The Gathering

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE BUTCHER Luke Doherty (age 9) It was the fourth anniversary since Trever’s father went missing. The sky was cloaked in red. A filthy cloud, shaped like a devil, hung in the red sky. Trever made his way downstairs. He almost choked. It was horrific. The cat lay dead on the ground. ”Mummmm!!! Alex is.. is.. is.. DEAD!” he screamed. Trever tried to avoid Alex as he tiptoed to the kitchen. Suddenly the phone rang. Trever answered “Hello”, but nobody was at the other end… Suddenly the post came through the door. Trever was very confused because it was Sunday. It read… “What?””, he said, “Cathal Meat is a butcher… No … No, No, No, No. Is his meat… human … meat?”” As Trever moved towards the toilet, he heard some weird noises. It sounded like a blockage in the drain pipes. When Trever flushed the toilet, it wasn’t clean water – it was blood… This was not a joke. Things were serious. Trever grabbed his jumper and flashlight and headed towards Jimmy’s graveyard. On the way he passed an old lady looking for her cat and a huge billboard advertising SPECIAL OFFERS on Cathal Meat’s new finger shaped barbequed treats. Soon Trever arrived. “Umm… where’s Jake’s grave?” asked Trever. He thought to himself a little while… The only place Jake could be was… Cathal Meat’s butchers. As Trever entered the house, he heard a strange noise. “Hello!” he said, his voice echoing around the hallway. As he tried to exit, he froze. Turning around he saw the door shut and it made him jump. “Hello… Trever,” came from a voice from the shadows. Trever ran for the door but Cathal grabbed his arm and said, “I know why you are here…”. Trever froze again. “You do, do you?” he said his voice shaking a little. Cathal began to grin. “Yes…” said Cathal as he started laughing. He laughed so hard he choked. Trever ran to the basement and shut the door. Trever ran to the other side of the room panting like a dog. He picked up the phone, but the dial was in a box marked DO NOT TOUCH. When he opened the box there was Jake’s head… Trever couldn’t stop staring but he picked up the dial and dialled 999 but the dial read 666. He gasped. The cloud was a devil and now the devil’s number. “Is it just me or is that a coincidence?” wondered Trever. Then he dialled 666 and the dial read 999. “Yippee!” shouted Trever. Ten minutes later the cops pulled up with guns and tazers. They arrested Mr Meat. This had been a scary time for Trever but the moral of his story to you and others is DON’T TRUST BUTCHERS… Page 10
PREFERABLY RARE Perry McDaid The tour-guide was prattling on about some demon which prowled the area in and around the old Grianan fort, milking neighbourhood disappearances and gossip for all their worth. Marta had heard all these stories before. She sucked a nail with studied disdain, while tourists milled about the crumbling fort, scaling precipitous sets of steps, admiring the view from the impressive battlements, and eyeing up the mysterious tunnels. Again and again the wary guide broke off his lurid descriptions of the fates of supposed victims of the eponymous ghoul to dissuade the braver adventurers from exploring the dark passages which honeycombed the great walls, and were rumoured to extend miles underground – all the way down to the lough. Marta allowed herself a secret smile. The guide might not believe his own patter, but obviously he was reticent to take any chances with his valuable cargo. When eventually the group settled down to picnic under the brooding, moss-endowed stone of the old feasting hall of the clan-chiefs, Marta sat apart from the brightly clothed, camera-toting, tourists and ignoring the odd surreptitious glance in her general direction, gazes which never really fixed upon her striking form. The sun was relenting, and permitted moderate campfires caressed the inner walls with a subdued light, casting flickering shadows which danced eerily just beyond the realm of clarity. Marta stretched; stifling a yawn as a hunched figure furtively felt its way along the rim of darkness towards the tunnels. Its breathing broadcast excited anticipation to any who could hear. However, enamoured of a pretty brunette with a short skirt and shorter attention span, the guide and his rapt audience remained oblivious to that deeper shadow; each stealthy step bringing it closer to where Marta sat, frozen in a plateau of alertness. “How do you like your meat?” The guide’s double entendres became ever triter, yet still managed to elicit the required responses. “Where is Han off to?” a female oriental scowled. “That boy always mischief.” “Not him again,” the guide sighed in exasperation. “I told him to quit playing silly buggers. Missus Calhoun’s heart isn’t so good.” “I think he went for a leak, Mom,” Han’s younger brother lied, scanning the battlements with a hidden smile. This place was so different from Hong Kong. How could a sixteen year old resist making the most of the ghost stories? Besides, Missus Calhoun was perfectly healthy. The guide was being overdramatic. “How many time I tell watch language?” the tormented mother rebuked. “You say ‘Han need privacy’ – no need rude talk.” Marta could hear heavy breathing of anticipation from the shadow now, next to her, at the tunnel opening. The shadow was preparing to pounce. There was only a slight rustle as the overambitious visitor’s neck snapped, and his gaudily packaged corpse dragged deep into the tunnels. “Demons indeed,” Marta scoffed quietly, scaled talons tearing off pieces of the would-be prankster’s tender flesh and chewing as she went along. She should know; she had lived there for centuries. Page 11
Page 2 and 3: The gathering Spooky Stories for Ha
Page 4 and 5: The Unknown Pierce McKee (age 11)
Page 6 and 7: Fearless Fergus, King of the Castle
Page 8 and 9: Rude Awakening Vera Doherty He just
Page 12 and 13: Possession Sue Divin He died in A&E
Page 14 and 15: The Mystery of Boom Hall Ciarán Lo
Page 16 and 17: Just when they thought they’d sav
Page 18 and 19: Annabelle started to panic. Suddenl
Page 20 and 21: THE DEMON TREE Perry McDaid It was
Page 22 and 23: Mr. Tickles Martin Wilson There is
Page 24 and 25: Lady Labyrinth Brian Hasson I stand

The Gathering

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?