Perfect for fans of Hocus Pocus and Stranger Things , this middle grade debut tells the story of a boy who travels into an alternate version of his Halloween-obsessed town to save his sister from an evil witch and free the town from the witch’s curse. Fear comes home. Welcome to Pearl, a town obsessed with Halloween: the spooky decorations, the costumes, the candy. No one seems to notice that every October 31st, a kid goes missing. Mason Miller does, though. Somehow he’s the only one who has any memory the person existed at all. When Mason’s sister, Meg, vanishes while they’re trick-or-treating, Mason and his friends are pulled into an underworld where monsters roam the streets. They need to fight the evil taking over Pearl, but none of them know the true danger they're facing. Meg has been stolen by a witch who has no plans to let her go. Shadows of death curl around trees and behind doorways as Mason must use every ounce of bravery he has . . . or be haunted forever with the memory of a sister that only he remembers. "An immersive, well-imagined world with plenty of spooky bits." — Kirkus Reviews "Gillespie’s writing shines."— PW "Evil witches and terrifying alternate realities? New fear unlocked." —Lindsay Currie, NYT bestselling author of SCRITCH SCRATCH "Delivers delicious scares!" —Wendy Parris, author of FIELD OF SCREAMS "With deliciously spooky imagery, a creepy, cursed town, ghoulish monsters, and children that go missing on the scariest night of the year, GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT is like a sack full of Halloween candy!" —Ally Russell, author of IT CAME FROM THE TREES Born and raised in Middle Tennessee, D.W. Gillespie wrote his first short story in second grade. It involved (unsurprisingly) monsters wreaking havoc on some unsuspecting victim. Some things never change. He began writing seriously after taking a creative writing class in college, and he’s written steadily ever since. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and two kids, and on dark nights, you might find them huddled around a campfire sharing spooky tales. CHAPTER 1 The Best Night of the Year It was Halloween in Pearl, North Carolina, and the normal rules of the world didn’t apply. Abbie Purdom was only six years old, but even she understood that. Her mother, Beth, had spent the day getting the house ready for the festivities. It didn’t matter if you didn’t enjoy handing out candy or if you preferred not to decorate. There was only one way to celebrate in Pearl. It was an invisible contract you signed the day you moved to town. Everyone participated. No one sat out, at least no one respectable. If you lived in this town, you were in, all the way. This was the first year Abbie’s mother let her pick out her own costume, and she settled on a very cute bee with a plastic stinger sticking out of the bottom. Now that she had it on, Abbie couldn’t stop staring at herself in the mirror, wiggling her butt. “Oh my gosh,” her mother said. Beth was dressed as a sunflower, and she held up her phone to record her daughter as she pranced around in front of the mirror. “I’m gonna sting you!” Abbie screamed as she chased her mom around the bedroom. “You can’t sting me,” Beth said, scooping her up. “I’m your momma flower.” They squeezed each other tightly. “I love my little bee so much.” “I love you too, Momma.” The sky was purple when they stepped out the front door into the chill air. Orville Avenue was a living kaleidoscope of color and lights, like a child’s daydream come to life. The metamorphosis of the town that had begun in early September was now complete, and a skull-faced butterfly had hatched, ready to fly. The unspoken rule of Halloween night was simple: the little kids went first. The street was pulsing with activity. Big, gaudy skeletons, inflatable dragons, and giant spiders dotted every yard they passed. Abbie’s eyes glowed when she saw them. The bee and the sunflower fell right into the line of people heading east toward the town square, stopping at every house they passed to load up on candy. Soon, the little bee could barely hold her bag, and Beth had to carry it for her. “It’s too heavy,” Abbie said. Beth winked. “Well, I’ll help you out with that.” They both dug in, and in a few moments, they had eaten a dozen pieces of candy between them. “We should take it easy,” Beth said as she dug another piece out. “Then again . . . it is the best night of the year.” The sky was nearly dark now. The teenagers were starting to emerge, the princesses and knights replaced by zombies with spilled, dangling guts, groups of girls shrieking and taking selfies in animal onesies, and grim reapers with blood-slicked machetes. Pumpkins glowed from every stoop, some silly, but most with toothy mouths filled with jagged teeth. “Momma,” Abbie said, leaning into Beth. “It’s okay . . . it’s all for fun.” They gave up on getting more candy and walked to the middle of town, cutting across Orville A