Go ahead and scream.

No one can hear you. You're no longer in the safe world you know.

You've taken a terrifying step . . .

into the darkest corners of your imagination.

You've opened the door to . . .

Welcome...

I'm R.L. Stine, and I want to introduce you to Luke Greene. He's that short, wiry seventh-grader standing in front of his locker.

Some kids tease Luke about being too superstitious. He wears a lucky shirt to school, and he never goes anywhere without a lucky rabbit's foot tucked in his pocket.

Luke doesn't mind being teased. He says you can never have enough good luck.That's why he's so unhappy about his new locker. It's the first day of school, and Luke has been given Locker 13.

Luke is staring at the locker in horror--and he has reason to be worried. Now he's going to need all the lucky shirts, and four-leaf clovers, and good-luck charms he can find.

Because when he turns the lock and pulls open Locker 13, Luke will actually be opening the door to . . . THE NIGHTMARE ROOM.

"Hey, Luke'good luck!"

Who called to me? The hall was jammed with kids excited about the first day of school. I was excited, too. My first day in seventh grade. My first day at Shawnee Valley Junior High.

I just knew this was going to be an awesome year.

Of course, I didn't take any chances. I wore my lucky shirt. It's a faded green T-shirt, kind of stretched out and the pocket is a little torn. But no way I'd start a school year without my lucky shirt.

And I had my lucky rabbit's foot in the pocket of my baggy khakis. It's black and very soft and furry. It's a key chain, but I don't want to ruin the good luck by hanging keys on it.

Why is it so lucky? Well, it's a black rabbit's foot, which is very rare. And I found it last November on my birthday. And after I found it, my parents gave me the new computer I wanted. So, it brought me good luck--right?

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer--printed banner hanging over the hall: go, squires! support your team!

All of the boys' teams at Shawnee Valley are called the Squires. Don't ask me how they got that weird name. The banner made my heart race just a little. It reminded me that I had to find the basketball coach and ask when he was having tryouts.

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do: (1) check out the computer lab; (2) find out about the basketball team; (3) see if I could take any kind of special swimming program after school. I never went to a school with a swimming pool before. And since swimming is my other big sport, I was pretty pumped about it.

"Luke--hi!"

I spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum behind me, looking as cheerful and enthusiastic as always. Hannah has short coppery hair, the color of a bright new penny, green eyes, and a great smile. My mother always calls her Sunshine, which totally embarrasses both of us.

"Your pocket is torn," she said. She tugged at it, ripping it a little more.

"Hey'get off!" I backed away. "It's my lucky shirt."

"Did you find your locker assignment yet?" She pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to the wall. They were all standing on tiptoe, trying to see over each other. "It's posted over there. Guess what? My locker is the first one outside the lunchroom. I'll be first for lunch every day."

"Oooh, lucky," I said.

"And I got Gruen for English," Hannah gushed. "He's the best! He's so funny. Everyone says you can't stop laughing. Did you get him too?"

"No," I said. "I got Warren."

Hannah made a face. "You're doomed."

"Shut up," I said. "Don't say things like that." I squeezed my rabbit's foot three times.