Ok everyone, ready to finish this year's Monkees tale of terror?

Mike: Please.

Peter: Yes!

Micky: Definitely. :P

Davy: Just don't do anything else to piss off Mick.

*Micky sticks his tongue out at Davy.*

(We open in the ballroom of the Montgomery House, which is decorated in bales of hay, huge corn stalks, real scarecrows, giant monster figures, and pumpkins everywhere. The Martians, wearing their old Martian costumes from "The Audition," play a spooky-sounding instrumental song on the bandstand. The kids sit at a table, painting pumpkins.)

Emma: (Joins them; she's dressed as a medieval princess in a long, flowing red velvet gown and a huge crown studded with fake gems; she carries a plate of cookies, cupcakes, and nuts) Hi, everyone!

Katie: Hi, Mama! Whaddya think? (She shows her mother her pumpkin, who looks somewhat like a witch)

Emma: Very nice, Katie. You're getting to be as good of an artist as Nana Cheryl!

Katie: I'm good! :D

*Micky and Lauren join them next. Micky has an arm around Lauren's shoulder. They're dressed as Tarzan and Jane.*

Micky: Look at all these great pumpkins! :D

Lauren: *sighs* Help me, Em.

Mike: (Shows up in his knight costume with a plate of meat and cheese) I see some real Picassos of pumpkins at work here.

Emma: (Shakes her head) I have enough trouble with mine, Lauren.

*Lauren rolls her eyes. Micky keeps a firm hold around her shoulders.*

Peter: (He arrives in his Indian costume) Hey, guys! (Sits next to Jordan) What are you putting on your pumpkin?

Jordan: Uh, black kitty! (He shows Peter what looks like a lot of black paint splashed over one side of the pumpkin)

Peter: Um, very nice, Jordan.

Bert: So, how's the party going?

Mike: So far, so good. We just finished playin'.

Peter: Valerie's greeting guests.

Micky: Davy and Daphne are wandering around here somewhere.

Bert: So, how's everyone after that very strange adventure?

Micky: Creeped out.

Mike: Weirded-out. This is the second time this year a hotel turned out to be a lunatic asylum in disguise.

Emma: Even I think this is the strangest story we've EVER done, and considering some of the stuff we've written, that's saying a LOT.

Peter: There was a happy ending, though. We are going salvage and buy the Caprice Club and Ballroom. Valerie said she’d call the people who restored the Montgomery House to do the job.

Micky: Both places are fully intact and really have no problems. Salvaging shouldn't take too long.

Mike: Once it's restored, we're sellin' it to Pat and Alexandra O'Malley, our old bosses from the Club Fairview. They lost the Fairview in the flood, and Malibu Beach needs another great nightspot and place to showcase up-and-coming bands.

Emma: No one's quite sure how or why the nightclub and ballroom are the only parts of the hotel that didn't come down during the implosion. There's nothing left of the rest of the hotel.

Micky: It's really strange.

Peter: I think I have a good idea. (Smiles) They were the only parts of her that were still happy, that hadn't been neglected and abused the way the rest of her was, including when Swanford was alive.

Bert: What happened to that diary?

Emma: We all read it cover to cover...then we burned it in the main fireplace in the Montgomery House.

Peter: (Nods) Swanford's been dead for twenty three years. There really wouldn't be much to gain by revealing what the diary said to the world. Most people consider him to be an architectural genius gone mad anyway.

Mike: (Makes a face) "Mad" doesn't begin to describe what that crazy pervert was. No wonder both the hotels he built went nuts. Accordin' to the diary, he'd been performin' black magic on pretty ladies willin' and unwillin' for years, even before he had the hotel built. In fact, one of the reasons he had the hotels built WAS to have a more private place for his affairs.

Bob: This was some pretty nasty stuff, even for you guys. Where did you get the ideas for this one?

Lauren: Our warped imaginations?

Emma: The basic idea of battling a living building was a Lauren suggestion from, I believe, the spring. (Grins at her) I think you said you got it from a show you like.

Lauren: I'm sure I got it from somewhere. I just don't remember at the moment.

Micky: *frowns* Lauren's had a few memory problems since we dealt with the hotel.

Bert: Lauren, are you all right? You were the only one who got really hurt.

Lauren: Physically, I'm fine. I just still don't remember what happened after Alex showed up at the house until I woke up in the nightclub. As Mick pointed out, since then, my short term memory has been even more shot than it usually is.

Mike: Mick, the next time we see Alex, I give you full permission to get really mad at him and knock him through several brick walls.

Micky: I'm sure I will anyway.

Bob: Here's one of the questions that's probably on people's minds by now. We've seen this anger power of yours a couple of times. What is it and where did it come from?

Micky: Well, to tell you the truth, I really didn't know at first, but I think I've had it for a while, but I just never really got ticked off enough for it to come out. Obviously, it wasn't brought on by the devils the two additional times it happened. *runs a hand through his hair* It is definitely something I'll have to work on keeping form using it against friends. The problem is, when it happens, the anger is projected and it feels like I'm watching myself do whatever I'm doing. It's really weird.

Mike: Ya know, Mick, I can help you there. I sorta live with the same thing. At least you're still human when you do it.

Micky: *nods* I'd really appreciate that, Mike. Thanks.

Lauren: And before you ask, Bert and Bob, yes, it was my idea. I thought I'd play on Mick's quick-but-short-lived temper. Considering he HAS been through a lot this year, I figured it'd be better than a mental breakdown or something.

Micky: Always thinking of me, babe.

Bert: So, like Mike's wolf transformation and Peter's empathic powers, this will be reoccurring?

Lauren: Yes.

Micky: *sighs* Yay.

Bert: Peter, how did you know about the hotel and the danger, even before the others did?

Peter: (Sighs) Ever since the main hotel shut down last year, it hasn't felt quite right in that part of town...but I didn't really start to feel those angry vibes until the day of the flood. The neglect of the building and the damage to the roof and ventilator system in the flood must have released the mist from Swanford's private rooms, where it had been for over sixty years.

Bob: You did mention last month that the Caprice didn't feel right.

Mike: (Nods) I remember that. No wonder you wanted to drag the girls away so fast after the "Daydream Believer" romp.

Emma: (Sighs) I know we said this last year after you found the bodies in the wax statues, but believe me this time when I say we will NEVER doubt you again, Peter.

Mike: (Nods) I think we've finally learned our lesson.

Bert: Why make the Hotel Caprice the homicidal building?

Emma: First of all, continuity. We've made off-the-cuff references to a large old Hotel Caprice that had a ballroom in other "Dream World" stories. Second, it ended up tying in quite nicely with July's "Welcome To The Hotel California." Yes, this is the follow-up to "Hotel California" we mentioned in the tag sequence of that story. Third, a homicidal hotel is soooo much more interesting and original than your average haunted homicidal house!

Emma: (Sighs) Fourth, I grew up around real hotels build around the same time period. The two hotels were partially inspired by a hotel in Cape May that was originally called the Hotel Cape May when it was built in 1910. It was the biggest hotel in the area, with a massive ballroom, huge porch, giant restaurant, and gorgeously appointed luxury rooms. (Shakes her head) By the time I was growing up, the hotel was called the Christian Admiral and was apparently used as a religious retreat for nuns until giving up the ghost sometime in the 80s. It was just too big and out-of-the-way to take part in the revival that saw most of the other historic hotels in Cape May restored, not to mention the exterior, at least, was giant and spooky and lacking in Victorian charm. All the kids on the island called it "The Abandoned Hotel" or "The Haunted Hotel" and gave it as wide a berth as possible. It scared every kid in Cape May silly, including my sisters and me, because of the size and the fact that it was the only hotel in town that we never saw anyone go into or out of. Cape May finally decided the Christian Admiral was too big to really restore or do much of anything with and demolished it in 1995, just a few months after my family moved off the island for good. There's condos on the spot where the Admiral was now.

Mike: (Shrugs) Darlin', everyone can probably name at least one buildin' in their lives that's scared the bejeezus out of them at one time or another. There was this old barn near Aunt Katie's that all the kids said was haunted by the ghost of a cattle rustler who died in a shoot out over a local saloon girl.

Emma: In addition to the just-plain-spooky Christian Admiral, almost every building on Cape Island has some kind of weird supernatural story, and there's probably more ghosts running around on the beaches of the Jersey Shore than there are Cape May Diamonds on the beach at Cape May Point.

Peter: (Drinks a dark-red fruit punch and hands Jordan a sippy cup of the same) Did you have to make this one so WEIRD, though? Haunted houses are one thing, but guys, that was blood I washed off my hand after the Caprice came down! The hotel was BLEEDING!

Mike: I was wonderin' about that red stuff when we attacked it in that last romp...

Emma: It didn't start off that weird. It just sort of...happened.

Bert: Hey, what about you kids? You guys all ok?

Jordan: I ok! (He concentrates on his drink; he now has a bright red mustache)

Little Mick: I'm okay! :D

Shelly: Me, too!

Katie: I'm, uh, ok! (Katie checks herself; nothing's fuzzy)

Emma: Unlike last year, or even the last few stories, the worst that happened to anyone physically was a few bruises after the hotel came down. We didn't even need a hospital visit.

Bert: You guys really get into these horror stories. Between this one, last year's, and "Hotel California," you're turning into a couple of Ray Bradburys.

Lauren: Cool. ;)

Emma: The irony is, I HATE horror movies. Too many blood and guts, and I don' t handle "boo" scares well. I'm surprised at what I came up with for this one.

Mike: What was the whole thing with Percival Swanford?

Emma: The idea of a lunatic architect was actually inspired by the original "Ghostbusters" movie, which also involved a city building possessed by supernatural forces, along with the stories of real-life millionaire recluses like Howard Hughes.

Bert: A sex maniac? In 1910?

Emma: (Shrugs) That's what I came up with off the top of my head.

Mike: People did have sex in 1910.

Lauren: It isn't that farfetched.

Bert: This one has a lot in common with last year's Halloween story, too - a lunatic, sex-crazed owner, a damaged building, Peter knows but no one will listen...

Emma: There are a few parallels, but Lauren's "living building" suggestion did make for one hell of a twist.

Mike: Oh, yeah, and we're gonna add right here that, while this story does feature the kiddies, it ain't really for them.

Emma: (Nods) Like most horror films, reader discretion is advised on this one.

Bert: So, what's on tap for next month?

Mike: The movie and the soundtrack are finally comin' out.

Peter: All RIGHT! We're going to be such big stars!

Emma: I'm not too sure about that.

Mike: It's gonna debut in downtown LA, and we're all invited to the premiere.

Bert: Weren't you guys going to be doing some TV spots promoting your movie in the coming weeks?

Mike: (Nods) Yeah. We talked to our old buddies at KLAC again. Junior's dad's gonna let us appear on Arthur Rupert's show and a couple of talk shows to discuss "Head" and the next album.

Peter: And don't forget the special!

Mike: Yeah. Valerie arranged for a huge national broadcast of a live special featurin' all of Headquarters' biggest acts, though mainly promotin' the movie.

Peter: This is so exciting! I can't wait to hear what people think of our movie!

Emma: (Mutters) Yes you can.

Micky: *sly grin* Perhaps we could get a bit of a heads-up on it.

Mike: What do ya mean, Mick?

Micky: Dave and I were thinking about disguising ourselves and going in to catch the other premiere.

Mike: You mean the main one downtown?

Peter: That might not be a bad idea, at that. We'll get the reaction of the real audience, not a bunch of Hollywood insiders.

Micky: Exactly.

Bob: And speaking of debuts...Emma, when is your son due?

Emma: (Sighs) Any day now. He'll probably be born before we start the next story.

Mike: (Grins at Peter) Thanks for offerin' to take Katie in while Em and I are in the hospital, Pete.

Peter: No problem, Michael. We have that huge house, and it's just Jordan, Val, and me. We loving having Katie over.

Bert: Micky, how's your hand feeling? We're going to need you for the promotional pieces.

Micky: It's a lot better now. I just get a minor twinge here and there, but nothing I can't work through. It's about time, too. It was really starting to drive me crazy.

Lauren: Drive YOU crazy?

Mike: Drive ALL of us crazy. We need you in good workin' condition, Mick. Much safer for all our sanity that way.

Bert: Why was this a MonkeeMan adventure?

Emma: We wanted to do this year's superhero story. To be honest, it ended up being a lot less superhero-oriented than originally planned. We'll probably see if we can do more with that next month.

Bob: Valerie, ladies...how's Rosemarie?

Valerie: (As she joins the group) Wonderful. I missed her so much. She's a little bit of a smart-aleck, but she drives like a dream and comes with at least thirty different features Chevrolet never intended for her to have...and flying is great.

Mike: The smart-aleck thing goes without saying. Mick programmed her.

Micky: *grins* I thought she'd be a little more fun that way.

Emma: We'll probably see more of her and of Ursula next month as well. Just as this month was a follow up to July's "Hotel California," so next month's story is intended as a second part to August's "Monkees Underground."

Bert: What happened to Sheila and Alex?

Emma: (Shrugs) They just disappeared. Probably went back to Arizona to concoct their next grand scheme.

Bob: What convinced them to join you guys?

Valerie: Desperation. It killed either of them to admit it, but the mist really was more than even they could handle. We now know that Swanford was apparently using magic not far removed from theirs, but he twisted it and mangled it so badly and was such an amateur at it, it ended up raging out of his - and their - control.

Mike: So no, folks, we ain't gonna be gettin' together with the devils in every story. Sorry.

Emma: It's getting really late, so I think it's time to sign off. (Looks at Micky and Peter) I think you two should have that honor this month. Peter got through to the hotel and Micky got rid of the mist.

Peter: (Grins) Sure! (Turns to the camera) Happy Halloween from all of us at Dream World, and have a great fall!

Micky: *waves* Happy Halloween, everyone!

(Fade in on a black and red "Happy Halloween from all of us at 'Dream World'!" graphic, the font seeming to drip blood. Cut to the end credits, accompanied by "(I"m Not Your) Steppin' Stone" over various stills from the "production." The credits end with a still of everyone in costume on the bandstand in the ballroom, with "A Raybert Production" in dripping-blood font.)