Creepy Things

One of the local malls always goes all out for Christmas. In one of the central atriums, they build an ice castle for Santa. It is surrounded by evergreen trees, grazing reindeer (stuffed), and fluffy piles of cotton snow. Santa, he sits on a velvety throne and is helped out by several good-natured elves. The castle extends well up past the second floor of the mall, so people walking by can look out and see what's going on in the top floor of it. Situated in the topmost room, is a choir of mechanical elves. They move about and sing Christmas tunes to the movements of an elf conductor.

When I was a kid, I always thought that this would be a great scene for a horror movie. Imagine this: You are the night janitor or watchman at this mall. It's late, after midnight and you are the only one left in the mall. You are tired, and are just finishing up your shift, and decide to take one last walk through. The mall is dark, and through the partitions of stores, the racks of clothes all look like hunched over people. You are thinking about getting home to your family, a warm fire, and a good book. The mall is silent, except for your echoing footfalls on the white tile floors, when all of a sudden the elves begin to sing. A cold chill of terror runs down your spine, and you know you're not alone.