2. The Drum (More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark)

The Drum isn't a particularly scary story, but there's something about it that stayed with me.

Two sisters were wandering around outside when they came across a girl with a drum. They desperately wanted the drum, so the girl made a deal with them: If they went home and behaved really badly, she would give it to them. This went on for several days, each time the girl encouraged the sisters to act much worse. Their mother threatened to leave them if they kept acting out.

Finally, one day after they were extremely horrible, they met the girl again to tell her all the things they had done. The girl revealed that she had never intended to actually let them have the drum. The sisters were very upset. When they went home, their mother was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a woman with glass eyes and a wooden tail.

If you have kids and you want them to behave, just tell them this story. That should calm them down.