Faster And Faster

Faster And Faster is a scary story about two boys who find a cursed drum in the woods, but upon playing it, creates illusions that impact the reality surrounding the boys. It appears in Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones.



The Story
Sam and his cousin Bob went walking in the woods. The only sounds were leaves rustling and, now and again, a bird chirping. "It's so quiet here," Bob whispered.

But that soon changed. After a few minutes the two boys started whooping and hollering and chasing one another around. Sam ducked behind a tree. When Bob came by, Sam jumped out at him. Then Bob raced ahead and hid behind a bush. When he looked down, there at his feet was an old drum.

"Sam! See what I found," he called. "It looks like a tom-tom. I bet it's a hundred years old." "Look at the red stains on it," said Sam. "I bet it's somebody's blood. Let's get out of here."

But Bob could not resist trying the drum. He sat on the ground and held it between his legs. He beat on it with one hand, then the other, slowly at first, then faster and faster, almost as if he could not stop.

Suddenly there were shouts in the woods and the sound of hoofbeats. A cloud of dust rose from behind a line of trees. Then men on horseback galloped toward them. "Bob! Let's go!" Sam shouted. He began to run. "Hurry!"

Bob dropped the drum and ran after him.

Sam heard the twang of a bow firing an arrow. Then he heard Bob scream. When Sam turned, he saw Bob pitch forward, dead. But there was no arrow in his body, and there was no wound. And when the police searched, there were no men on horseback, and there was no hoof-prints, and there was no drum.

The only sounds were leaves rustling and, now and again, a bird chirping.