originally published The Caller of the Black, 1972
Henri Laurent de-Marigny - occutlist, collector, and doormat, has found himself an odd, ancient mirror. He acquires it at an auction of the possessions of explorer Bannister Brown-Farley's estate. Along with a diary explaining its nature.
DeMarigny sits up all night reading Brown-Farley's diary, in which BBF explains how he bought the mirror, how he plied the old arab who sold it to him with brandy and opium to tell its story, and its relation to the legend of Nitocris, an Egyptian queen prone to cruel revenge, and of the mirror's alleged tendency to release horrible things out of its depths at midnight!
And, sure enough, at midnight, a gloopy thing comes crawling out of the mirror. DeMarigny drives it off with silver bullets. And then faints - the big pussy!
An amusing, Weird Tales-ish little vignette.
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