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    No More Mister Punch: Eight Short Stories of the Supernatural
    No More Mister Punch: Eight Short Stories of the Supernatural
    No More Mister Punch: Eight Short Stories of the Supernatural
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    No More Mister Punch: Eight Short Stories of the Supernatural

    By Ian K Pickup

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    About this ebook

    Something sinister lurks in the darkness...

    Collected here are eight short spooks and scares, guaranteed to have you jumping at every noise and double-checking your doors and windows. Author Ian Pickup delivers a new batch of horror with his living, murderous Punch doll, ghosts luring people over cliffs, ghastly monks, and more.

    You don't have to believe in the evil, for the evil to believe in you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeaten Track Publishing
    Release dateMay 22, 2015
    ISBN9781910635544
    No More Mister Punch: Eight Short Stories of the Supernatural

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      Book preview

      No More Mister Punch - Ian K Pickup

      NO MORE MISTER PUNCH

      by

      Ian K Pickup

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      * * * * *

      Copyright 2015 Ian K Pickup at Smashwords.

      https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/iankpickup

      This book is available in print at most online retailers.

      http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      * * * * *

      This novel is a work of fiction and the characters and events in it exist only in its pages and in the author’s imagination.

      * * * * *

      Something sinister lurks in the darkness...

      Collected here are eight short spooks and scares, guaranteed to have you jumping at every noise and double-checking your doors and windows. Author Ian Pickup delivers a new batch of horror with his living, murderous Punch doll, ghosts luring people over cliffs, ghastly monks, and more.

      You don't have to believe in the evil, for the evil to believe in you.

      * * * * *

      Acknowledgements

      Special thanks to Beaten Track Publishing.

      Tony at Formby Books.

      Mum and Kidda.

      * * *

      All stories written by Ian K Pickup.

      Front cover and title illustrations by Ken G Pickup.

      * * *

      This is a work of fiction and the characters and events in it exist only in its pages and in the author’s imagination.

      Table of Contents

      1: Mister Punch

      2: Crier Of Claife [Part Two]

      3: An Abandoned Farmhouse

      4: Tension

      5: The Story of Ann

      6: The Fog House

      7: Clevedon Hotel [Winter]

      8: Subterranean Mystery

      Also by Ian K Pickup

      * * *

      1: Mister Punch

      To take his mind off trouble with a nuisance neighbour, David went shopping one Saturday morning. The house next door had been rented out and a young lad had moved in. He played his music loudly every night till the early hours, disturbing the neighbours’ sleep. David had complained but it continued.

      Walking past an antique shop, he noticed a Punch doll in the window. Stopping and taking a closer look, the face of the doll really made him smile; it reminded him of childhood holidays watching Punch and Judy shows at the seaside. The doll was about two-foot high with a white face, rosy cheeks, and a huge hook nose, and was dressed in a clown-type costume.

      He went into the shop. How much? he asked, indicating the doll.

      Two hundred pounds, the shop owner stated.

      David thought hard about it, but concluded it was far too much and resigned himself to going home empty-handed even though the doll would have really cheered him up.

      That’s far too much, he said.

      The owner genuinely felt sorry for David and reconsidered, offering a reasonable discount. They did, however, keep quiet about the fact the doll had been sold before, the previous week, and brought back. The buyer had demanded his money back without giving a reason why.

      David parted with his money and took the doll home. He sat it on a shelf in his bedroom, where he could clearly see it while lying in bed. That night he settled down in bed, staring at the doll, laughing to himself at its face and expression. Loud music suddenly started playing next door and it easily penetrated the thin walls.

      Not again, said David, shaking his head from side to side before turning off his bedside lamp and trying to sleep.

      After about ten minutes, a strange yet familiar voice from within the bedroom shouted out, Are you going to take another night of that noise, mister?

      David sat bolt upright in bed and immediately put on the light. He scanned the room as his eyes adjusted and then looked at the doll.

      Punch slowly turned towards him. "I said, are you going to take another night of that horrible noise, mister, because I am not."

      David was speechless. Was it a bad dream and he would wake up? He could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. Punch’s face turned bright red with anger and took on a more sinister expression.

      Take me next door now, mister, he demanded.

      But why? protested David.

      Just do it, Punch snapped.

      Doing as he was told, David got out of bed and dressed. Then, with his hands shaking, he slowly lifted Punch off the shelf and headed downstairs.

      Once outside they made their way over to the neighbour’s house and stopped at the living room window. In the top left-hand corner a small transom window was open. Punch instructed David to leave his front door slightly ajar and then to put him through the small opening.

      Carefully carrying out the doll’s order, David watched in amazement as Punch gripped the curtains and scaled his way down to the floor; David looked around and checked no one was watching.

      After hurrying back into his house and leaving the front door slightly open, David headed straight upstairs, back to the bedroom, and pressed his ear against the dividing wall in anticipation.

      Meanwhile, back in David’s neighbour’s house, Punch climbed slowly up the stairs. His movement would have been a strange and menacing sight indeed to anyone standing at the top looking down.

      The doll approached the bedroom door and squeezed through the gap; the nuisance neighbour had his back to the door, so Punch crept along the carpet and under the furniture where the stereo player sat, before pulling out the power plug at the wall socket. Next door, David took a sharp breath as silence fell; all he could hear now was his own racing heartbeat.

      Swearing to himself, the neighbour turned and went over to the stereo and pressed the on/off button a few times, but of course

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