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racing.

    The girls inched toward the nearest door. It creaked as Nancy pulled it open. As theylooked inside they gasped. Inside the velvet-draped room were monsters popping spiders and worms into their mouths!
    â€œYou’re just in time for dinner!” one roared. “I hope you like meatballs and earthworms!”
    Nancy slammed the door. “No Nadine in there,” she said nervously. “Thank goodness.”
    The girls heard music behind the next door. George pulled it open and they peered inside. A werewolf smiled at them from behind a piano. His hairy fingers flew across the keys as he sang, “Bluuuue Moooon!”
    George slammed the door shut. “This place is too weird,” she said with a shudder. “Where is Nadine, anyway?”
    â€œMaybe Dr. Funk-n-Stine has her!” Bess cried. “Maybe he’s doing some weird experiments on her in a laboratory!”
    â€œBut where is Dr. Funk-n-Stine?” Nancy asked.
    CREEEEAK! The girls spun around. The suit of armor’s arm clanked as it pointed to one more door.
    â€œTh-th-thanks!” Nancy stammered.
    A white mist floated out from beneath the door. Bess pulled the door open. The mistswirled around their feet as they walked inside.
    â€œWhere are we?” asked Bess.
    Nancy held her breath as she looked around. They were in another laboratory. This one had stone walls and all kinds of machines crackling with electricity. On a shelf stood glass jars filled with stuff that looked like brains. A raven sat perched inside a cage squawking, “Nevermore. Nevermore. Nevermore.”
    â€œWhat’s that for?” Bess asked. She pointed to a long table in the middle of the room. Next to it was a lever.
    â€œThat reminds me of a movie I saw,” said George.
    â€œWhat movie?” Nancy asked.
    â€œ Frankenstein ,” George replied. “It was about a mad scientist who built a monster right in his lab!”
    George hopped up on the table. She lay down flat.
    â€œGeorge!” Nancy said. “Don’t touch anything—”
    â€œThe monster was dead at first,” George said.“But then Dr. Frankenstein pulled a lever. And the table rose all the way to the ceiling.”
    â€œYou mean like this?” Bess asked. She grabbed the lever and pulled it all the way back.
    The table and George began to rise.
    â€œNot funny, Bess!” George called down. “You can stop this thing now.”
    The table rose higher and higher—too high for George to jump. Bess gripped the lever with all her might.
    â€œI can’t stop it!” Bess cried. “It’s stuck!”

Chapter Nine
    Write Away
    Nancy and Bess both grabbed the lever and pulled hard. But it was no use. The lever didn’t budge!
    â€œGet me down!” George shouted.
    Suddenly another pair of hands grabbed the lever. Nancy spun around. It was Dr. Funk-n-Stine!
    Nancy and Bess stepped aside as Dr. Funk-n-Stine pulled the lever back. The table began to drop slowly.
    â€œSorry,” George said, hopping off the table.



“It’s not your fault,” Dr. Funk-n-Stine said. “If my boss found out I left this room, I’d be toast!”
    â€œGhost?” Bess gasped.
    â€œNot ghost—toast!” Dr. Funk-n-Stine said. He unwrapped a piece of licorice gum and popped it into his mouth.
    â€œThen you’re not a ghost?” George asked.
    â€œNope,” Dr. Funk-n-Stine replied. “My career may be dead—but not me.”
    â€œBut your website said you went to the Great Beyond,” Nancy said.
    â€œAnd I did!” Dr. Funk-n-Stine said with a smile. “Welcome to the Great Beyond Haunted Halloween House!” Then he leaned over and whispered, “And it’s not really haunted.”
    Nancy smiled. Dr. Funk-n-Stine had just answered a very important question. But she still had more.
    â€œWhy did Dudley’s studio look like your Groovy Mad Lab?” Nancy asked.