Misty

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Best Of Misty
Misty Annual
Misty Summer Special
Misty Holiday Special

A Breath Of Life... (Nightmare): Colette tricks classmate (and us) in waxwork museum pretending to be vampire, rejects the garlicky food, that night classmate repels vampire with garlic breath assumes it is another joke and goes to find others but they have all been turned into vampires (dead empty eyes)
A Date...With Destiny (Nightmare): Karen dreams about grappling with a stranger and falling off a cliff while running away, wakes and reveals she is in wheelchair. Taken to clinic for ‘miracle’ treatment and realises it is the one from her dream, bursts into tears as dr says she can’t wait to run along them.
A Duet For Three Hands: Karen is pressured by her parents into piano exams, wishes for another hand, and one appears but won’t let her stop playing, she crushes it in piano but it is her own hand that ends up damaged so her pianist career is over (happily for her).
A Friend In Need (a): Marla’s grandfather planted old elm tree near their house and various events show it looking out for her, ultimately it crashes to ground preventing lorry with failed brakes from hitting her ‘I know you did it for me, Elm… no matter what others may say… you were my friend to the last!’
A Friend In Need... (b): Sarah's living snowman chasing mean kids melts and saves Mrs March from fire.
Age-Old Youth: Magic mirror gives Jill knowledge she will live to an old age and reminds Mrs Walker of her youth so both change their ways.
A Girl For All Seasons: Emily is popular at school but her personality is changeable with every season, finally she runs out of house and is found dead in clearing with hues of autumn in her hair and dress.
A Girl's Best Friend: Blind Carla and her best friend Belle the dog meet Old Greta who everyone says is a witch, that night Belle runs outside and visits Greta and the next morning Carla’s sight is restored, as Belle has given hers up.
A Leap Through Time...
Alien Seed: Libby has to go stay with her boring uncle in holidays, he is growing a special plant from prehistoric seed, it turns out to be carnivorous with a drug-like scent and she chops it down to save him. He doesn’t believe her and she is sent home, and final panel shows more growing.
A Little Bit Of Magic: Mrs Molloy is driving and picks up a girl who claims she can fly, hides her from villagers and when they get to cliff top she takes off as a beautiful swan ‘and perhaps a little bit of magic is just what this sad old world needs’
An Eye For An Eye...: Slave Esther has a cruel mistress who captures leopards and treats them badly and kills one for skin, takes the other to Rome but the leopard roars and attracts attention of Arab pirates on a Dhow (African ship) who take them prisoner and release the leopard, Livia ends up sold as a slave.
A Night Of Terror!: Lois unimpressed with waxworld at fair, steals magnifying glass, everything she looks at melts like wax, she returns it and he reveals it is his candles that have caused melting not the glass – blows out the third one which is of herself just in time.
A Peasant Girl's Revenge! (True Ghost): Marie Lebrun, peasant at time of Joan of Arc, killed in black arts sacrifice and haunted her killer until he died.
A Picture Of Horror: Zoe discovers her mum was a witch, curses school bullies and traps them in pages of a horror comic.
A Room Of Her Own: Lorna moves in with new family but has to share room with Joan which annoys her and she starts trying to scare her, which works so well Lorna runs off in fear one night and dies falling into swamp – and returns to haunt Joan ‘You’ll never be alone again!’
Art Of Death: Children are dying in Kings Lynn village, drained of energy, Ingrid wonders if disease brought by art teacher then discovers it is his spell – tells father and police smash models and buried children have had their energies restored 'He's some kind of fiend, an energy vampire'.
A Scream In The Night! (Nightmare): Jan wakes at 3am to see a shadowy man outside her third-floor window, he comes in and traps her in a ‘specimen box’ and takes her to his spaceship, then it is revealed that it is his nightmare not hers.
A Spell Of Trouble (Nightmare): Queen Senga is tired of everyone saying she is too young so banishes all old women from city to starve, and demands potion to make herself older, but drinks too much and becomes old crone and is kicked out of city to be eaten by wolves (in image).
A Stain On Her Character: Alison cheats in exams because she can’t write fast enough, ghostly teacher appears and gives her pen that allows her to write faster but she still cheats, pen leaks and she is warned, nib breaks and she ends up covered with ink that will not wash off (‘Alison’s school enjoyed a 300 year old reputation of character-building … and its founder, although long dead, would never allow that reputation to be tarnished by a cheat’).
At The End Of The Rainbow: Sisters Karen and Lisa always fighting then find themselves at end of rainbow and able to see beauty and rainbows in everything and forgive each other; fairy? character thus proves self worthy of painting a rainbow
A Turn For The Worse: Mean Caroline forces mother to buy her a music box and is horrid to her friend, breaking her doll, ends up trapped in music box as doll and never seen again
Aunt Mary's Blessing: Creepy Aunt Mary tells Melody that she is a gypsy witch and will give her the power, then dies and appears as ghost telling her to go find her inheritance, she digs up box with creepy hand in that then crumbles to dust, and has premonition her father will be OK in hospital ‘But will I?’
Avalado's Portrait (Nightmare): Narrated by Maria. Artist Alavado draws portrait of her with ‘magic’ paint and then uses it to blackmail family as whatever happens to portrait she experiences. But her little brother also draws a picture of him and when she tears it in half he dies.
Birds Of A Feather...: Girl finds a small girl being bullied and stops it but child is not grateful, girl warns her of devil cult on hill, she goes up there that night and stops them sacrificing a chicken to her ‘Uncle’, who opens crack in ground and takes them to hell, and child takes chicken back down for girl to be her friend ‘she is too good and kind to be my friend but I feel she will ever be yours.’
Black Agnes: Set in london plague, Agnes Barton takes servant position and kills and robs the family (pretends is plague) but is then haunted by them in new lodges, and knocks over candle by throwing gold at the ghosts in fear and burns to death (starting fire of London).
Bookworm: Joanie wants a life like Lady Agatha character in book, finds spellbook in Professor’s possessions and bullies Old Nell into explaining spell to her, is interrupted by Professor and takes the wrong book into magic circle, ends up trapped in Dracula (‘Her senses slowly left her as she slipped into deep, unfathomable darkness … / And knew no more.’)
Buried Treasure: Group of friends given treasure map in antique shop, go digging there and release spirit of warlock to terrorise the town
Catch Me If You Can...: Jilly takes short cut and meets Vicky who teases her, gets home OK but cannot see her at school so goes back to wood, discovers Vicky is a ghost and ends with Vicky chasing her (‘Sobbing and stumbling, Jilly fled as if her life depended on it… as perhaps it did…’ (final panel of Vicky looming, Jilly crying).
Catch The Moon If You Can: Mary given a magic coin by dying grandmother and told she must pass it on within a year, it fills drawer with money every full moon (great panel combining all the luxuries she and her family buy with it) and at end of year she decides not to pass it on ‘But why should I? Who’s to know what Grandmother’s instructions were? I’ll keep the coin myself and it will carry on its magic for us…’ that night she sees coin hovering in air and follows it, nearly falls into sea but warned by her gran reappearing one last time.
Cathy And The Nature Spirits: Cathy’s dad sells land down by the stream she warns the nature spirits there but it goes ahead, when the first tree is cut she appears there injured, after he calls it off she returns to her bed and is OK.
Cave Of Dread (Beasts): Steffie overcomes her phobia of furry things and saves her friend in cave of bats, wins respect of bullies
Cold Comfort: Selfish shoplifting Molly wanders off from school trip after bus breaks down in blizzard and is taken in by what turns out to be the devil 'You'll never be cold again!' (4)
Country Churchyard: Kathy moves with family to village and doesn’t want to join in youth project to clear graveyard, loses watch and goes back at night and sees tombstone with her name (belongs to her grandmother)/meets ghost of her grandmother and decides to help.
Count The Flowers: Blind Polly comes and sits in the theatre for free every week and is company for the owner Mr Mobely who always gives her flowers. He hears her in the theatre on Sunday when there is no show, and realises she is watching a ghostly performance of a magician, Gant, who performed 60 years ago – he gives her back her sight and she says she believes in magic again.
Croc In The Box: Sue is bullied at school, her 'imaginary friend' pet crocodile takes care of bully Mavis.
Crowning Glory: Rona drugs and then cuts off her wealthy cousin Catherine’s hair after getting jealous about her portrait being painted, Catherine panics and dies falling downstairs and Rona gets locked in crypt accidentally – and then hair begins to grow up through the cracks in the floor, consuming her ‘Nooooooooo…!’
Cry Baby!: Catherine is adopted and constantly teased by her older sister Sarah which makes her cry, her tears drop in a wishing well and she gets one wish, next day she says ‘I wish you knew’ [what it was like to be cry baby] and Sarah is transformed into a crying baby.
Crystal Clear: Katey looking round old museum stained glass (‘The windows depicted villainous characters from local history. Each one beautiful, but somehow menacing.’) after they are smashed by local gang she uses crystal ball to trap them in new stained glass windows instead.
Curse Of Gantreth House...: Sara is maid in 1913 in Gantreth House, shelters raven and an ancient curse enacted through her, and the family all die and house is levelled to ground.
Curse Of The Condor: Kate has nightmares about her grandfather being attacked by condor (he is archaeologist looking for this Inca lost city, Cori-Cancha), he collapses on the way there and giant condor comes and shades him with wings, and shows him vision of the city that he believes is real before he dies.
Curse Of The Desert Girl... (Nightmare): Lina comes out of desert into town to trade, says she can do rain dance and farmers agree to pay her but then take back the money when it has been done – next day their farms overrun with weeds due to too-heavy rain.
Dance Of Death: Starving fiddler and his daughter made to play and dance for supper at inn and then kicked out where they freeze to death. Inn becomes haunted by their spirits and nobody will drink there and unable to sell it with the two ‘in permanent residence’.
Danger Demons At Work: When Betty takes off her glasses she sees demons instead of workmen, overhears them talking about domination and the everflame, she tries to tell everyone but nobody believes her, finally thwarts them by kicking everflame and them back down to hell as parents muse ‘Who on earth is she playing with down there?’ ‘Some new boy she’s met I expect my dear’ but she questions ‘All over? Or will they come up from another hole? Perhaps next time it’ll be YOUR road they’re digging up.’
Danger In The Depths
Danse Macabre: Nadia cheats to get starring ballet role (de luca effect 11), steals mistress's ballet shoes for luck... Skeletal orchestra etc red shoes adaptation, forced to dance until she collapses, Lois gets role and Nadia has ‘damaged her feet’ and shoes ‘danced to pieces’
Darkness At Noon: Italian city in past, Julia has horrible nightmares of herself in the future and city being engulfed but nobody believes her, she is drugged and sent to bed and it is revealed in narration that this is Pompeii and Vesuvius is erupting, final panel of tourists ‘Poor girl, she must have died an awful death…! I wonder who she was…?’
Dark Secrets...Dark Night (Nightmare): Katrine travelling alone on train with kindly man in carriage, annoying man enters carriage and tells stories of ghosts and vampires to scare her, train enters tunnel and he kills the man and says he is a vampire, she reveals she is the train’s ghost and vanishes
Date With Death: Bea and friend rob old antiques shop forcing owner to help them, he gives them calendar along with loot and their days are literally numbered and they disappear into illustration on it (very realistic/shadowy art).
Day Of The Dragon
Dead End! (Nightmare): Cath Clarke is a bully at school with unwilling accomplice Jane, when she leave school takes to mugging old lady who runs away into road and is hit by bus, Jane and Cath start to see her ghost and Cath goes for job interview and old lady answers door, she runs into road and is hit by same bus, revealed that lady is twin sister.
Dead Man's Eyes: Glenda at posh school for girls on archeological dig, bored, finds skull of prophet El Urah with power to see future in his eyes, she sees future of her friend Cheryl’s accident in it but doesn’t warn her to see if it is true, then uses it more despite warnings and steals it, inherits curse as part of prophecy and future is now seen in her eyes.
Don't Look Back...In Anger!: Girls go to haunted manor at full moon for a bet, see vampire and are terrified, revealed to us that it is demolition man dressed up and scaring away teenagers ‘Warning signs never worked, but this idea, had proved a real winner. […] Kids’ll believe anything. Except the truth!’
Don't Look Now!: Nosy Jennifer prys into everyone’s business, man comes into pawn shop where she works and leaves glasses, she tries them on and sees everyone as an animal; when he returns he says she can only take them off if he can have her soul (Satan) or she can keep them on forever and shows her herself, as an ass/donkey.
Don't Look Twice
Doorway To Yesterday (Nightmare): Penny refuses to sell Carnival she inherited to her mean uncle and friend and they decide to kill her but a mysterious stranger with roundabout arrives and protects her, and they hide in his roundabout and it takes them 100 years into the past.
Dressed To Kill!: Nancy and friends go to a fancy dress party where Nancy wants to win prize (despite not making her outfit) and spies Brenda who told tales on her before, follows her into room and Brenda (in spider costume) eats Nancy (dressed as fly).
Elmo's Revenge: Paula steals book from neighbour Old Wanda who is said to be witch, sells it to Uncle, but knocks over a vase and Wanda slips and falls, cat begins to follow Paula about and she runs into road, hit by car, and Wanda takes over her body.
End Of The Line...
Examination Nerves: Sheila has a nightmare about a German interrogation, puts it down to worries about her O Levels which she passes and goes to Germany that summer to work as an au pair. Struggles to find the house and when she arrives is so tired she falls asleep, wakes up to find police there and a body being carried out, interrogation scene identical to the nightmare she had.
Fairy Gold (Nightmare): In medieval England, rude peasant Agnes tries to steal fairy gold and avoids some of their tricks, but falls asleep in their land and time passes more quickly outside, she escapes with gold but is old and dies trying to get back into fairyland
Fancy Another Jelly Baby?: Gillian is addicted to eating jelly babies from Mr Black’s local shop and then notices that they look like children who have disappeared, she goes to investigate his shop but is caught and put into sweet making machine – wakes up to find that although that was just a dream ‘Mum says, if I keep eating so many I’ll turn… into one – aaaaargh! Aaaaaargh!’
Fangs For The Memory: Sylvia lives in swamp with father and is kind to its creatures, vampire arrives one night and wants her to show him way out of swamp (but intends to kill her) and she does, but firefly she has helped helps her in return by setting a light trap for him
Finder's Creepers: Wicked Amanda sent by judge to country to live with Aunt, finds necklace and grows butterfly wings and creates more trouble, won’t give it back and is punished by being turned into a caterpillar ‘Heeeee...eeeeelp me, someone!’ beautiful pictures of wings.
Fingers Of Fear!: Jenny moves in with sister and borrows old piano from school, one evening starts to play German songs and seeing memories of a boy dying and being dragged away, sister returns just in time and puts out candle, and hands at window recede. Investigate afterwards and find that piano came from WW1 German antique shop was ransacked and parents killed and boy taken to detention centre, later girl student at music college found insane playing German songs at the piano.
Flight From Fear: Plague in London 1665, Lucy sends her maid Peg out to get lavender before they flee the city and she has an accident and so they leave without her, Lucy waits in coach outside inn as she doesn’t want to ‘mix with those country bumpkins’ then deathly coachman takes her coach and brings her to plague pit she wakes up and says they must go back for Peg and they find her safe.
Food For Though (a): Jill and Betty at end of idyllic holiday and looking forward to BBQ but then netted by aliens and taken across galaxy to be eaten, as one muses ‘I think it is immoral to eat other creatures… They may not be as intelligent as you and I. But they have feelings. They know pain and grief and terror.’
Food For Though (b): Jane’s family move into new estate house with garden and although her father initially uninterested, he starts gardening, but any veg they sell is bitter, those that they give away are fine though. Loses his job and school start to buy his veg, which now tastes fine since they need the money, Jane concludes ghost of his grandfather living on through him.
Footsteps In The Sand: Mean Trudy knocks over a small boy’s sandcastle and is cursed by a trail of sandy footprints – but makes amends by building a new one and sees the curse passed on to another bigger boy who has kicked over her castle in turn.
Forever In Her Eyes: Elvira is forever young and lives in forest near castle, eyes change with seasons, loved by everyone and old king allows her to stay, but when he dies and daughter is put in charge she orders her captured, child warns Elvira and she runs away but falls over cliff and summer does not come, no more seasons, world stays grey forever.
Forever Winter...: Stella wishes for it to continue snowing and it does – but only she can see it (panels showing her point of view, e.g. seeing her family as snowmen), people get tired of her ‘joke’ and her snow world becomes ‘dull and grey’ then she finds a dead bird and cries which melts the snow and ice ‘they belong in their proper place and I’ll never forget that – never again!’’
Framed: Thief Kate breaks into house, pulls a knife on a man and steals his cubist style painting. Has a dream she enters it and then starts to see everything distorted as in painting – decides to return it to police but even after world goes back to normal and she has learnt her lesson (‘I’m not getting into any more trouble. I’ve had enough!’) she is stuck looking distorted (uses medium, hidden throughout last page until final panel mirror ‘That can’t be me…? … But it was!’)
Friends: Lynsey saves a dog from mean boys throwing it in lake, they kidnap him back for money, but Arthur barks for help and all the town dogs come and trap them in freezing lake.
Full Circle: Lazy Gail (‘…who wants to work when you can have a nice easy life doing nothing?’) answers an advert to look after plants and ends up taking place of owner to look after them forever (‘I was very much like you … arrogant and selfish! But the plants taught me a lesson I will never forget!’)
Garden Of Evil (Nightmare): Fairy tale setting, Tansy captured by wicked queen and made to work in her garden of poisons, white rose pricks wicked queen and she dies, kind sister takes over.
Ghost Of Christmas Future (Christmas): ‘A Misty Christmas Special Story’ – Set in 1998 there is a bus crash and passengers seek refuge in nearby house which claims to be a museum. They find it warm and cosy and as are all soaked put on clothes they find and eat the food and have a Christmas party. In the morning a rescue party finds the bus with everyone dead and refers to an old Museum nearby burning down the previous years, not realising that they have all celebrated ‘one final, happy Christmas’ together.
Ghost Of Christmas Past (Christmas): (‘1928’ ‘A Misty Special Christmas story’) Sarah and family move into new house and discover an untouched room with a strange sense of sadness, some days later Sarah gets a terrible headache and they send for doctor and a strange man appears and saves her. Minutes later the real doctor arrives and tells them that they have seen the ghost of the previous owner who failed to save his own daughter due to drunkenness, and the next day they discover the room now clean and feeling ‘contented’ and ‘at peace’.
Ghost Of Christmas Present (Christmas): (A Misty Special Christmas Story) – Same house as previous issue, now a small hotel. Diana, the new owner, refuses to throw the Christmas party for the orphanage as her gran did every year. Starts seeing the figure of an old woman around, and thinks it is her gran but it is not, then one day it speaks and tells her this is her in the future, alone having turned back on everyone, and she decides to throw the party after all.
Girl Who Knew The Fairies: Lana believes in fairies and tells Carol who comes along to watch the fairy ball with her that night, but is amazed when it proves to be true and she is led off by them ‘Those who see us may not return to tell of it!’ realises they are a tiny race of people living under the earth – next day in school Lana tells everyone where Carol has gone but nobody believes her.
Going...Going...Gone!: Pickpocket Tracey steals magical lens that makes her invisible but it gets smashed by a tramp who finds it and the world vanishes around her (medium fades to white)
Green Fingers...: Father becomes obsessed with making a red daffodil.
Green Grow The Riches - O!: ‘Poison’ Ivy uses and steals from her friend Coral, mysterious veiled lady offers her unlimited wealth but (back page) reveals she is ‘Green for envy, green for danger, green grow the riches-o’ and Ivy takes her place having turned green
Hands Of Nefri: Jodi is given mummified hands covered in gold (though ‘taken’ used in first panel) by dying grandfather and promises to return them to Egypt but ‘I’m just nutty about having a good time – and I don’t give a hang who knows it!’ she refuses ‘Just an old mummy – she can’t hurt me!’ she dreams she is powerful and rejects her aunt/uncle then they all fade away and she is alone, when she wakes the hands have been shattered and she hears a mummy advancing (we see legs) and final panel reveal the skeletal hands are hers.
Hangman's Alley
Happy Birthday, Spooky Sue!: Jenny and 13 classmates invited to her party, Sue blows out candles one by one and they each vanish in puff of smoke except Jenny who was the only one who was nice to her - is allowed to leave and given the last candle 'it will stay alight forever' - narrated by Jenny.
Happy Families: Fiona’s arguing parents break down in car and seek shelter in deserted house, she goes off to explore and is bitten by vampire (unseen except reaching arm; glittering eyes once she turns), in turn bites her family and narrates that she is now waiting for them to wake up so they can be ‘the perfect family’.
Hard Harry's Last Game: Hard Harry has escaped from jail and is hiding under pier, woken by children and convinced to play their game, ends up trapped in quicksand just like they have been over the years.
Heart's Desire: Victorian twins Effie and Dot meet two elderly strangers who ask them their wish, Effie is greedy and they adopt her and literally kill her with kindness
Heaven Is A Hummingbird...: Lynn and big sister Karen have moved to West Indies island from Birmingham which Lynn loves and Karen hates, Lynn has accident picking flowers for her sister and loses her sight, hummingbird guides her up mountain and her sight is restored by seeing a rainbow ‘Your hummingbird and the mountain have worked a miracle, Lynn. And I’ve been blind, too, in a way… But I’ll see things differently from now on!’ (use of colour)
Hold Tight, Please!: June and Gail go to disco against her mother’s best judgement and promise to be home on time, taking her grandfather’s watch with them, but miss last bus and get on mysterious ghostly one (pre-decimal fare and a conductor) – they jump off and make it home and see grandfather’s watch also presented by that bus company
Home Sweet Home...: Gloria and family move to new house, which she hates. She is unpleasant to everyone and also keeps seeing visions of a swamp outside, goes for a walk one day and is overwhelmed by it all and collapses, Dr comes and tells them he had another similar case before, and that nastiness of that old woman and Gloria has summoned the nasty spirit of the swamp. Gloria is overwhelmed by visions of toads and says sorry to her parents.
Honey's Bees (Beasts): Honey and her father keep bees, he dies and she is distraught but put under care of kind uncle, then meets Bill and wants to marry but he is arrested, bees attack uncle who reveals he framed him as had gambled away her inheritance
House Of Faith...: Susan’s parents leave her home with housekeeper for a month, she treats house carelessly (parties, tramples garden) and everything she touches seems to break, gardener and housekeeper tell her it is because house needs love to survive but she ignores them, that night she goes onto balcony hearing sounds and it collapses and she dies ‘The house of faith had been a place of love. It died, becoming only a house of greed, of emptiness… but the house of faith made sure it did not die alone!’
House Of Horror
House Of Snails: Sally’s dad is trying to breed intelligent snails and everyone teases her so she smashes up his work and makes it look like vandals, the snails trip her into coal cellar and immerse her. Policeman tells her father to accept the worst and he remains convinced of their intelligence but with no idea what has happened. (‘They’re all I’ve got left now Sally’s gone. Doubt I’ll start up my experiments though.’) Utterly bleak.
How Does Your Garden Grow?: Londoners Sharon and Lina have robbed shopkeeper (instant immersion in story, this told through dialogue) and stop at old lady’s cottage, intend to rob her but end up drugged and fed to her roses (‘Old Rosie always gives her roses what they like…a nice helping of blood and bones.’) revealed she has been dead and gone for many years but new roses found by side of road.
Hunt The Ripper: Mysterious guest at victorian lodging house - Alison looks in his trunk convinced he is ripper but 'body' is a ventriloquists dummy - reveals he is Count Dracula and he pursues her then kills Jack the Ripper 'Throughout the night those two creatures of evil grappled with each other, forgetting Alison. Who knows who won? But there were no more Ripper murders ... And Count Dracula was detained so long he could not return to his native earth before the sun rose. In some dirty East End alley he must have withered to dust in the sun's rays.' (13) - reassuring narrative voice conclusion
Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel
If Only...: Poor Lois wants to swap lives with rich Kora, visits witch 'I will help you because you're a girl after my own black heart' (7) turns out kora is dying that's why she is spoiled
I Must Catch The Last Train...: 1st person narrator moves into old railway station and meets girl trying to catch the last train to be with her love, helps her and then reads about accident 100 years ago ‘What had I done on that cold, misty night? Had I helped to send the young girl to her death, or had I helped a lost soul to find peace? I’d never know for certain, but somehow I feel I was right to re-unite Lottie and her Albert.’
In A Broken Dream: Olive is rich and has no happiness so starts thwarting other people’s dreams, e.g. making girl miss pop concert, buying necklace another wants – and is threatened by dream Maker who will haunt her sleep – 2am and she dare not sleep…
Inside Story: Rewriting of Pandora (revealed at the end) she hears voices telling her to ‘help ussss’ (black background panels showing spirits) that trick her into opening the box ‘Mythology tells us that when Pandora released the sickness and plague and evil and greed into the world, it was her curiosity that was to blame… but now you know – the inside story!’
In The Labyrinths Of Her Mind...: Orphan Judy is mean to everyone, gets a tape recorder that hisses creepy rhymes at her, throws it away but can still hear it
It's A Dog's Life! (Beasts): Mrs Abbott gives her dog Ling the best of everything and then discovers she has a grand-niece who comes to visit and is nice and starts becoming the favourite and Mrs Abbott realises ‘You are a selfish little thing’ and decides to change her will but that night Ling trips up Jane on the stairs and it is implied she dies
Jorum Is Coming: Heather finds an space-egg and plants it in wood while in a trance, becomes increasingly detached and sure that ‘Jorum is coming’, egg tells her to kill her parents, she gets axe but then hears them say they love her and smashes egg instead.
Journey Into Fear...
Just Another Day: Julia and friends arrive at school to find it has vanished, as does part of the street and then the rest of the world, finally revealed it is all being dreamed by an alien.
Keep Your Fingers Crossed...: Debbie follows superstition slavishly but while doing so (freaking out over peacock feather in her friend’s house) gets run over by a bus – at her funeral cherry wonders if she should defy superstition ‘Still, she’d keep her fingers crossed that nothing would happen on the way home…’
Last Encounters...: Family on spaceship, recurring dream of landing on a planet and being thrown into air by a quake, turns out they land on earth and are tiny, man wakes and throws their ship into air thinking it a kid’s toy – ‘…not all spaceships are gigantic!’
Lead Kindly Light: (set in past times) Ruth's stepdad is a shipwrecker, she runs away on ship with old rich schoolfriend that he wrecks and they die, her ghost returns and leads him off a cliff with false lantern light
Let Not Evil Flourish (Nightmare): Carol and bellringing group go to play in candlelit church, discover strange sign with musical notation, play it widdershins and it summons a demon – then Carol wakes up to find her friends have just realised this but she is in time to stop them [like The Dummy]
Life With The Gregorys: Annabel is neglected by parents and left with mean nanny, she decides to vanish into world of her doll house (the Gregory family).
Lift To Limbo: In 1900 London Beth works in a sweatshop sewing, wants to leave early to visit her great aunt but is too late and sees creepy hearse pass her, family go on holiday with money left to them and a ‘special gift’ is mentioned, bellhop in lift uses same wording to Beth and they don’t get in lift, which falls and kills everyone in it.
Living Doll: Barbie is bored watching TV and dreams about living dolls from advert then thinks she sees one at window (‘what does it want with me? Why is it haunting me?’), goes out to help friend with some sewing and encounters doll again realises she wants her to help her owner, little girl who has fallen in river who she saves
Long Way From Home
Looking For Something Special...: Narrated by girl who just wants to be loved, found on beach and taken home by old couple, but they insist on calling dr and she returns to just a pile of sand (‘Unloved, unwanted now… / … just sand once again. / Think of us, beneath your feet. Tiny, separate grains. Liked so briefly and then deserted… / And yet we so nearly found it – love!’
Madhouse!: Sally Davies and four strangers wake up in house, strangers start to disappear one by one, she escapes but pullback to reveal giant apes playing a board game.
Malice In Wonderland: Owner in midst of his deserted wonderland carnival, has been haunted by ghost girl, he finally sees her and climbs to top of rollercoaster chasing her, she reveals she died in neglectful accident and same happens to him – story ends with wonderland popular again but he is the ghost that haunts it.
Marble Jaws: Trisha and Mary move into new house and explore mausoleum, Trisha gets locked inside and when Mary opens door she asks why she didn’t come sooner and who the old couple outside are. Mary explains ‘That happened forty years ago Trisha. I was knocked over by Daddy’s car when I ran to get help for you. […] But now we’re together again … for always!’
Mask Of Fear: Sue is looking for a Halloween costume to win first prize again, but she and mother have to go and look after their Uncle Henry, she steals a key from him and finds a creepy mask in his locked room which she wears and wins first prize. But when she tries to remove it there is another underneath, and another, and another…
Master-Stroke (Nightmare): Panicked peasant girl running through village away from black knight executing people, told he is controlled by the ‘Master’, at end discovers she is a piece in a chess game
Mermaid: Sheila meets a mermaid who proves to be evil and wants to capture her soul so she can venture on land (‘A mermaid who dares leave the water loses her powers and becomes a fish all over – and the only way she can venture on land is by first capturing a human soul’) tries to avoid her but nonetheless snared by her music, but it stops when she is caught by a fisherman’s net and turns into fish (‘I should be happy now I am free from her spell – yet she was so beautiful, I feel sorrow, too’).
Midnight Masquerader
Miranda: Miranda is a beggar girl selling trinkets to ward off curses, those who decline get dead animals, she is arrested but courthouse falls down before she can be tried, so judged a witch but when tied to the stake it begins to rain and has not stopped since and narrator concludes she was a witch after all
Mirror...Mirror: Linda is ugly and teased for it, and meets old woman who gives her magic mirror that will make her beautiful, but warns her not to let any harm come to it – she blossoms but is still rude and snobbish, and argues with her mum who slams door breaking mirror –next morning she wakes up and her face is distorted like cracked mirror ‘After all, would you want to face yourself every morning, like this…
Mirror Mirror On The Wall... (Nightmare): Sally and family move into new house with locked room with mirror, bad feeling, toby her dog dies when locked in that room, then sally’s reflection comes alive and grabs her, tries to swap with places but sally smashes the mirror and escapes ‘Every time I look in another mirror I’ll shiver… and wonder if she’s still there and waiting!’
Miss Cassidy's Cat...: Neighbour jilly chases cat, thinks mrs c has made him giant but final panel reveal she has shrunk her instead. Given viewpoint of witch through eye shaped panels p25
Miss T: Comedy misadventures of a hapless witch
Monster Movie: Kaye and little sister Gemma are watching a monster movie on TV Kaye is bored and Gemma is scared so turn it off and go to look at the old house in town which looks identical, while there Kaye scares Gemma and she decides go home, Kaye finds old movie reels showing monster attacking some guy ‘This wasn’t in the film we saw on TV … not really surprising though… / No-one could possibly believe such an improbable monster lived in this house…!’ as panels show monster about to grab her.
Monster Of Green Acres: (2nd person narration addressed to madman stalking the town) – people become increasingly scared and town ends up deserted, revealed it is the scarecrow who ‘just didn’t know when to stop’.
Moodstone: Cathy cons old lady out of Moodstone ring for 50p finds it goes ugly colours only for her. Cathy is mean to people and Moonstone turns black, sucking all colour out of her life (uses medium - panels replicate the colours she sees eg purple tones and then finally B&W). Mean Cathy punished as Moodstone dazzles her and all colour vanishes from final panel ‘all the colour’s gone out of my life…wherever I look everybody has turned black.’ Narrative caption (no narrator shown) ending it ‘ Perhaps it was the moodstone dazzling her that made Cathy colour blind, or perhaps – with her black moods – Cathy had been colour blind to all the good things in life for a long time…’ – raising qs not answering them.
Moonchild
Mrs. Barlow's Lodger...: Kate and mother take in creepy Dr Stark who sits in his room writing music and never eats. She follows him to graveyard one night and he reveals himself as a (very scary!) skeleton and raises the dead. Kate cannot tell anyone.
Mrs Grundy's Guest House: Pickpocket Jilly spends day stealing from OAPs and then tries to find a B&B for evening with no luck, breaks into Mrs Grundy’s (always empty though Mrs G says it is full) and then says she wants to stay when discovered, while trying to steal ornaments ghosts appear and say she must be punished, they hold her and her struggles knock curtain into fire and burn down house with her in it ‘burned alive’ ‘You’re a wicked gill, Jilly Sloper. You came here to rob me. And now you’ve burned down the only refuge these poor lost souls have ever had. I don’t think anything would make them let you go now.’ ‘In the ruins of the old house one remained .. doomed to stay there forever!’
Mrs. Rossiter's Cats: Mary goes to visit old Mrs Rossiter with cakes but bullies take them and smash her windows, Mrs Rossiter reveals she is a witch and turns them into cats
Mr. Walenski's Secret...: Postwar London (chad graffiti!) mr w is a new neighbour for molly and family, she thinks he is a spy and goes through his stuff but finds only that he has lost his daughter and was in a concentration camp for 5 years, cries ‘Now you know my secret – and now just leave me alone to find what peace I can!’ ‘His secret in the box…just the remnants of his tragic life…!’
Mummy: Hilary goes to meet her mum at museum where she is cleaner, investigates noise caused by Drs attempt to dissect mummy – it comes alive but then crumbles into dust when it realises its true love has also died, tells mum but she doesn’t believe (arrows used for direction and clumsy ending).
My Brother Martin: Narrator Lainey looks after her brother but he injures himself in a barn, she goes to get help and they carry him out and then find her body as well
My Friend George...: Myra has a poltergeist in her room, parents don’t believe her until he literally turns room upside down.
Napoleon Comes Home... (Beasts): Amy’s dog dies and she is distraught but then begins to see him and play with him again, parents are worried and don’t believe her (despite seeing paw prints on floor and indent in her bed) and then one night see and hear him barking in garden to warn them house is on fire and he drags her father out (‘Who can say what they saw through all that smoke in the darkness? They could be sure of only one thing… he was safe.’)
Never Felt Better!: Magician removes evil side of Heidi who does mean things - story told from this p of v
Nightmare: Adopted Ellie has nightmares every night caused by her big sister Joan who tells her ghost stories, Ellie tells her gran (witch) who assures her it is all false and she will fix Joan, next nightmare Joan goes in to scare Ellie more and is picked up by ‘a creature from a nightmare’ giant horse that carries her off and Ellie is left with the new parents ‘If we’ve really lost Joan then all we’ll have is little Ellie. We must give her the very best we can.’ And Ellie and her gran ‘watched the true and authentic night mare galloping endlessly across the sky.’
Nightmare Academy
Night Of The Dead: Jilly goes to stay with her gran, before she arrives conversation between gran and other villager that it is her turn to suffer; doesn’t drink cocoa as she doesn’t like it and overhears villagers say she is to be sacrifice against historic witch’s curse, runs away from zombies through graveyard and seeks sanctuary at place where witch was burnt, dead rampage through village kill her gran, in morning she is left alive but in shock and village ‘has joined the dead’
Nobody's Child: Carrie is an orphan and pickpocket on historical London streets (‘All right, so it’s wrong to cheat and steal, but wot other chance did I ‘ave? Wot other way can I live?’) and mongrel dog starts following her and preventing her thefts, takes her to a pauper’s graveyard and Annie Dawkins’ grave, where an old lady tells her about her death due to thieving and that this is her dog, Carrie decides to go straight and final panel selling violets and making money.
Old Collie's Collection: Shirley’s friends dare her to find out what is in Old Collie’s antiques shop she peers through windows and sees amazing snowglobes, goes back later to steal one and sell it, opens locked door within and finds herself trapped in a globe which he puts on shelf with others ‘My collection is growing nicely. How small it would be if there were less greedy people in the world…!’
One Bite Of The Apple...: Twins Gloria and Gwendolyn are violent and mean to everyone in village (in past), gypsy tells them of old forest with giant fruit and apples that let you transform into any creature you wish, they ignore warnings and eat fruit after darkness and turn into apples and she picks them up to put in a pie (movie gremlins?)
One Hour In Time: Horrible Laura is a model and trets everyone like dirt, pushes over an old woman selling beads who puts a curse on her (‘You stupid old hag […] let her grovel in the dirt where she belongs’), Laura thinks it has not worked but has forgotten that she didn’t need to set her watch back as on British Summertime – curse works and she ages, withers and dies in final panel.
One Last Wish: Orphan in historical France finds genie bottle and makes wishes to be richer and more powerful, changes places with old woman (tricked) and then Marquis and then Queen but each time refuses to free him. At end she is guillotined as Marie Antoinette (bottle is found broken and he escapes) and story ends on question ‘History tells us how Marie Antoinette kept her appointment with the guillotine. / But no-one knows what became of the genie!’
Paint It Black
Perfect Specimen: Gail desperately wants a good fossil tries to steal one from museum, climbs tree and gets covered in sap like amber but this then revealed to be a dream, ultimately sneaks away and finds ammonite, but ends up trapped in ice – being viewed by futuristic creatures at end using same dialogue as her at start ‘To think that primitive creatures like this, teeming millions of them, were once masters of the earth!’
Poor Jenny (Beasts): Jenny has no memory of her life, but memories of being hunted, fears she is a werewolf, is convinced otherwise as the moon is out, but then revealed she is actually a wolf who turns into a girl
Pot Luck: Gloria inherits cauldron and discovers it is evil - anything put in it creates monster - ends with snowflake drifting in 'The End?' - odd as undeserved
Present From Singapore: June receives a weird screaming doll from her penpal in the post, hates it and locks it away but goes off (explained by cat) dad agrees to get rid of it but then it screams again and alerts them to him in danger while fixing car, he reveals he took its electrics out so shouldn’t have been able to scream, June says ‘I don’t know, mum… but it’ll always be my favourite doll from now on!’
Prisoner In The Attic: Miss Michaels goes to clear out her attic and meets strange woman who claims all the stuff is hers – suffragette, war nurse, but forgot her ideals and sold out, turns out she is same person and miss m has died a week ago clearing out the attic ‘which one of us will they remember, do you think?’ ‘you’re no longer a prisoner in the attic. Perhaps – perhaps it will be you. The young girl I was so long ago!’
Prize Possession (Nightmare): Annie is given a typewriter for winning a school competition but it is possessed and types creepy notes about previous owners, she ultimately sucked into it.
Queen's Weather (Beasts): Sally and Gina are sunbathing and wish they could do this all the time (like queens or princesses), Sally swats a bee and they plot their revenge (narrator reveals this) and mass on her, stinging her, and she becomes queen of the hive.
Ratcatcher (Beasts): Family move into old cottage and are troubled by rats, ask creepy Laird Cameron to help and Doris returns to house to get a book and sees a giant bat eating mice, final panel reveals he is vampire (but left unsaid and she never realises).
Red Knee - White Terror! (Beasts): Andrea buys bananas from market with poisonous spider while hearing news report on radio, lots of panels showing spider on her without her realising (so reader knows more), it attacks her in bath but is just her brother’s toy trick (exploiting medium), final panel she relaxes and hand dangles down – as real spider approaches!
Reflections: Vain Anna sees herself as hideous monster in a magic mirror her dad has brought back from Hong Kong – goes to magic mirror fairground and friends play a trick on her to think this is real and she resolves to change - pink colour way back cover and reveal that Dad has accidentally broken ‘real’ mirror (so she will see herself OK in future) - it works by suggestibility.
Rogue Star (Nightmare): A rogue star is heating earth's atmosphere to point of death, Tina then comes out of anaesthetic and realises this was just a dream, but story ends with newsvendor putting up poster ‘Rogue Star’s change of orbit makes no difference to earth’s climate says scientists’ ‘But scientists can be wrong – was the nightmare only just beginning…?’ ref environment?
Room For Dreams: Janey moved into attic to sleep while her uncle stays with her and mother, bad dreams of accidents e.g. train crash, horses falling in races that then happen, uncle decides to make money from this (horse dreams, competitions in newspaper) and insists she must sleep in the attic despite mother’s objections, gets violent, next day she tells him she has seen him burn to death after falling asleep reading paper and dropping it in fire, and he runs away (which is what she really dreamt) (‘Did I do it all right, mum?’)
Room For One More: Bully Julia and her gang steal fruit and she mugs a shopkeeper then runs out into road, narrowly missed by car, gets on passing empty bus and then sees her own body in road and realises bus is headed for ‘HELL’
Roots (Nightmare): Jill goes to stay in Evergreen with her granddad for the summer, uncanny realisation townspeople standing out in rain at night and nobody has died for years, discovers they have roots. Final reassuring panel added where she decides to stay.
Rope Trick: Miss Jodie kicks gardener's dog, persuades him to do rope trick or she will have him fired, then trapped in land above (stealing jewels) when dog takes rope. Chased by Kali statue.
Run, Rabbit, Run!: Emily is called rabbit and bullied at school, saves a wild rabbit from snare and finally stands up for self, rabbits calls friends and they terrify the bully and she realises she is not afraid any more
Safe Until Morning (Beasts): Rita bored on camping holiday with parents, falls in lake but monster watching her lifts her out, and then scares away potential muggers, and retreats back into depths, next day she is found and family decide to go home having looked for Loch Ness Monster for weeks without a trace.
Samantha's Dream: Opens with Samantha’s dream of seeing ghosts which she has had every night on holiday, the family decide to go home the next day but train crashes and Sam finds herself in her dream, but then realises she is the only one who has died.
Screaming Point
Sea Demon: Ship finds survivor Wendy floating in sea, she tells tale of Gorr, a sea demon who disguised himself and came on her family’s yacht and wrecked it, she convinces them not to pick up any more survivors, but revealed she is the demon.
Seal Of Secrecy (Beasts): Margaret is forbidden to swim in sea by her dad as her mother drowned, but longs to – one day meets a girl in cove by her house but when she tells her dad he forbids her, telling her she is a Silkie – a seal that takes on human form to lure people to their death. Girl returns and Margaret goes into water with her, but revealed that Margaret is the Silkie, like her mother before her, and story ends with girl’s family waiting for her.
Seal Rock: First-person story of daughter who discovers her mother was a seal tricked by her father (hidden her sealskin) and wants her to rejoin them – runs away to nearby cottage then owner notices her fingers now joined by thin web of skin.
Seal Song (Beasts): Meg and her mother abused by her cruel stepfather, she encounters a seal on beach that sings along to her recorder, he tries to trap it to put in a show but song becomes hypnotic and he is swept out to sea.
Shadow Of A Doubt...: Mary hears whispers coming from their barn including her dad's voice, plotting to kill everyone in the town, turns out it is people's shadows
Sharp Lesson: Fay, Anne and Carina taunt a glassblower and smash up his shop, he makes glass effigies of them that night and they all have same strange fever (burning as the glass burns – horror panel) they go back and smash the effigies and shatter themselves (Anne tries to stop others but drops hers in panic as he appears).
Silver Lining: Ruby and her gang bully and steal from everyone in school, including sweet shop owner, who organises give away of bubblegum, they take loads and are lifted up into the sky.
Silverwing (Beasts): Jenny befriends a partially albino blackbird and saves it from others, and from a cat – she catches severe cold waiting for the vet and gets pneumonia and fever, bird sings and brings her back from death and she finds she can sing too now, bird dies, but she becomes famous singer.
Skullduggery: Skeletal highwayman with reluctant girl accomplice, makes her lie in road to stop coaches, she tries to defy him, they go to inn and are told about ghost at nearby gibbet [a gallows not a gibbet??], next robbery goes wrong and highwayman says he will set up innocent traveller for crime, but turns out to be ghost and he runs with terror into arms of law.
Slave Of Time...: Lisa steals clock then realises it controls time and is trapped into winding it forever. panel borders removed outside time
Slowcoach: In Oceantown people come and go often, new student Shelley is very slow and gets in trouble for tearing up school vegetable patch, doesn’t notice enormous storm one night and we are shown trail of slime as she is revealed to be a snail
Smile: Gail finds instant camera and uses it to take pictures but each one makes people vanish – ‘evil’ - she smashes it when it runs out of film and everyone reappears ‘next time anyone has a party let’s just enjoy ourselves without photographs – okay?’
Song Of Petina: Beggar orphan Petina begs king to stop hunting and he adopts her and agrees, but is goaded into it by his soldiers, and when they shoot a bird she disappears and a dead dove is found in her bed
So You Want To Be A Star: Ambitious Angie makes a deal with strange lady to record a pop song (‘I’m sellin’ my soul to you…’) and is a success, abandons her friends (‘her secretary said Miss Richmond was only interested in fans who pay their way…!’) seeks permission for song to go on tour which is denied – lady erases angie along with the tape (uses medium to show her fade away) (bit undeserved??)
Spend, Spend, Spend!: Goldie wants money to buy nice clothes for herself, makes a deal with two goblins that they will give her money and when she has spent it all will become part of their …errr… collection. Decides to keep last 10p but parents borrow it and she locks goblins out of house, but they transport the entire house with her inside it to their realm.
Spitting Image: Princess Rebecca is vain and jealous of her servant who is growing more beautiful after an artist paints her portrait, she imprisons him and he draws a ugly portrait of her (‘I can paint only what I see’) for which he is tortured, but Sarah rescues him and they escape and Rebecca ends up looking like her hideous portrait (‘I could see only cruelty and ugliness – and, in truth, that is what I had to portray!’)
Sprig Of Heather: Polly sells lucky heather but mean stepdad takes all her money (‘I was a poor widow with a young family, Polly. I thought I needed a man’s protection’ feminist slant as stepdad is useless violent drunk) she picks more and meets fairies (‘Manikin’) who agree to help but she wakes up and thinks it was all a dream, only to find he has been press ganged while in the tavern.
Sticks And Stones: Gossip columnist Joan uses crossed lines to overhear about scientist’s assumed affair with ‘Gert’, and prints story which distresses his daughter Marilyn - turns out that this is a machine he has invented to cure sick wife, and Joan is crushed by her books of names.
Stone Cold Revenge: Leslie is angry because her father spent his bonus on garden gnomes rather than the record player she wanted and so kicks one and breaks it. Tricks start happening with others which she gets blamed for, and then when her parents are out an army of them attack her and leave her catatonic. Unreassuring final panel of gnome in dark garden.
Strange Meeting (True Ghost): Karen Jones on way to Gran’s funeral sees Gran’s apparition in car with scar on face who says her mother was a bad daughter and hit her and made her change will – both turn out to be true.
Sure-Footed... To Eternity: Beppo the Donkey is loved by the Italian village he lives in since (flashback) he killed cruel landowner who forced him to carry him to nearby village but fell and was dragged to death
Sweet Tooth: Caroline loves sweets and skips dental apt, then gets very bad toothache and taken to creepy dentist who gives her ‘teeth that will last for evermore’ and bites her ‘now she had a far more sinister taste to satisfy’ and pic of her showing fangs (again seems quite undeserved!!)
Take The Money!: Mary is offered deal to press a button killing an old Chinese lady who is in great pain and then she will get a million pounds. Friend rejects this (‘that’s monstrous!’) but Mary accepts and that night room is filled with banknotes – but then discovers she is trapped in the box as another person has taken same deal (‘You will get your money tomorrow morning – that’s usually how long it takes!’)
Take Two (Beasts): Mandy and Trudy go swimming, attacked and eaten one by one by shark, film director shouts cut but then actor with mechanical shark appears and he realises they have really been killed
Terror Wore Blue!: Peta has nightmares about being caught in hurricane in arctic waste. Great use of fragmented splash page and colour to delineate dream/real world. Peta swept off beach into blue sea despite fears, wakes up in hospital in blue ward, saved by yacht called blue dolphin, these things happen once in a blue moon ‘the prophecy’s worked itself out now’
The Age-Old Secret: Sarah’s mother is desperate to stay young, buys all sorts of products and has a face lift, and in hospital is offered Egyptian treatment by ‘a greasy-haired unpleasant man’ who she believes is professor – Sarah returns home to find her mother mummified on bed and shouts ‘MUMMY!’
The Bell Jar (Nightmare): Great Aunt leaves Katie model house in Bell Jar and parents upset as she was possessive of father – Katie ends up sucked into Bell Jar and trapped in model house (parents devastated but is Katie happy?)
The Bitter Tale Of Sweet Lucy (Nightmare): Lucy runs away from her keepers and is taken in by kindly family, sits near the fire and melts and her keepers reveal she was a waxwork with a soul.
The Black Gauntlet: Village of Dunraven and Elaina is chosen to be the sacrifice for dragon, but knight comes and saves her by killing it ‘she felt strangely drawn to him, sharing a bond that was akin to love’ and gives him a flower but he refuses to enter the village. When she tells her mother she replies that her father was given a black gauntlet in dishonour when he married her and Elaina finds the flower she gave the knight inside it. Ends on questions ‘Who knows what truly happened out there at dragonrock? […] But Elaina believed it. For when she opened the fingers of the gauntlet she found ‘The flower… the flower I gave him!’’
The Black Widow
The Body Snatchers
The Bone Of Doom (True Ghost): Wife brings back piece of bone from Egyptian tomb and bad luck then dogs family.
The Brave Maid Of Norfolk (True Ghost): Farmer makes a bet his servant Mary-Anne is brave enough to get a skull from charnel house, sexton hides there and pretends to be ghost but when they go back for him he is dead ‘Had he died of fright at finding himself locked in? Or had his antics aroused and offended some sinister presence in that evil place? We shall never know.’
The Cats Of Carey Street
The Cave Of Horror (True Ghost)
The Changeling (Beasts): Marie and Ann on holiday at remote Beaver Lake, Marie been as a child and keen to come back, promises to tell her story of why they are there after walk in forest, during which time she remembers being there as a child and getting lost and looked after by grizzly bear who keeps her warm and feeds her, father finds her and they don’t shoot bear, back in present day she encounters same bear and they hug, but passing hunters shoot the bear (‘Oh it’s cruel – so unfair! You gave me my life, bear, and now… now it’s cost you yours.’)
The Chase: One of two goldfish found dead in tank, [anonymous] girl looks in at other and is sucked into tank where he chases her and bites her leg, mum wakes her up and says just a nightmare but then she realises cut on her leg is real and can hear her mum in next room about to be sucked into tank.
The Choice Of Silence: Deaf Amy makes bargain to free evil Egyptian mummy but then changes mind and burns him – ends with her deaf but no longer sad, feels ‘a small flame of pride’.
The Clock Maker's Daughter: Hans makes wonderful clocks and lives happily with his daughter Hylda, robbers come for money and push her over cliff, he recovers body and when villagers come to bear witness to the murder she is fine, revealed ‘You are my greatest clockwork achievement’.
The Collector (a): 2nd person narration – haunted postbox traps people inside, then is torn down for town redevelopment and new post office, releasing them all.
The Collector (b): Karen wants a holiday to Majorca, meets Mad Mary who gives her crystal ball to wish on so she can dream it, Karen refuses to return it and lies, and is forced to relive the same dream, then vanishes into crystal ball which Mary’s monkey steals and it shrinks to marble size to join her collection (piles on the horror in content and visuals!) (‘So many dreams… so many nightmares… ha, ha, ha!’).
The Corrie: 1st person story – climber goes back for jacket in the mist/dark and hears eerie noises then falls – when she is found sees the prints of huge webbed feet all around.
The Cult Of The Cat
The Curse Of The Wolf: Myra and Edith on hiking holiday, ignore villagers’ warnings and set up camp, realise shopkeeper is a werewolf and seek help but turns out curse has spread and villagers barricade themselves in as they are all werewolves ‘you should have left while you had the chance. Now ... you will stay here forever!’
The Day The Sky Grew Dark... (Beasts): Tatum sent to live with Uncle Maxwell in his creepy silent house, discovers he is keeping birds in cellar and experimenting to gain power of flight, they escape and peck him to death, she answers phone and says ‘right now… he’s feeding the birds’
The Devil's Dummy: Deirdre and Pam go to ventriloquist’s show and he makes a fool of Deirdre. Months later announces his retirement and buries dummy they go to dig it up and it shouts ‘THIEF!’ at them, they escape but Pam goes back and encounters ventriloquist who tells her dummy is possessed with soul of a vampire and story ends with possessed Deirdre calling for her boyfriend as he has bitten her.
The Devil's Pipe: Debbie on holiday in Cornwall finds old pipe with metal detector, blows it despite warnings, in night hypnotised and calls up skeletons etc. cousin Liz follows her and grabs pipe and throws it into the sea.
The Disembodied: Olivia sees old book on display on class trip and rips a page of black spells out of it, realises that night she can read it an summons up spirits of three teachers to give her all the test answers, but she gets greedy and keeps them too long past dawn. Discovers at breakfast that teachers have died because of this and has left the spirits disembodied and they continue to haunt her giving her more answers until head full to bursting (jagged panels, scary ghosts).
The Doorway To Evil!: Sarah thinks her family have a shameful secret in the cellar but actually they are guardians to doorway to hell
The Dream House: Angie has dreams of herself crying in strange house, psychiatrist says because she is worried about father’s health and her future, they buy an identical house for cheap because it is haunted, after she realises she is the ghost and he will get better ‘Thank you, house You’ve made my dream come true…to help Dad get better…!’ interesting ref psychology
The Dryad Girl: Shala tree dryad gives up immortality to become mortal (‘That boy by the river they call Brian is so handsome… if it was of his kind, we could be together always…’) (‘I’d rather be happy for a little while than live forever yearning for something I can never have’), but turns out she is hideous (fairy style art p32 colour used well here)
The Dummy (Nightmare): Bertie the dummy introduces tale (‘Hello, boys and girls’) with jokes (‘I’ve a kind face. ‘What kind’, did I hear you say? Well it was the wrong kind for Rhoda…’ and tells her story – father thinks more of his dummies than of her so she wishes on lucky rabbit’s foot that Beattie (fairy in his act, tricks us into thinking is real at first) gives her, ‘I wish Dad loved me as much as he does Bertie and Samantha’, and is transformed into a dummy, but this proves to be a nightmare and when she wakes he comes in to say he’s realised he doesn’t spend enough time with her (had same nightmare) and they go out to spend day together while Bertie winks at us
The Ever-Open Door: Marianne on school trip to castle she claims was owned by her ancestor, told legend of ever-opening door from when he tried to wall up heir to fortune, argues with the guide and sent back to coach but sneaks into room and door finally closes behind her, when class look in they find skeleton that is never identified and she is never seen again.
The Evil Djinn: Kitty saves a genie from choking and gets some cursed wishes (sister dies and gets money, then sister lives but is invalid) but outwits her ultimately with third wish by wishing she had never met her.
The Experiment: Fleur realises her father is a robot and house etc all plastic – tries to escape and dies. Message/framing story about animal testing (‘Don’t be silly – such tiny creatures can't think and feel in the way that we do’ with image of rat in cage alongside her).
The Eyes Of The Gorgon: Jenny has weak eyes and lives with Uncle Seth, who is obsessed with myth and legend, on museum tour she learns legend of gorgons and finds various statues about his house, opens a forbidden box of papers that reveal he performed experiments on her eyes and she is a gorgon, accidentally turns him into a statue too
The Family (Nightmare): Judy is teased at new school for her scientist dad being a ‘mad scientist’ like Dr Frankenstein who is making monsters, goes to ask him about it and he reassures her, but next day same teasing and she goes up to his lab to investigate, while her teacher phones town they came from to find out more about them and help Judy make friends, but told they have no child at all – Judy runs down stairs when she hears her Dad coming but slips and final splash panel shows her as a robot (‘Poor Judy. Perhaps she shouldn’t have hunted quite so hard for her father’s… monster?’)
The Fetch (Nightmare): Spoilt Anita boasts about wealth, then father made redundant, has dream of going to ball in hearse/coffin shaped panel that then seems to come true, but hearse is at wrong house – sees error of her ways and gives away ball tickets to friend
The Final Piece: Rita mugs kid for jigsaw bought at jumble sale but only finds one piece inside, takes it to donator to complain and finds nearly complete jigsaw into which she puts the final piece and it is a picture of her, trapping her in house until another mean child comes along and completes the puzzle, so donates it again to jumble sale
The Forest: Lorna ignores her dad and accidentally sets a forest fire which she doesn’t own up to, becomes cursed and every plant she passes dies, people say she’s a witch and animals hate her – wakes up and it is all a dream and she realises she must appreciate it.
The Forest Of Fear?: Heidi Klimt loves Smirch Forest despite bats etc and werewolves/vampires rumours (‘If only I could explain properly why I’ll never be scared of the forest, or let stories of werewolves and vampires make me fearful!’), encounters stranger on way to grandmother’s house, he beats her there and turns out to be werewolf, she orders him off and is revealed as vampire in final panel (visual only – ‘the thing Heidi had become’), crying ‘I hoped you’d never need to know my secret, Grandmother…!’
The Four Faces Of Eve
The Fourth Swan: Girl hides her baby with a swan and drowns while being pursued as a witch, couple find her and raise her until she is captured and taken to work in castle, when trying to escape guards realise she is same baby and try to burn her but three swans come and save her and she is turned into one.
The Gate-Crashers: Slade and Driscoll gatecrash parties and ruin them, Jan decides to trick them into not coming to her birthday (31 October) and they enter the house opposite, realise all the guests there are dead, revealed that Jan was just keeping front of her house dark ‘No…No escape for you now […] Guests at the party of the long dead may never return to the living!’
The Ghost Of Golightly Towers
The Ghost Of Meggernie: Ghost story of men being awoken with a burning kiss and seeing half ghostly figure – young wife of an early laird who he murdered and only buried half her body before he himself was killed. Ends on questions ‘Could it have been revenge? Had someone found out? We will never know.'
The Ghost Of The Butterfly Ballet...: Evil director uses a real butterfly in show every night, lead dancer Emma sets them free, and then moths invade the theatre 'Moths! Ugly and fat! Their wings cold and clammy like the touch of winter!' and audience etc all desert it, evil owner goes broke.
The Ghost Of Yankee Jim (True Ghost): Lillian sees ghost of Yankee Jim wrongly hanged on ground her house was on in San Diego – after discovering his story lived in house all her life and became fond of him (diaries) (true story retold by Anita Davies re Whaley House).
The Ghost Writer: Frame of writer writing ghost story, set in 1968 in which Jane finds a walking stick and when she returns to her house hears ghost of man from 1764 asking for it, who in turn thinks she is a ghost. Ends on question where does writer get ideas for his stories? And image of Tudor Museum.
The Gift Of Fate: Set 100+ years ago, Shan has gift of seeing who will die (The Tolaeth) but is greedy and makes villagers pay for this knowledge – sees own face in coffin and gives her money to poor cousins.
The Girl Who Hated Spiders: Sue hates spiders and classmate Roger is tormenting one when he transforms it with a made-up chemistry set into Arachne (beautiful ‘full red lips’, vampire teeth ‘fangs, sharp and pointed as a she-wolf’s’, long red nails ‘red like pointed talons’) who tries to eat him – Sue turns her back into a spider with chemical.
The Girl Who Stole The Stars: Finds meteor fragment that grants wishes, asks for good stuff for herself and family, but each wish she makes puts out a star, realises sun is a star and undoes her wishing in time.
The Girl Who Walked On Water (Nightmare): Nan is a problem child, sent to Ms West’s house and continues to be mean, sees girl walking on water and forces her to tell her how, and takes her magic shoes, but then realises that they will make her sink on sand and girl tells her she is now free and Nancy will have to stay at sea until another girl comes.
The Girl Who Walked Through Walls: Madge Preston mugs gypsy for power, only last 3 hrs ends up trapped in police station.
The Golden Princess: Fairytale setting. Lucas and 'Bad John' plot to steal gold from generous princess - she is Midas's graddaughter and turns them both into gold statues.
The Governess: Mary Connaught employed as governess for little Audrey who seems perfect, but she finds her looking out of window at figure of woman in forest during night and next day Audrey tricks her and locks her in cellar with another previous governess who explains she wants her old governess back who died 6 months ago – final panel demonic Audrey and ghostly/zombie governess ‘You can come back now Miss Phelps – I’ll have no other governess but you – ever!’
The Gravedigger's Daughter: Katey is teased and bullied because her dad is gravedigger, she hides and catches pneumonia and dies, main bully is forced to go and put flowers on grave but is not sorry, hand comes out and holds her there she is found dead of fright in morning (Carrie similarity?).
The Guardian Lynxes... (Beasts): Naomi and archaeologist father excavate an old tomb in Crete, find stone lynxes at entrance, once inside they come alive but Naomi orders them back imperially. They find statue of princess who looks just like Naomi, and she convinces father to leave everything be.
The Hag Of Hattersley Hall: Gives alternate story to legend where housekeeper rather than thieves kill and rob her master ‘Marie was pleased that she could leave those questions unanswered’.
The Haunted Barn (True Ghost): In 1802 poor milkmaid Alison works herself to death to get food and then haunts the barn in which she was made to thresh corn by mean farmer’s wife.
The Haunting (Nightmare): Val and Fi hiding in old grounds from Alice who is a pain, then Bess jumps out and scares them and says she can show them round sometime, they decide to scare Alice out of wanting to join their gang by daring her to spend an hour at old house and scaring her while she is there, Bess reappears and they explain their plan and leave Alice in a room, when Bess reveals she is the ghost (lots of shadows, standing in mid-air) and they run screaming as she reaches out for Alice.
The Haunting Of Hazel Brown
The Horn The Hounds And The Hunted: Amanda, Barbara and Kevin being pursued by hunting dogs, Kevin caught and torn apart (bit graphic!) then Barbara screams, finally just Amanda cornered by huntsmen (given p of v of them and reaching hands) then she wakes up and it is just a dream and today is ‘our first hunt’ ‘Yes. It’s time to know the call of the horn. The bark of the hounds… the thrill of the hunt – oh!’ ‘No – I will never hunt! / Because now I know the fear of the fox…!’
The House Across The Way...: Fran is looked after by her sister Isobel and is entranced by derelict house opposite despite her warnings, is praised for her science at school and then sees house has been made over, goes in and greeted by woman who turns out to be her in future – inspired to a science career by death of her sister. Ends from woman’s perspective ‘There was something familiar about that girl’.
The Island: Angie and Sue on holiday, row out to forbidden island after being warned of mist and beast... island itself is beast and goes down to bottom of ocean with them.
The Jukebox: Stacey and friends hang out at local café dancing to jukebox, she invites Ned a gypsy but others kick him out and he puts curse on them making them dance mindlessly, she runs to his camp and smashes crystal ball which kills everyone there.
The Last Esmeraldo: Toni is from family of high wire performers but is scared and dreams of falling every night, when her mother falls and dies her father makes her take on act, she tries to run away but he catches her and takes her to perform, wire breaks and he slips and revealed to us that her friend Cracko the clown set this up to stop him destroying her, but Toni says that now he is dead she must always do the high wire for she is the last of the family.
The Last Hunt: Poor widow and daughter killed by murderous squire on his hunt, after they die he chases two vixens into bog and dies.
The Last Laugh (Nightmare): Ann goes to stay with cousin Sally on farm, who plays mean tricks on her, but appears to be scared of local legend of ancestor in gibbet and farm, so Ann starts reading there to avoid her, and opens locked room and finds moving chained body, runs away and it is revealed to be Sally, but she has wakened real spirit…
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter: Criminals go to hide their loot in deserted lighthouse but encounter its keeper Andy who they shoot dead (fourth wall shot of gun firing at us), his daughter then enacts revenge on them and turns out she is a mermaid in final panel (EC style narration: ‘No, Wigg – you won’t manage it! You’ll never manage anything again…’)
The Little White Dot: Spirit of TV escapes via an 'energy bridge' as Janet watches the little white dot, hurts her because she can't entertain her, doctor says it is just an electric shock from faulty TV.
The Long Ride Of Laura Rogers...: Laura is crippled from fall as a child but works in stables, asks to nurse deformed foal that is born, exercises it only at night and eventually ‘shady characters attracted to racing’ come to steal it and she rides it off into the sky – eventually lands and sets it free and begins long walk home having found that her leg now works.
The Love And The Laughter: Molly makes a pact with Devil for her soul to help her Uncle’s ailing circus (despite his claims she helps him just by being around), it works and they make lots of money in just one day, then conjurer returns and Uncle figures out pact, they burn the book and spell is broken
The Loving Cup
The Mark: Camilla has ‘turns’ that make her violent and destructive ever since blemish appears on her face, parents take her to a medium who is a fraud and performs exorcism, which works - medium gets the mark and the possession (angle of panels disguises mark on final page so we don’t realise until last panel) ‘Arrrgh! The demon found a new abode – in me!’
The Missing Piece: Freda is jealous of the attention her cousin Joan (invalid) gets, her father gives her jigsaw made of a ‘special’ sandalwood ‘I picked up in India’ so she steals a piece and throws it out of window, Joan falls down stairs (dead?) and uncle runs over piece in car, damaging? Removing? her face (unshown) – bad end for everyone!!
The Monkey: Kitty teases organ grinder’s monkey and it bites her, she starts acting more monkeylike, and then music calls her to his house, where she changes place with monkey and realises she will have to dance like this ‘till the end of my days…’
The Monkey's Claw: Ginny gives last penny to organ grinder, goes to live with kind aunt but one day discover her dead with door locked from inside, poisoned by deadly venom, Ginny becomes more nervous and sad, and sees the organ grinder’s monkey in her room one night, realises the scratch has come from his paws and screams, grinder shakes monkey paw for job well done and gets poisoned himself as Ginny had been wearing gloves in bed due to sore hands
The Monster Of Lavender Lagoon: Chrissie and family stop in caravan near Lavender Lagoon ‘once a much-loved beauty spot, now it is forgotten, deserted. A new factory has pumped its waste into the once-scented waters…’ EC-style heavy narration ‘It is your pollution, Jameson, that poisoned Lavender Lagoon. Pollution that begins to bubble and heave at midnight’ owner refuses to help look for her, monster arises from water at midnight, attacks him with own pollution and his secretary finds him (unseen, scream!) and Chrissie is returned to normal and lagoon is clean once more.
The Night Demon (True Ghost): 1817 in USA, farmgirl Betsy haunted by malevolent ghost, who has a grudge against her father – when he dies the hauntings stop.
The Nightwatchman: Mandy is a bad girl at school and steals in spare time, meets old nightwatchman who says he will see her soon, next day near miss hit by car and spends day thieving and planning to run away to London, in evening sits with watchman and sees in his flames that she was hit by car earlier that day and begs for another chance as he turns into devil, last panel shows doctor saying she will live and policeman that maybe she will behave herself from now on.
The Nine Lives Of Nicola
The Not So Genial Genie: Protagonist finds genie in bottle on deserted beach and releases him but turns out to be evil and claims he will conquer earth, she convinces him to demonstrate his power (‘All I’ve seen so far is a big puff of smoke. And it ponged so much you should be ashamed!’) and he turns himself into a fly, which she swats.
The Pet Shop (Beasts): Rude Vivien and Steve get a mouse from a pet shop to try in their maze, but forget about it and it dies of exhaustion, they return it and are taken to see owners of shop who are apes and lock them in a maze.
The Pig People: Lorina wants to be beautiful and smart like Pearl and admires her amulet which has come from an ancient cult ‘The Worshippers of the Pig’, steals it and everything starts going right (‘she found she was making the scene at the local disco’) but Pearl sees amulet and warns it has terrible power, Lorina wishes no more gym and gym burns down so she resolves to give it back after one more wish to be beautiful – when she wakes up in morning she has been made beautiful but like a pig (good use of colour and medium, her back to us for final page).
The Power Of Young Melissa: Melissa is able to restore those who have died before their time back to life, is caught by mob boss dying of old age, takes life from his men using the death stored inside her.
The Purple Emperor: Betty is obsessed with catching a Purple Emperor butterfly for her collection and gets increasingly cruel about it, then trips while hunting for one and is woken by pounding footsteps of giant purple emperor creature who catches her in net and puts her into killing bottle – wishes she could wake up but story ends.
The Queen's Hair: Middle-ages, cruel Queen Elida has no hair due to illness when young, out hunting she is given hairband by old crone that will make her hair grow if she wears it for 24 hours, no more, and it works but she forgets and hair grows out of control, and witch has died in cold dungeon, it takes over palace and kills her ‘She brought about her own downfall by becoming a prisoner of her own hair.’
The Revenge Of Granny Godber: Gang of girls bully old woman in street and smash up her shopping, she goes home to garden and as she picks flowers they all feel excruciating pains in legs, and then next day notice their faces begin to wither like flowers. Direct address at end ‘You won’t bully strange old women in the street, will you, girls? Who knows what kind of gardens they might have?’
The Ring Of Confidence
The Rise And Fall Of Anna Hughes: Bossy prefect Anna uses 'perfume' sent by girl's magician uncle and floats off into the distance. Lots of puns. Bookended by intro/explanation of her fate.
The Sad Eyes Of Sorrow: Frankenstein's monster in a freak show, reveal at end that this is his real face and wears human mask.
The Salamander Girl
The Scarecrow: Viv looking after a farm gets rid of scary scarecrow multiple times then is attacked by vampire - scarecrow Charlie returns to save her (vampire is scared of his cross) then Charlie vanishes and Viv is distraught.
The School Of The Lost...
The Sea's Graveyard (Nightmare): Jane and father on their ship Sea Lady and it sinks in storm, she wakes up on ocean bed in another ship, finds scrolls with names of shipwrecks on them and meets Davy Jones, she defies him and burns the scrolls and floats to surface, they are found by another ship who say it is 6 days later.
The Secret Of Lan-Shi... (Beasts): Petra buys her brother Paul a broken mechanical lion from junk shop which he fixes despite note about its roar and claws, (Petra saves spider from death in her atlas), lion scares dog and then warning on radio about dead animals in safari park (fear lion attack), and lion attacks Petra and family, destroying everything in its way then stops dead and spider web has gummed up the works.
The Secret World Of Sally Maxwell
The Sentinels
The Shop At Crooked Corner (Nightmare): Ellie buys goods from corner shop owned by two men, one good with one blue eye, one evil with black eye, then discovers they are both the same man ‘doomed to live two different lives’ in Jekyll and Hyde type scenario
The Silver Racer-Back
The Simple Job: Terri's uncle tries to have her killed so he can inherit carnival but Frankenstein, Dracula and Werewolf characters from ghost train finish him off instead.
The Smile Of An Angel...: Jenny’s scuba club are looking for a wreck, she is warned away by ghostly figure called angel, next day looks again and her leg gets trapped but then she is freed by figurehead falling and realises this is the girls she saw and boat is called The Angel and vows not to tell.
The Staircase To Nowhere!: Jackie is born with only half her characteristics (Gemini) due to cosmic disturbance – friend figures this out and takes her back to birthplace where she is made whole – smashes window in anger at waiting so long!
The Story Of - Little Wytching: Jenny told legend of Old Meg (witch burnt at stake), disbelieves it but Meg is watching her, then accidentally burnt to death again by kids playing with matches who set house on fire (‘Years ago, the craft shop sold little hand-made peg doll witches on broomsticks, lovingly made by the local gypsies. Now they were all mass-produced in Hong Kong or Taiwan’).
The Swarm (b): Jenny and brother Peter in Africa for holiday and he kills a locust which she doesn’t like as loves all animals, on flight home compass and visibility fail and a swarm of locust fly into plane making them land and they realise they were flying straight for a mountain
The Tadpole Terror: Jinny and big sister Cora are going on holiday when Jinny realises she has left jar of tadpoles on windowsill, Cora refuses to go back and when arrives on holiday while swimming is attacked by giant frogs and then saved by a diver who turns out to be a frog in a wetsuit – all a dream and she stops the coach and goes back for the animals ‘We’ll be late starting our holiday – but I realised they have just as much right to live as we do…!’ [NB frogman colloquial for diver but not used here = visual pun?]
The Treatment: Londoner Glenda sent to correctional school decides to run away (‘I’ll get out of here without anyone’s help – and if any of you get in my way, you’ll get hurt bad!’ – circular central panel she breaks fourth wall and its boundaries with a clenched fist), cook helps her, revealed it is a trick by owners and Glenda is transformed into a tree and replaced by a perfect replica ‘filled with the gentle calm of the countryside’ – final panel of real Glenda trapped in tree trunk.
The Uglies: Vain Mandy wins another beauty pageant and gloats, when walking out that evening comes across and ugly pageant, they tell her people can be beautiful on inside and she agrees to change her ways and leave, but then they reveal ‘you can’t go’ and that they are ‘even uglier’ on the inside ‘And Mandy screamed again, long and lingering, but no-one heard, no-one at all!’
The Visitors: Susan runs away as poor aunt and uncle cannot afford to keep her, throws coin into wishing well and aliens appear who tell her they are trapped there; they put ancient coins in her bag and when police find her they become rich, and she buys chessboard for aliens.
The Warlock Of The West Bow: Story of Major and his sister, he confessed and they were burnt/hung for being witches.
The White Bird: Lucy is ill and white bird flies into her room, a bad omen but family decide to keep it and she begins to recover, one day scary man comes to claim the bird but it escapes, drops a single feather which falls onto Lucy; maid reveals man’s name was De’Ath ‘It was then that the white bird’s feather, which up till then had fluttered in the soft zephyr of Lucy’s breath, finally stopped moving!’
The Wicker Basket: Eliza robs her employer as she thinks she keeps her money in basket and attempts to rob her, but is terrified by what she sees in there and dies of a heart attack (‘My precious’ ref LOTR?)
The Window Box: Candy is a compulsive thief (‘If folk don’t take better care of their money they deserve to lose it. This is too easy!’) and having tried everything parents buy rose seeds from a gypsy who says they will cure her, she plants them and a few days later tiny roses grow, pricks her finger and has a dream she has shrunk and is warned by gypsy not to steal any more, next time she tries to steal this happens and she quickly returns purse and never steals again ‘It's amazing what a little kindness can do!’ ‘A little kindness, or… a little fear!
The Wishing Bird: Mary given bird by neighbour and everything she wishes on it comes through (it is silently urging her on), makes third wish to be well just in time and bird dies instead.
The Writing On The Wall: Selfish Karen ruins her wallpaper drawing on it after she sees a creepy man outside painting ‘the writing’s on the wall’ – steals new paper with slogans on it from market stall and leaves her dad to put it up – when she wakes the next morning she is covered with the same writing ‘It won’t wash off…!’ ‘Of course it won’t, Karen – but you've lived such a selfish life you couldn’t see the writing on the wall!’
Three Flowers: 1860 and Minnie’s mother dies leaving her 3 flowers planted in garden, pick in each will give her a moment of happiness, she has hard workhouse life and in spring picks them one by one, the last one when she is very ill and dies and stays in paradise with mother and friends.
Time School: Set in future: 23rd century and schoolchildren are on a field trip back in time to study extinct animals, Nora steals a baby panda to take back with her, breaking rule (‘I’ve done it! I’ve broken the silly old first rule of time travel!’) ('What has been done once can be done again') and is then kidnapped herself by students from 26th century (when even more animals have become extinct) citing this rule.
Time To Spare: Margo never has time to help her mum, or to help old guy across the road when she wants to meet friends at the beach, he decides to teach her a lesson and traps her in glass bottle ‘Scream all you want, my pretty. There is no-one to hear you. Now you have time, nothing but time, until I choose to release you … / And who can say when I will have enough time to spare for that…?’
Titch's Tale... (Beasts): Titch is teased for being small, goes up to hill to fly kites with others one day and they all start to vanish, pulled up into air, revealed aliens are fishing but she is so small they throw her back.
To See A Vampire!: Karen and Eric (brother?) scared by vampire film, he accidentally kills one in graveyard with choc-ice stick (nice debunking in second paragraph).
Twin Catastrophes: Lita and Nita twins in coach swept away over cliff and assumed Nita is dead then wild girl captured and recognised as her; Lita sees her sneak out one night and revealed she is werewolf (transforming sequence of panels) – kills/bites Lita who becomes werewolf herself? (fangs shown on last picture)
Twist Of Fate (Beasts): Jan in grip of giant python in jungle, flashback to previously her dad telling her about animals when plane they are on crashes and she wanders away from the wreck confused and cold, until caught by giant python but he just holds her gently ‘Keeping Jan warm and safe. She would stay there until the search party came. And she would be saved.’
Two Left Feet: Anna puts a gypsy curse on her sister Jeanette as she is jealous of her dancing but the ribbon she uses is hers and she becomes clumsy instead, falls down stairs.
Two Of A Kind: Erica inherits money from her Uncle Charlie but her twin Dana is jealous and plots to take it by telling everyone she is leaving and pretending to be Erica, and poisons her, but then when claiming money is recognised as girl who pushed him off cliff (did Erica do this then?)
Uncle's Nasty Hobby...: Family inherit house from Uncle Gregory, venture into basement and are turned into miniatures in weather vane houses ‘Help – help us someone, please…!’
Vengeance Is Green... (Nightmare): Nina is bullied at school by Marion and friends, saves some ivy and plants it, Marion tries to cut it but it attacks her and Nina is forced to kill it to save her
Violets In The Moonlight: Sir Mortimer sends away a starving child who has travelled far with a letter for him, saying he will only feed her if she picks violets for the ladies at his dinner, she dies in woods and it is revealed is his daughter, he is haunted/unhinged by this and walks the woods shouting for peace.
Voices In The Wind: Janice lives with her guardian surrounded by nature, gardening couple have been ripping her off by selling flowers, but she catches them and fires them and goes to get new hearing aid, while she is out they decide to chop down her plans to teach her lesson but are sucked into the shrubbery (faces shown on trunks in picture)
Was It Just...A Game?: Nina is bullied at school and called a witch (Father often away and brings her back dolls from abroad), so decides not to go on school trip. Accidents happen to girls who were mean to her on trip, and final panel shows her enacting these with her dolls
Watch Your Step!: Spoilt Della goes to stay with cousins in the country and criticises it, ignores Old Ben who tells her stories of fairies, and then is scared into shock as she takes a shortcut through the wood and sees Ben covered in fairies (revealed after to be fireflies), taken home by her parents.
Web Of Lies: Mean Rita tells lies and annoys Denise who visits old Mrs Black. Rita takes her place one night having told Denise Mrs Black is a black widow and killed her husband. Finds herself trapped in webs in garden and newsagent finds note that says ‘gone out to eat’.
Welcome Home: ‘From the beginning there was something wrong with Linda … something different about her!’, obsessed with fires and burns down warehouse, dog helps her escape and leads her into cave where she meets the devil who takes her into hell.
Wendy the Witch: Comedy escapades of a young witch
What Did You Say?: Selfish Sandra plays her radio too loud all the time, they move to country and she is told off for playing music loudly in graveyard, goes to sleep and has dream about ‘waking the dead’ banging on her windows (framed as dream in both wavy panel shape and captions ‘And as she slept…’), then wakes up and then realises they are still there – but revealed it is pensioner coach asking for directions (Sandra remains unaware and afraid).
What's On The Other Side? (Nightmare): Witch escapes in medieval times and travels to future where she possesses disobedient Peggy while she watches TV and traps her on other side.
When The Lights Go Out! (Nightmare): Anne has to go to boring kids party at her mum’s workplace (department store) but vows to get something out of it for herself, sneaks into fashion floor and steals clothes, shakes dummy’s hand and it speaks to her, and then reveals she is a ghost using dummy’s body, just like others on this floor, and Anne realises she has been turned into one too.
When The Rain Falls...: Marcus and Amanda are slaves sold in market and separated, one night they both escape and are confronted by lions, but hear mysterious voice that takes them to the ark as it begins to rain…
Where There's A Will... (Beasts): Maid Molly pretends to be nice to her mistress and pet hamsters so she will change her will (but actually destroys her letters to/from her son), and then withholds her medication so she dies, and tries to drown hamsters, but they escape and eat the new will.
Whistle And I'll Come...
Who Killed Teacher?: Mandy complains for always being kept behind in school and starts trying to scare her teacher as revenge. Teacher runs in front of car and is hit, Mandy tells friend Grace what she has done and Grace reveals Mrs Prendergast was a witch and had been teaching her – she swaps their bodies ‘at the exact moment of death’ saving Mrs Prendergast and killing Mandy.
Who Pays The Ice Cream Man? (Nightmare): Hooligans on estate are changed into good kids by his icecream but OAPs go back on their word of paying him - hypnotised into following van out of town - Pied Piper.
Who's A Pretty Boy Then?: Mean relatives are shocked to discover their rich Uncle Hector has left them nothing in his will except a parrot, which spews insults and pecks Vanessa’s face and escapes, they throw the cage away not realising its bottom is filled with diamonds.
Winner Loses All!
Witchfinder: In historical Spain witchfinder statue was erected in gratitude, but a year before true events show that the statue is the witchfinder himself turned to stone and his men turned to trees by young girl whose family were witches – poetic justice ‘a heart of stone, Iserte … so be it. Let the rest of your body match your heart!’ ‘And you who would use wood to destroy life shall in turn become wood!’
Witch Hunt: Frida and baby sister Anna being pursued by witchhunters, they capture her but it is revealed that the baby has the power not her and she saves her.
Wolf Girl
Wolfsbane: Sara on holiday is bored and goes to disco with Paul, travelling across moors despite ‘Just daft tales – about vampires and werewolves, stuff like that. None of us young ones believe that rubbish – all we want to do is have a good time!’ On way home they stop to pick wolfsbane flowers which he tells her show it is time for werewolves to come out and she sees his hairy hand and face and runs off on his bike back to town, goes to disco and Stella opens door and she tells her story, Stella reveals she is Paul's sister and a werewolf too.
Wrong Station: Kirsty is learning about WW2 and elderly neighbour says she will tell her, but then falls ill so Kirsty gets train to visit her in hospital but gets off at closed station where people are sheltering from bombs, is given sandwich and brooch by kindly women and then saved by underground staff, she later realises this was is her neighbour who died that afternoon.
...Yet Another Teacher For Molly! (Nightmare): Conman jack applies for tutor job but when he gets there turns out they are vampires?/cannibals? and he is the main course.
You Can't Cheat Tomorrow: Rachel is given crystal ball by gypsy and warned not to try and see her own fortune, but eventually does and sees car crash, goes out to stop it and is hit by car as she foresaw, after funeral crystal ball is thrown away.
You Never Know Who (True Ghost): True ghost story of Nun’s Bridge – lorry driver picks up her ghost (drowned by brother for sake of family honour).
Your Time Is Up!: Anna wishes at an old well to live forever and gets her wish but her body slows down and to her it seems that time has sped up – ‘For countless aeons Anna watched the barren, empty, dark world that was earth, a tear falling from her cheek… slowly’, eventually ‘Then the circle of time came full circle and Anna watched the birth of the world…’ and shouts STOP warning herself not to make the wish.