By Mary O’KEEFE

“It all started with a Christmas stocking,” said veteran voice actor Wally Wingert.

To be more specific, it actually started with a girl.

Wingert was interested in this girl and wanted to get her something special, something unusual – a Christmas stocking that was less traditional. He wanted a monster – he wanted a Creature From The Black Lagoon stocking.

He couldn’t find a stocking like that and, although he had long since lost interest in the girl, the idea of a monster stocking continued to haunt him. He realized that he would have to create the stocking himself.

He told his friend and fellow author of his idea to create a line of monster stockings: Monster STALKINGS.

“My friend said, ‘Why don’t you create a story for each Stalking?’”

And so he did…

“Donnie Druthers’ Christoween Capers” is a mash-up of two favorite holidays that are told in 13 audible stories that can be seen and heard online for free at CHRISTOWEEN.NET.

Being a veteran of Hollywood, Wingert has been around creative people and stories for a long time.

“I started as a radio DJ,” he said.

He thought acting would be the next logical phase in his career and went to auditions but there was something missing. Then a friend suggested he audition for voice-over work. This work was the magic of Hollywood that Wingert was looking for and during his career he has voiced over hundreds of characters.

He knew what he wanted to say in his Christoween stories and he knew what characters he wanted in the stories.

“All of the stories have a rhyme scheme, each one just poured out that way,” he said. “And each one had a lesson.”

Wingert said when he sat down to write, the stories seemed to almost write themselves. Donnie learns something in each story, either about himself or how to work with others. In one story Donnie has his first crush – one of Dracula’s daughters. Keeping Santa in each story was important, too.

The stories are creative and fun. The illustrations by Patrick Owsley, one of Wingert’s friends, are colorful and inviting despite the monster theme. The last story, appropriately number 13, brings all of the monsters together for one big celebration.

The online version is only the beginning. The stories will eventually be sold as books and come with a matching monster Stalking but enthusiasts can get a peek into the “Christoween” world just by going to CHRISTOWEEN.NET.