(photo by Vicki MacLeod: used under CC Attribution license.)

In today’s Dark Divinations feature, we discuss Stephanie Ellis’s “Romany Rose.” This haunting story is a tale of a man who runs a penny gaff. One night, he hears odd noises outside his establishment, and when he investigates, he finds someone has left a mechanical fortune-telling machine outside his door.

The cards it dispenses have a disturbing way of coming true…

The Romany Rose of the title refers to an old woman with her own agenda. The Romany people, sometimes known as Gypsies–though that name has fallen out of fashion and is quite often considered derogatory in modern culture–have a long and storied history of telling fortunes.

The sinister machine at the heart of this story is fascinating, but it isn’t something I’d want to show up outside my door! If you are a more daring sort, you can order your own fortune-teller for only $11,000!