The story

By the time my sister asks me to clean up the blood, I have already unpacked the good mugs.

My flat has flooded, and Lucy has given me somewhere to stay. Fresh flowers in the bedroom. Biscuits beside the bed. A whole house to myself while she and her husband, Aaron, spend October in Cyprus.

All she asks is a little help preparing their Halloween attraction.

Clean the carpet. Take the rug to the tip. Sort through the old clothes.

It’s only stage blood. That’s what she tells me.

Then I find Aaron’s wedding ring. His daughter turns up asking questions I can’t answer. And although messages arrive from his phone, he never picks up when I call.

Lucy says he wants to be left alone. She says I’m worrying over nothing.

But every job I finish removes another trace of him.

As Mischief Night approaches, the neighbours are preparing to be frightened. I’m beginning to understand that I should be too.

I’ve spent my life helping my sister. Now I need to find out what I’ve helped her do.

Mischief Night is a psychological thriller about sisterhood, trust and the terrible cost of being useful. Told in 31 dated chapters, it’s your Halloween countdown: read one chapter a day from 1–31 October—or find out how long you can resist opening the next.