The Haunted Tiara by Cecilia Kennedy

*****Tiaras sparkle in the golden light of Array of Wonders Antique Shop. There’s an entire selection dripping with realistic-looking gems. They’re about $20 each in silver, gold, bejeweled with shiny plastic emeralds and rubies, and as she inspects each one, Samantha reminds herself she has never wanted a tiara before, never competed in beauty contests, but an overwhelming desire to have one of these trinkets takes over, and she buys one. She buys it knowing it once belonged to someone else—and that it’s not a good idea to take the things of the dead and wear them, but the sparkle beckons, and the price is right.

*****One day, she puts the crown on, laughs at such a trifle, but inside, loves the glitter. Her family compliments her and even convinces her to leave the house with it on.

*****She places it on her head, steps out, and browses the shops on Maple Street. The air is light, the sun is out, and the restaurants smell like freshly baked bread. But she can’t help noticing the stares. Brushing them off as a reaction to the tiara, she continues on.

However, when people look frightened at every pass, turn the other way, she can no longer ignore the obvious.

*****“What’s going on?” she asks her son.

*****“You don’t look so good,” he says.

*****“Maybe we should go home,” her husband suggests.

But Samantha feels fine. She’s never felt better.

She turns the corner—and a little girl shrieks and points while her mother quickly whisks her away. Samantha has no choice but to find a bathroom in the back of a shop to see for herself what’s going on.

******In the mirror, she observes her skin is gray, her eyes a sickly shade of yellow. She gasps and removes the tiara, placing it on the counter, believing her appearance will change back, but it doesn’t.

*****Instead, a phantom crown takes its place, held in the bony hands of a shadowy figure in an evening gown. She has beauty queen hair—and an axe through her head. Her jaw unhinges as she hisses a command: to accept the title and wear the crown proudly, as the reigning queen of the Underworld.

And when they eventually find Samantha, lying face up on the floor, the tiara won’t budge, won’t separate from shadowy threads that have stitched it in place.

Cecilia Kennedy (she/her) is a writer who taught English and Spanish in Ohio for 20 years before moving to Washington state with her family. Since 2017, she has published stories in international literary magazines and anthologies. Her work has appeared in Maudlin House, Tiny Molecules, Rejection Letters, Kandisha Press, Ghost Orchid Press, and others. You can follow her on X (@ckennedyhola).

Artwork by Alexa Dimaano – see more at www.artstation.com/alexazilla

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