tall and terrorizing the patrons of the bake sale. They began by knocking down the booths of Ginger's competitors. Then they tore each decoration down, one snowflake at a time. People screamed in horror and tried to take cover as they watched the monstrous cookies come to life and take over the fair.

Then a voice whispered in Ginger's ear, "See? I told you you'd win. If there's no competition, you win by default." The once picturesque fair was now giving more horror vibes than Hallmark. Debbie shot Ginger a look of disappointment as she watched the events unfold. Luckily, she was prepared for the worst. She pulled out a worn-out leather satchel which contained a purple powder.

She started sprinkling the powder around herself, creating a circle while reciting an incantation. But just as she shouted the last word into the air, everything froze and began to rewind. Ginger was once again standing in front of the judges, but this time there was no mist, no giant gingerbread men, and the look of terror on the judges' faces was replaced with cheerful smiles.

Ginger ultimately claimed the title of Best Gingerbread Cookie Baker, along with a lesson that would forever stay with her. She learned to never disobey her mother's warnings ever again.

Thank you for listening to MicroTerrors. Join us each Saturday for another scary story. For more fun, visit our website at microterrors.com, where we will also have spooky games you can print out and play, like wicked word searches, mysterious mazes, and more.

Microterrors.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you'll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon for Microterrors, Scary Stories for Kids.

Hey Weirdos, our next Weirdo Watch Party is this coming Saturday, and this one is extra special as it's our Christmas Watch Party, and yours truly plays a part in it. Our hostess, Mistress Malicious and her team at Mistress Peace Theater have recreated and re-edited the film for all of the funny stuff you'd expect from them, and they replaced all the narration throughout with my own narration, even keeping a few of the ad-libs I tossed in.

It's Santa Claus from 1959, sometimes known as Santa Claus vs. the Devil. It tells the story of the devil showing up at Christmas time, determined to ruin it all and ruin some children in the process. But Santa refuses to let Christmas be tainted and even teams up with Merlin the magician to help defeat the devil so Christmas can be saved.

Santa Claus, or Santa Claus vs. the Devil, hosted by Mistress Peace Theater. It's this Saturday night, 10 p.m. Eastern, 9 p.m. Central, 8 p.m. Mountain, 7 p.m. Pacific, on the Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com. The Weirdo Watch Party is always free to watch. Just tune in at showtime and watch the movie with me and other Weirdo family members, and often the horror hosts join in the page's chat box with us too. We'll see you next time.

Mistress Malicious brings us Santa Claus or Santa Claus versus the Devil this Saturday night for our next weirdo watch party. I hope to see you there. Get the details on the watch party page at weirddarkness.com.