The leaves fall as the weather changes, but in the darkness, the shadow over the crops always stays the same- or it did. When did the scarecrows change?

On the first night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me an invisible creature. On the second night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me two beastly bats. On the third night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me three Mystic beasts. On the 4th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me four heart attacks. On the 5th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me five living Jack-o'-lanterns. On the 6th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me six living costumes. On the 7th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me seven horse riders. On the 8th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me eight mummies. On the 9th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me nine porcelain masks. On the 10th night of Halloween, a mad scientist gave to me ten breathing scarecrows.

Welcome to my 12 plagues of Halloween. Almost at the end, when Christmas rolls around, I will be doing a 10-part series on winter and holiday-themed backrooms. I am also doing a miniseries of Halloween-themed creatures for my first-of-a-kind series, and I'll be doing the same thing when Christmas rolls around, so feel free to suggest what you would like to be the first of. With all of that, I hope you enjoy and cause chaos.

(Infection)

1. Initial infection is caused by being bitten, scratched, or injured by an infected individual, as well as being scratched or injured by infectious hay. Early symptoms include a scratchy nose, runny nose, scratchy throat, sniffling, rash around the injured area, coughing, sneezing, teary eyes, and overall cold-like symptoms; mild allergy-like symptoms may also include mild fever easily mistaken for a cold or seasonal allergies.

2. Stage 2 begins roughly 4 weeks after initial infection. Hay begins growing and appearing in the body if the infection was caused by an injury. The hay will begin sticking out and growing out of the injury; the skin will become thinner and scratchier. Symptoms include constant itchiness, headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing, a scratchy throat, a scratchy nose, sneezing, and coughing.

3. Stage 3 begins 2 months after initial infection. Straw has spread through the body, piercing organs and veins, beginning to grow and poke out of the skin. The bones begin to solidify and soften, becoming wood, regularly splintering with each movement. The skin thins out further, taking on a cloth-like feel and appearance, tearing easily under applied pressure and falling apart, especially around the joints. Most, upon reaching this stage, quickly die from blood loss before the affliction can fully take over the heart; those that do not suffer horribly through the pain caused by the transformation, which rapidly tears the body apart. The infection itself does not directly affect the mind; as such, infected individuals, although suffering greatly from pain and likely gaps in memory due to difficulty in taking oxygen, are still aware.

4. Stage 4: resurrection and repair. Stage 4 most often begins after the death of the infected; however, if somehow an infected individual does not die in Stage 3, they will lose complete control over their body, becoming trapped in their own body, unable to control themselves and in constant excruciating pain until the brain fully dies. At this stage in the infection, the body is changing and shifting, fully transforming into straw, wood, and cloth. This process does include the brain. If an infected individual does not die before this stage, there is a good chance that, aside from complete destruction, they will be eternally trapped in their own body. The recommended course of action for infected at this stage is incineration, both as a mercy and to prevent the spread of the infection, as the infection itself cannot spread through being inhaled or consumed; it must enter the bloodstream through injury. The body fully transforms all bones, turning them into wood that scratches against itself with every movement; remaining organs, skin, and muscle tissue are rapidly transformed into cloth, and every Gap remaining in the body is completely filled with pay that dicks out of any tears or gaps in the skin; the eyes often fall out or dangle haphazardly from the face. All of this comes together to create quite a gruesome sight of twisted, scarecrow-like creatures, twisted and mangled, what remains now completely controlled by the infection. Most cannot see, but those that can see for miles and miles; they have extremely good hearing and a very sensitive sense of smell, especially for blood. They can stay still for months on end, standing silently like a scarecrow, waiting until something catches their attention and they give Chase. They will pursue someone until the target is perceived dead, having been completely lost, which is difficult, or they have been destroyed. The upside is they do have one glaring weakness: being made of hay, wood, and cloth, they're extremely susceptible to fire. Many infected at this stage are seeking out the infected, lashing out at anything that moves or catches their attention, ripping apart anything they come across, or stopping only once someone has become infected, at which point they will just fall completely still, their goal having been achieved, or perhaps they just recognize those infected as one of them.

5. Stage 5 is a rare occurrence where a fully transformed infected comes across an injured or half-destroyed infected, or in instances where heavily injured or greatly destroyed but not fully destroyed infected come together; they will crawl on top of each other, the cloth that makes up their skin stitches itself together, extending and twisting together, merging into a twisted amalgamation. This process is not entirely random; instead, whatever has now become this living creature does have a sense of understanding and will not hesitate to take the opportunity to tear limbs off and reposition them, making it stronger as well as easier to move, often resulting in variants that have several arms and legs and skitter across the terrain rather than walking or running. Many also position heads in locations that make it easier to bite anything that gets too close, such as shoulders and the back. The more of them that are merged together, the more intelligent they become, especially regarding the things that injured them and resulted in this process beginning in the first place, becoming even more dangerous not only with strategy but also with a mindset that if they're going down, they will take you with them, so if backed into a corner, their goal changes from spreading the infection to destroying everything until either achieving freedom or succeeding in mutual assured destruction.

Do not trust the fire finished it off; make certain that it does; do not turn your back to the flickering Flame; if it can move, it will.

Intro 1: blank. Intro 2: multiplying scarecrows. Intro 3: burning Barn. Intro 4: news report. Intro 5: Your madness has found you.