Spooky Short Stories

At first I was thinking Running with the train was my favorite. Then I thought the Banshee and the Witch. Then I thought..well you know how that goes. I can’t pick a favorite as each of these stories are unique unto themselves and very, very good.

Ghost Brother

A man wakes up in a graveyard one night. He has no memory of how he got there or why.

He trudges home but finds he can’t get in his house, so he sits and contemplates, trying to recall what happened.

Bobby’s dead brother, Gerald, has haunted him for a long time. He’s evil incarnate and goads Bobby into doing some really bad things.

Now Bobby’s done something truly horrid and it’s time to face the music.

I’m always up for something dark and twisted. This story sure is. I tried to guess ahead as to what had happened to Bobby, but when I reached the end of the story, I was way off.

The author pulled one over on me. Not bad Kathryn, not bad at all.

Running With The Train

This one has a mystical feel to it.

Sarah is unlucky in love and all she does is work. Wanting something, but not knowing what, she takes a vacation, going to the Grand Canyon by herself.

Things start getting mysterious while she’s on the train. She sees something, shadowy figures, running alongside the train. But nobody else sees them.While enjoying the view at the South Rim, just before dark, she meets a compelling, and very handsome man. Something about him draws her and she talks with him, telling him about herself. As quickly as he appears, he is gone.

She encounters this man again, and he tells her why he came to her and what he wants. Now she has a choice to make. But what about her family. They need her.

I felt some folklore in this one. The author built up the mystery, making me anxious to see the wonder she would reveal to Sarah and to me.

I couldn’t wait to get to the end and find out what choice Sarah made.

The Banshee and the Witch

Another good one.

Cleona is a witch. The most powerful witch. She has lived a long time.

She’s loved well and lived well, but she’s not ready to leave this world yet. She wants more time.

When the banshee comes calling, she knows she doesn’t have much time left. She’s able to use her magic and send the banshee away several times, but soon that won’t work anymore. There are consequences to using her magic this way. Her familiar, her cat, warns her of this.

So the next time the banshee comes, she has to try something else, something clever.

This was such a fun story. I really like witches. And Cleona’s familiar,Precious, has attitude and all the sass and independence of a cat too. Their exchanges were comical and gave me a few chuckles.

The ending was unexpected. The author caught me completely by surprise. I think you’ll like it too.

Too Close To The Edge

This tale isn’t scary as much as it is haunting.

Penelope has always been afraid of heights. She gets close to the edge and vertigo sets in, along with an irrational fear.

The trip with her husband, along with her sister and brother-in-law, to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was a step toward getting past her fear. It proves difficult as she sees others clowning around, teetering near the edge, with this it can’t happen to me attitude.

When she spies a little girl, alone, leaning out to clutch a flower, her fears are confirmed when the girl teeters, then slips over and out of sight.

I liked that Penelope tried to get past her fear, to confront it and vanquish it for good.

What she experiences on the rim is haunting and wonderous at the same time.

The very end of the story made me smile. It was perfect.