Night Shivers

By Terry Trafton

Stories for rainy days. Great late night reading. Night Shivers––ghosts, time travel, parallel universes, mystery and romance drive the plotlines in this collection of short stories. Frightening journeys into the shivery realm of the supernatural, these unnerving tales probe those dark and mysterious places that inhabit the wildest imagination.
A stormy Halloween night, six guests at a séance have no idea what eerie events The Farley Town Witch has planned for them. Phantom carousel spins riders into a parallel universe. Nothing unusual about the chair in the corner . . . not until the man who sits in it vanishes. No escaping the ghostly visitations of the Blue Lady in a story of heartbreak and retribution. Spencer Ingalls declares that spirits are nothing more than superstition––until one late night when he hears a woman from the other side calling him.
In the stories September Rain and Night Magic, time moves backward with each sweep of the second hand. In love with a young woman who lived 150 years before he was born, Evan Kenner is shocked by a photograph of himself in the 19th century. On a late-night bus to Dothan, Alabama, a sensitive young woman hides a painful secret. Hopkinsville, Kentucky––the man with happy eyes boards the bus and immediately paints sunshine on a snowy wintery night.
Willow Creek Road––eighteen miles of asphalt with a frightening reputation! More unnerving than the raging thunderstorm is the strange young woman sitting next to him in the story A Light for Lily. Taken from a drugged-out mother, thirty-year-old Billy Ryan spent eighteen years in foster care. Now a night watchman at Clayton’s, Billy has plenty of time to build a town for his mannequin friends––an enchanting town on the third floor of Clayton’s General Store; but strange are the ways of fate in the story Night Strike.
Molly in the Sun––reality or recurring illusion? Danger waits in the deep shadows of a full moon, and for one man, distinguishing between illusion and reality is no longer possible. Hush Money is a story of deception in which old friends become familiar strangers. Who are the Dropa people and what messages are revealed on the mysterious Dropa Stones? Did an interstellar spacecraft crash-land in Eastern China? Written in Stone revisits the theory that these smallish people have an extraterrestrial history. Panic in Archer Anderson’s backyard! The thing buried there is coming to life and no one realizes the terror ahead––until it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fox Lane Press
• Release date: Jul 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662921452

Book preview

The Farley Town

Witch

HALLOWEEN NIGHT, a full moon hazy white on a broody sky, Southern Indiana weather had the chill of early winter. The brisk wind which had earlier swept down the streets and across the vacant lots was now silent in a forest of soaring oak trees. Herbert Avenue pirates and the rubber-faced cryptids from Elm Street were the early shadows across this chilly autumn landscape. On the dark porches of those expensive houses on the bluff above the mighty Ohio River, those stately homes forever in the same families, plastic witches with glass eyes stood silent near yellow-eyed pumpkins. On the long lawns, straw-stuffed scarecrows leaned out from behind sheaves of cornstalks. Later, when the pirates, the creeping cryptids, plastic cowboys and fairy princesses, the painted clowns, and singing angels were in bed, lights dimmed in the houses and the streets in the small town went silent.

On the rambling porch of a house at the edge of town, a shapely silhouette appeared, hands and arms spread wide in front of her. Dressed entirely in black, the Farley Town witch had appeared so suddenly that she startled the people on the sidewalk. Each backed away as though taking another step toward the oldest house in Farley Town was forbidden. The schoolteacher in the group let out a small scream which she tried to muffle with her hands. A farmer, two teenage sisters, a retired preacher, and a stranger in an overcoat were the others who had accompanied Farley Star journalist Matti Dane on this journey into the late Halloween night.

Near a huge and foreboding forest, the large two-story house had the reputation of being haunted. Paint peeling, shutters missing or hanging cockeyed from rusty and broken hinges, and two chimneys leaning noticeably, the recently elected mayor Ralph Newly considered the house an eyesore and wanted it condemned. But Agnus Farley owned deeds to several buildings in Farley Town, many of them on Main Street. Her great grandfather had founded Farley Town in 1815 and had either leased or sold several acres of land west of the Ohio River. It was Agnus Farley’s good fortune to be the single inheritor of a few of those same properties now standing on that land.

Most people in town kept their distance from witch Agnus. She remained aloof when seen and expected to be taken seriously as the local grande dame. Younger residents considered her a relic from an earlier century. None of those same people knew how such an elderly woman continued to hang on to her youthful appearance. Lucilla Davidson, curator of the Farley Historical Society Museum, had traced the Farley family tree to the early 1700s, and occasionally declared with enough seriousness to capture an audience, that there was something strange, something distinctly supernatural about Agnus Farley’s ancestors. When pressed to explain what that was, the curator said only that she suspected dark forces had aided in the family’s prosperity. Agnus remained a woman of high mystery and when talked about, offered momentary amusement for those who listened.

Ghostly in the milky moonlight, Farley House was a testament to a time when life in the small town of Farley, Indiana was a landscape of knickers, long frilly dresses, and evening band concerts. Even though that landscape was long, long gone, Farley remained one of those scenic river towns perched on a large limestone bluff. It still had enough of that nostalgic look to bring in the tourists and stop for a while those people passing through on their way to another town or city.

Each member of this midnight group waited for Matti Dane to speak. Matti, however, seemed unsure what to say. For her to be without words surprised the retired church minister, sixty-six-year-old Luke Kenyon. The two of them had been close friends for years and Pastor Luke had often found himself in conversations dominated by Matti.

The witch came to the edge of the porch and smiled warmly at the group. Welcome, she said. What a grand night for a séance. Please come inside out of the cold.

After each entered a meticulously clean living room, Matti said, We’re quite excited and hope this Halloween-night séance will become a holiday tradition.

At the requests of those others with her, forty-year-old Matti Dane, had arranged two weeks ago this séance with witch Farley. With Halloween approaching, she had decided it was a perfect occasion for another séance. It was the third such arrangement and Matti felt the two previous ones had been both exciting and spiritual for those who had participated. Unlike the other gatherings, tonight’s séance would focus on Emory Ferguson, a forty-two-year-old farmer whose wife had disappeared. She had left the house one afternoon never to be seen again by those who knew her. He told authorities he had last seen his wife walking down the lane to get the mail. A friend suggested that Alice Ferguson had entered an alternate reality. Such a comment was nothing more than insensitive nonsense—so Emory had thought at the time.

Two months had passed before the unexpected occurred again. It happened one night when he was plowing a field. Alone, with only the distinct sounds of a two-stroke John Deere, Emory had stopped the tractor to kick from the plow blades clumps of damp soil. It was early morning and mist across the fields was heavy; but near him a familiar shape—only visible for seconds. Thinking it was the image of his missing wife, he walked across a section of unplowed ground, called her name, and waited, but heard only the enormous silence of an empty night.

The teenage sisters, Lexi, and Fran Hamlin, sat near a fireplace which sparked and crackled in a homey way. Still inside his overcoat, the stranger sat away from the others in a chair near a closet door. His face was obscured by shadows filling the corners of the room. In one corner, an antique grandfather clock struck twelve times. Each strike rang longer and louder than any of them expected. It was as though time had been stretched, the chimes representing not seconds but instead the heartbeat of each of those present.

Three years ago, the schoolteacher had attended a séance shortly after her mother had passed away. It had happened in the small town of Elberfeld, Indiana on a snowy winter night, and there were moments during that séance when Audrey Ryan swore she had heard her mother’s voice. The woman who had presided over that seance was Agnus Farley.

Once seated at a round oak table and Agnus ready to begin the seance, the guests were shocked to hear so suddenly loud claps of thunder. Moments later, lightning flashed and light rain began to fall against the windows. The sisters giggled softly and seemed to have no reason for being there other than for the chance to experience a midnight adventure. Then, ghostly laughter echoed from deep inside the house. Each guest looked at Agnus Farley for an explanation.

Strange things sometimes happen in a house this ancient, stated Agnus glibly.

I told you the house was haunted, whispered Fran to her older sister.

What kinds of things? asked Audrey Ryan who wore a new autumn outfit. A teacher the past three years at the new elementary school at the edge of town, Audrey was in a meaningful relationship with an older man in a nearby town. Their marriage was on the horizon.

Agnus Farley added, The house has its own mysteries and they will unfold here tonight.

Such a remark from one whose reputation as a witch quickly evoked thoughts of the dark arts, made the guests more apprehensive. Nevertheless, the laughter continued until it was so loud that two guests were unnerved and turned toward the door as if they intended to leave the house. The laughter stopped suddenly and except for a glimmer of light on one wall, the room went uncomfortably dark. Silence! Then a pleasant throaty sound like the strings of a cello reverberating too long.

The séance begins with a vision of another time, proclaimed Matti Dane as though she knew the routine well—but she didn’t.

Smiling at Matti, Agnus said, Each of you has signed an agreement with Ms. Dane, and on this night shortly after the midnight hour, what you see and hear will change your lives forever. The glow on the wall expanded until a swirling cloud of bluish light settled into a distinct image of Farley Town in the future! Gasps were heard. Thunder rattled windowpanes. Lightning flashed fiercely. When you signed your names, what you see now had already happened.

What the heck does that mean? Fran asked her sister.

Lexi smiled. Like where did today go?

Even Matti Dane looked a bit confused but said nothing. Sitting beside witch Farley, Matti was startled when a small apparatus appeared near her. It just materialized suddenly in front of the witch and projected onto the wall a strange scene—a dark and rainy landscape with large blurry shapes crowded together. Slowly revealed were towering buildings pressed against a swollen sky filled with flocks of ravens. As the scene became more distinct, however, the flocks of ravens were not ravens at all. Instead, large swarms of bats flapped erratically across a sky so desolate and bleak that the entire image looked surreal. There was an uneasy hush in the room—until the rustle of flapping wings and the squeaky sounds of echolocation prompted some in the group to cover their ears.

"Eptesicus fuscus, the great brown bat," Agnus informed them.

The stranger sat quietly among the others, his hands folded calmly on the table and his face still distorted heavily by shadows. The Hamlin sisters and the teacher sank lower in their chairs, and it seemed to Matti that they were nervous and frightened. But even Matti was curious and openly perplexed by what she considered an image disconnected from the primary purpose of tonight’s séance. But Agnus Farley had said only moments ago that what her guests observed that Halloween night would change their lives forever. Was this really a glimpse of a future that had already happened? How was that possible?

The next scene was more disturbing. It showed silhouetted people crouching in fear. Screams filled the room. The great brown bats had attacked and it was shocking to see so many bats drop like stones out of that eerie sky. Bodies lay unmoving in the streets and on the grassy lawns, and soon the screams, the squeaking, the terrifying sounds of flapping wings were gone. The swarming bats had vanished. The guests began to think they had only imagined such an awful scene. There were sighs of relief when the wall changed to a sunny landscape in front of a church with two huge unpainted doors. On the steps was a man in a white robe pointing at someone in the group of twenty people—a young woman with cheerful eyes.

Piano music as the woman walked slowly toward the man whose arm was still outstretched. She kneeled on the bottom step. In her hair were ribbons of yellow sunshine. The man’s face was also in sunlight. Pastor Luke! A kind, peaceful face, his eyes sparkled as he came down the steps. Reaching for her hand, he helped the young woman to her feet. In the trees near the church, blue jays and mockingbirds observed the man and woman curiously. When another man appeared in the distance, his face unclear, people began to cheer loudly. Church bells rang ceremoniously. Trumpets blared. Then unexpectedly, the man in the distance suddenly turned and walked away with his head down. The Hamlin sisters shrugged. Audrey Ryan frowned. The farmer looked at Matti Dane who looked at the Farley witch.

That was you, Audrey, said Matti when the music began to fade.

What do you mean it was me?

It looked just like you, continued Matti. I’m sure it was you.

I don’t think so, Audrey replied weakly. Moments later, she asked, Do you really think that was me?

Matti Dane had promised a fun night and said the witch was good-natured, and no matter what they experienced, it was all make-believe. Something strange about this night though. Unlike the other séances Matti had attended, tonight’s séance began with strange scenes projected onto a wall by the peculiar device in front of Agnus Farley, whose concise remarks left too many unanswered questions. Especially troubling was the gloomy landscape out of which hundreds of bats had attacked a town of shadowy people. Why? What did it mean? Or was it a magic lantern show meant to entertain, or possible frighten—or a thought-provoking look at something supernatural?

Suddenly, the witch spoke in a serious tone. These images you see tonight have meaning for each of you. Look into this rainy night and see tomorrow. After glancing around the table, her gaze lingered longest on the stranger. Anyone who came tonight to speak with someone who has passed on will be disappointed. Those voices will not speak tonight.

The stranger stood, and out of the shadows a long arm emerged. A finger pointed directly at the farmer, and instantly a new image on the wall. A woman in a blue print dress walked leisurely down a gravel road. Near her, a creek twisted through a stand of large catalpa trees in the direction of a faraway pasture. She looked down into the water and listened to it tumble over layers of limestone into shiny pools in which small fish swam. Emory Ferguson leaned forward in his chair as though trying to get a better look at the woman whose face was set against a purple sky.

Watch closely and you will see, said the stranger.

See what? asked the minister. This whole thing is becoming a rather clever illusion.

Please, Pastor Luke, urged Matti. Let it play out.

Play out, he repeated. What does that mean exactly? He looked at the stranger. Who is this man that came in with us? Does anyone know him? Any of you seen him before?

The stranger leaned into the light and instantly the Hamlin sisters drew back. Expecting to see a man’s face revealed, they saw instead a woman’s face and it looked very much like the Farley witch. Bewilderment among the guests! How could the Farley witch be in two places at the same time? Such a thing just wasn’t possible.

Wow! exclaimed Lexi. That’s some remarkable trick.

The man with the woman’s face pointed to the wall. A vortex of spinning yellow light resembled a tunnel through a green forest. Entering that vortex was the same woman who had earlier appeared beside the creek and beneath the long white branches of the catalpa trees. Moving closer, the farmer wanted to see the woman’s face more clearly. But a flat shadow skulked across the wall and blurred the image.

A man on a John Deere tractor appeared. A full moon was high in a starry sky as the man got off the tractor and walked toward the vortex. Immediately, the wall became a scrim behind which another scene materialized. The woman on the other side slowly turned and reached out toward the man. Even when his hands pushed hard against the barrier, he could not push through it. Then in the loneliness of that silent night, the farmer stared into the sky and felt small. The shadow of himself stretched long in front of him. In the stunning moonlight, his shadow became two shadows. One shadow waved its arms erratically while the second shadow frightened the man and caused him to look behind him. Nothing there but a John Deere tractor near a misshapen catalpa tree. A man afraid of his own shadow was himself a shadow decided Emory Ferguson. The scene behind the scrim was gone.