When her mom brought home a flier for a writing contest to create a ghost at the old Strand Theater in Zelienople, Seneca Valley seventh-grader Julia Williams thought about what she liked in the mysteries and fantasy stories she had read.

She wanted a strong visual element and a clincher at the end, so she asked herself, "How can I make this ghost really scary and spooky?"

Whatever she did, it worked.

Julia, 12, of Zelienople, won the contest and a gift bag that includes a $20 gift card, stationery supplies and coupons for three large pizzas. She also received a coupon for one item that her mother asked whether she was willing to trade: "I got a massage," Julia said.

Writers were invited to create a ghost and a compelling story behind the character that would haunt the Strand, and they were to include a "strong physical description" of the ghost.

Julia worked up a scary scenario and submitted it without showing it to her parents or teachers. She did show some friends and a neighbor, however, and they liked it.

So did the judge who evaluated the 300-word entries from a few dozen pupils in grades seven through 12.

Julia's ghost made its first appearance Oct. 8 in front of the old Strand Theater at the end of the Nightmare Tour, a 45-minute ride on an antique Harmony Short Line bus that visits legendary haunted places in Zelienople and Harmony.

Although sworn to secrecy about her ghost, Julia revealed the following details:

He's interested in trying to find revenge.

He was a member of the audience in the Strand Theater in the 1920s.

And he died "not in a way you'd want to die," she said.

The ghost, portrayed by an actor, will come back for repeat performances at the end of each Nightmare Tour on the remaining Friday and Saturday nights of October.

The tour bus leaves the Hovis Auto Parts parking lot on South Main Street in Zelienople at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. The cost is $8 per person. Passengers hear scary stories along the route.

Ron Carter, president of the Strand Theater Initiative, a volunteer group dedicated to turning the 90-year-old abandoned movie house into a performing arts center, said that traditionally every theater has a ghost. To drum up interest in his organization's cause and to coincide with the Halloween season, the initiative decided to start a tradition of its own with the writing contest.

"We received a good variety of entries," Mr. Carter said.

Although she neither submitted the $5 entry fee nor met the age requirement, a fifth-grader sent a story just for fun about a janitor who died. Another student wrote "The Blood Ghost," a story about a child who had his head cut off in the projectors. And a third submitted a story about a couple who were killed when the balcony collapsed.

Mr. Carter would not tell any more about Julia's ghost, other than to give this warning: "If you smell roses near the Strand, run away."

Other activities offered by the Strand Theater Initiative on Fridays and Saturdays in October include the Solid Dead Dancers, a free performance by dance schools from the North Pittsburgh region starting at 5:45 p.m. in the Rite-Aid parking lot next to Hovis Auto Parts and Chiller Theater at Beecher's Cafe, where classic monster movies are shown for free starting at 7 p.m.

For more information, visit www.northernnightmares.com or call Mr. Carter at 724-742-0400.