Short Horror Stories

Contacting Mum

On a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, Tara Ross decided that today would be the day that she'd finally check out that creepy small antique store in the darkest corner of White Horn town. She didn't know what particular kinds of merchandise the store sold, only that it was unusual things.

Stepping inside, Tara's nostrils were immediately greeted by the smell of bleach and wet dog. It was enough to churn your stomach, but it wasn't wholly off-putting. Besides, all the items on display had to be at least decades or centuries old, so an unfavourable smell was to be expected.

The small front of the shop had only been a facade. The inside was humongous. As far as the eye could see, there were bustling aisles with rare and bizarre artefacts from around the globe. There was a life-size grizzly bear puppet, whose eyes followed Tara around as she passed by, mutated animal specimens in thin and plumbous jars, keys made from bone, clips of hair claiming to be from unicorns and gryphons, dangerous-looking flowers that came in colours Tara had never seen before, paintings of death and candies made from cobwebs and dust.

But what truly caught Tara's eye was a small teal-coloured music box, standing alone on the farthest away shelf from her. Tara hurried over to the object and picked it up. Its weight surprised her. For such a small thing, it seemed to weigh the exact size of a Chihuahua. There was a little keyhole at the very front of the box, but the only problem was there was no key in sight. Tara tried to pry it open with her fingernails.

"That is a beauty," a low, croaky voice called from behind Tara.

She turned to see an old short skeletal woman standing behind what she had presumed to be a shelf for books, but now with a second glance, she realised that it was the store's counter.

"What is it?" Tara asked as she waltzed over to the woman.

"Ah, that, my dear, is a spirit box?"

"A spirit what?"

"Box. It is used to contact the dead."

Tara shook it slightly in her hand. It gave a gleeful jingle. "It just looks like a music box to me," she replied, her voice full of suspicion as she tried to gauge whether the woman was teasing her.

"It is both." The woman joyfully clapped. "You see that handle?" She was gesturing to the brass handle on the box's left.

Tara nodded.

"You ask the box to put you in contact with someone you have lost. Then you wind the handle, and the person you are trying to contact will sing back to you."

Tara snorted in disbelief, not believing a word of what this woman said to be true. She was about to return the box to its original place when the woman said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"There's someone from your past that you'd like to contact, isn't there?" Her voice croakily asked as she leaned slightly over the counter to get closer to Tara. Her hot, smelly breath kissed the younger girl's cheeks.

Tara's eyes dropped to the overloaded countertop, a book on how to summon pixies greeting her eyes.

The woman held up an elated finger. "I could tell with that brief look of hope that crossed your face. Who was it, your mother, your father, a sibling, a grandparent, a friend or a lover?"

Tara looked up again to see that the woman's amber eyes were burning at her with anticipation. "M-my mother," she quickly stammered, not liking to dwell on her Mum's premature death for too long.

The woman gave a pleased smile. She rummaged her fingers beneath her yellowed shirt collar and removed a small teal key on a chain from around her neck. "May I." She held her callused palm out flat towards Tara.