Thoughts on The Siren's Revenge by Hilary Ayshford

Welcome to Beware of Creepy Houses where I share my thoughts on ghost stories and other creepy tales, recommend spooky yarns, and post writing prompts to help you with your own eerie (or not!) creative writing.

First things first, happy Pancake Day! I hope you have had lots of lovely crepes if you celebrate, and I would love to see your fliptastic pictures of your creations, particularly if any spooky happenings popped out of your pan, which often occurs with pancakes…

Today’s story is our first, and ironically, it does not take place in a creepy house, but a creepy pub. Let’s go in; your round.

The Siren’s Revenge by Hilary Ayshford

This short tale was published in the January 2024 issue of Schlock! and is a Gothic mermaid story, thereby combining two of my favourite things, Gothic horror and mermaids.

When I read this story I got very excited. It is absolutely wonderful and well worth picking up the back issue of the zine if you haven’t read it.

We find ourselves in an almost empty pub, the state and age of which is beautifully created through delicate description. The few customers are delightfully unwelcoming to the stranger in the doorway, with the innkeeper’s more hospitable nature and subtle flirting setting her apart.

The stranger, Henry, is reluctantly invited to join the locals at their table, who proceed to tell him about their sea based adventures. This culminates with Branok describing his strangest ever catch, displayed in a grubby case on a shelf in the pub. The mermaid inside appears to have been stitched together from several creatures, which I loved as it brought to mind the discovery of the duck-billed platypus.

Being a stranger in an almost empty pub with a terrifying mermaid is not the best way to spend a wet and stormy evening, so Henry goes to bed…

The Siren’s Revenge is a wonderfully atmospheric story with a fabulous ending. I read a lot of mermaid fiction and this is one of the most original I’ve seen. The creepy pub is a marvellous setting for our first story. I love the beaten up tables, grotty display case and thick, gloopy ale on offer. The descriptions of the people and the mermaid are excellent, with the people themselves being just strange enough to create a contrast that adds to the brilliant build up of tension.

Do you hear that? There’s a storm brewing. Close the door. Who knows what might blow in?

If you like this…

Read… The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey which tells the story of a Caribbean mermaid, pulled from the sea by American tourists, breaking the curse put on her centuries ago.

Watch… The Rose and Crown by J. B. Priestley which I saw performed by Leeds Arts Centre in 2017. This one act play is well worth seeing if it’s performed in your area. Set in a pub, everyone is fed up, and then a stranger arrives.

My tiny story Breathe is about someone mesmerised by an underwater siren.

Writing prompt

As well as a duck-billed platypus, the animals being stitched together also made me think of the superlambananas who live in Liverpool. I love these fun sculptures which are so puzzling to everyone outside of the city. Buying my grandparents a little one resulted in a lovely thank you note thanking me for the “banana sheep thing”.

To create your own new and unique creature, take one item from each of the following groups and put different elements of them together:

• Food

  Banana, Pomegranate, Spaghetti, Baguette

• Friend

  Human, Cat, Dog, Dragon

• Fish

  Shark, Crab, Seahorse, Kraken

Write some notes about your new buddy and their life:

• Where do they live?

• What do they eat?

• Do they drink? If so, what?

• Can they talk? Sing?

• What do they do on a typical day?

Now they’re nice and comfortable, put them in a situation where they’re vulnerable and isolated. Maybe it’s a quiet pub. Maybe it’s a scientific convention. Have people question their existence and what their future should look like.

How would it feel for other people to make these decisions for you just because you didn’t fit their version of normal?

I hope you find this prompt interesting and useful and I’d love to see anything you write from it.

Please also send over any stories you'd like me to cover and let me know what you think of The Siren’s Revenge when you read it.

Sending tricks and treats and pancakes,

Donna