Submitted for the approval of the Den-night society, we call this one:

THE TALE OF THE CLAW-HANDED MAN

A long time ago in a Denny’s far, far away, there was a maintenance man named Phil. Phil’s job was simple, but important. You see, he was responsible for making sure the claw machine at each Denny’s location stayed full of toys. Stuffed animal, action figures, dolls…Whatever was needed to bring joy to the children’s faces.

But one day, Phil was adding a stuffed cat toy when the toy-guard came down on his hand, severing it to the bone. He stumbled around, facing the gathering crowd of diner customers, stump clutched tightly to his chest, blood soaking his maintenance uniform. To Phil’s surprise, the crowd showed no support. Instead, they began to laugh. Mainly because he had a piece of toilet paper stuck to the back of his shoe from an earlier visit to the restroom, but the laughter was poorly timed nonetheless. The vicious jeers from the crowd drove Phil insane. He threw off his bloody rags and ran naked all the way home.

Months went by and no one heard from Phil. A new maintenance man was hired and the claw machines were stocked as normal. Then one morning, one of the waitresses noticed something strange. All of the toys in the claw machine were gone. No, not gone. But won! And standing in the doorway, backlit by the morning sun, was the winner himself. PHIL! Returned to get revenge! His bloody stump replaced by a horrifying claw. A claw machine claw. Spooky, right? No? Then I have no idea what you want from me…