Cover art for "The Head Start"
Lucy Meckler (Quinn Cassavale) is the hidden villainess of "The Head Start", an audiobook from the R.L. Stine series Rainy Night Theater. She was the wife of Frank Meckler and had a son named Donny and niece named Ashlee. Lucy was outwardly a loving and fun woman, who was eager and ready for a race despite her age. However, Lucy harbored a dark secret: she was the werewolf behind a string of attacks in the forest near her home. She had a secret office in the basement of her home, where she collected books on werewolves and other horror subjects and kept a diary of her experiences as a werewolf. Sometime prior to the events of the story, Frank found out about Lucy's secret and quit his job at a local dairy to follow her.
One night, while Donny and Ashlee were staying at Lucy and Frank's house, Frank left the house for "work" and Lucy left soon afterwards, claiming to be going to a visit a friend who lived in the forest. While Donny and Ashlee played in the basement, they knocked over a stack of cartons, revealing the door to Lucy's secret office. After finding the books and diary, along with calling the dairy and finding out that Frank was not working there, the kids were led to believe that Frank was the werewolf and ran into the forest to warn Lucy. While out there, they ran into Frank, who simply growled at them to go back to the house. Instead, Ashlee and Donny ran further into the forest until they found Lucy.
As they told her about everything, Lucy made her villainous reveal by telling her son and niece that she was the true werewolf, while also angrily revealing that she knew about Frank learning her secret and quitting his job so he could stop her. Moments later, the evil Lucy transformed under the rising full moon, shocking Donny and Ashlee. She then told her niece and son that, while she loved them both dearly, she couldn't control her ravenous nature. She then allowed the kids a head start (a reference to how she always gave them a head start in their competitions) before chasing the two terrified kids into the woods. It is left unknown if she succeeded in eating Donny and/or Ashlee or what became of her and Frank.
Quotes[]
- "So that's why he quit his job at the dairy." (Lucy's ominous response to Donny and Ashlee's claims; beginning her villainous reveal)
- "He quit his job so he could patrol the forest at night and catch me in the act. Frank must have found my secret office. He read my diary, too! And now, he's waiting up ahead for me. Waiting to stop me. To stop me from feeding my hunger!" (Lucy revealing herself as the villainous werewolf)
Trivia[]
- "The Head Start" and other entries to the Rainy Night Theater series can be listened to here
- Quinn Cassavale would go on to voice evil scientist Aunt Rhonda in the Rainy Night Theater audiobook "The Kid Behind The Door".