The following is an article posted to Mistwood News Online:

  MAYOR’S SON INJURED IN HALLOWEEN ATTACK

  by Imogen Mclay

  Mayor Bill Weller’s son, Ethan Weller, has been hospitalized after a bizarre attack that took place on Halloween night.

  Ethan Weller, a 21-year-old bartender and would-be YouTube star, was injured when he and three of his friends visited the derelict Marlow House to record a video for a livestream on Halloween. Marlow House, named after its first occupant and builder, Peter Marlow, has been empty since its last known owners disappeared in 1973.

  The Halloween video shows the four 21-year-olds encountering a disheveled man who attacked them on sight. The perpetrator was pale-skinned, gaunt, wearing tattered rags, and seemed to be sporting two large fangs and red eyes. The video was dark which has led many online commentors to suspect it was a staged event involving a man in a costume. Although, some believe the group encountered a genuine vampire.

  The attacker first attacked James Hickey, the creator of the Paranormal Probers YouTube channel, and Ethan Weller rushed in to heroically save his friend, which led to his own attack. Ruby Myers, girlfriend of Hickey, inadvertently stabbed the attacker with a shard of wood when he tried to tackle her. Her accidental stabbing scared the “vampire” into fleeing.

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  The video ended shortly after.

  Weller was the only member of the group to sustain serious injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he was stabilized. The other three were questioned by the police. No arrests were made, and as of writing this article, nobody has been admitted to any local hospitals with injuries matching those inflicted by Myers in the video.

  James Hickey agreed to speak to Mistwood News Online and had this to say: “When it pounced on me, it was like a bolder had fallen on me — it was so strong. But once my adrenaline was pumping, I was ready to take it on. If Ruby hadn’t distracted it, I was about to give it a reason not to attack Jay Hickey and the Paranormal Probers.”

  When asked whether the attacker was a vampire or a human, Hickey was evasive and refused to commit to either answer.

  We asked the Mistwood Police Department for a comment, and they said the following: “Obviously, a vampire was not involved in this incident. It looks like a Halloween hoax gone wrong, and due to the severity of Mr Weller’s injuries, his friends will not admit to their prank.”

  We contacted the mayor’s office, and Mayor Weller gave this statement: “My son was savagely injured by a deranged individual. It was likely a homeless man who was sheltering in the house. The police are investigating and have assured me that my son’s attacker will be found and brought to justice. We are not soft on crime in Mistwood and everybody deserves to move freely and safely in this city.”

  When asked if the incident could have been avoided if the city had better programs in place for homeless people the mayor had no comment.

  The video has been removed from the video platform by YouTube due to graphic violence which infringes the site’s content policy. However, the video had already reached over 2 million viewers and been shared on a number of other platforms. As of writing this article, all clips of the original livestream have been deleted from YouTube and other platforms.