HARLEQUIN HORROR

As a child, author Dan Mitchell recalls lying entranced in his bed as a thin, androgynous creature with large, full moon eyes entered his room. The entity – the Harlequin - danced around the scared boy, its theatrical displays accompanied by a permanently aghast, open-cast mouth. Its features appeared to Mitchell as if frozen in a permanent state of shock.

Mitchell saw the thing many times. In his book Behind The Masquerade: The

Harlequin, he describes how Harlequins feed off the fear they instil in their victims. As an adult, he saw the creature again on a deserted road while driving with friends.

Interestingly, he was clear it was female as the creature moved towards the car, its hair bouncing violently. ‘From only a few feet away I saw her clear as day through the passenger window. From the back seat a friend inhaled, “Oh my God, her eyes!”’