Horror in Hollywood

2. Auflage CIP-Titelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek The Knickerbocker Kids/Thomas Brezina Horror in Hollywood Übersetzung: Erich Ballinger und David Solomon Redigiert von Sophie Francis Kidd Lektorat: Dr. Irene Kunze Illustrationen: Atelier Bauch-Kiesel Wien - Stuttgart: Neuer Breitschopf Verlag 1993 Alle Rechte, auch die des auszugsweisen Nachdrucks, der fotomechanischen Wiedergabe, der Übersetzung und der Übertragung in Bildstreifen, vorbehalten. © Copyright 1993 by hpt-Verlagsgesellschaft m. b. H. & Co. KG, Wien ISBN 3-7004-0233-3

crazy2001 @02/2011 Dieses E-Book ist nicht für den Verkauf bestimmt!

Übersetzung Erich Ballinger und David Solomon

Illustrationen Atelier Bauch-Kiesel

VORWORT HORROR IN HOLLYWOOD wurde eigens für Englisch lesende Kinder im 2. und 3. Lernjahr geschrieben. Es wurden die bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt erlernten Vokabeln und Redewendungen verwendet. Außerdem befindet sich im Anschluß an den Text ein Glossar. Die Übersetzung ins Englische erfolgte durch Erich Ballinger und David Solomon. Erich Ballinger ist Grazer, unterrichtet Englisch und schreibt und illustriert Kinder- und Schulbücher. David Solomon wurde in Los Angeles geboren und ist freiberuflich als Lehrer, Schriftsteller und Songschreiber tätig.

THE KNICKERBOCKER KIDS

NAME: Axel AGE: 13 He is the shortest boy in his class. However, he's a super sportsman. Nobody runs faster or jumps better. HOBBIES: They change every week.

NAME: Lieselotte, called „Lilo“ AGE: 13 She's the „Brain“ of the Kids. Lilo knows lots of tricks of professional detectives, because she reads all the mystery stories she can find. HOBBIES: Mountain climbing, skiing.

NAME: Dominik AGE: 10 His parents are actors, and Dominik has played small parts in musicals and films. His friends think that he talks like Hamlet's father. HOBBIES: Reading. And he remembers everything he reads, too.

NAME: Poppi (Her real name is Paula, which she doesn't like.) AGE: 9 Her home is almost like a zoo. She has three cats, a dog, a parrot, rabbits, goldfish and rats. HOBBIES: Her pets.

CONTENTS A Terrible Arrival ...........................................................................07 The Egg of Horror...........................................................................09 Horror in Hollywood.......................................................................11 The Horror Hotel.............................................................................12 The Monster Spider........................................................... ............. 15 What Do You Think? .......................................................... ........... 18 Horror in the Aquarium......................................................... ......... 20 The Horrible Message ......................................................... ........... 22 Professor Coma.............................................................. ................ 25 The House of Horror .......................................................................27 The Trap .........................................................................................30 Surprise! .........................................................................................32 Without Hope..................................................................................33 All Questions Answered..................................................................35

THE KNICKERBOCKER KIDS got their name in a funny way: Axel, Lilo, Poppi and Dominik had won the first prize in a contest for knickerbocker-lederhosen-designing. That was okay with them. However, they had to wear their funny-looking, flipped-out knickerbocker-lederhosen in a fashion show. They didn't like that. So they played a trick on the manager of the knickerbocker-lederhosen-company. The manager became angry and shouted: „You crazy Knickerbocker Kids!“ The children liked the name. So, since then, they call themselves THE KNICKERBOCKER KIDS.

KNICKERBOCKER MOTTO: We, the Knickerbocker Kids, are honest and true and stick our noses into every clue.

A TERRIBLE ARRIVAL There was a big surprise for Dominik as he stepped through the big glass door. In the hall of Los Angeles International Airport hundreds of photographers and reporters were waiting for him. They clicked their cameras and came towards him with notebooks and microphones. Behind Dominik came his Knickerbocker friends, Axel, Lilo and Poppi. „I'm a star!“ said Dominik to himself. „A real Hollywood star! And we haven't even started work on my first Hollywood film. I think I'll have to say something to the reporters.“ Dominik put down his suitcase and smiled. „I'm very glad ...“ he started. Plop! A pink substance splashed onto his head. „Yuck!!!“ yelled Poppi. „It's slime! Yucky, pink slime!“ Dominik thought it was a joke. Then he wiped the wet substance off his face. Shocked, he stared at his fingers. He shook his hand and cried: „What . . . what is it? Heeeelp!“ Lieselotte looked up at the ceiling and yelled, „The substance is coming from the pipes of the air conditioning.“ More slime dropped down. Dominik then saw that the reporters hadn't come to see him. A few steps behind the Knickerbocker Kids was a very elegant lady. She had long red hair and was wearing a white dress. She looked a little bit like the actress Marilyn Monroe. Axel pointed and said, „Hey, don't you know that lady? That's Cindy Cooper. She'll be acting in the same film as Dominik.“ „Eeeek!“ screamed Cindy Cooper. A big splash of the pink slime came down on her. Suddenly, a deep but tired voice came over the loud speakers: „Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!“ Threatening laughter followed. The people in the airport looked around shocked. Who had spoken? The voice from the loud speakers continued, „I want revenge! Professor Coma wants revenge, revenge, revenge!“

THE EGG OF HORROR Screaming and yelling the people ran out of the hall into the street. Outside, it was a real Californian summer day -blue sky, sunny and hot. Meanwhile, Cindy Cooper was furious. „Why me? Look at my dress! It's ruined!“ Axel grinned. The actress looked like a doll that someone had stuck chewing gum all over. Dominik wanted to get away from the airport as quickly as possible. He spoke to the others, „Where is Mr. Gray from the film company? He was supposed to meet us here. I want to go to our hotel.“ Lieselotte wasn't listening. Called the „Brain“ by the other Knickerbockers, she was the best at solving the most difficult puzzles. The pink slime and the voice on the loud speaker had made her curious. She wantet to know more. „Come on, let's go back into the hall,“ Lilo said to the others. No one wanted to go back inside. Meanwhile, Dominik had walked over to Cindy Cooper. „Hello, my name is Dominik Kascha. I'm from Austria.“ Cindy stared at him. „From Australia? From Sydney?“ she asked. Dominik shook his head. „No. From Austria in Europe. We don't have kangaroos there. I'm acting in the film 'The Horror Hotel'. We're colleagues.“ The reporters saw Cindy and Dominik and came over to them. Suddenly the film star was very friendly. Cindy even kissed Dominik on the cheek, which he didn't like. Cindy said to Dominik sweetly, „You poor child; what a shocking arrival! Where are your parents?“ Dominik said proudly, „I'm travelling only with my three best friends, Lilo, Poppi and Axel. My parents are actors, too, and they are working on a new film. A Mr. Gray from the film company, Munster Productions, was supposed to meet us today, but because of the chaos here, we can't find him.“ „The studio sent a car. Why don't you come with me?“ said Cindy. They discovered that they were staying at the same hotel. The Kids climbed into the back seat of the pink Cadillac limousine. As Cindy was closing the door, an old woman wearing sunglasses came towards her. „Can I have your autograph, please?“ the woman asked. Cindy quickly wrote her name

on a piece of paper. The woman thanked Cindy and handed her a very large yellow egg. „I don't like silly gifts,“ said Cindy as she gave the egg to the Kids. To the driver she said, „To the Beverly Hills Ocean Hotel.“ Axel held the large yellow egg as the others stared at it. „It has to be an ostrich egg,“ said Poppi. Axel shook it and said, „There's something inside it.“ Knock! Knock! „I think ... I think there's a bird in the egg,“ Poppi said excitedly. Another knock! The shell broke and a long-necked green creature appeared.

HORROR IN HOLLYWOOD It was a terrifying animal. Its skin was wet, green and slimy, its eyes looked like ping-pong balls and its beak was as sharp as a knife. It tried to bite the Knickerbocker Kids with its pointed teeth. Axel, Lilo, Poppi and Dominik screamed. Cindy Cooper turned around. She screamed too and covered her face with her hands. The screaming made the driver nervous. He almost crashed into the car in front of them. Dominik was the only one to keep calm. He opened one of the automatic windows. „Out! Throw the thing out!“ Axel didn't need to be told twice: out flew the egg! It hit the asphalt and exploded into gray-green smoke. „What.. . what was that?“ stuttered Cindy Cooper. „What happened? Eeeek!“ The film star held up her hand. There, written on her skin in shaky letters, was the word: „COMA!“ The driver couldn't keep the car under control, so he moved to the side of the road and parked the car. Everyone was shaken and nervous. No one spoke a word. Suddenly, the driver turned the radio up and told everyone to listen to the news. The news reporter was talking about what had just happened at the airport. The reporter then read from a letter that had been sent to the radio station. The letter said, „Revenge! You killed me seven years ago. Now I am taking my revenge. Greetings from the grave, Professor Coma.“ Lilo spoke first. „Miss Cooper, did you know this Professor Coma?“ Cindy Cooper shook her red hair. „I've never heard that name before.“ „Why do you think he wants revenge?“ asked Lilo. Cindy shook her head again and began to cry. „I... I... I have no idea. I . . . I . . .“ She was silent. Lilo didn't believe her. Cindy Cooper had a secret. What was it?

THE HORROR HOTEL The outside of the Beverly Hills Ocean Hotel surprised the Knickerbocker Kids. It was built like an enormous submarine. Inside the hotel there was an aquarium. The Kids looked through portholes to see the many colourful tropical fish, underwater plants and corals in the aquarium. The hotel rooms looked like cabins on a ship. There were even hammocks. The Kids thought that the hotel was super. A party was given that evening in the hotel ballroom. The film director and all the actors who were working on the film „Horror Hotel“ were there. The junior detectives had to wear their best clothes. They didn't like that jeans were more their style. The Kids met Mr. Gray at the party, the man who was supposed to pick them up at the airport. He was so glad to see that the Kids were okay. „Why didn't you wait longer? Why did you go with Cindy Cooper?“ he questioned them. „I have to take care of you. I promised your parents that I would.“ Lieselotte said, „Oh! I see. You're our watchdog and our baby-sitter.“ Mr. Gray just stared. He was a very boring man who didn't like jokes. „Could you tell us about the film?“ asked Dominik. „Sure,“ said Mr. Gray. „It's the story of a hotel where the guests always disappear in mysterious ways. Nobody knows how. Just their suitcases are found at the cemetery. A young detective solves the mystery. He discovers that the owners of the hotel are vampires. He finds the guests in coffins, in the cellar of the hotel. They're not really dead . . . but I won't tell you any more.“ „I'm hungry,“ said Axel. Everyone agreed with him. „Let's go over to the buffet and see if it's open.“ So everyone walked over to the buffet. At the same time, a small, white-haired man walked onto the stage in the ballroom. Poppi didn't trust him because he looked like a monkey. „That's Ken Kong, the director and writer of the film,“ explained Mr. Gray. Ken Kong took the microphone and started speaking. „I'm glad to be here with you tonight. I promise that 'Horror Hotel', my thirteenth film, will be my best thriller. All of you will help me with it. The audience will shake in their seats. Goose pimples guaranteed! And now, let's eat!“ The buffet table had many covered pots on it. At a sign from Mr. Kong, the waiters took the covers off the pots. The people looked curiously into

the pots. What they saw made them scream. Holding their noses, they ran away from the table. The pots were filled with blood-red soup and big white eyeballs which stared up at the people. The soup looked really terrible. Several guests ran out of the room because they felt sick. „Is this a joke?“ a man called out. „Hey, Kong, what does this mean?“ The director too was as white as a ghost. His hands shook as he took the microphone. He said something but his voice couldn't be heard. Instead, the horrifying voice of Professor Coma filled the room: „Revenge! You killed me. Now I intend to kill you. Greetings from the grave!“ Screaming and yelling, everyone ran out of the ballroom. The Knickerbocker Kids followed slowly. They were no longer hungry. They weren't tired either. Too many questions filled their heads.

THE MONSTER SPIDER Mr. Gray and the Kids went to their rooms. He was staying in a room between the boys' room and the girls' room. „Goodnight,“ Mr. Gray said. „I'll wake you up tomorrow at nine o'clock. After breakfast we'll drive to the studio. Dominik has to meet the make-up people and then try on some costumes.“ Lilo clicked her tongue. First four times. Then a short break. Then twice again. (In the Knickerbocker Code this means the letter „M“. „M“ stands for MEETING.) Lilo had something very important to tell everyone. They said goodnight and went to their own rooms. The children were horrified as they heard someone lock their doors from the outside. „Hey, what's happening?!“ protested Lilo. „Are we prisoners?“ Mr. Gray answered coldly, „No, but I don't want you to leave your rooms before the morning.“ Mr. Gray then left. „There's something foul about this. Something really foul,“ Lilo said angrily. She picked up the phone to call Axel and Dominik, „Come over,“ she whispered. „How?“ Axel wanted to know. „I'm not a ghost who can walk through walls.“ The Brain had an idea. „Wait till Mr. Gray turns his light off. Then you and Dominik can climb over his balcony to ours.“ The boys agreed. They had to wait almost an hour before Mr. Gray turned his light off. They waited ten more minutes before they started. Axel went first. Dominik, who didn't like this sort of adventure, looked down into the garden far below him. At least there was a swimming-pool in case he fell. Dominik started... what was that? There was something . . . something was moving between the bushes. Was it an animal? A person? Or . . .? Dominik couldn't believe his eyes. He looked again. Yes, he was right. There was a spider. A spider as big as a man. It began to climb the wall of the hotel. As it climbed past a room, light fell for just a moment on the spider's head. Dominik started to shake. The insect had a human skull. „Ax . . . Aaaaaxel,“ he screamed. Axel looked back. His friend was pointing down. However, the spider had disappeared. Had it climbed into a room? „What's the matter?“ whispered Axel who was already standing on the girls' balcony. As Dominik tried to answer a scream was heard from below. A woman was screaming for her life.

„Heeelp! Heeelp!“ Dominik knew who was screaming. „That's Cindy Cooper,“ he called to Axel. Just then, Lilo and Poppi came out and stared down into the garden. They could see the spider as it let itself down on a thin thread. It disappeared between the palm trees. By now all the hotel lights were on, people were talking and running in the corridors . . . however, Lilo saw that Mr. Gray's room was still dark. The man was either a deep sleeper, or... perhaps he wasn't even there!?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Dominik finally climbed over to the girls' room. The four Knickerbocker Kids took some cokes from the little fridge, ate some peanuts and discussed everything. Suddenly, Lieselotte jumped up and ran to the telephone. She called the receptionist and asked who had screamed. Dominik had been right, it was Cindy. The spider had climbed onto her chest and woken her up. „We also saw the spider,“ said Lilo. „It was escaping through the garden.“ „We'll give the police this information,“ said the receptionist. „Mrs. Cooper is at the hospital. She is in shock.“ Lilo thanked the receptionist arid hung up the phone. „I wonder if Cindy will be okay tomorrow?“ said Lilo. „What if she isn't fit? She's the star of the film.“ „There will be chaos, which will cost the company millions,“ answered Dominik. Lilo rubbed her nose. She always did this when she was thinking. „It's a question of revenge. This Professor Coma intends to take revenge on someone for killing him.“ Axel laughed. „Very clever Lilo, but we've known that since this morning. If this Professor Coma is really dead, he had to get out of his grave.“ The Knickerbocker Kids couldn't believe that. Axel said, „But the important question is: who is Professor Coma taking revenge on?“ This was clear to Dominik and Poppi. „Cindy Cooper! Coma dropped the pink slime on her, he gave her the egg, and it was certainly him who sent Cindy the spider.“ Lilo, the Brain, didn't say a word. She just thought. What the Kids were saying was correct, but some of the pieces of this puzzle were missing. They were too tired to solve the puzzle. Instead the boys climbed back over to their room and they all went to sleep. That night the Kids didn't sleep well. They had nightmares in which horrible monsters were dripping with slime and blood. The next morning, still tired from their adventures the day before, the Knickerbocker Kids had breakfast. Afterwards they went to meet Mr. Gray, who was waiting outside in his car. „Look over there. It's Mr. Kong,“ said Poppi. A lot of reporters were standing around the director. The director was telling the reporters that

Cindy Cooper would no longer be working on the film. After the shock from the spider, she was afraid she would be killed. „Mr. Kong,“ called out one reporter, „this 'Horror in Hollywood' must have something to do with your films. The slime, the egg, the blood soup and the monster spider are scenes from your other films. Do you have an explanation?“ The director shook his head slowly. Suddenly he seemed to have an idea. He became very excited, rubbing his nose and mouth. He tried to speak but only stuttered, „Ladies and gentlemen, it... me ... uh ... I just thought of something terrible. I . . . I . . Everyone held their breath waiting for the director to speak.

HORROR IN THE AQUARIUM Mr. Kong was sweating and had turned bright red. „I just thought of something really terrible. You're right! The pink slime was a scene from my first film. The egg, the blood soup and the spider were parts from my next three films. This madman is bringing my horror films to life.“ „So what happened in your fifth film?“ asked someone. Kong thought for a second. „This film was called 'The Sea of Death'. Its most famous scene has piranhas . . . eating . . . people. Piranhas, as you know, are those blood-thirsty, flesheating fish.“ As Mr. Kong was speaking, the people noticed the porthole behind Mr. Kong. Suddenly, one reporter shouted out, „Look! In the aquarium ... there are piranhas!“ „Go away! Go away!“ yelled Mr. Kong and pushed the people away from the porthole. „If the glass broke, the water and the fish would come rushing out,“ whispered Axel to Poppi. „Poor fish!“ said Poppi. „They would die.“ Mr. Kong said goodbye to the reporters and told them, „I'll see to it that the hotel takes all the piranhas out of the aquarium.“ As the reporters were leaving, Mr. Gray came into the hotel angrily. „My car won't start!“ „Take mine,“ said Mr. Kong. „It's parked in front of the entrance. I have to stay here. We have to stop working on the film, until this madman is found. And the police isn't doing a thing. So please, Gray, take the Kids away. It's too dangerous here. Take them to the airport, and put them on the next plane back to Europe.“ Axel, Lilo, Dominik and Poppi didn't like the idea one bit. Mr. Gray called the airport. The next plane for Austria didn't leave before tomorrow morning. Mr. Gray and the Kids walked out of the hotel. „Why don't we drive around and I'll show you Los Angeles?“ asked Mr. Gray. „But I want to see Hollywood,“ said Axel. „But Hollywood is just a part of Los Angeles,“ explained Dominik. „Well, I'd like to see the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood,“ continued Dominik. „Lots of stars have left impressions of their hands and feet in the concrete.“ „Sure, let's go there.“ said Poppi. „I've heard that Lassie even left his paw prints there.“

The Kids climbed into the back seat of Mr. Kong's gold Rolls-Royce. Mr. Gray drove them through Beverly Hills, showing them the beautiful villas of the rich movie stars. They crossed Sunset Boulevard into Bel-Air, an expensive part of Los Angeles. Mr. Gray wanted to show the Kids the beautiful view of Los Angeles from the Santa Monica Hills. While they were driving in the hills, the car telephone rang. Mr. Gray answered the phone and said hello. He didn't say another word. But his face showed that what he was listening to was terrible.

THE HORRIBLE MESSAGE Mr. Gray hung up and stopped the car. „What is it?“ the Kids asked. Mr. Gray looked shocked. Slowly he spoke to them, „Mr. Kong . . . Mr. Kong ... he was checking the piranhas' aquarium... He slipped and fell into it.“ Poppi turned white and grabbed Lilo's arm. She knew what this meant. „The water turned blood-red instantly. It must have been horrible! Then someone let the water out of the aquarium and all the water, the fish and Mr. Kong disappeared.“ Mr. Gray sat quietly when he had finished. The Kids were shocked. „Did . . . did Professor Coma call again?“ asked Lilo. „I don't know,“ answered Mr. Gray. „Maybe he's behind it. But why would he want to take revenge on Mr. Kong?“ Axel shook his head. „I think that it was an accident. Mr. Kong just slipped!“ Lilo had a different idea. „Maybe he was pushed into the aquarium.“ This 'Horror in Hollywood' was puzzling everyone more and more. Mr. Gray started the car again and drove back down the hill. Axel noticed first what was happening. Mr. Gray was holding his hands in the air and was staring open-mouthed at the steering wheel. The car was moving by itself, as if a ghost were driving. „I can't... I can't stop!“ At the first curve, Mr. Gray tried again to control the steering wheel. He couldn't. The Rolls-Royce would not turn. The Kids cried out. At the last second the wheels of the car turned into the curve. „Where is he?“ asked a deep and tired voice. „Tell me where he is, or you won't get out of the car alive.“ „That's Professor Coma,“ yelled Axel. „He . . . he . . . he's talking to Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray, tell him what he wants to know!“ Mr. Gray panicked. „I don't know what he means!“ „Tell me where he is!“ continued Professor Coma. „I want to know. I won't leave you in peace until you tell me where you are hiding him.“ In the meantime the car was travelling at a very high speed. At the next curve, Coma waited till the last second before he turned the wheels. The car skidded! The wheels screeched! And the car slid into a rock wall.

„For the last time, tell me where he is! Turn on the car radio, I'll hear your answer.“ Mr. Gray turned on the radio and yelled, „We don't know what you are talking about! I'm Mr. Gray. I have children with me. Stop this!“ The wheels screeched and the car skidded one more time. The Kids were thrown from the seat. Suddenly Mr. Gray was able to control the car and brought it to a halt. The four friends opened the doors and stepped outside. They collapsed on the side of the street. Their legs were too shaky to stand. Mr. Gray sat down looking white. „What... what... what was that all about?“ he stuttered. Lilo tried to relax, but she was thinking too hard. Now she knew more about Professor Coma. She had a clue! A very small clue! But it was a clue...

PROFESSOR COMA Back at the hotel, the Kids watched the late afternoon news on TV. The police had found in Kong's Rolls-Royce the remote control device that Professor Coma had used to drive the car. They had also found a microphone built into the radio. „It doesn't make sense,“ Lilo said to her friends. „Coma wanted to scare Kong, not us. But the Professor didn't know that Kong was already dead.“ „I don't agree,“ Poppi said. „Maybe' Coma wanted Gray and not Mr. Kong.“ „Wait, I have another idea!“ said Axel. „Coma is Kong! Mr. Kong wanted to scare Mr. Gray.“ Lilo rubbed her nose. She had another thought. „Think about this: why did the car stop when Mr. Gray yelled out his name?“ No one knew the answer. Lilo then asked, „Is there a book about Ken Kong and his horror films, Dominik?“ „Yes!“ Dominik nodded, „I have a copy in my suitcase. Of course, I have already read it, and I remember everything. What do you want to know?“ „I'm not sure, I'd just like to look at it.“ She took the book and sat down outside. The other Kids went down to the swimming-pool while Lilo read. A few hours later the three Kids returned to their rooms. Lilo had finished the book. „So what did you find out?“ asked Axel. „A lot. I can tell you who Professor Coma is.“ „What?“ . . . „Tell us!“ . . . „Who is he?“ „He IS not someone, he WAS someone!“ Lilo said. „He was the scriptwriter who wrote Mr. Kong's first successful film. He was also an expert in special effects for films. His name was Constantin Marconi.“ „What's he got to do with this Coma?“ Poppi asked. „It's very easy! Look at his name: CO-nstantin MA-rconi. That makes COMA.“ „That's great, Lilo! You're really smart,“ said Axel. „How did you discover that?“ „Professor Coma said that he had been killed seven years ago. Constantin Marconi also died seven years ago. He was killed in a car accident. It was a very mysterious story. Mr. Marconi's car went over a cliff into the sea. His car was found, but not his body.“

„So you think that Marconi is still alive?“ asked Poppi. „I don't know. It's just strange,“ answered Lilo. „Listen to this,“ said Dominik. „Mr. Kong lied about the piranhas. He said that they were in the film 'The Sea of Death'. Actually, our adventure in the Rolls-Royce was just like a scene from that film.“ „Listen!“ said Lilo excitedly. „I have a plan. Let's visit Ken Kong's house. His house is also in Beverly Hills. Are you coming with me?“ They all said yes. Together the four Knickerbockers were strong. The Kids could do anything as a team. Still, would this adventure be too dangerous for them? Would they have to fight mysterious powers from the grave?

THE HOUSE OF HORROR Fortunately, Mr. Gray had left the Kids alone for the afternoon. He was busy at the film studio. Lilo asked the receptionist for Mr. Kong's address. „Here it is,“ said the receptionist. „Ken Kong is . . . oh . . . was my boss. He owned this hotel.“ Lilo wrote down the address and asked the receptionist to call a taxi. Thirty minutes later the four friends were standing in front of Ken Kong's property, which had a high wall around it. „What now?“ asked Axel. „It's simple. We ring the bell and wait for someone to open the door,“ said Lilo. She then pressed a black button which looked like a skull. They waited. Nothing happened. Lilo rang the bell again. Still, nothing happened. „I don't think anyone is here,“ said Lilo. „Let's climb over the wall.“ Lilo helped each of the friends climb up the wall. Then Axel and Dominik pulled her up. They sat quietly for a moment. Had they started an alarm? They couldn't hear anything. Just then a car turned the corner. The four friends jumped off the wall and hid in the bushes. They looked around the grounds. In front of them was a white villa. To the right of the villa was a small hill with a mysterious looking house on it. They thought they had seen the house before. „That's the house in Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller, 'Psycho',“ whispered Dominik. „I'm sure it's just an empty house used in films.“ It had become dark while they were looking around. Quietly they walked beside the wall in the direction of the villa. They were close to the villa when they heard a click. The four Kids stopped and held their breaths. They waited. Suddenly the earth began to vibrate and water came raining down on them. The Kids were wet within seconds. „Don't panic! The sprinkler system has come on,“ Axel whispered. „But look, the path to the villa is dry. Let's go over there.“ The Knickerbocker Kids followed the path towards the villa. The dark windows of the low white building made the children feel scared. Staring only at the villa as they walked, they overlooked a ceramic toad sitting by the side of the path. A thin beam of light came out of the toad's mouth across the path. As Dominik passed through the beam something terrible happened. First, lights came on in the house on the hill. The silhouettes of two people appeared in one of the windows. They were fighting.

„Knives! They have knives!“ cried Axel. „They'll kill each other!“ Horrible screams were coming from the house. Then suddenly one of the figures killed the other one. The silhouette fell to the floor. The killer turned towards the window. Pushing the curtain aside, he stared into the garden. Then he walked away from the window and turned off the light. The Knickerbocker Kids grabbed each others' hands and stood without moving. The killer had seen them!

THE TRAP „Let's get out of here“ whispered Axel. „We've just seen a murder. The murderer will certainly want to kill us too.“ He turned to run but Lieselotte held him back. „Wait a second! The house is empty. What we just saw was a trick.“ „What do you mean, a trick?“ asked Poppi. „I mean,“ explained Lilo, „it's either a joke, or it's meant to scare people away. In either case, it's harmless.“ „Okay!“ said Axel. „Let's go up to the house!“ Just as Dominik wanted to say no he saw the light beam from the toad's mouth. He showed it to his friends. Now everyone could see that Lilo was right. Holding hands, the Kids walked up the hill towards the horror house. The door was unlocked. Lilo slowly pushed it open. The house was dark. Axel and Poppi turned on their flashlights. „Just as I thought,“ said Dominik, „there's nothing here: no chairs, no tables, not even a bathroom. The house is just one big room.“ The Knickerbockers slowly entered the room and looked around at the empty walls. Suddenly, a trap door opened and the four kids fell down into another room. They landed on a soft floor. The trap door above them quickly closed. „Where . . . where . . . where are we?“ asked Poppi. „One floor down, where else?“ answered Lilo. Axel picked up his flashlight and looked around the room. The room was small and the floor was covered with mattresses. „A door,“ said Dominik quietly and pointed at one wall. „It looks like someone has broken it open.“ Lilo stood up, grabbed Poppi's flashlight and looked through the doorway. „It's a workshop. Come on!“ Poppi, Axel and Dominik followed closely behind Lilo. There were pictures and drawings of monsters on the walls. There was a computer with lots of paper on a table. They saw another door and discovered a small room. The room had an unmade bed, a stove and a bathroom. Then they saw a steel door. „You know what?“ said Lilo. „This looks like a prisoner's room.“ „And it seems,“ said Axel, „that we are the prisoners. How are we ever going to get out of here?“

The Kids began to panic. Poppi started to cry quietly. Dominik tried to hold back his tears. Axel felt a dryness in his mouth. Lieselotte tried to keep calm. „We'll get out of here! Someone will find us!“ „Nonsense!“ answered Axel. „Who? No one knows that we're here. We'll never get out of here. We'll die of hunger!“ „Hey! We're not dead yet!“ said Lilo. „Let's stay calm and think.“ But the Kids couldn't stay calm. They were too scared. Nobody would ever find them. The room was hidden too well. This would be the end!!!

SURPRISE The Kids sat for many hours on the hard floor. They had turned off their flashlights. They stared into the darkness and after a time fell asleep. They slept a few hours. Lilo was first to wake up. For a moment she didn't know where she was. Then she remembered her desperate situation. She also remembered what her father had always told her: think clearly; stay cool! Grabbing a flashlight, she walked back into the room with the trap door. She studied the trap door and saw that someone had broken it open from the inside. Perhaps this was how the prisoner had escaped. The Brain woke her friends up and told them what she had discovered. „We can make a pyramid,“ Lilo told them. Lilo stood under the trap door and Axel sat on her shoulders. Then Dominik climbed up onto Axel's shoulders and tried to open the trap door. He couldn't open it. It wouldn't move an inch. He tried again and again, but with no luck. The boys climbed back down. „Now what?“ asked Axel. No one said a word. Poppi remembered her grandmother, who had always said: „Next to every locked door, there's one that's open.“ Suddenly Poppi had an idea. She jumped up, took Lilo's flashlight, ran through the workshop into the bedroom and stood in front of the steel door. Holding her breath she pulled the door handle. The door opened. No one could believe it. „Great!“ yelled Lilo. „Fantastic!“ cried Axel. The Kids stared down a long corridor. Where did it go to? Excitedly, they walked along the dark corridor until they arrived at a steep staircase. Slowly they climbed the staircase. There was a door at the top. They opened it and stepped into another room. They saw bookshelves and a big desk in the middle of the room. „This must be Ken Kong's house,“ whispered Dominik. They walked through the room into another corridor. There were a lot of doors along the corridor. „Where do we go now?“ whispered Axel. „The entrance door is surelylocked. How do we get out of here?“ „You don't,“ said a deep voice behind the Kids. They all turned around and stared into the mouth of a gun.

WITHOUT HOPE? The Kids stared wide-eyed at the man who was standing in a doorway. „M .. . Mi. . . Mr. Kong!“ stuttered Axel. „Aren't you dead?“ The director laughed. „As you can see I'm not. However, only the four of you know. And you'll never get the chance to tell anyone else. Move! Back into the cellar!“ Lilo wouldn't move. „No! No, I don't want to go back down there. We won't go back!“ Kong clicked his gun. „Don't be stupid,“ he said. „I don't want to kill you.“ The Kids walked very slowly back into the cellar. They were without hope; all was lost. They were sure that they would die in the cellar. „Why didn't you die when you fell into the aquarium?“ Lilo asked. „A film trick,“ laughed Ken Kong. „Just a film trick. No one saw me take the piranhas out of the aquarium. Then I pretended to fall into it. As I was falling into the water I opened a bag of tomato juice that I had hidden under my shirt. After the water turned red, no one could see me. I swam out of a big drain at the bottom of the aquarium.“ „But why did you do it?“ asked Lilo. „It's good advertising. I'll make more money on all my films. I intend to change my name and move to the Island of Saint Louis, in the Caribbean. I already have a house there.“ Suddenly Dominik stumbled and fell to the ground. „Get up! Get going!“ yelled Kong. Dominik slowly stood up holding his knee. „My knee . . . my knee ... it hurts really badly! I can't walk any more!“ cried Dominik. He fell down again. The director pushed his way to Dominik and bent over to see what was wrong. Wham! A baseball bat came flying out of nowhere and landed with a bang on Kong's head. The gun fell out of his hand as he collapsed onto the floor. „Great work, Axel!“ screamed the girls. „It was Dominik who found the bat and gave it to me. Then he pretended that his knee was hurt. And than wham!!!“ The Kids ran back up the stairs through the villa and out of the front door into the warm air. Once outside, they all took a big, deep breath of fresh air. They didn't notice the tall dark figure standing on the path before them.

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED „Stop! Who are you?“ called out the dark figure. „Who ... who are you?“ yelled Lilo. The dark figure walked towards them. He was pointing a gun at them. „Where's Kong?“ he asked in a deep voice. Axel knew that voice! It had to be Professor Coma! „We ... we ... we've just knocked him out. He's lying in the cellar. He wanted to kill us.“ The dark figure walked closer. Lilo pointed her flashlight at his face. It was white, and the man looked very old and tired. „He's a monster! Kong's a monster!“ the man yelled. „Are you Constantin Marconi?“ asked Axel quietly. „Yes,“ nodded Marconi. He walked past the Kids and went into the villa. The Kids followed Marconi into the cellar. The director was still lying on the ground. Marconi kicked his body and yelled, „Where is he? Tell me where he is!“ The Kids pulled Marconi away from Kong. „He can't tell you anything,“ said Lilo. „He's unconscious.“ Constantin Marconi sat on the ground and started to cry like a small child. The Kids didn't know what to do. Marconi suddenly jumped up and ran into the house. The four friends followed him. They heard him calling the police. „The police will be here soon,“ said Marconi as he hung up the phone. „They'll make him talk!“ Three days later the Kids were on the Island of Saint Louis. They were there with Mr. Marconi and ... his son! His son Andrew was ten years old. He had been Ken Kong's prisoner. Kong had locked him up in his villa for seven years. Marconi gave the missing pieces of the puzzle to the junior detectives. „A little more than seven years ago, I wrote my first script for Ken Kong. I also did the special effects for the film, which made Kong very famous. Kong became jealous of me, so I didn't want to work for him any more. Andrew was kidnapped one day. A week later, Kong asked me to come to the horror house. He then locked me in the cellar. Kong told me that if I didn't continue writing his scripts and doing the special effects, he would kill Andrew. I had no choice. It was impossible to flee.“ „How did you finally get free?“ asked Axel.

„It was pure luck! One day when I was really angry and I was hitting at the walls of my prison, I discovered the door to the room with the trap door. It took me a month to open the trap door. I was then able to escape.“ „Why did you do all those tricks? You know - the slime, the blood soup, the monster egg, the spider ...?“ asked Poppi. „I know!“ said Lilo. „Mr. Marconi wanted to scare Kong. Marconi hoped that this would make Kong tell him where he was hiding Andrew.“ „That's right,“ said Mr. Marconi. „And with your help the police were able to discover where Kong was hiding my Andrew. I'd like to thank all of you.“ Lovingly Mr. Marconi gave his son a big hug. „Oh, by the way, the work on the film 'Horror Hotel' will begin again next week. This time the world will know that I am the scriptwriter.“ Dominik told everyone that Marconi should write a film about their horrible adventures in Hollywood. If he did, then the Knickerbockers could all play a role in the film. But only if they had time ... they never knew when another case would be waiting for them ...

WORD LIST A accident - Unfall actress – Schauspielerin acting – schauspielen adventure – Abenteuer advertisement – Werbung agree – zustimmen alive – lebendig appear – erscheinen arrival – Ankunft aside - zur Seite B barely - kaum bat – Schlager beak – Schnabel beam - Strahl bent - (von: bend) bückte bottom - Boden, Grund brain – Gehirn breath - Atem broke - (von: break) brechen C calm - ruhig case - (Kriminal)fall cause – verursachen ceiling - Decke, Plafond cellar – Keller cemetery – Friedhof ceramic - aus Ton chest – Brust choice – Wahl clever – klug clue - Spur, Hinweis coffin - Sarg

collapse - zusammenbrechen colleagues - Kollegen concrete - Beton continue - fortsetzen cover - bedecken crashed - stürzte creature - Kreatur, Lebewesen curiously – neugierig D dangerous - gefährlich desperately – verzweifelt device – Apparat director – Regisseur disappear – verschwinden discover – entdecken drain – Abfluß drip – tropfen drop – fallen drove - (von: drive) fuhr E enormous - riesig escaped – entfloh excitedly – aufgeregt explanation – Erklärung F fear - Angst felt - (von: feel) fühlte finally - endlich, schließlich flashlight – Taschenlampe fortunately - zum Glück fridge – Kühlschrank G goose pimples - Gänsehaut grabbed – faßte grave – Grab

H hammock - Hängematte hardly - kaum held - (von: hold) hielt hide - verstecken hit - schlagen hug - Umarmung human - Mensch, menschlich hurt – schmerzen I immediately - sofort impressions – Abdrücke intend – beabsichtigen J jealous – eifersüchtig K knew - (von: know) wusste L left - (von: leave) verließ M madman - Wahnsinniger mattresses – Matratzen message – Botschaft N nightmares - Alpträume nodded - nickte notice - bemerken, sehen O ostrich - Strauß owner – Besitzer

P path - Weg paw prints – Pfotenabdrücke portholes – Bullaugen power - Kraft, Stärke pretend - so tun, als ob prisoner – Gefangener promise – versprechen property – Besitz proudly – stolz R receptionist - Portier remote control - Fernsteuerung rise – steigen rush – fließen S saw - (von: see) sah scared - Angst haben scream – schreien screech - schreien, kreischen script – Drehbuch secret – Geheimnis silhouette - Schatten, Umriß skull – Totenschädel skidded – rutschte skin - Haut slid - (von: slide) rutschte slime – Schleim solve - lösen special effects - Filmtricks spider - Spinne splash - tropfen, Tropfen sprinkler – Bewässerungsanlage stare – starren steel - Stahl steering wheel – Lenkrad stumble – stolpern

submarine – Unterseeboot successful – erfolgreich substance – Masse supposed to - sollen, müssen surprise – Überraschung sweat – schwitzen T tear – Träne thread – Faden threaten – drohen throat - Kehle thought - (von: think) dachte toad – Kröte towards - gegen trap – Falle trust – vertrauen U unconscious – bewußtlos V vibrate – vibrieren W wipe - abwischen whisper – flüstern workshop – Werkstatt Y yell - schreien