A to Z Challenge 2014 - Ghosts - M is For Mystery, Louisa Murray, Mother Leaky

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Okay, so today, I'm going to tell you about a ghost that scared me throughout my teenage years, Mother Leaky. I'm also discussing working mystery into a good spooky tale, and I'm presenting the works of author, Louisa Murray. And there's Part 13 (unlucky for some) of The Burning Web, where Tris is on the path of the mystery that is Berwick House.

M is for Mystery | The Burning Web | Author Info | British Hauntings

M is for Mystery
Everyone likes a good puzzle, some unanswered questions to wonder about, and ghost stories lend themselves to mysteries very well. I have several mysteries in The Burning Web - why is Abdi haunting Tris, who were Margaret and Kenneth Berwick and what is going on in Berwick House. All of which will be answered as the story goes on. But I am certainly not the first author to shroud my ghosts in mystery :).

The Mist in the Mirror, by Susan Hill, is one long mystery. A man, James Monmouth, returns to England after spending nearly his whole life abroad, unaware of his family history and not knowing his connections to some wild and dangerous places in Yorkshire. His visions of a young boy and his creeping horror of something else, lead him on into the mystery of who his family are.

Dickens too, uses mystery, the mystery of the ghost's identity in The Signal Man, a chilling tale.

Mystery can draw the reader into the story, keep them wondering and make them want to read further, but be careful, making it too impenetrable can just annoy people. :)

The Burning Web
Part 13

by Sophie Duncan

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Tris was waiting outside on Berwick's meadow-lawn when Julienne drove up in a battered old Volvo. He waved at her and, as he opened her door for her, said, "There's so much sawing and banging going on inside it was doing my head in. Do you fancy a walk in the grounds?"

The loud noises weren't the only reason Tris didn't want to be wandering around the empty rooms alone as he avoided getting in the workers' way, but he wasn't about to admit that to Julienne.

"That sounds," there was a loud crash from the front hall and they both cringed, "like a very good idea."

Tris offered out his left arm to his guest and Julienne slipped her hand through. Tris then led them off round the opposite side of the house to the pond.

It was another bright morning and Tris felt no pressure from Julienne to begin their work, so they just walked for a while, talking about simple things like the view and the weather. It was when they turned back to see the grand old lady looking out over the rising aspect that Tris' mind turned back to the reason for their meeting. So too, it appeared did Julienne's, because she patted him on the arm and told him conspiratorially, "I've been asking around the village about Berwick House. Turns out there's quite a lot of gossip my neighbours didn't want to burden me with."

"Really? Like what?" Tris prompted as he was supposed to.

"Well, the place has something of a dark reputation," Julienne continued, cocking her head to one side and looking up at the house bathed in glorious sunshine.

On such a beautiful day, there was nothing sinister about Berwick House in Tris' mind.

"Apparently, several of the owners, my family included, have come to sticky ends," she carried on and tapped the side of her nose in what Tris could only think was an impression of an old yokel.

"And they would be?"

"Ah, and there in lies the trick," Julienne dismissed and winked at him while dragging him towards the other side of the house. "There are no details, only the vaguest mention of suicide, murder, accident, even, gasp, natural causes, of course at some unnaturally early age. All very intriguing, but not really very useful."

"Well, I did some searching on the web last night," Tris decided it was time to throw in his own investigations.

Julienne looked at him hopefully, but he had to shake his head and tell her, "Zip. A few references to the deeds, but nothing really juicy. Turns out most of the local records around here are still just that, local."

Julienne nodded and their conversation paused as they both fought their way up a bit of a bank that sat just in front of the kitchen windows. Julienne actually ended up offering out her hand to help Tris haul himself up onto the bottom corner of the patio, and, as she did so, she suggested, "Well, the nearest main library likely to have anything is in Hazelden, only six miles away. How about we focus our efforts there?"

Tris heard the words, but the rest of his attention was distracted as he glanced over Julienne's shoulder. He hadn't meant to look at the choked pond. In fact it was something he was planning on landscaping away as soon as they could afford it, but for now, there it was, dark, over-shadowed and right in the middle Tris knew what he was going to see before his eyes did. There, in the centre, where the statue should have been, his own personal demon was waiting for him. Tris stared. Abdi gazed steadily back.

"...Tris?" Julienne tugged at his sleeve and Tris jumped.

Julienne gave him a quizzical look and asked, "Everything okay, you zoned out for a moment there."

"Fine, fine, thanks," Tris dismissed the concern as he turned away from the pond. "Shall we go through the house? I need to check something with Bill before we leave?"

Julienne, of course, agreed.

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Author Info: Louisa Murray

Louisa Murray was a Canadian author. I came across her in The Third Ghost Story Megapack, with her piece Mr Gray's Strange Story. Alas I have been unable to find any more by her, but this one is a sad tale of unrequited love and misunderstandings. When a young man jokes with a innocent young woman, he should be careful she not take it the wrong way. It's a rather dramatic story, where a young woman, Celia, commits suicide after imagining a love that did not exist between her a man who courted another. Further tragedy strikes when the young man who really loved her is drowned on Lake Superior, going down with his ship. Thus far, no ghosts, but that young man will be avenged on the living one who slighted his love and he will come back from the grave to do it!


British Hauntings: Mother Leaky

Minehead is a beautiful seaside town on the edge of the Bristol Channel in Somerset. It is known as the gateway to Exmoor National Park, and I spent many a long summer there in my teens, enjoying the long walks on the moors above the town and in the woods that ran along Culver Cliff. We used to stay in an ancient cottage up on the hill that overlooked the town and that was a fabulous place during the day, but at night, I have to say I was much more nervous. And one of the reasons was the tale of Mother Leaky. a generous, lovely lady in life, she became a wicked and vengeful ghost said particularly to prey on children. She was said to be able to appear anywhere in the town and in the woods on the cliff, whistling up storms to sink ships and scaring anyone who saw her. She is one of the few ghosts to actually have had a government enquiry!

I'd love to hear your own spooky stories, add them to the blog comments. :)

A few of us discovered that we all had supernatural themes for the AtoZ so we got together and did a mini list. If you also have a supernatural theme (ghosts, monsters, witches, spells etc), please feel free to add yourself to the list.

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