When I was young, we lived LEFT about a mile from a big, run  down house.  Everyone believed the place was LEFT behind by the ghost that haunted it RIGHT then.

People say many years ago an old man LEFT  the house when his neighbors to the LEFT and RIGHT tormented him for his strange habits.  He always swore he only LEFT the house for RIGHT then;  he'd be back for his revenge.  The people were worried about the threats he LEFT, but soon his memory had LEFT their thoughts.  Then one dark and foggy night, the moon rose up and stopped RIGHT behind the house, which LEFT a glow throughout the house and RIGHT through the front windows.  That same night, my friend and I were dared to spend the whole night RIGHT inside the house.

It was cold when we opened the squeaky door and stepped RIGHT in.  To the LEFT was a large staircase that had almost pulled RIGHT away from the wall, and to the RIGHT was a large room.  We walked RIGHT into the large room and LEFT our sleeping bags lying out on the floor, while we explored the rest of the house together.  The house was full of furniture that was LEFT behind, and some of the windows had been LEFT open.  As we walked through the house we could hear squeaking sounds coming from the wall, and to the RIGHT  above us.  "What's that?' I said,  "Oh just the wind," said my friend.  We soon returned RIGHT back to the large staircase.  "I don't think it's safe."  I said, "Now, we better get some sleep."

We soon relaxed and went RIGHT to sleep.  I awoke suddenly and sat RIGHT up when I heard a sound coming RIGHT from the staircase.  I LEFT my friend asleep and went to see what the sound was.  At the top of the stairs and to the  RIGHT , I saw a door close.  I carefully walked RIGHT,LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, all the way up the stairs and went RIGHT to the door and turned the door knob to the LEFT.  The door opened without a sound, and I stepped RIGHT in.  Off to the LEFT was a large bed, and someone was in it!  I walked over to it and touched the lamp RIGHT in the middle.

Suddenly the person rolled over and sat RIGHT up.  I jumped and LEFT the room running, but heard footsteps RIGHT behind me!  I ran RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT down the stairs, and LEFT the stairs broken with each step.  My friend met me RIGHT at the bottom of the stairs and I grabbed his LEFT hand and ran RIGHT out the front door.

When we were outside, we both stopped RIGHT in our tracks and turned RIGHT  around.  "We LEFT our stuff inside!"  we said RIGHT at the same time.  "Should we go RIGHT back in?"  I said,  "I'd get killed if I LEFT my stuff in there!"  said my friend.

We carefully walked back up to the door that was LEFT open, and walked RIGHT back in.  We quickly grabbed our stuff RIGHT behind us, and I heard a voice say, "Now that you've LEFT, stay out of my house."  The legend to this day tells of the old man that LEFT and returned to his house, and haunts all who enters it.

Arrange your group in tight circle.  Open a window or turn on the fan to provide a chilling breeze, turn out as many lights as possible, and provide eerie background music.

Narrate the verses with a dramatic flair (maons and groans when appropriate).
Beginning with the second verse, pass one item (body part) after each, in this order.
        sponge dampened in ice water (brains)
        two peeled grapes (eyes)
        cold cooked spaghetti (veins)
        corn silk (hair)
        part of a bananas skin (ear)
        peach peel (skin)
        uncooked chicken liver (heart)
        handful of pebbles (gallstones)
        wad of dough (stomach)
        rubber glove filled with wet sand (hand)

The ghost appears briefly before the last verse, then departs with groans and a sudden rattle of a chain or other simulation of dry bones (such as a hidden pillow case with wooden blocks)
 

A gypsy told my fortune once
    By peering at my hand;
She said I was to travel far
    Through many a foreign land,
See many a strange and thrilling sight,
    Do many exciting things,
Break bread at many a curious board,
    And chat with singular kings.

And then a witch with spells and charms
    Stirred something in a pot
And when the brew had simmered down,
    She drew my future lot;
"Scarce farther than across the way
    Are you to go," she said;
"Contented you will stay at home
    Through all the years ahead."

I went to tea with Granny Gage
    And when I'd drunk it up,
She told my fortune in the leaves
    That settled in my cup;
She saw a wedding pictured there
    And said I was the bride--
And with the groom she named I was
    Completely satisfied.
 

A mystic with a crystal ball
    Predicted wealth for me;
The cards when shuffled and dealt out
    Held naught but poverty;
I had my horoscope read once,
    The stars portended fame;
Then a phenologist declared
    Obscure would be my name.

So there you are!  Fates good and bad,
    Indifferent and worse--
One soothsayer tells me one thing,
    The next one the reverse.
Now am I to be rich or poor,
    Be full of joy or woe?
When signs and sibyls don't agree,
    How am I, pray, to know?

When signs and sibyls contradict,
     I guess it's up to me
To live and learn by living what
    The future holds for me!
 

    Have I ever told you about what happened to me one stormy night a long time ago?  Would you like to hear the story?  It was late.  Very late.  And I was driving through a pouring rain.

    It was raining so hard that I couldn't see the road ahead.  I decided to pull over to the side of the road.  But I pulled over onto a very soft muddy shoulder.  Great!  What could I do?  I couldn't go backward or forward.  I was stuck.

    I had to go for help.  I thought I saw a driveway just ahead.  So I pulled my raincoat tight around me, grabbed my umbrella, and headed out into the night.  Sure enough that was a driveway.  And I hadn't walked on it too long when I saw the big old house.  It was dark, but I rang the doorbell anyway.  I waited.  No one came.  I gathered my courage and rang the bell again, and put my ear up to the door.  I heard something.

    As I leaned against the door to hear better, the door swung open.  There was that sound again.  It sounded like "rap, rap, rap".  I tried the light switch, but nothing happened.  Probably because of the storm, I thought.

    I started up the stairs, and then I heard it again.  "Rap, rap, rap."   From behind what seemed to be a closet door.  I stood there, scared to go and scared to stay.  And then I heard it again, really loud this time.  "RAP, RAP, RAP."  I took a deep breath, and I opened the door.  And then I saw it!
                          A roll of (w) rapping paper.