With the sometimes reluctant help of her friend Louise Sidell, Penny Parker discovers the secret behind Melvin Osandra's seance establishment and, in turn, helps her friend Nellie Marble out of her difficulties with her doll shop. Additionally, Penny is able to free actress Helene Harmon from the plague of the witch doll that will not disappear. In the end, Penny's father allows her to write up the story for his newspaper.
"I promised Mother I'd buy a doll for a poor child," Louise remarked as they walked along. "I thought I'd get it at Nellie Marble's shop. But you needn't go along unless you like." "Oh, I have loads of time," said Penny. "Anyway, I'd rather enjoy talking with Nellie again. I haven't seen her since she graduated." Both Penny and Louise were sophomores at Riverview High. Nellie Marble had attended the school for only two years, and the girls had never known her well. "Mother says Nellie has had a hard time of it until lately," Louise commented. "She had courage, going into business for herself." "Yes, her doll shop is paying well now, I guess. But she had a long struggle building up her trade. She deserves to succeed. She makes the cutest dolls in town." The Marble Doll Shoppe was located at the very outskirts of Riverview, not far from the Big Bear River. After a long walk, the girls came to a district where the business houses were run down and in need of paint. A swinging sign drew their attention to the Doll Shoppe, a clean, white building, which stood in sharp contrast to its neighbors. Louise opened the door. A musical bell jingled pleasantly as they went inside. "Why, look at this!" Penny cried, stopping short. Instead of the neat, tidily arranged show rooms which they had expected to find, everything was in disorder. Dolls were lying helter-skelter on the floor, many with their heads crushed. A glass counter had been broken. While the girls were staring, they heard footsteps. Nellie Marble, a thin, tired-looking girl of twenty-two, came to the doorway from the workroom at the rear of the shop. Her eyes were red from weeping. "Oh," she said in a listless voice. "I thought it might be the police." "The police?" echoed Penny. "Why, Nellie, what happened here?" CONTENTS 1 TRAGEDY FOR NELLIE 2 THE SHOW GOES ON 3 A STRANGE GIFT 4 OUT OF THE PAST 5 MISS HARMON'S WITCH DANCE 6 THE DIAMOND NECKLACE 7 A SHADOW ON THE WINDOW 8 "BEWARE!" 9 THE GREAT OSANDRA 10 MISS HARMON'S LOSS 11 MORE OF THE WITCH DOLL 12 A VOICE IN THE DARK 13 THE MEDIUM'S CONFESSION 14 DISTURBING NEWS 15 A LURKING FIGURE 16 SUSPICION 17 PENNY'S DISCOVERY 18 AN ASTONISHING ADMISSION 19 A WARNING NOTE 20 THE SECRET PANEL 21 A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE 22 IDENTIFYING A SCOUNDREL 23 INSIDE THE DOLL SHOP 24 UNDER THE KITCHEN 25 A TRIUMPH FOR PENNY
A witch called Old Auntie is lurking near Dan's family's new home. He doesn't believe in her at first, but is forced to accept that she is real and take action when his little sister, Erica, is "took" to become Auntie's slave for the next fifty years.
A story about the Switch Witches of Halloween that come to your house for the month of October to watch for good behavior. On Halloween night, a Switch Witch will Switchcraft your candy for a toy.
A terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale. Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet? 'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt 'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman 'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.
Desiring a child of her own, Rosina the witch fashions one out of straw and scraps, but when she cannot bring the rag child to life she becomes enraged and turns the village children into shrubs, where they stay until a kind girl discovers the discarded doll and saves her.
In this fantastic Russian folktale, Baba Yaga zooms through the forest in her flying pot. Her hair is greasy. Her hands are warty. Her nose reaches down to her chin. And poor Tasha has been sent into the forest to find her.
