Lanie McAuley

For generations, it was an urban legend that lived in the nightmares of children. Now, the season to rejuvenate the tale will revive a town's darkest fears. With the Scarecrow Festival on the horizon, school teacher Aaron Harris is doling out punishment for six students serving detention, including the moody Tyler, Goth girl Nikki, wrestling team captain Daevon, and straight-A student Jun. Their task: help Aaron's ex-girlfriend Kristen fix her family farm before it's sold. But the cornfields circling the farm come with a legend-and Tyler takes macabre delight in recounting the tale: It never sleeps, it never dies, it can't be stopped, hear their cries. The Scarecrow lives to kill us all. Keep it buried in the fall... When the kids play a terrifying game of cat and mouse in the cornfield with what they believe is a wild animal, Kristen tries to convince them that the Scarecrow is a very real creature of fierce strength and power, rejuvenated by the blood of its prey-and proof comes all too soon. As darkness falls over the rustling fields, the last survivors must fend off the flesh-ripping terrors of the Scarecrow. For the terrified prisoners of Miller Farm, surviving the night seems a distant prayer-especially in light of the tale's final, desperate warning: "Beware the mark, the end is near, your death is certain, run in fear..." This fall, there's a chill in air that can freeze the blood. Scarecrow is coming.