With the sometimes reluctant help of her friend Louise Sidell, Penny Parker discovers the secret behind Melvin Osandra's seance establishment and, in turn, helps her friend Nellie Marble out of her difficulties with her doll shop. Additionally, Penny is able to free actress Helene Harmon from the plague of the witch doll that will not disappear. In the end, Penny's father allows her to write up the story for his newspaper.

"I promised Mother I'd buy a doll for a poor child," Louise remarked as they walked along. "I thought I'd get it at Nellie Marble's shop. But you needn't go along unless you like." "Oh, I have loads of time," said Penny. "Anyway, I'd rather enjoy talking with Nellie again. I haven't seen her since she graduated." Both Penny and Louise were sophomores at Riverview High. Nellie Marble had attended the school for only two years, and the girls had never known her well. "Mother says Nellie has had a hard time of it until lately," Louise commented. "She had courage, going into business for herself." "Yes, her doll shop is paying well now, I guess. But she had a long struggle building up her trade. She deserves to succeed. She makes the cutest dolls in town." The Marble Doll Shoppe was located at the very outskirts of Riverview, not far from the Big Bear River. After a long walk, the girls came to a district where the business houses were run down and in need of paint. A swinging sign drew their attention to the Doll Shoppe, a clean, white building, which stood in sharp contrast to its neighbors. Louise opened the door. A musical bell jingled pleasantly as they went inside. "Why, look at this!" Penny cried, stopping short. Instead of the neat, tidily arranged show rooms which they had expected to find, everything was in disorder. Dolls were lying helter-skelter on the floor, many with their heads crushed. A glass counter had been broken. While the girls were staring, they heard footsteps. Nellie Marble, a thin, tired-looking girl of twenty-two, came to the doorway from the workroom at the rear of the shop. Her eyes were red from weeping. "Oh," she said in a listless voice. "I thought it might be the police." "The police?" echoed Penny. "Why, Nellie, what happened here?" CONTENTS 1 TRAGEDY FOR NELLIE 2 THE SHOW GOES ON 3 A STRANGE GIFT 4 OUT OF THE PAST 5 MISS HARMON'S WITCH DANCE 6 THE DIAMOND NECKLACE 7 A SHADOW ON THE WINDOW 8 "BEWARE!" 9 THE GREAT OSANDRA 10 MISS HARMON'S LOSS 11 MORE OF THE WITCH DOLL 12 A VOICE IN THE DARK 13 THE MEDIUM'S CONFESSION 14 DISTURBING NEWS 15 A LURKING FIGURE 16 SUSPICION 17 PENNY'S DISCOVERY 18 AN ASTONISHING ADMISSION 19 A WARNING NOTE 20 THE SECRET PANEL 21 A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE 22 IDENTIFYING A SCOUNDREL 23 INSIDE THE DOLL SHOP 24 UNDER THE KITCHEN 25 A TRIUMPH FOR PENNY

A story about the Switch Witches of Halloween that come to your house for the month of October to watch for good behavior. On Halloween night, a Switch Witch will Switchcraft your candy for a toy.

Too Nice is sent by her evil sisters to accomplish an impossible task but a wise doll from her mother helps her meet the tests.

A terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale. Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet? 'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt 'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman 'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.

After her grandmother dies, Katya finds herself in a kingdom where the Tsarvitch has been turned into living ice and she uses the magic nesting dolls her babushka had given her to try to break the curse.

A witch called Old Auntie is lurking near Dan's family's new home. He doesn't believe in her at first, but is forced to accept that she is real and take action when his little sister, Erica, is "took" to become Auntie's slave for the next fifty years.

Every year on October 31, the witch and warlock children of Transylvania jump on their magic brooms and fly into town to take part in the mortal's Harvests celebration. Although she enjoys the festivities, Abigail - the most precocious little witch of them all - wishes to bring back enough mortal treats to share with all of Transylvania to enjoy all year long! One day, after accidentally slipping into her mother's brewing pot, Abigail comes up with a brilliant plan. Join Abigail as she embarks on a delightful and historical journey to change the mortal Harvest celebration to the miraculous birth of Trick or Treat and how the Switch Witch came to be.

“Du Maurier is in a class by herself.” —New York Times Perhaps best known for her immortal gothic masterwork Rebecca—the basis for the Academy Award-winning motion picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock—Daphne de Maurier began her illustrious writing career penning short stories. In The Doll, thirteen of du Maurier’s early shorter fictional works have been collected—each story written before the author’s twenty-third birthday and some in print for the first time since the 1930s. Compelling tales of human foibles and tragic romance, the stories in The Doll represent the emergence of a remarkable literary talent who later went on to create Jamaica Inn, The Birds, and other classic works. This breathtaking collection of short fiction belongs on the bookshelf of every Daphne du Maurier fan.