Sunday, 12 December 2021

'Herders' by William Meikle

 Our next story from Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands has all the right ingredients. An archaeologist working on a Roman site discovers some mysterious drawings. The images he finds are in fact reminiscent of the famous Dancing Men in the eponymous Sherlock Holmes adventure - but with an important difference. These stick figures always seem to be missing parts of their body. A limb here, a head there, it all adds up. 

Or rather, it doesn't, as attempts to decode the stick figures fail. Then a clever student makes a breakthrough that I will not drop here as a Great Big Spoiler. Suffice to say that our protagonist makes a classic blunder and delivers a talk that is well-received, but not quite as he expected. The conclusion is foreshadowed well and overall this is a satisfying tale of small-town horror.

We're approaching the end of the anthology in time for the festive season. Will we get a ghost story for Christmas? One can only wait and wonder.

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Issue 57 - Winter 2024/5

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