Faster And Faster

Faster And Faster is a scary story about two boys who find a cursed drum in the woods, but upon playing it, creates illusions that impact the reality surrounding the boys. It appears in Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones. Based on a summer-camp story in the 1940s in New York and New Hampshire, collected Ruth L. Tongue in Forgotten Folk Tales of the English Counties.

The Story

Sam and his cousin Bob went walking in the woods. The only sounds were leaves rustling and, now and again, a bird chirping. "It's so quiet here," Bob whispered.

But that soon changed. After a few minutes the two boys started whooping and hollering and chasing one another around. Sam ducked behind a tree. When Bob came by, Sam jumped out at him. Then Bob raced ahead and hid behind a bush. When he looked down, there at his feet was an old drum.

"Sam! See what I found," he called. "It looks like a tom-tom. I bet it's a hundred years old." "Look at the red stains on it," said Sam. "I bet it's somebody's blood. Let's get out of here."

But Bob could not resist trying the drum. He sat on the ground and held it between his legs. He beat on it with one hand, then the other, slowly at first, then faster and faster, almost as if he could not stop.

Suddenly there were shouts in the woods and the sound of hoofbeats. A cloud of dust rose from behind a line of trees. Then men on horseback galloped toward them. "Bob! Let's go!" Sam shouted. He began to run. "Hurry!"

Bob dropped the drum and ran after him.

Sam heard the twang of a bow firing an arrow. Then he heard Bob scream. When Sam turned, he saw Bob pitch forward, dead. But there was no arrow in his body, and there was no wound. And when the police searched, there were no men on horseback, and there was no hoof-prints, and there was no drum.

The only sounds were leaves rustling and, now and again, a bird chirping.

Stories
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark	Strange and Scary Things • The Big Toe • The Walk • What Do You Come For? • Me Tie Dough-ty Walker! • A Man Who Lived In Leeds • Old Woman All Skin and Bone • The Thing • Cold As Clay • The White Wolf • The Haunted House • The Guests • The Hearse Song • The Girl Who Stood on a Grave • A New Horse • Alligators • Room for One More • The Wendigo • The Dead Man's Brains • May I Carry Your Basket? • The Hook • The White Gown • High Beams • The Babysitter • The Viper • The Attic • The Slithery-Dee • Aaron Kelly's Bones • Wait Till Martin Comes • The Ghost with the Bloody Fingers
More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark	Hoo-Ha's • Something Was Wrong • The Wreck • One Sunday Morning • Sounds • A Weird Blue Light • Somebody Fell From Aloft • The Little Black Dog • Clinkity-Clink • The Bride • Rings On Her Fingers • The Drum • The Window • Wonderful Sausage • The Cat's Paw • The Voice • "Oh, Susannah!" • The Man In The Middle • The Cat in a Shopping Bag • The Bed by the Window • The Dead Man's Hand • A Ghost in the Mirror • The Curse • The Church • The Bad News • Cemetery Soup • The Brown Suit • Ba-Rooom! • Thumpity-Thump
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones	Boo Men • The Appointment • The Bus Stop • Faster And Faster • Just Delicious • Hello, Kate! • The Black Dog • Footsteps • Like Cats' Eyes • Bess • Harold • The Dead Hand • Such Things Happen • The Wolf Girl • The Dream • Sam's New Pet • Maybe You Will Remember • The Red Spot • No, Thanks • The Trouble • Strangers • The Hog • Is Something Wrong? • It's Him! • T-H-U-P-P-P-P-P-P-P! • You May Be The Next...