GrovenBurn, Wyoming is quite the odd town. It settles itself in the most rural of places, hoping to never be discovered. Its residents of about 1,000 to 2,000 consist of the most odd people. Now, they consider Halloween a great and ceremonious time of the year, and they come to revere all kinds of things pertaining to the horror of the event.

One such story is that of Gor’xal, a beast of blood and spirits. Gor as the locals refer to it as, was an ancient beast said to have stalked old mining towns before settling within the borders of GrovenBurn. Now, Gor isn’t able to come out at night and hunt at its whim, as the locals have explained. You see, Gor favors a hunt, the chase specifically. So, the residents of GrovenBurn will often hold a festival known as the Gor Trial. This trial is meant to revere the spiritual predator, and those that participate are often zealous in their demeanour.

Now, this is quite old information, but the locals have told me that there was a trial that went awry at some point. GrovenBurn’s residential area was completely torn to shreds by the end of it, and those that survived were hiding out across town. I’ll recount it from the beginning, as one of the survivors graciously came forward with their testimony to share. I should warn from here to the end of this recounting, there was quite colorful imagery that was given to me. This legend is quite bloody, so I took some liberties in making sure it was much more palatable for some.

It was the night of October 31st, 1998, and the Gor Trial was about to begin. Three runners had been chosen, and Gor was successfully located. The runners names I cannot share, oh, except for the one who came with the information. Her name was Lucille Adams, a local bartender. The trial soon began, the runners were each given a piece of meat to carry. Gor had taken a new form this year, a bedsheet ghost. Its rotten body wasn’t fully hidden, but it was mostly concealed. Its clawed arms stuck out from under the sheet like two tentacles from a squid. The beast snarled a guttural growl from under the sheet, its thousand eyes filled with a bewildered bloodlust. Even GrovenBurn’s spirits knew something was going to happen this time, something wicked.

The signal flare shot into the sky and the trial began. The moon flashed a deep red as Gor rushed the onlookers. The bedsheet ghost had yet to become bloodstained despite its violent parasite. This wasn’t supposed to happen, according to Lucille. Usually Gor had its sights on the runners, yet Gor was much more insatiable that night. After decimating the spectators, it blitzed down the main road of downtown GrovenBurn. The first runner, whose name is still unknown to me, apparently tried to hide in one of the shops.

Lucille told me she was able to somewhat see what happened to him, Gor had sunk itself into the first runner, consuming his soul. A spiritual rite was emplaced on the body of the first runner, by Gor presumably. Lucille kept running, the residential segment of GrovenBurn was nearby, she had planned out a nightly route. The downtown gave way to the neighborhood, and the houses still had lights on. People didn’t know that Gor was coming up to the neighborhood. It usually never did. Lucille kept running, watching Gor turn into the woods, leaving her periphery. She kept running, hearing the trudging of meaty limbs in the distance. She then noticed something, the pumpkins were rotting, but only near certain houses.

She looked back down the street, the greenery that was still around had rotted. Gor had a radius of rot that constantly followed it. Lucille kept moving, she made it to her house. Screams in the distance meant Gor was still on the prowl, more vicious than ever. Lucille locked her front door, she had a planned route, the traps planted around her house meant she was prepared for something.

I should mention by now Ms. Adams was tearing up, she said that Gor had entered her home, or at least she thought it did. You see, the reason it was so hard for me to find information on this beast wasn’t because of GrovenBurn’s ambiguity or the odd residents, it was because of Gor. You see, we are talking about something very ancient that contains a staggering amount of spiritual energy, and thus, it controls how it is perceived. So yes, people of GrovenBurn remember the date, the trial being held, but they don’t remember Gor’s form, just the ghost.

Lucille waited, then she heard it, manic breathing from behind her front door. She heard something wooden crack as she watched the bedsheet ghost float through the door, cracking and splintering the wood. She tried to use some of her traps, but Gor was utilizing so many spirits that it could become non-corporeal. Gor swung at Lucille, aiming to take her out with one clean swipe. Lucille ducked and jumped off her second story balcony, she had a fire axe waiting for her when she landed on the trampoline. She kept moving, tearing down her neighbor’s fence and running through their backyard. She remembered the adrenaline in that moment, saying, “That thing tore through a house. I mean it. I ran through Joey’s side yard and got back to the street. It tore through Joey’s first floor and leveled the house. If I remember enough, that thing used its arms and tore through the house’s pressure points.”

I should point out now, Ms. Adams kept mentioning names, such as Joey. I went around asking some other locals, but as far as I can tell, these people either don’t exist after the trial or were made up in Ms. Adams’ head. She may be lying to me, but since there’s so much lining up and making sense, I don’t believe she is.

Lucille kept running, she then came across what was screaming earlier. A massive Halloween party had been held at the local amphitheater, and Gor had chosen these rowdy partiers as its next harvesting of spirits. Lucille looked to the sky, the moon was almost white, Gor’s hunt would be ending soon. Lucille ran back to the starting area of the trial, she had an idea. She brought more meat with her, and then grabbed oil from the gas station. She stole some matches as well, she knew what was going to be done.

Lucille made it to the middle of downtown, and poured the oil on her. Gor sensed it nearly instantly, fresh meat was nearby, ready to be reaped. It cut through houses, random buildings, it wanted that final runner dead. Lucille saw the ghost, she doused it and herself with the oil, lit the match and hoped this would work. As Gor lunged at Lucille, its maw with masses of teeth unveiled to consume her very essence. Then the burning began, and they both lost the trial that night.

You may see this end and ask, how do you know this? How did you ever meet Ms. Adams in the first place? Oh, I mustn't have established the residency that GrovenBurn culls, but you should have known. Spirits do love their storytelling, now don’t they? I should mention, this incident isn’t a shut case. The people and the spirits still sense the presences of both Ms. Adams and Gor’Xal. Some are even bold enough to try and contact the two near the town square, but that’s just part of the legend I suppose. After all, bedsheet ghosts have always been seen around GrovenBurn.