Freaked out 9 year old

[Creepella]

I have a 9 year old girl that used to be an amazing sleeper and never had any type of fear issues.  We live in a 3 girl house of Disney Princesses and Family Channel without any "scary" stuff at all.  A month ago we had a friend sleep over and during the sleepover, they told each other Scary Stories.  Well, since that time, my 9 year old and my 6 year old will not sleep alone, go into the basement alone, go to the bathroom alone, or go anywhere alone.  They are joined at the hip.  I think the 6 year old is mostly milking it, however my 9 year old is in a panic and will start crying hysterically and lying so she does not have to be alone.  Pre scary story, the 9 year old has rarely cried and has always been very neutral, now, she gets almost hysterical if we make her shower alone.  We have tried splitting up the 2 of them and making them sleep alone, we have tried splitting them up and sleeping with them, nothing seems to work!  We have tried talking about the story, we have tried Rainbows, Bubble Gum and Unicorns...
Ideas, suggestions, help of any kind is appreciated

[margypops]

It could be that you are reacting to it more than necessary and it is getting them attention, so back off from discussing it, dont feed into it, whenthe eldest cries let her , sounds like they are milking a situation, yes they may have been scared in the first place, so dont let that happen too often or supervise the story telling.