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Speaker 1: Welcome to micro Terrors, scary stories for kids where it's

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always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills, and spine

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tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are family friendly frights for those

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ages eight and up, and while our stories are for

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younger years, we are still talking about things that go

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bump in the night, and some children may not be

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able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended

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now for tonights micro Terror.

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Speaker 2: The Clowns by Scott Donnelly. It happened on a summer night.

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I remember the heat of the day lingering well into

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the evening hour, as well past my bedtime. Since it

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was summer and getting up for school the next morning

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wasn't an issue for a few more weeks. My parents

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were cool and let me stay up late most nights.

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I'd watch movies or play video games with my friends.

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My dad, who usually worked during the day, volunteered to

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cover for someone who'd been injured on the job, so

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he was working the night shift on this particular evening.

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That left just my mother and I at home by ourselves.

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It was just after nine and the sun had finally

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sat over the horizon, leaving only the faintest orange glow remaining.

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I sat in the living room with the lights out,

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streaming an old Werewolf Grindhouse movie on the Monster Channel.

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My mom sat in the other room, where she listened

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to a podcast and practiced her knitting. Then our ring

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doorbell chimed. I heard it come through my mother's phone,

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briefly interrupting her podcast. Probably just a bird, my mother

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called out from the other room. At first, I thought

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she may have been right. Our ring sensor went off

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several times a day because of birds or neighbors mowing

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their lawns. But then it went off again, and this

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time it was the doorbell. Someone had actually pushed the

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doorbell button. So a bird or a stray cat, well,

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they were out of the question. I stood up from

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the couch, but before I could walk to the door,

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my mother rushed into the room. A protective instincts had

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kicked in, and I understood why who would be ringing

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our bell this late? My mother went to the window

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first and pulled the curtain to the side just enough

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to look out onto the porch. Who is it, I

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impatiently asked. My mother didn't answer it first, it was

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like she was struggling to see who it was. I

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can't tell. I can barely see him. My mother then

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made the decision to open the front door. Curious. I

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was right there by her side. What I saw on

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the other side of our front door sent a chain

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reaction of chills through my body. To this day, just

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thinking about it, I still get nervous. A man stood there,

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tall and brooding. He wore dirty, dark colored overalls, heavy boots,

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and yellow work gloves. But the scariest part was the

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mask that hid his face. It was an oversized clown mask,

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frayed at the edges and complete with a red nose,

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disheveled and matted hair, and a permanent devilish grin sprawled

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across it. My mother froze, as did I. Not only

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did the chills surge throughout my body, but the site

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was so unexpected and unnerving that I began to feel

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nauseous almost immediately. My mother reached up slowly to make

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sure the screen door was locked. Can't I help you,

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my mother asked the masked stranger. She tried to remain calm,

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but the trembling in her voice was a dead giveaway

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that she wasn't the man didn't respond. Instead, he just

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continued to stand there, breathing heavily under his mast. My

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mother and I looked at each other, worried and confused.

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Go get my phone, my mother whispered to me. I

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quickly rushed into the other room where she had been,

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But all I saw was her knitting things sitting on

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an end table. Her phone wasn't there. I checked the

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floor around the chair and then underneath it for a

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good measure. Nothing. I stood up. Maybe she had it

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with her and forgot about it. Just as I was

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about to hurry back into the living room, I heard

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something shuffle around in the kitchen. I poked my head

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in and gasped when I saw a second stranger, a

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second clown, standing in the middle of the kitchen. He

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was still as a statue, wearing the same kind of

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dirty brown coverall this as the other clown was. I

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could tell this wasn't the same one, though the mask

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was different. It had different colored hair, a different expression

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and makeup design. I trembled before the clown. In one

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of his hands, he held up my mom's phone. In

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his other, he held up a picture of my dad from

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when he was much younger. Maybe in his early twenties.

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I wasn't sure what to say. I couldn't say anything.

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Any words or noises were caught in my throat. Fear

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kept them imprisoned. There. Woo, what do you want with

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my husband? I heard my mom say to the clown

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at the front door. Her speaking was enough to let

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a weak cry of my own out. Mom, I whimpered,

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She didn't hesitate. Her motherly instincts kicked in again, and

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she rushed into the kitchen to where I was and

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grabbed a hold of me. When she saw the second clown,

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she noticed the picture of my dad in one of

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his hands, and then her phone.

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Speaker 1: He give me my.

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Speaker 2: Phone, she demanded, her voice still shaking. To our surprise,

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the clown tossed the phone to my mom, who let

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go of me and caught it with both hands. Leave now,

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and I won't call the police, she said. The tremble

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in her words started to dissipate, and she was starting

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to feel more in control of the situation. True to character,

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the clown in the kitchen didn't say a word. He

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just turned around and walked casually toward the back door.

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He opened it and walked out. My mom quickly raced

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for the back door and locked it behind him. She

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then ran into the living room, where the other clown

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remained just outside the front door. He held both of

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us hands up on the other side of the screen door,

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both of them gripping photographs of my dad from decades ago.

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I'm calling the police if you don't leave my property,

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my mom commanded. The clown instantly led his arms down

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to his sides, turned and walked away into the dark.

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My mom closed the front door, dead bolted it, and

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then set the house alarm. Once our panics ceased and

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our heart rates returned to normal, my mom called my

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dad and explained what had just happened. He calmed her

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down and said he'd be home as soon as he could.

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When my dad got home, he reassured us that everything

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was okay. He assured us that the clowns would never

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come back again. How can you be so sure, my

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mom asked, You weren't even here. You didn't see them

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because my dad's side.

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Speaker 1: I used to be one, he said.

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Speaker 2: I was in a traveling haunted attraction called the Circus

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of Creeps. We were silent clowns. Our whole job was

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to walk through the crowd and make people as uneasy

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as possible while they watched the show. It added to

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the scare factor. It was part of what made the

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Circus of Creeps so popular. You never told me that,

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My mom said, why were those clowns here? I quit

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the act after I met you, He said, we settled down,

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we had a little boy, and I got a new job.

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The Circus of Creeps was unrelenting though. They've been trying

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to get me to come back ever since I walked away.

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They show up at my work, follow me around town.

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Now they've well found out where I live. How is

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this going to stop? My mom asked, how can you

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guarantee this isn't going to happen again? Your son was terrified.

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I was terrified. That's when my dad reached into his

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work bag and pulled out a clown mask, similar to

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the ones the others wore. I rejoined. He said, now

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there's no need for them to harass or intimidate me anymore,

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and you guys will be safe. My heart began to

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thump harder again. My mom's breathing picked up. Then my

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dad placed the clown mask on his head and stood

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up from the couch. He faced us, standing eerily still

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and quiet. Did you Dad, I stammered, but he didn't answer.

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Take that thing off. My mom instructed him. Both herefold

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and upset, take it off, she repeated louder, but he didn't.

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He just stood there. It's still as a statue, breathing

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heavily beneath the mask, and it made our skin crawl.

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Speaker 1: Nine o'clock the sun goes down, Mom and me, no

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one else around.

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Speaker 3: The doorbell ring. She says, it's a bird. Then it

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rings again on the second word. All the curtain to

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peak outside.

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Speaker 1: Something there She's trying to hide up a rosse, dirty

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glove stain, yellow painted grin on a hollow fellow.

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Speaker 3: He don't move, He don't blink, He don't say. The

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clowns never speak. The clowns never speak. They watched, they breathe,

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they grinning at the door.

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Speaker 2: They're already and the clowns never sweep.

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Speaker 3: The clowns never speak loud. I freezing, seton the clown

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and I live in space, standing all not.

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Speaker 4: Chichen child and photos wearing smiles.

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Speaker 3: Daddy young and never refrained, living not the same. I'm

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a screams you better than he walked out through the screen.

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Speaker 4: He don't run, he don't fight, he don't say goodbye.

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Speaker 3: The clowns never speaking, The clouds never speak. They watch,

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they they they grinned at the door. They're already the

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clowns never speak in the clown never speak.

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Speaker 1: Speak.

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Speaker 3: That is home.

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Speaker 4: He sits us down over the bank. Before I came

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on on the circus of creeps, I used to play

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sign and stop his lightning dame quickly let you.

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Speaker 3: Won't ever lose it, cruel. Only one way out my ear,

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which is in his bed. And the mask appears, the

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clown clown there waiting at the door, already never speak.

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The clown never speak, That clown.

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Speaker 2: Never Coming up next week on micro Terrors Scary Stories

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for kids, A house sitting gig goes horribly wrong with

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the thing in the wall. Also big news, the first

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micro Terrors short film, The Dire More Phantom, will premiere

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this July. The movie will be available exclusively through the

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micro Terrorist Fan Club, so be sure to get signed

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up so you can watch it when it drops. In

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the meantime, head on over to micro terrors dot com

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to check out our merch store and become one of

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that's terrified by joining the fan Club and unlocking tons

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of cool perks, including free access to the monthly newsletter,

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getting your very own copy of the fan club exclusive

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book Swarm of Corn, participate in the upcoming live Q

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and A with micro Terror's writer and creator Scott Donnelly,

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and so much more. I'm your narrator, Darren Marler. Thank

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you all for being such dedicated micro terrrist listeners.

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Speaker 1: We'll see you next week.

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Speaker 2: Clowns, They're so creepy.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to micro Terrors. Join us each

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Saturday for another scary story. For more fun, visit our

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website at microterrors dot com, where you can get the

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latest micro Terrors news, read fun facts about each story,

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sign up for our monthly newsletter, and even send in

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your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you

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can become one of the Terrified by joining the fanclub

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at microterrors dot com, who enjoy exclusive perks like reading

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stories a week early, receiving complimentary books, and communicating directly

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with micro Tech writer and creator Scott Donnelly. You can

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also follow us on Facebook and Instagram using the handle

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at micro towrors. I hope you'll join us again soon

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for microterrrors, Scary stories for kids,