What do you think?
Rate this book
The Whispering Shell
Julie loves her job as a curator at the old Museum, despite her mother’s disappointment that she hasn’t pursued a far more glamorous and prestigious career. Her mother is gone now anyhow, along with her disapproval - drowned in a swimming accident last summer.
When Julie’s school outreach sessions in the natural history room lead her thoughts to the water cycle and its interconnections, troubling events start to occur. Terrible accidents. All involving water. And somehow, the young victims all seem to have come into contact with the same conch shell exhibited in that room.
During a teachers’ strike, Julie has to bring her young son Oliver to work with her for the week. She warns him not to wander off, but when she leaves him alone in the natural history room for only a few moments, she returns to find him gone.
Putting the shell to her own ear, she finds that its whispers are now far more sinister than the familiar sigh of the sea…
The Whispering Shell is the fifth short story in the Eerie Exhibits collection, written by award-winning author Victoria Williamson, and available to purchase as an anthology.
When Julie’s school outreach sessions in the natural history room lead her thoughts to the water cycle and its interconnections, troubling events start to occur. Terrible accidents. All involving water. And somehow, the young victims all seem to have come into contact with the same conch shell exhibited in that room.
During a teachers’ strike, Julie has to bring her young son Oliver to work with her for the week. She warns him not to wander off, but when she leaves him alone in the natural history room for only a few moments, she returns to find him gone.
Putting the shell to her own ear, she finds that its whispers are now far more sinister than the familiar sigh of the sea…
The Whispering Shell is the fifth short story in the Eerie Exhibits collection, written by award-winning author Victoria Williamson, and available to purchase as an anthology.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2025
About the author
Victoria Williamson
38 books88 followersA lifelong storyteller and daydreamer, Victoria Williamson is an author and teacher who has lived and worked in Africa, China, America and the UK.
Victoria grew up in Kirkintilloch, north Glasgow, surrounded by hills on the edge of a forest estate where many of her early ghost stories and fantasy tales were born amid the magical trees and spooky old ruined buildings.
After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real life adventures, which included teaching Maths and Science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with special needs in the UK.
A qualified primary school teacher with a degree in Mandarin Chinese from Yunnan University and a Master’s degree in Special Needs Education, Victoria is passionate about creating inclusive worlds in her novels where all children can see a reflection of themselves in a heroic role.
Victoria’s experiences of teaching young children in a deprived area of Glasgow, many of whom were asylum seekers, inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of friendship between Glasgow girl Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.
Victoria writes fantasy, adventure, science fiction and contemporary issue novels for Middle Grade (9-12), Teen, and Young Adult readers. Many of her books have been inspired by children she has met on her travels, both abroad and in the UK. She is currently working on a Middle Grade novel exploring the issues faced by a boy with ADHD who is struggling to fit in with his new step-family, and a spooky adventure novel for Teens, centred around a cast of characters with special needs including deafness, Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.
Twenty percent of her author royalties for The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle are donated to the Scottish Refugee Council.
You can find out more about Victoria's books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Victoria grew up in Kirkintilloch, north Glasgow, surrounded by hills on the edge of a forest estate where many of her early ghost stories and fantasy tales were born amid the magical trees and spooky old ruined buildings.
After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real life adventures, which included teaching Maths and Science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with special needs in the UK.
A qualified primary school teacher with a degree in Mandarin Chinese from Yunnan University and a Master’s degree in Special Needs Education, Victoria is passionate about creating inclusive worlds in her novels where all children can see a reflection of themselves in a heroic role.
Victoria’s experiences of teaching young children in a deprived area of Glasgow, many of whom were asylum seekers, inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of friendship between Glasgow girl Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.
Victoria writes fantasy, adventure, science fiction and contemporary issue novels for Middle Grade (9-12), Teen, and Young Adult readers. Many of her books have been inspired by children she has met on her travels, both abroad and in the UK. She is currently working on a Middle Grade novel exploring the issues faced by a boy with ADHD who is struggling to fit in with his new step-family, and a spooky adventure novel for Teens, centred around a cast of characters with special needs including deafness, Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.
Twenty percent of her author royalties for The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle are donated to the Scottish Refugee Council.
You can find out more about Victoria's books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 16, 2026
THE WHISPERING SHELL
by Victoria Williamson
3 1/2 stars. After Julie's informational talk with child visitors at the Natural History Museum...
She found a girl left behind when her teacher called the class to board the bus. The girl was intensly listening to a conch at the sensory display table...
Julie asked the girl: Can you hear the sea?
The girl replied: I hear taps running. A woman told me she was cold. She told me to get into the bath with her...
Rattled...
Julie told her: It was supposed to sound like waves crashing on the beach...
The girl told Julie: She wasn't on the beach. She was in the bath with the taps running...
The girl joined her classmates on the bus...
As the bus departed, Julie wondered about what the imaginative girl heard in the conch...
One week later...
It went around the museum break room that the little girl had committed suicide in the bath just like her mother had years ago...
Then...
Another child, a boy, had the conch up to his ear, listening. He told Julie his dead brother wanted him to come to him...
He was lonely...
Julie put the conch to her own ear, and it called her name...
Are shells strictly for hearing ocean waves, or can they tell us something sinister calling to us from The Twilight Zone?
This was a fairly standard spooky story that was easy to deduce how it was going to end. If you have a few minutes in between books, this was a delightful little filler.
by Victoria Williamson
3 1/2 stars. After Julie's informational talk with child visitors at the Natural History Museum...
She found a girl left behind when her teacher called the class to board the bus. The girl was intensly listening to a conch at the sensory display table...
Julie asked the girl: Can you hear the sea?
The girl replied: I hear taps running. A woman told me she was cold. She told me to get into the bath with her...
Rattled...
Julie told her: It was supposed to sound like waves crashing on the beach...
The girl told Julie: She wasn't on the beach. She was in the bath with the taps running...
The girl joined her classmates on the bus...
As the bus departed, Julie wondered about what the imaginative girl heard in the conch...
One week later...
It went around the museum break room that the little girl had committed suicide in the bath just like her mother had years ago...
Then...
Another child, a boy, had the conch up to his ear, listening. He told Julie his dead brother wanted him to come to him...
He was lonely...
Julie put the conch to her own ear, and it called her name...
Are shells strictly for hearing ocean waves, or can they tell us something sinister calling to us from The Twilight Zone?
This was a fairly standard spooky story that was easy to deduce how it was going to end. If you have a few minutes in between books, this was a delightful little filler.
July 1, 2026
A shell that lets you hear your passed loved ones. They want you to join them. Great short read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2025
Eerie and Captivating
This is truly a unique take on the horror genre. What is it about the exhibits collection that influences the hearts and minds of those who dare to examine them?
Williamson does a fantastic job of developing the psychology of the protoganist. Julie is a single mother riddled with anxiety and not quite dealing with the loss of her overbearing mother. Where relief should be the overwhelming emotion, Julie is plagued with not quite living up to her mother’s expectations. And her son is a carbon copy of her.
When children visiting the museum and examining the collection of interactive pieces, the begin to die. Julie knows something’s amiss, but will she respond to the warning signs in time?
A fantastic short read!
This is truly a unique take on the horror genre. What is it about the exhibits collection that influences the hearts and minds of those who dare to examine them?
Williamson does a fantastic job of developing the psychology of the protoganist. Julie is a single mother riddled with anxiety and not quite dealing with the loss of her overbearing mother. Where relief should be the overwhelming emotion, Julie is plagued with not quite living up to her mother’s expectations. And her son is a carbon copy of her.
When children visiting the museum and examining the collection of interactive pieces, the begin to die. Julie knows something’s amiss, but will she respond to the warning signs in time?
A fantastic short read!
May 17, 2026
A Tragic Tale of Cosmic Horror
Single mother Julie works in a museum where she conducts short educational talks about fossils and shells. Everybody is familiar with the effect of putting a shell to one’s ear and “hearing the ocean.”
But what if this one shell allowed its listener to hear something else like a dark, compelling voice?
Single mother Julie works in a museum where she conducts short educational talks about fossils and shells. Everybody is familiar with the effect of putting a shell to one’s ear and “hearing the ocean.”
But what if this one shell allowed its listener to hear something else like a dark, compelling voice?
October 22, 2025
Spooky
Wow, this was really spooky. I'm never going to listen to a conch shell again! Every person had their own experience, specific to their own close family members and bonds.
Another good one for this author!
Wow, this was really spooky. I'm never going to listen to a conch shell again! Every person had their own experience, specific to their own close family members and bonds.
Another good one for this author!
May 3, 2026
OHMIGOSH
great story, scary little slice of life....I want to read more by this author, i wish the stories were in an anthology rather than having to buy them individually...
great story, scary little slice of life....I want to read more by this author, i wish the stories were in an anthology rather than having to buy them individually...
May 4, 2026
A museum worker notices children hearing messages from a conch shell. This a short creepy novella.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews