Excerpt:
"It was a small shop on a back street, the sort of shop you'd
only find in Europe. She ran to it at once. "Oh, look!"
At first he didn't know what had caught her eye but
then he did. Puppets.
"Aren’t they wonderful?”
Charles' corns hurt like a bastard but he walked
over anyway. He looked and nodded. Actually they were attractive puppets in a
strange way. Strange the way puppets and dolls can look sometimes.
She was going on about how magnificent they
looked. Magnificent and pricey, he thought.
He was just wondering how to get her the hell away
when the door opened and an old man appeared.
“They are beautiful, no? Hand-crafted and made
locally right here. The designs are based on 17th Century puppets that are in
the Puppentheater Museum in Berlin. Come and look around."
She was inside in a millisecond. The husband
shuffled in after her.
The shop was unique, crammed as it was with all
sorts of eye-catching items. Everything from puppets to dolls to a variety of
knick knacks. There were ashtrays and vases, clothing too, like retro
stuff—hats, gloves--the works.
“I’ve never seen anything like it!”
She didn’t want to leave, but her husband kept
telling her they weren’t budgeted for a big spend.
At last she smiled and turned to go, but that’s
when the old man said what he said.
“I have a special room in the back.”
If they had been lucky, if they had been just the
least bit careful…but they weren’t.
It was her fault. She was an effusive, excitable
creature who always reacted on impulse.
“Oh darling, I just have to see it…! Please?!”
*
The door was behind a bookcase. It was a real
hideaway, like a speakeasy or something.
“It’s strictly for connoisseurs like
yourselves--people with very special tastes and requirements.”
This was different than anything Charles had ever
seen. There was an aura here of something strange, even sinister.
It made him want to shudder but not her. She was
prattling on about everything and how awesome and amazing it all was.
It did seem unusual. There were shelves full of
jars and what looked like stacks of old parchments. Along one side of the room
there were doors lined up one next to the other. Magnificent old studded doors
right out of antiquity it seemed
.
She was looking at the jars. “Whatever are those
up there?”
The old man had her climb up to get a better look.
She did but she screamed. “Those things! What are they?”
In this horror collection you'll find stories of vampires, zombies, murderous midgets, demon clowns, evil dolls, haunted cemeteries, a real shop of horrors, taxidermy gone haywire, serial killers and more!
Your worst fears and nightmares dished up for you with extra helpings of blood-curdling terror!
***
"This is the kind of writing I live for."
C.D. Bennett
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