Scream Vacation

By I. Seymour Youngblood

Carter's spring break is a total bust. His family was Orlando bound until his twin sisters, Maren & Macee, sabotaged his dream vacation with their dorky ghost-hunting obsession. Now, he's stuck in some "haunted" backwoods cabin in the middle of nowhere all because his sister's favorite show is filming there during spring break. But what Carter always made fun, his sister's love of the supernatural, turns out to be no laughing matter on their SCREAM VACATION.

• Language: English
• Publisher: I. Seymour Youngblood
• Release date: Aug 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301332960

I. Seymour Youngblood

Author Dr. I. Seymour Youngblood became obsessed with the macabre early in life. In his youth, he performed experiments on small, defenseless , forcing them to watch episodes of Barney & TeleTubbies for days on end and then documenting which ones cracked first. His findings were published in Lil' Psychopath Quarterly. After college, he applied to YELL! Medical School, where he graduated Magna Scream Loud-y. While psychiatry initially intrigued him, Seymour grew tired of helping people. He asked himself how could he influence children's lives, but for the worse? Naturally, he became a principal. At Pfearville Junior High, home of the Ravens, he documented the oddities he saw everyday & titled his papers "The Raven Archives". These are those tales...

Book preview

THE RAVEN ARCHIVES 1

SCREAM VACATION

By Dr. I Seymour Youngblood

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © by Dr. I. Seymour Youngblood

All Rights Reserved.

To my children: Chandler, Koy, Luke, & Jude

May all your screams come true.

CHAPTER 1

THE RELUCTANT VACATIONER

"There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life."

-William Lyon Phelps

A flip of a coin; that was all it took. The difference between a week’s worth of fun and happiness was a simple heads or tails. Luck. Dumb luck. Or perhaps no luck at all.

That was how Carter felt. Instead of rides and parades and people gallivanting around in costumes of movie characters, he was stuck dealing with poison ivy, bobcats, dirty lake water, bugs, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, banjos, and people named Bubba. It was going to be horrible. In fact, horrible was a horrible word to describe how horrible this trip was going to be for him.

He wanted Orlando. He should have gotten Orlando. What he got was Eureka Springs. A week in the Magical Kingdom, Universal Studios, and Sea World, or seven long days at a supposedly haunted resort with mosquitoes and fuzzy satellite reception — it really was no competition. Whatever horrible word is worse than horrible, that was how Carter felt about this trip. It should have been the greatest vacation of his life, but instead it was Eureka Springs.

Ever since he was five years old and saw a commercial for how wondrous a place Orlando was, he had wanted to go there. One year, his twin sisters had flu. Another year his father wanted to go to Gettysburg because he is a history buff and he won a contest, so it was free. And last year, his mother got deployed, so they didn’t go anywhere at all, but this year, this was Carter’s year. At least he thought it was supposed to be.

All year long he told his parents the only thing he wanted for his birthday, the single item on his Christmas list, his only desire in the world was to go to Orlando, Florida, for a week of pure happiness that would fill his heart for an eternity. What did he get? Eureka Springs. Carter did not know anything about Eureka Springs. Carter did not want to know anything about Eureka Springs. Carter wanted Orlando. The only thing Carter did know about Eureka Springs was that it wasn’t Orlando and that was all that mattered.

One might wonder how in the world he found himself in the car driving to Eureka Springs. Simple: Ghost Chasers and Haunted Stories of the Great Beyond.

Those who are not fans of the show are what Carter considered normal. His sisters were not normal. The show followed three people, Dave, Holli, and Rex, as they chased ghosts. Dave is the smart one. He supposedly has a PhD in paranormal activity from MIT or somewhere like that. Holli is the cute one who makes little jokes and has her signature line, Guys, this doesn’t feel right. Rex is the comic relief. He’s always dropping stuff and tripping over tree branches when running through the forests. He’s the Curly.

Carter hated the show, and for good reason. But there are two people who absolutely adore Ghost Chasers and Haunted Stories of the Great Beyond — his twin sisters, Maren and Macee. They love it and watch it incessantly, which made it even more obnoxious, especially the reruns.

And a week in Eureka Springs was how it would end for Carter.

Three months ago, the ghost chasers said they would be filming an episode in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They were investigating the supposed supernatural goings-on at the Rustic Cabin Resorts. That was all it took. A thirty second advertisement and Carter was toast. Instantly, his little sister’s changed their minds. It was goodbye, Orlando. He could not convince them otherwise, and he definitely tried: money, homework, chores, play dolls, watch their shows with them, and even, as a last ditch effort, all of the above. It was no use. Their minds were made up. They wanted Eureka Springs and nothing else. A battle of destinies thusly ensued.

Carter was actually standing in the room when the advertisement came on the air and said, Hey, all you ghost chasers and junior ghost chasers, catch us, Dave…

And Holli!

And the one and only Rex…

At the spookiest campground in North America — Rustic Cabin Resorts. Legend has it that over one hundred and fifty years ago, two young girls, the Elmore sisters, went missing from the area where the resort now resides. Some believe the girls were killed by escaped convicts, Dave said with a very serious look on his face.

Holli nodded and continued, And some believe they were kidnapped by Indians.

And yet some believe aliens abducted them, took them back to their ship, and did all kinds of experiments like teach them how to use telekinesis and how to move through time and how to text and drive, Rex added.

Carter hated Rex the most — partly because he wore his hat to the side, partly because he wasn’t funny, but mainly because Macee and Maren loved him and laughed at his every joke.

Rex! Holli and Dave both said with disappointment. Sorry, Rex answered with a shrug.

Come meet us at Rustic Cabin Resorts as we search the woods for the ghosts of the two missing Elmore girls, March Seventeenth through the Twenty-third.

When Carter heard the dates, his heart sank. He prayed, harder than any person has ever prayed before, that his sisters did not catch the significance of those dates.

A moment later, Maren lifted her head and said, Mom! Macee continued, Can we go to Rustic Cabin Resorts for Spring Break?

Nooooooo! Carter screamed inside his head.

Carter’s mom is strict. She is an active-duty marine. She believes in having your bed made with perfect mitered corners at zero-seven-hundred. She believes in chores and homework before playing. She believes in praying before every meal. She believes in only sixty minutes of television per day during the school year.

So, Carter usually spent as much time studying the TV Guide as he did studying his school books. He had to make sure he chose correctly, because there was no going back. Once the television was on, your hour started, ran through the commercials, and ended sixty minutes later. One time there was a tornado and they kept interrupting his show. It didn’t matter to his mother; that counted as his hour. He couldn’t have told you anything about the show he wanted to watch, but he definitely knew that winds were gusting out of the southeast at 50-70 miles per hour with golf ball-sized hail. He also knew exactly when the storm would hit the little towns… sixty miles away.

Although she was strict, she was also fair. She told the three of them that they had to agree on a place, and if they didn’t agree, she would flip a coin. For nine months, the decision was simple — Orlando, Florida, the most magical place in the galaxy, but then that show came on and his little sisters could not get enough of it. Maren and Macee’s decision was as rock solid as Carter’s opposing view, and it was not long before they found themselves at an impasse. After the coin toss, the result was final, but not for Carter. He lost and was determined to right this injustice. It got so bad that his mother implemented a No speaking of the vacation rule until they were ready to leave. Every time he attempted to reverse their decision, the twins would scream, Mom, Carter is talking about the vacation again.

The punishment would be loss of phone privileges or grounding or worse — she routinely took things away such the computer or video games. I gave it to you. I’ll take it back, she would tell him. So, for the past three months, Carter had no video games, no phone privileges, and no television time because he was constantly grounded. He tried to bite his lip, but then it became raw and he had to switch to other strategies.

On one occasion, he photocopied a picture of a family of five leaving a theme park, all of them wearing hats from Disney World. The family was smiling and hugging. Carter not-so-subtly placed the picture all around the house: coffee table, his sisters’ door, he even made placemats that read: Orlando — the most magical place on Earth. After that, Carter subscribed to every free Orlando vacation site. At one point, their mail had more Orlando junk mail than regular mail.

Alas, it was all for

Reviews for Scream Vacation

[sheriawilkinson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Scream Vacation (The Raven Archives) by I. Seymour Youngblood Young Carter wants to go to Orlando on his family vacation. But his twin sisters, Maren & Macee want to go ghost hunting at an alleged haunted cabin in the woods. His parents chose the cabin, which doesn't make him happy. Soon their fun family vacation turns into something unexpected.A spooky tale for middle school children. I liked Carter he was the average brother, taunting and teasing his sisters. His sisters are typical in their return taunts and teases. A fast paced fun adventure tale for young and adult readers.

[tealbear98 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

♥♥~♥ ♥~♥♥~♥ I won "Scream Vacation" through a First-reads giveaway program, "Thank You!"! ! Seymour I. Youngblood's " Scream Vaction" is well written and the characters are fun and real. The children make you laugh with there bantering and teasing! I read this book with my nine yr old and she gives it two thumbs up! A fast paced mystery with a few chuckles! I recommend this book very enjoyable!~♥♥~♥ ♥~♥♥~♥