The Auld Mither, a crone-like hag with razor sharp bones for fingers, is killing off the proponents of a new abattoir in a deer farming community. And Dave Duncan seems to be next on the list. Can he figure out how to stop her? Or will he have to pay for the sins of his father?
This is what a masterclass in creepiness looks like.
I can’t count the number of times people have recommended reading William Meikle. Maybe it’s because they assume we know each other? After all, I live in Canada and he lives in Canada, so our igloos must be close right? I kid. (Just to show I’m joking, I live in Alberta, Mr. Meikle lives in Newfoundland. That’s 3700kms or 2230 miles apart. Our igloos don’t get that big up here.)
I must admit sheepishly that this is my first time reading anything from Meikle. I got his collection Home From the Sea recently, and have it coming up soon, but never dived into one of his books until now.
At only 53 pages long, The Auld Mither will leave a much longer impression on you. I could have easily read this in one sitting but found I needed to let it sit and digest the story at about 50%. When I finished this story I could’ve sworn I read a 300 page novel. As a side note here – it appears as though The Auld Mither has been released once before and this is now a re-release through Unnerving with new artwork. I’m really glad to see this come up again, otherwise I may have missed this gem buried deep in Meikle expansive back catalog.
The story itself is straight forward. A man who owns an Abattoir (British phrase for slaughterhouse) in Scotland is struggling between the decision to remain hands on, or become a mechanized/automated facility.
Then an extremely grisly murder occurs.
His kids are summoned back to the family home to settle his estate. His daughter loves him dearly but his son has long ago parted ways from caring about his father and is only there out of necessity not sympathy.
It’s here where Meikle splits the story between the detective investigating this horrendous incident and the son coming to terms with his father.
The main part of this story though is the use of the Scottish urban legend, the Auld Mither. Much like the folklore character Pesta from Scandinavian countries, the Auld Mither is an old hag or crone that is trying to protect and keep peace within the country. A vicious version of Mother Nature, if you will.
There were a number of scenes that left me with the feeling of my skin scrawling and at one point I heard a scraping noise from our kitchen while everyone was asleep. Turned out just to be our recycling bag slowing falling over. I say this to illustrate just how deft Meikle is at creating an atmosphere that scared the hell out of me, with no extra fat in his words.
This was an easy 5 star read and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Omg! I loved this short story. It’s written very well. I loved finding out who the auld mother is (maybe?) And her details. I would love to read more stories like this and will certainly read more by this author.
A solid short horror story focusing mostly on atmosphere.
Dave Duncan comes home to bury his father and does the usual William Meikle character thing of going to a bar to gather information and getting incredibly drunk.. 🙂 To be fair I liked him and his inner turmoil. His problems with his father should be relatable to many.
The Auld Mither lurks behind in the entire story, occasionally stepping out to play mind games or do something horrifically violent. She was really well done and described.
It’s a bit hard for me to talk about this one as again, it’s very atmospheric and I don’t want to give too much away. The Auld Mither’s full appearance in the story is great and I’m not gonna ruin that.
With the gore, folklore, and general creepiness this one is pretty good.