“W.S.” by L.P. Hartley
Novelist Walter Streeter is the subject of the horror that arrives in the form of a fictional creation haunting its creation. He is the recipient of threats via postcards signed W.S. who just so happens to be one of his character not exactly over-endowed with positive traits and an upstanding reputation. His death is unexplained, but gruesome and is left with the ambiguous notion of never being solved.
“Harry” by Rosemary Timperley
A young girl named Christine is an adoptee who just before starting school begins talking to Harry. Harry, the girl claims, is her brother, but this is very difficult to prove since nobody but Christine can actually see Harry. The story is narrated in the first-person and the opening paragraph sets the tone for type of horror it seeks: a slowly intensifying sense of dread intruding upon one’s sense of normalcy.
“The Corner Shop” by Cynthia Asquith
Peter Wood visit an antique shop run by two sisters that is all brightness and British jollity. He makes a purchase and leaves with a sense of satisfaction. A few weeks later he makes a return trip only to find that now an old man is in charge and mood is dark and foreboding, instilling in Peter a sense of desolation. The ghostly quality lies in the revelation of what is really going on here in this tale where time is seemingly out of sync.
“In the Tube” E.F. Benson
A conversation takes place between friends which delves into the realm of philosophical metaphysics involving the sight of a man apparently traveling via subway. He disappears in an instant despite the doors never opening. The very day the narrator is introduced to this very same man who claims to have arrived in town only that very morning. A suicide by jumping in front of a speeding underground train only makes things more confusing but there is still one last bizarre turn as the story draws to a close with a vow to make things right by the dying man.
“Christmas Meeting” by Rosemary Timperley
A middle-aged woman recalls past Christmases dating all the way back to childhood as she experiences her first holiday all alone. Suddenly, her reverie is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a stranger. The young man and the older woman strike up a conversation. The man turns out to be a writer and the woman’s trip backward through time in her mind has taken on a much more literal form than it seemed.
“Playmates” by A.M. Burrage
Stephen Everton is one of those wealthy types who takes on a ward, in this case Monica, the daughter of a dead poet. The young orphan is given much latitude to be on her own as Everton sets to work writing in a mansion which is filled with “imaginary friends” according to Monica. Invisible friends are one thing, but Monica’s pals are actually some local girls from the village. The problem: they are all dead local girls from the village.
“Ringing the Changes” by Robert Aickman
Gerald and his young wife arrive at a coastal village in England for their honeymoon. Anyone who has seen any number of British films about outsiders arriving at a coastal village populated by suspicious-acting tribal locals, church bells ringing endlessly and a host of questions asked which never receive a straightforward answer can probably guess to some extent what occurs next. It is a story in which tone and atmosphere is everything and which, unfortunately, probably seemed a lot more original when it was published than it can ever possibly feel again.
“The Telephone” by Mary Treadgold
A young woman has fallen in love with a married man named Allan and Katherine, his wife, discovers it. This results in what is called an “arrangement.” As the narrator and Allan ensconce themselves into a little Scottish love next, Katherine dies of heart failure. That’s when Allan begins receiving phone calls. From guess who?
“Afterward” by Edith Wharton
A couple move into an old home in the British countryside that really brings a sense of the past by not yet being equipped with modern conveniences like electricity. The charm of this authentic tie to the past is put in jeopardy by another tie to the past: the presence of a ghostly figure. The interesting aspect is that the couple are warned that they will not realize the presence of the ghost until afterward, thus giving the story its title and its robustly original haunted house quality.
“On the Brighton Road” by Richard Middleton
In the snow, a tramp wakes up and commences his journey to London. Along the way he meets a teenage boy who claims to have been walking the road for six years after running way from home only to always be brought back by the police. The boy’s cough ultimately winds up forcing him to be taken to the infirmary where he dies. But still the tramp catches up to him walking the same road the next day.
“The Upper Berth” by F. Marion Crawford
A change of pace with a change of venue; instead of a haunted house, the story takes place on a haunted ship. A passenger boarding the ship named Brisbane has no explanation for why the steward is behaving so strangely while escorting him to his stateroom. Things get even stranger when his cabin mate disappears overboard in the middle of the night. Worse yet: he was far from the first occupant of the upper berth to likewise disappear under bizarre circumstances. Before it’s over, the captain nearly dies and Brisbane swears off from ever sailing the same region which produces the monstrous entity responsible.
