Home Sweet Horror (Scary Tales, 1) - Softcover

Preller, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1250018870 ISBN 13: 9781250018878

Verlag: St. Martins Press-3PL, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Welcome. Have a seat. Let us tell you a story. But be warned. Home Sweet Horror isn't just any tale. This is a Scary Tale.

Meet Liam Finn, who's just moved into a new home with his father and sister. But this old house that seems empty, isn't . . . Bloody Mary is here. Called back from the dead by a game, she's just dying to talk.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

JAMES PRELLER is the author of Six Innings, Bystander, and the Jigsaw Jones series. He lives in Delmar, New York, with his wife, three kids, two black cats, and a not-so-scary dog.

IACOPO BRUNO is a graphic artist and illustrator who lives in Italy.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Home Sweet Horror

Scarry Tales

By James Preller, Iacopo Bruno

Feiwel and Friends

Copyright © 2013 James Preller
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-250-01887-8

Contents

TITLE PAGE, 
COPYRIGHT NOTICE, 
DEDICATION, 
PROLOGUE, 
1 THE HOUSE ON THE HILL, 
2 A MOAN, A WHISPER, 
3 NOISES IN THE BASEMENT, 
4 A STRANGER'S WARNING, 
5 THE NIGHT MESSAGE, 
6 BLOODY MARY, 
7 BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT ... NOW SCREAM, 
8 TUG OF WAR, 
9 FIRE, FIRE, BURNING BRIGHT, 
10 THE WAR WITHIN THE WALLS, 
11 THE STORY OF MARY, 
12 THE LETTERS ON THE FRIDGE, 
13 WHAT THEY FOUND, 
EPILOGUE, 
TEASER, 
COPYRIGHT, 

CHAPTER 1

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

"Wake up, Liam. We're here," Mr. Finn whispered from the driver's seat. "Our new home."

The eight-year-old boy rubbed his eyes, groggy from the long drive. He looked out the car window, blinking into the dark. "What time is it?"

"Around midnight," his father said. "You three have been crashed out for hours."

Liam became aware of the warm body pressed against him. His hand fell on the sleeping dog's neck. On the other side of the dog, Liam's older sister, Kelly, slept with her head pitched forward. Even in sleep, Kelly's hand clutched her necklace. It was once her mother's ring, a parting gift that Kelly wore on a chain around her neck.

"Let her rest," Mr. Finn said, as if reading Liam's mind. "I've been enjoying the peace and quiet."

Kelly had been against the move. She'd crossed her arms and vowed, "Nuh-uh, I'm not going. I like it here in Hopeville." She'd argued, threw tantrums, said horrible things. But Mr. Finn decided that it was time for a fresh start, and that was that. Their mother would have wanted it this way.

Liam felt his chest tighten at the thought. Even after eighteen months, her memory caused his heart to swell and his breath to grow short and shallow, like the early signs of an asthma attack. He fingered the inhaler in his pocket. Breathe in, breathe out, he told himself. Breathe in, breathe out.

The road was quiet, with dim streetlights and a few darkened homes across the way. Each house was set apart on high, rolling lots, not as crowded as Liam's old neighborhood. He looked back at the battered old house on the hill. It was big, larger than he'd imagined from the photographs. The two windows on the second floor — with half-drawn shades like lazy yellow eyelids — reminded Liam of watchful eyes. He imagined that the house looked down upon them out of those eyes. Looming, waiting, watching. The front door's brass knocker looked like a nose.

The dog, Doolin, rose stiffly on ancient legs. She stretched, sniffed, and whined softly in the dark of night.

"What's the matter, girl? You need to do your business?"

Liam opened the door. He stepped into a bath of warm, late-summer air. He beckoned to the dog. "Come on, girl. Let's check out the new place," Liam urged.

The dog did not budge. Instead, she backed away, pressing into Kelly.

Liam's sister stirred, grumbled. "Shut up, Liam, will ya? I'm trying to sleep."

She pushed the dog away.

Mr. Finn popped the trunk, moved around to the back of the car. The big moving van with all their belongings would be arriving tomorrow. "Don't expect a palace," Mr. Finn called out brightly. He pulled out three sleeping bags, pillows, a flashlight. "It'll be fun, like a camping trip. Just remember, guys. This place needs a lot of work."

A flicker of light caught Liam's eye. He glanced up at the house. And a zipper of fear ran down his spine. Just darkness, silence, and an empty road. It was nothing, he told himself. But the sudden flash appeared again, a flicker of light from one of the windows. On, then off. Liam glanced at his father. Mr. Finn didn't see it.

The light came from the window on the right. Maybe my bedroom, Liam guessed. It felt to Liam as if the house's great eye had opened and shut. A wink. As if to say, I know a secret.

"There's no one inside?" Liam asked.

"Don't be a dweeb," Kelly grumbled. She climbed out of the car, unfolding her long limbs. "I seriously doubt that anybody besides us would live in a dump like this."

Liam ignored Kelly's comment. The death of their mother had changed his sister. Nowadays, she seemed angry all the time. Liam missed his sister, the good times they used to share. These days she shut herself off, spending hours alone in her room. Maybe things would get better in the new place.

Ed Finn put a strong arm around his son's shoulders. "This old house has been empty for two years," he said. "It's a fixer-upper. That's why I got such a great price."

CHAPTER 2

A MOAN, A WHISPER

From the first day, Liam heard noises. The groan of floorboards. The hiss of radiators. The clatter of wind pounding the shutters.

CREAK and SCREECH, RASP and WHEEZE and BANG.

And Liam sometimes thought he heard a muffled voice. A moan, a whispered something that caused him to turn up the television, loud.

His dad said it was the typical noises that come with an old, unfamiliar house. "You'll get used to it," he told Liam. "It's what gives the place — I don't know — character. Yeah, that's the word. Character."

Liam didn't see it that way. He sensed that the house was trying to speak. As if it had something to say. A message. But who could he tell? No one would believe him. "Liam and his overactive imagination," they'd explain. He was, everyone said, a dreamy boy. Still, Liam was unable to make out the exact message. What was the house trying to tell him? Who else had lived in this place, moving like shadows through the walls?

Who had lived here before?

WHAM.

A door slammed shut.

"Dad? Kelly?"

No answer. Kelly was outside, her long hair pulled back in an athletic ponytail, shooting baskets at a rusted rim in the driveway. He could hear Kelly dribbling on the cement, hear as the ball rattled against the backboard. An engine's dull hum told Liam that Mr. Finn was riding the John Deere over the lawn. Cutting the grass, trying to tame the shaggy yard.

Liam was alone in the house.

Next Liam heard ... water? He moved cautiously toward the hallway bathroom, the one he shared with his sister. He put his ear to the door. The shower was running.

Liam knocked. No answer. He called out, "Kelly?" No answer came. He scratched roughly at his red, uncombed hair and made a decision. He turned the knob, gently pushed open the door. The room was filled with smoke. No, not smoke. Steam. So thick it was impossible to see. Liam reached into the empty shower stall, shut off the hot water.

The mirror was fogged up. As the steam leaked out through the open door, the mirror returned to normal. Clean and clear — except for a few cloudy lines. At first, Liam didn't understand what he was seeing. Because the letters in the mirror were reversed.

The message read:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Mine? Liam gasped.

Another door opened somewhere. Liam poked his head around the corner, looked downstairs. It was his father. Mr. Finn wiped his hands on his jeans, stomped his work boots. Liam trailed his father into the kitchen. The big man stood, one hand leaning on the counter, listening to his cell phone with a frown on his face.

He shook his head, hung up.

"Who was that?" Liam asked.

"I don't get it." Mr. Finn looked at Liam. "Doesn't anybody want to work...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1250018870
• ISBN 13: 9781250018878
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 114
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Feiwel and Friends; https://us.macmillan.com/publishers/feiwel-and-friends/; ; 120 Broadway; New York; NY; 10271; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland