'Tales of Terror'

Twelve chilling horror stories from across all of time and space.

What’s that in the mirror,
Or the corner of your eye?
What’s that footstep following,
But never passing by?

Perhaps they’re all just waiting,
Perhaps when we’re all dead.
Out they’ll come a-slithering,
From underneath your bed…


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'Murder in the Dark' by Jaqueline Raynor

The TARDIS takes the Doctor, Steven and Dodo to an old house, where a strange Halloween party is taking place. After joining the masked guests in a game of statues, Dodo is led away with the other young girls play a gruesome version of an autopsy, run by a headless horseman; meanwhile, Steven watches the boys play with blood-filled donuts, and then goes apple-bobbing with apples that bite back. When Dodo and Steven return to the Doctor, they become pawns in a deadly game of ‘Murder in the Dark’, the Doctor holding their very lives in his choice of the murderer. However, the Doctor has deduced that real villain behind the games is the Celestial Toymaker, and he declares another game of statues. In the confusion, the Doctor and his friends escape to the TARDIS, leaving the defeated Toymaker to plan his next battle with the Time Lord…

Notes:
*Featuring the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo

*Time-placing: this story takes place shortly after ‘The Celestial Toymaker’

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'Something at the Door' by Mike Tucker

While showing their new friend Jamie around the depths of the TARDIS, Polly and Ben discover another control room, made of wood and stained glass. Looking inside an old chest Polly finds a Ouija Board, and she persuades the others to play a game with it; unfortunately, their efforts to communicate with the spirit world take a terrifying turn, when a creature from the time vortex makes contact and threatens to devour them, then shatters the board. When the trio confess their ill-advised actions to the Doctor, he becomes both angry and concerned to have come to the attention of a creature from the vortex; leaving the Doctor to tidy their mess, the three friends return to their quarters. That night, Ben follows a possessed Jamie to the console room, where he hears a terrifying knocking coming from outside the ships’ doors; investigating the noise, the Doctor and Polly arrive in time to see a black mass erupt from Jamie’s mouth, as the monster finally gains entry to the TARDIS. Grabbing a nearby book, the Doctor recites a magical spell that stops the evil creature, enabling him to use the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits to banish it from the ship. When Ben voices his relief that the spell worked, the Doctor reveals that it was merely the language of his people, which just sounds like magic.

Notes:
*Featuring the Second Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie

*Time-placing: this story takes place shortly after ‘The Highlanders’

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'The Monster in the Woods' by Paul Magrs

Ange Barnes takes her younger brothers Terry and Ian out at Halloween, sneaking off into the woods to meet their friend the Starman. Even though he has become a monster of legend, blamed for the disappearances of children over the last sixty years, Ange and Terry have been helping the Starman make repairs to himslef by bringing electrical equipment and parts to his den in the woods; the children are blissfully unaware that their friend is in fact a badly-damaged Dalek, and to their horror it takes Ian hostage and demands a final item that will enable it to leave… At UNIT headquarters, the Doctor drags Jo away from a Halloween costume party to investigate a signal broadcast into the Time Vortex. Tracking the source of the message to the woods at New Alverton, the Doctor and Jo encounter Ange and Terry, who are taking an old tape recorder to the Starman; on hearing their predicament, the Doctor and Jo promise to help rescue Ian, and follow the children to the Starman’s den. The Doctor negotiates Ian’s release, then astonishes Jo by taking the Dalek back to UNIT HQ, to use equipment from the TARDIS to send a distress call to the Daleks. However, when the Doctor points out that the Daleks’ jury-rigged repairs will make it a target for extermination by its comrades, the Dalek decides to destroy its Time Lord enemy by self-destructing. As the creature’s casing systems go critical, the Doctor uses a handy device to cool down and deactivate the Dalek, leaving its disposal to the Brigadier and UNIT.

Notes:
*Featuring the Third Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier

*Time-placing: this story takes place after ‘The Day of the Daleks’

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'Toil and Trouble' by Richard Dungworth

While searching through the TARDIS’ attic, Sarah come across a black orb; when she touches the object, she falls under the influence of a trio of Carrionites, witch-like hags imprisoned inside the crystal ball by a future incarnation of the Doctor. The witches have used their powers to cast back through time to find a means of escape, but their anachronistic actions trigger the appearance of several Reapers, vortex creatures that mend temporal corruption, which immediately attack the TARDIS. While the Doctor tries to stop the Reapers’ assault on his ship, Harry goes to the attic to find Sarah, only to have her attack him with a knife; luckily for Harry, the TARDIS lurches under the Reapers’ assault, causing Sarah to get knocked out. Seeing the crystal ball glowing with a green light, its surface cracked as the witches try to break free, Harry takes the orb to the Doctor. The witches manage to escape their prison, but before they can enjoy their triumph, the Reapers appear inside the TARDIS and immediately devour the old hags. The threat ended, the Reapers vanish, leaving the Doctor, Harry and a puzzled Sarah to resume their journey; finally answering the Brigadier’s summons of the Space-Time Telegraph, the Doctor lands the TARDIS in Scotland in 1975…

Notes:
*Featuring the Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry

*Time-placing: this story leads into ‘Terror of the Zygons’

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'Mark of the Medusa' by Mike Tucker

The Doctor receives an invitation from his old friend Professor Vittorio Levi, for the grand opening gala of his museum dedicated to the preservation of Earth’s art and antiquities, located in a space station in orbit around Earth. Leaving Kamelion inside the TARDIS, the Doctor Tegan and Turlough join the guests attending the gala; but the professor’s speech triggers Tegan’s memories of the Mara, and she passes out. Now in control of Tegan’s subconscious, the Mara uses her mind to gain a psychic hold on Kamelion, transforming him into a Medusa-like serpent with Tegan’s face; as the creature turns the partygoers into stone, Turlough helps the professor and his guests to arm themselves with swords and shields from the museum. Finding the sleeping Tegan, the Doctor wakes his friend and encourages her to face the Medusa; confronted with its own image, that of Tegan, the Mara relinquishes its control of Kamelion. Although the threat is over, Doctor and Tegan are concerned that they haven’t seen the last of the Mara – and are unaware that it has returned to its hiding place inside the TARDIS’s systems...

Notes:
*Featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion

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'Trick or Treat' by Jaqueline Raynor

While the TARDIS is in the vortex, the Doctor receives an unexpected visit from four boys and a stuffed guy, who demand he take part in ‘Trick or Treat’. When the Doctor refuses to give a treat, the boys play nasty tricks on him, forcing him to eventually give in. After correctly deducing that the boys are projections of his earlier selves, the Doctor receives a warning that he is still at a party. Taking the TARDIS to the manor house where he once fought the Celestial Toymaker, the Doctor is confronted with the revelation that he actually lost the battle – he never left the party, and his experiences ever since have been made up by the Toymaker. Faced with the reality of being nothing but a puppet created by the Toymaker, the Doctor begins to doubt his own existence. But when the Toymaker challenges him to another game, the Doctor realises the lie, and proposes a game of “two truths and one lie”. By creating a no-win situation, the Doctor prevents the Toymaker from giving an answer; now assured of his veracity, the Doctor escapes in the TARDIS, leaving the Toymaker trapped in his domain…

Notes:
*Featuring the Sixth Doctor

*Time-placing: although the Doctor is alone in the TARDIS console room, there is a comment that places this story shortly after ‘Timelash’; so I'm putting it just before 'Revelation of the Daleks', on the basis that Peri is just asleep in the ship!

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'The Living Image' by Scott Handcock

Arriving in London, 1887, the Doctor and Ace meet struggling artist Nathan Gough, who is plagued by what appear to be ghosts. Following Nathan to his home-cum-studio, the Doctor and Ace discover that the artist’s abstract painting of his late mother has caused a weak point in the space-time vortex, allowing extra-dimensional creatures to take over Nathan’s mind and gain a foothold in reality. As the portrait comes to life and strangles Nathan, Ace destroys the link using paint thinners. The Doctor then instructs Nathan to paint his portrait, allowing the Time Lord to communicate with the invaders; when the creatures refuse to stop their invasion of reality, the Doctor traps them in the dark recesses of his mind, silencing them forever.

Notes:
*Featuring the Seventh Doctor and Ace

*Time-placing: the Doctor is wearing his cream jacket, placing this prior to Season 26

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'Organism 96' by Paul Magrs

The Doctor’s holiday on the Mediterranean cruise liner W.H. Allen becomes more interesting when a mysterious woman is fished out of the sea. Teaming up with cabaret artist Marie Blenkinsop, the Doctor visits the amnesiac Miss X in the sickbay, and discovers only he sees her as a monstrous squid creature. After the old lady is given free run of the cruise ship, Marie doubts the Doctor’s claims of the woman’s true form - until several passengers are found murdered, their brains eaten. While in the ship’s hold obtaining parts from the TARDIS to build a de-mesmeriser, the Doctor is attacked by Miss X in her tentacled form; he is saved by the arrival of Marie, forcing the creature to transform and make a hasty exit. Finally convinced the old lady is a monster, Marie accompanies the Doctor as he uses his device to scramble Miss X’s hypnotic hold over the diners at the ship’s Halloween party. Now unmasked, the creature – an escaped Soviet Cold War experiment known as Organism 96’ – goes on a rampage, taking Marie hostage on deck. However, one of the guests, Colonel Hulke, is really an MI5 agent tasked with locating Organism 96; having pretended to be romantically interested in the ‘old lady’, he tricks the creature into taking a bomb hidden in a ring box, blowing them both up. With the W.H. Allen now sinking, the passengers and crew escape in the life rafts, while the Doctor bids goodbye to Marie and then departs in the TARDIS…

Notes:
*Featuring the Eighth Doctor

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'The Patchwork Pierrot' by Scott Handcock

The TARDIS takes the Doctor to a travelling circus in Nebraska, shortly after the American Civil War. He befriends Mona the Bearded Lady, and learns that the circus is haunted by a ghostly, blind Pierrot; the terrifying creature has been abducting visitors to the circus, and has frightened the carnies into silence. That night, the Doctor investigates the deserted Big Top, where he encounters the Pierrot; but the misshapen monster escapes, taking Mona with it. Tracking the Pierrot to a trailer, the Doctor rescues Mona; he explains that the clown is a Cyberman, a part-man, part machine creature that has somehow fallen through a breach in space-time to arrive in Nineteenth Century America. Unable to repair itself with machine parts, the faulty Cyberman has instead used the body parts of its victims, down-grading itself and going mad in the process. The Doctor shuts down the patchwork creature’s remaining electronics, leaving its human components to cope with what it has done. After taking Mona to safety the Doctor returns for the Cyberman – but the Pierrot has disappeared…

Notes:
*Featuring the Ninth Doctor

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'Blood Will Out' by Richard Dungsworth

While exploring the Hall of Mirrors at the Farringham fair, young Nancy Latimer sees a girl with a red balloon trapped in one of the reflections. When Nancy touches the mirror the glass cracks, then a green gas escapes from the little girl’s mouth and takes over Nancy’s body… In the Vortex, the TARDIS relays a telepathic mind-cry to the Doctor, an alert that an old enemy has gotten free. The Doctor takes Donna to a rain-lashed field, where the remains of a scarecrow confirms his suspicions that the Family of Blood have escaped their confinement. Checking on the Father of the Family, whom he imprisoned in a pit, the Doctor finds just broken chains of dwarf star alloy; then the reunited Father, Son and Daughter appear, capturing the Doctor and Donna and binding them in the heavy chains. Taking the key to the TARDIS, the Family depart to rescue their Mother. Meanwhile, the Doctor’s escapology prowess enables him to escape his bonds, and after freeing Donna, he returns to the TARDIS. Luckily the space-time craft recognised the Family as soon as they entered, and immediately rendered them unconscious. The Doctor drains the Daughter’s gaseous form from Nancy’s body, imprisoning it in a bottle. After taking the Family to see their Mother, leaving them all trapped in the event horizon of a black hole, the Doctor takes Nancy back home to her grandfather, Timothy Latimer…

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna

*Time-placing: this story takes place after 'The Poison Sky'

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'The Mist of Sorrow' by Craig Donaghy

Driving home after a dismally wet camping trip, the Martin family enter a dark valley and find an abandoned car on the road ahead. Resuming their journey, they encounter a thick purple mist, and are forced to stop again when a stone angel appears in their path. Mrs Martin is about to leave the car to investigate when a voice from the car radio blares out a warning to remain inside; the voice identifies itself as the Doctor, calling from a blue box floating high above them. The Doctor explains that the Martins are now surrounded by deadly Weeping Angels; the mist is their personal hunting ground, enabling them to move unseen. Obeying the Doctor’s instructions, the Martins keep their eyes trained on the angels; but when the car’s lights go out, an angel gets under the car, breaking through the floor to grab those inside. The Doctor takes remote control of the car, slowly driving it away from the angels while the Martins keep looking through the windows. But the angry angels push the vehicle off the road, and when it slides to the bottom of the valley, the heavy stone creatures climb onto its roof. Following the Doctor’s orders, the Martins leave their car and form a circle, keeping a watch on the angels whilst shuffling away from the vehicle and into the mist. With his sonic screwdriver and some machinery from the TARDIS, the Doctor creates the atmospheric conditions for a storm, and soon the mist is washed and blown away – revealing a circle of Weeping Angels surrounding the Martins. Landing the TARDIS nearby, the Doctor tells his new friends to crawl under the angels, leaving the stone monsters trapped in a circle of immobility. After making the Martins promise to continue their camping trips forever, the Doctor takes them safely home…

Notes:
*Featuring the Eleventh Doctor

*Time-placing: the Fez-wearing Doctor is in a jovial mood, so I'm placing this story prior to the Ponds' departure

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'Baby Sleepy Face' by Craig Donaghy

Intrigued by the smoke coming from the town’s disused doll factory, twins Amber and Ross sneak out one night to investigate. Clipping through a broken door, the twins discover that the abandoned factory has been completely revamped, and now gleaming new machinery is churning out hundreds of ‘Baby Sleepy Face’ dolls – but then the dolls come to life, their happy faces turning evil as they attack the children. Remembering the control room where their father once worked, Amber rushes to shut down the machines; meanwhile Ross fights off the dolls, trapping them in a nearby crate. Once Amber has halted the production line, the children attempt to leave, but are stopped by a humanoid creature made of plastic and dressed in overalls; identifying itself as ‘the Foreman’, the creature handily explains that the dolls are alien Autons, imbued with the essence of Sontarans. The Foreman is interrupted by the arrival of another man, the Doctor, who pushes over the fake man and then rushes the children outside. After dismissing Amber’s success at shutting down the plant, the Doctor explains that the Autons are controlled by the Nestene Consciousness, which can manipulate anything plastic – including all the faulty dolls buried in the factory grounds. As dozens of broken dolls burst up from the earth and close in on them, the Doctor materialises his spaceship around himself and the twins; but their safety is short-lived, as the dolls combine to make a giant mega-doll version of Baby Sleepy Face, which grabs hold of the TARDIS. After Amber and Ross work out that the Foreman was receiving a signal from the Nestene using a mini-satellite dish on his face, the Doctor locates the plastic man inside the head of the mega-doll. With the twin’s help the Doctor climbs up the giant Baby Sleepy Face, making his way to its head; when he reaches the Foreman, the Doctor uses his sonic sunglasses to cut off the Nestene signal, reducing the giant Baby Sleepy Face to a mass of lifeless dolls. After instructing the twins to tell their dad to reopen the factory and make something useful, the Doctor takes Amber and Ross home.

Notes:
*Featuring the Twelfth Doctor

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Publication Date:
7th September 2017


Notes:
*Published by BBC Books