A collection of thrilling tales, including;

The Puppet Master

“I have moved my pieces with the utmost care, for you are a dangerous opponent. But now this game has run its course, and I hope you have been keeping score.”

“As it happens, I have.”

“So, let me count the ways in which you have lost, and I have won. And then, I’m afraid, I must insist on settling our wager.”

The Goblin Queen

“I’ve seen them, you know.”

“Seen who, madam?” replied the copperhead as he continued his search of the little girl’s bedroom for any clue to her disappearance.

“The goblins, of course. Oh yes, my husband thinks I’m mad. But I’ve seen them, alright. Sneaking about. Spying on good folk whose only crime is to want the best for their darling daughter.”

“Where exactly, madam, did you observe these… goblins?”

“Why, in the woodpile, in the cornfield, in the branches of the silver tree. At the end of the lane, in the crooked house, at the bottom of the wishing well.”

The Rat Catcher

I awoke in total darkness. But the smell. The indescribable stench was unlike anything I had ever experienced. My eyes stung from the acrid miasma of my surroundings, and I tried reaching for my handkerchief to cover my face, hoping for some relief from the stomach-churning atmosphere surrounding me.

Alas, I could not reach my handkerchief, for it was then I realised something was holding me fast. That I was unable to move at all. I was completely paralysed.

What forsaken pit of hell had I been dragged into?

Then I heard it again. The scratching. Oh, but so much louder than before.

I remember now. The grotesque vermin sent to devour me. Oh, Blessed Saviour, it must have dragged me to its lair.