It is nearing midnight on All Hallows' Eve. The cemetery is shrouded in mist, obscuring the decaying headstones. Dead trees reach like skeletal fingers toward the full moon.

From out of the shadows emerges a hooded figure. Pulling back the hood, he reveals a cadaverous face. Sunken eyes peer out over the tombs. Thin, almost translucent skin stretches tight over his features, giving them a skull-like appearance. He is as old as time itself.

He is Death.

Thin, cracked lips curl into a macabre grin as the church bell begins to toll. Its dull monotone rolls heavily across the landscape. One... Two... Three... Four... From beneath his robes Death takes his fiddle, as black as pitch. Five... Six... Seven... Eight... He places one foot on a toppled headstone, bringing his bow into position. Nine... Ten... Eleven... Twelve... He draws his bow across the strings, a harsh sound cutting through the night.

Death plays his tune, calling forth the dead. His bony heel clicks on the granite below his foot as he beats time. With a groan, the ground begins to open up, releasing those buried below. Mouldering graves reveal corpses in varying states of decay. They drag themselves to the surface, drawn by Death's melody.

His music holds them under his sway. They dance around him, arms and legs bending at impossible angles in a hideous display. The oldest dead, those reduced to bone, click and crack through their movements.

Shortly, a strange sight appears. A young woman, stumbling trance-like through the wrought iron gate. She is barefoot, in her nightgown. The dancers part, allowing her through to where Death stands playing in the center. She doesn't know it yet, but she is here for the next part of the yearly ritual.

It is time for Death to take a new bride. Unfortunately for her she will die in the process. It's not really her time yet, but he's been known to bend the rules on occasion.

Death stops playing, but the dead continue dancing. He reaches out, taking her hand in his. She instantly snaps out of her trance, sees his face, and shrieks.

If you haven't guessed, I kinda really like Halloween a lot. Hi! I'm Blane, of Blane's 13 Days of Halloween - Revisited!

Based on Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.

If you've missed any days you can find them here.