[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-116138-en":3,"doc-seo-116138-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},116138,687207020761,"Patrick","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",1,"Story & Novel","A Date With Death - Kelly Creagh","Halloween-season evening at Anatole Manor turns eerie when Helena slips out of the crowded ballroom and finds a perfectly staged man dressed as the Grim Reaper. With a scythe, gray fog effects, and an hourglass glowing on his belt, he stands motionless on the stone balcony while she tests him with talk about costume authenticity and a rumored contest. As her witty questions continue, Helena reflects on abandoned dating plans, her own craftiness, and the possibility that the night is more than just spooky ambiance.","Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook.  \nGet a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up  \nand see terms and conditions.  \nCLICK HERE TO SIGN UP  \nAlready a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in  \nyour inbox.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nForEthan, who said,“What about the Grim Reaper?”  \n(You know the chapters to avoid.)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nӘ  \nHELENA  \nGiven that we’d reached mid-October—and, more importantly, Halloween season—I shouldn’t have been surprised to ϯnd a man dressed up as the Grim Reaper on the balcony ofAnatole Manor. Still, the historic Gothic home turned event venue made him look so perfectly picturesque, I couldn’t resist investigating.  \nI rapped a knuckle against the sliding glass door, but the impossibly tall, hooded man didn’t look up. Instead, he stood in proϯle at the banister of the stone balcony, lonesome and cutting an ominous image, the handle of his huge scythe propped against his shoulder. Its curved blade gleamed as silver as the slivered moon that ϲoated high above.  \nOpening the door with my free hand, my other cradling a plastic wine cup, still half full of cheap Chardonnay, I stepped into the night.  \nI closed the door behind me, muϬing the thumping techno remix of“Monster Mash.” The music bled from the crowded ballroom that I’d given the slip—right along with my otherwise-occupied date, who hadn’t noticed my exit anyway.  \nAs the sound subdued to a fainter heartbeat rhythm, I breathed a sigh of relief.  \nWas that why Tall, Dark, and Gruesome was out here? Maybe his ears—and nerves—needed a break from the ultra-kitschy spooky-themed tunes, too.  \n“Wow,” I said, turning to my fellow party absconder.“That costume is a ten out often on the epic scale.”  \nThe ϯgure didn’t move. And though he remained still enough to be one of those overpriced-lawn-ornament-type deals, the dramatic brooding act wasn’t fooling me. This guy had clearly spent weeks planning this. And no one poured that much time into a costume unless they were dying to show it oϦ.  \nNot only that, but the man had implemented the special eϦect of gray fog tendrils curling oϦ the tatty hems of his robes. I wasn’t sure how he’d accomplished that, but my educated guess was that he’d sewn dry ice packs into the fabric.  \nA glowing hourglass hung from his belt, multicolored orbs ϲoating within—another oϦ-the-scale special eϦect.  \n“Truly,” I said as I approached, the ϲoor-length skirts of my sparkly lemonyellow taϦeta ball gown rustling with my movements,“that look is movie-level authentic. Did you rent those robes? Or maybe you made them. Either way, please tell me you’re entering the costume contest. I think there’s a cash prize. Runner-up gets a spa gift card. I guess you don’t have ϲesh, but you could still get your phalanges done.” I wiggled my rainbow-painted nails at him. “You’d certainly get my vote.”  \nHe didn’t answer. I didn’t care.  \nHe didn’t own the balcony, and I needed to get away, too.  \nAs the quiet wore on, a pleasantly chilly breeze stirred my wheat-blond hair, which I wore long under my crown. My dress didn’t have sleeves, but it had been warm in the manor, and thanks to the wine, I probably had a good ten minutes before I started to shiver.  \n“Nice and quiet out here,” I observed.“Are you waiting for someone?”  \nCould be he was loitering (sulking?) outdoors because his date had left him alone as well. Mine, an actuary I’d been chatting up on a dating app for weeks, had bailed on me the moment he’d caught the attention of a brunette dressed asa sexy librarian—a costume I wasn’t sure if I should be oϦended by since I actually happened to be a librarian.  \nI stopped next to the enormous looming, dooming Reaper M","cbCairjqgp5yqnM1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairjqgp5yqnM1","pdf",5022137,5,360,"English","en",105,"# Helena finds the Grim Reaper on the balcony\n## The costume effects and the ominous hourglass\n## Helena’s exit from the ballroom and her dating mishap\n## Helena’s playful conversation and backstory","[{\"question\":\"Why does Helena leave the ballroom at Anatole Manor?\",\"answer\":\"She slips away to get away from the crowded party and her otherwise-occupied date, then heads outside to investigate what she sees on the balcony.\"},{\"question\":\"What details make the Grim Reaper costume feel exceptionally real?\",\"answer\":\"The figure’s scythe, the gray fog tendrils, and a glowing hourglass with floating orbs create a movie-level effect that suggests extensive planning.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Helena describe her own costume and why?\",\"answer\":\"She explains that she made and repurposed everything herself, linking it to her work as a children’s librarian and noting she sometimes gets compared to Belle from Beauty and the Beast.\"}]","A Date With Death - 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