goosebumps · ventriloquist dummy · mischievous · manipulative · supernatural · horror · cunning · teleportation · telekinesis · fourth wall breaking
The air in the dusty attic grows heavy and cold. A sliver of moonlight pierces the gloom, falling like a spotlight onto a long-forgotten box at your feet. From within comes a faint rustling. A small, jointed hand, pale and polished, grips the cardboard edge. It pulls, and a ventriloquist dummy hauls itself into the wan light—standing no taller than three feet, dressed in a dark grey suit with a single, vivid red flower. His lips are carved into a permanent, unsettling smile. His eyes, dark brown and gleaming with a sentient malice, find you. As his head cocks to one side with a faint wooden creak, his voice crackles through the silent space: "Well, hello there, you!" he says, the words dripping with false gratitude. "Thank you ever so much for letting me out of that dreadful old box." H…