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Herbert Hackney loved everything. 

Gregarious, he valued baseball, basketball, 

and soccer. He loved singing and playing 

the piano. He was a whiz at sketching and 

drawing, and he adored school over 

anything – reading, science, art, writing, 

gym, social studies, and math – the whole 

deal. 

Despite being an adept and gregarious 

young man, Herbert hated dentists, did not 

like teeth and simply did not like going to 

the dentist. It was something he just 

simply had no appeal to. For some kids like 

Herbert, it takes years and years to 

understand why good dental hygiene and 

good health are so significant to human 

life. What were to happen next was 

something he would've never expected…

As a wimpy little child with sharp brown 

eyes and curly brown hair, Herbert learned 

to keep his eyes and ears open. To this 

very day, as an ordinary 14-year-old young 

man, Herbert, is still sanguine, gregarious, 

and vivacious.

One Saturday morning at the breakfast 

table, his mother, Mrs. Hackney flipped 

through “Dagens Nyheter,” a Stockholmer 

morning newspaper. Later that morning, an 

advertisement caught her sharp blue eyes.

“Oh my gosh! Herbert, you’ll love this! I 

know you hate dentists but, look what I 

found in the newspaper. It’s time that we 

change doctors to the best one in Sweden! 

His name is Doctor Charles!!” announced 

Mrs. Hackney.

Herbert groaned and complained, “What 

the… Why are we switching dentists? You 

barely know this eerie dentist.”

“It’s in the newspaper. It says that he’s the 

best dentist in Stockholm. He’s going to be 

friendly and nice! You and your brother, 

Aaron, are going to love this new dentist. 

Don’t be so obstinate, Herbert.”

“It says it’s only open in the middle of the 

night mom! Just look at the freaking 

advertisement. I’m not going.”

Year after year, Herbert and his younger 

brother, Aaron disputes about going to the 

dentist with Mrs. Hackney. She seems to 

never agree with Herbert that dentists are 

the most useless things in the universe.

“You and your brother are coming no 

matter what. You don’t have school 

tomorrow. I'm make an appointment for 

11:00 pm, tonight"

"This is stupid! You just wait in the gloomy 

waiting room for like one hour. Then you 

go in and the ugly dentist touches you 

inappropriately with his filthy hands! 

Where’s the fun?”

“Life is not all about fun. Tomorrow, you 

can play on your new PS4 all day long,” 

Mrs. Hackney moaned, "I'm sure this 

doctor is going to be congenial and 

compassionate."

“Why waste hours, when you could be 

doing something more fun and good for 

you?” Herbert complained.

“Something you have to do because you 

have to,” Mrs. Hackney stammered.

Later that night, it was dark and stormy in 

Stockholm. The wind howled like a swirling 

storm, louder than ever. Unfortunately for 

Herbert, he was in the car with his 9-year-

old brother, Aaron, and Mrs. Hackney, on 

their way to Dr. Charles, the new "creepy" 

dentist.

"Can you read me a book Herbie Derbie? 

I'm bored," Aaron groaned, "It's been an 

hour, and we're still not there."

"Don't call me that, poop-face." Herbert 

yelled, "How many times have I 

complained about calling me Herbie Derbie, 

you idiot!"

Mrs. Hackney made a "stop or you two are 

grounded face."

Steering into the driveway of the dark and 

eerie office, Herbert shivered. He thought 

to himself, “I knew that this dentist was 

not any ordinary dentist…” Splattered with 

blood, the ramshackle office was bitter and 

frightening. A bloody mannequin stood tall 

on the stairs, staring at the family with its 

dark, red eyes. It looked like it was ready 

to stab someone, right in the chest.

Gazing at the dilapidated office of Dr. 

Charles, the family shivered, as though ice 

had replaced their spines. The cold air 

enveloped their bodies. Despite the 

multiple layers of clothing Herbert wore, he 

could not be protected against the deathly 

cold. The walkways that led up to the 

house were cracked. 

"I told you that going in the middle of the 

night was stupid," Herbert sighed. "We still 

need our annual dental checkup Herbert 

Hackney," replied Mrs. Hackney.

Every few moments the moon ripped 

through the trees that tossed in the wind, 

creating wraith-like shadows that raced 

along the ground. The tall mannequin 

squeaked and it seemed like it was moving 

closer and closer. It was pitch black and 

eerie. "Is it just me or is that moving?" 

Mrs. Hackney whispered.

"I see it too! Shh! I hear something," 

Aaron gasped. "It's the wind, shut up 

crybaby," Herbert chuckled.

But soon after, Herbert heard a whistling 

sound as well. It wasn't the wind, it was 

the mannequin. Her dreaded, red lips were 

moving. The walkway moved as if there 

was no way out...

"Welcome to Dr. Charles," a voice rumbled, 

"How may I help you earthlings?" The voice 

surrounded the frightened family. This was 

definitely not a normal annual dental 

check-up.

The stairway creaked and squeaked as 

voices surrounded them. This wasn't what 

anyone was expecting. "Hello? Anyone 

there?" Herbert's mother screamed, 

"Doctor Charles?"

A tall, old man peeked out of the door. As 

frightening as a dead rat, Dr. Charles' face 

had mostly been hidden by his glasses, but 

his cold breath made them shiver. His pale 

blue, bloody overalls were utterly 

frightening."Hello, my name is Dr. 

Charles."

"Oh, hi Doctor, how are you doing 

tonight?" Mrs. Hackney panted.

Dr. Charles’ old, frightening eyes watched 

Herbert’s every move. When Herbert 

glanced back, the old man smiled at him, 

with his deep wrinkles, reeking of 

wickedness. Herbert tried his best to fake a 

smile, but inside, he was petrified of Dr. 

Charles.

"I'm doing badly, and your son, Herbert, 

will also do badly by the end of midnight," 

Dr. Charles laughed evilly. "What the... 

Come here you old doctor. I could beat the 

guts out of you," Herbert screamed.

Just a sudden, two women with pale skin 

grabbed Herbert away and covered his 

mouth. Struggling, Herbert tried to tell his 

mother to run away.

"If a single word comes out of your mouth, 

both Aaron and your mother will be found 

dead," Dr. Charles smiled evilly.

Mrs. Hackney and Aaron were pulled into a 

dusty, dark prison room.

"Stop! If you're going to kill my son, kill me 

first!" Mrs. Hackney sobbed, disappearing 

into the pitch darkness.

Laughing malignantly, the old doctor stared 

at Herbert, "You better keep your mouth 

shut. We're going to do an examination of 

your body right now. Please enter the 

examination room."

Knowing that all of this was a mistake, 

Herbert did not move a single muscle, 

wanting to escape more than anything. He 

felt like the whole world was on his 

shoulder.

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