The N Auntie

Set in Ireland, during a minor outbreak of whooping cough presumably in the 1990s, Ciara and a group of other mothers discover a troubling trend. Children are dying of illnesses that they might recover from after a visit from a little old lady who passes herself off as a distant great-aunt. This great-aunt always takes an N name, like Nellie or Nora or Naomi. The N Auntie has been around for decades. The oldest member of their community, a woman in her nineties, remembers a visit from the same “aunt.” The women use some amateur detecting skills to figure out where the aunt will strike next and confront her.

The majority of this story lays out the background of the narrator and how this menacing old lady is discovered. There is a genuinely creepy aspect to this woman because she gains entrance into people’s lives through the trust we extend to family.