Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

br ow n beer in fr ont of him next to a lar ge plastic ashtr ay pr omoting a
long-depar ted br ew er y. Collecting himself he looked ar ound, impr essed w ith the
authenticity of the design; this was bound to appeal to people of a cer tain age
looking for nostalgia or hip young things seeking a new tr end to follow. The
punter s star ing at their beer didn?t look like they w er e enjoying the r etr o
exper ience, but no doubt their mood w ould pick up later.
He watched as the bar man wander ed to a teak encased television set high up on a
plyw ood shelf. Balancing on a chair he r eached up to tw ist the volume contr ol and
change the channel. As he clicked a button the images moved thr ough a couple of
ear ly evening television pr ogr ammes befor e settling on a seasonal music show. His
eyes landed on the snow -w hite bear d and bobble hat of a singer shouting about the
bells r inging out for Chr istmas. He began sear ching the dar k r ecesses of his
memor y for the name of the band as if he w er e hur r ying to answ er a question in a
pub quiz. The name suddenly popped into his head and he shouted ?Wizzar d?to the
empty table, his eyes r etur ning to the television scr een in tr iumph, only now he
was met w ith the sight of four men in w hite suits sitting close together as fake snow
was pour ed over them. Looking up at the bar man he mouthed the name of the
band; ?Mud?. The bar man looked back at him silently. The singer gr inned out
pleasantly fr om the television scr een. He had a ventr iloquist?s dummy on his knee,
making light of an other w ise tr agic song, telling the assembled car ouser s and all
those at home how lonely he w ould be this Chr istmas. He r ead the name of the
singer in a br ightly w or ded caption on the scr een; Les Gr ay. Closing his eyes against
the singer ?s attempt at humour , he listened to the w or ds and w ith this an image of
him and his father once again appear ed.
He was sitting near the small deep gr een Chr istmas tr ee, only now it was fully
decor ated, the gaudy colour ed lights casting a magical glow ar ound the r oom. It
was on top of a television set ver y similar to the one in the pub, a light
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