“Are you sure you’re ready, Melvin?” She paused. “What happened the last time wasn’t your fault.”

The forest looked ethereal in the light from the moon overhead. Ghostly, eldritch, like Dave had stepped into another world. The branches swayed with a slight breeze, and the leaves rustled out a mellifluous harmony.

I’d been hiding behind a particularly impressive tomb. It was like a big chest freezer carved out of stone, with a figure lying on top. “Recumbent,” as Kate informed me.

The old farmhouse had idled on the market ever since the previous owners had died in a freak fire. Investigators had suspected arson but never uncovered evidence.

I’m actually looking forward to staying the night in an old castle.” Courtney glanced up the High Street. “I was told about the beauty of Broadway and I have to say, they were right. It certainly does take your breath away.”

“Three years,” I tell her, “Three years since I saw you in the courtroom, lying to save your husband. Perjuring yourself and destroying our case.”

Was this the reason his store had seen such a sudden decline in sales? And if so, what was so special about this new wave of bobbleheads?

The forest looked ethereal in the light from the moon overhead. Ghostly, eldritch, like Dave had stepped into another world. The branches swayed with a slight breeze, and the leaves rustled out a mellifluous harmony.

Mrs. Henshaw, grey-haired and ancient before her time, resting her rheumatic twig fingers in her pinny lap, sat facing a large wall mirror and rocked the gloom away.

What happened that day saved my life, and there is no way I would call what happened there a small tragedy

The ground shuttered. The earth split. And foul gases, detritus, and splintered rock erupted into the jungle like spew from a volcano. And the worm inched closer to the world above, the open air and the scorching humidity of the Brazilian rainforest.

Grandma Mason had taken guardianship of Joey after his parents perished in an unspeakable tragedy earlier that year. Joey had been devastated by the loss of his parents and came to rely heavily on his grandma.

The crowd murmured as the rope was placed around the victim’s neck. It was at that moment the boy started crying. ‘Mummy, do something. I don’t want to die.’

Henry pours more coal onto the hearth as a gust of wind rattles through the cracked window frame. She’s almost an hour late. He’s half tempted to leave a one-star review on her website, but he knows it won’t make a difference, not after tonight.

It hadn't occurred to Seb not to come, to ignore the unexpected and frankly bizarre bequest. It was too late to turn back now...

My office opens the earliest on the square, before the newsagent, the butcher, the café, or the florist. My clients tend to wake early if they have slept at all.

Laura used to wonder if all this planting of bodies would ever make anything grow. Then, one night, just as she finished a grave, she found it did.

I get this a lot. People get embarrassed talking about the supernatural. I expect people from his world, with their neatly trimmed front lawns and house prices, to worry about making fools of themselves.

Kendlemyre Hall is simply spectacular – I still can’t believe I get to live and work on an estate that has been here for hundreds of years.

In his head, this all made sense. The next-door neighbour’s garden was the goal – just a simple chip to cover four yards and a metre fence in the middle. Easy.