Betrayal at Shrink House

By R.B. Ashton

Seven strangers enter. One hides a terrible secret. Will anyone survive the horrors of Shrink House?

It's Halloween and Professor Zarr has brought together an eclectic team to investigate the legendary Shrink House. There's the scientist, the priest and the medium, with their assistants, the jock, the cheerleader and the librarian. And, of course, the estate agent. On this night, at the height of the house's power, they're determined to uncover the mysteries of its terrible past. But someone in the team has an ulterior motive – and when it's revealed, the house lives up to its name.

 

The team are miniaturised and have to run for their lives, or else become dinner for a woman turned giantess. Who, if anyone, can escape the clutches of this hungry witch?

 

Get ready for a seasonal tale with serious bite, in R.B. Ashton's latest chilling adventure!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Neringa Press
• Release date: Oct 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215324899

Book preview

BETRAYAL

at Shrink House

R.B. Ashton

MMXXII

1

There could be no doubt that the vast mansion, of arched windows, peaked roofs and turrets, was a place of the greatest foreboding. The very hill Shrink House sat on was said to be cursed by the bodies of ancient burials. Though it loomed over the nearby countryside, it sucked away light and stood perpetually shrouded in mist. Following decades of mishaps, involving the gruesome deaths or disappearances of residents and staff, it finally sat abandoned, boarded up and overgrown, sealed behind chained iron gates.

That was until the night of October 31, 2015, when those chains rattled anew, in the slender hands of realtor Shauna Sashwell. She unlocked the heavy padlock to let in a purple mini-van packed with people. She waved them up the driveway and skipped over to introduce them to the property. While she busied herself finding the key for the grand oak double doors that crested the entrance porch, she flicked smiles back at the visitors exiting the van. Six of them in total.

At their head, emerging from the passenger door, was Professor Bartholomew Zarr, a pot-bellied man with a shining bald head, round glasses and a pale trench coat. He rubbed his hands together as he approached, and said in a slimy voice, Yes. Yes, the house is finally open, let us in to enjoy its secrets.

Oh, I’m sure you will be quite disappointed! Shauna replied brightly, pushing the doors in. A cloud of dust erupted between them, punctuated by a shrieking bat that made her duck. Barely skipping a beat, she continued, The stories of Shrink House are very much exaggerated; it’s a perfectly safe and lovely home that has simply fallen into hard times.

I sincerely hope not, the professor sneered, passing her. I paid a considerable sum to both your blood-sucking agency and this gaggle of misfits in order that we might study the property this evening. I intend to get my money’s worth.

Shauna lost a little enthusiasm at that. She had been kidding herself thinking that a wealthy scientist might bring a team of experts to this particular house on Halloween for any reason other than a paranormal investigation. But then, the professor’s entourage hardly looked like experts in anything.

Just behind Professor Zarr came Brock the Jock Drummond, a burly, chisel-jawed hunk in a striped t-shirt that hugged the bulges of his upper body. He gave Shauna a wink and a flick of his wavy golden hair, then stopped just inside the entrance to put his hands on his hips. A wide staircase sat opposite the doors, splitting into two directions as it ascended to the next floor. Four other doors led off the wood-panelled courtyard at ground level, separated by ornate furniture and creepy oil paintings of humourless people and their pets.

Most notably, a stone statue stood at the center of the hall: a classical woman in a flowing dress, arms raised towards a domed skylight above. She stood ten feet tall, and around her ankles stood smaller figures, cowering away as though afraid to look at her. Shauna wasn’t sure who from mythology it represented, but it was striking.

Brock said, with a voice that bounced confidence off the walls, Looks like a dump.

Actually – Shauna started, ready to cite the estimated property value, fifteen bedrooms and functioning pipework. She was interrupted by a