Cursed: A Horror Collection

By Natasha Duncan-Drake and Sophie Duncan

Cursed - A Horror Collection was created for All Hallows Read 2014 to be given away as a Halloween treat on 31st October. It contains two haunting stories about curses and ghosts to give any horror fan a good scare.

This book has content not suitable for children and non-explicit scenes of a sexual nature.

If Wishes Were ... by Natasha Duncan-Drake

Essie and her friend Beth are taking a trip to commiserate Beth's loss of yet another boyfriend. When they visit a spooky old graveyard and Essie makes a wish on a haunted mausoleum, things don't turn out how she expected at all.

Happy Families by Sophie Duncan

Bridget loves Happy Families, so when she finds an old pack in a junk shop she buys them. She lives to regret it, as strange and nasty things start to happen to her house-mates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wittegen Press
• Release date: Oct 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781908333780

Natasha Duncan-Drake

Natasha is a British author with Wittegen Press and has been publishing genre fiction since 2011. Her work includes everything from horror to young adult fantasy and she has never met a genre she didn’t like. A prolific producer of short stories and novels alike, Natasha currently has over twenty five titles in her back catalogue with further releases always imminent.Natasha has been writing since she was a young girl ever since she read The Hobbit at Primary School. She is a big fan of science fiction, fantasy and horror in all their forms and is a big advocate of fanfiction as a great tool for writers to polish their skills in a welcoming and supportive community.Before establishing Wittegen Press with her twin sister, Sophie Duncan, Natasha was a database and systems consultant. She combines these skills with her writing to create and manage her career in the bold new eBook market.

Book preview

Cursed: A Horror Collection

by

Natasha Duncan-Drake

Smashwords Edition

All Hallows Read 2014

This publication is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organisations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

Wittegen Press

http://www.wittegenpress.com/

Copyright © 2014 by Natasha Duncan-Drake and Sophie Duncan

http://www.wittegenpress.com/wp_main/our-authors

Cover art by Natasha Duncan-Drake

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 reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 978-1-908333-78-0

Dedication

Welcome one and all to our spooky offering for All Hallows Read 2014. If you picked the book up free on the actual day, well done. If you purchased it later, thank you very much. We hope it makes your spine tingle and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

~*~

Contents

If Wishes Were...

Happy Families

Afterword

~*~

If Wishes Were...

By Natasha Duncan-Drake

I wish you were a man, or gay, Essie said.

Then she looked up from her tea at her best friend across the cafe table. Beth simply lifted a questioning eyebrow. Such were the dynamics of their relationship.

Then neither of us would have to bother with this boyfriend/girlfriend crap; we could just shack up together and be done with it, Essie explained. Oh, and the fact that the hotel gave us a double instead of a twin would be awesome not annoying.

Sorry, Essie Darling, Beth replied in an over exaggerated way, but you just don't have the equipment for me.

Essie glanced down at where her top was clearly showing her cleavage and snorted a laugh.

More's the pity, she replied.

Oh, Es, you really wouldn't want to be in a relationship with me anyway, Beth told her and patted her on the arm, I'm a complete disaster. Six months in and that's it. First there was James who ran away to be an aid worker in Africa, then Paul who, honest to god, joined the Foreign Legion, followed by Mark who decided waves were worth more than me and is in Hawaii or Sidney or something like that, then David who went to find himself in a Buddhist temple in India, bringing us right up to date with Colin who ran off with his second cousin to sunny Spain. Six months I tell you and that's it. Off they go to seek enlightenment or some other such shit.

It was Essie's turn to pat Beth's hand.

You'll find one eventually, she assured her best friend.

There was no way she could deny that Beth had a point, however. All Beth's boyfriends did last about six months and then they up and left. You could almost set your calendar by it. Beth would meet a guy in the spring, usually around April, they would be blissfully happy all summer and come autumn he'd find that he had to be somewhere else on the planet and just vanish. Then Beth would swear off men until the next spring.

Essie and Beth had known each other since they were three and Beth hadn't dated at all when they were teenagers, but Beth had hit eighteen and decided to have a go. Five years later Beth was zero for five.

Want to go on the ghost walk? Essie asked, deciding to change the subject completely. It starts at six and goes around all the spooky places in this little town.

Beth considered that for a moment while taking a sip of her Mocca.

Yep, Beth said eventually, sounds like a great plan.

Essie grinned.

At six sharp they were waiting outside the pub on the High Street where they had been told to congregate. Essie ducked her face into her scarf as she plunged her hands deep into her pockets; it was bloody cold. There was no cloud cover at all so the mild heat of the day, which had been positively balmy for October, was completely gone. She was beginning to regret suggesting the whole thing.

Here, Beth said and thrust a hip flask at her; it'll keep you warm.

She didn't argue and the swig of brandy did have a nice burn all the way down.

Thanks, she said and gave the flask back.

The little town they had chosen for their commiseration break was, apparently, quite famous for its ghost walk, so there were about fifteen of them waiting in the cold. It was the kind of thing Beth loved, which was why Essie had suggested it when she'd seen the leaflet in the coffee shop's tourist stand.

Good evening and welcome to the Path of Phantoms, said a booming voice and almost made Essie jump out of her skin.

She turned to find a man dressed all in black, with a cloak no less, standing a few feet behind them. He was smiling in a very disconcerting way with wild eyes that had her wondering if he'd just escaped from the local loony bin.

I hope you are all ready to meet the unquiet dead, he continued.

There were a few nervous laughs.