Andrew Culwin, “The Eyes”
Culwin is a disbeliever in ghosts and specters from the otherworld and, more to the point, is a fervent advocate of the idea that seeing such things is purely the result of a weak immunity to suggestibility. A typical gathering of friends at an estate ensues and Culwin is coldly detached to the point of cruelty in his dismissive attitude toward any believer. His own levels of immunity to suggestibility and disbelief are soon enough put to a horrifying test.
Elsie Ashby, “Pomegranate Seed”
Charlotte Ashby discovers send to her husband Kenneth which are as disturbing as they are mysterious. She suspects he has a lover, of course, but the truth goes much deeper for it turns out the letters are being delivered to Kenneth by his first wife, Elsie. Who, it must be noted, is most certainly and ascertainably dead.
Hartley, “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell”
Hartley is the narrator who, after having been unemployed for three months while battling typhoid fever, gains employment as maid to Mrs. Brympton at a rather cold and uninviting country house since the previous maid died after putting in twenty years of solid and dependable service. There are two rather unusual circumstances to this job, however. One, Hartley’s live-in quarters are across the hall from a room that she has been informed must always remain locked. And two, Mrs. Brympton never rings the bell to call for services, but instead sends Agnes the housemaid to fetch her.
Robert Elwell, “Afterward”
Americans Ned and Mary Boyne have moved to England after he has made his fortune in mining. One day at their manor house, a strange visitor arrives and Ned’s reaction is unusually emotional to say the least. The stranger seemed to cast a permanent cold chill over Mary’s husband. A few weeks later the stranger arrives again and Ned has disappeared. Was the mysterious stranger the man named Robert Elwell whom Ned slickered out of his rightful fortune? And how could it be Elwell long ago committed suicide?
“Miss Mary Pask”
The first-person narrator of this tale is a strange duck. To believe or not to believe. The narrator sets off with a group to visit Miss Mary only to later remember that she has died. But upon arrival, Miss Mary is anything but dead and the conversation basically engenders a desire in the narrator to get away as fast as possible. The story ends with the narrator visiting Mary’s sister who corrects some misinformation: her sister is not dead, but merely lapsed into a catatonic state.
“Mr. Jones”
The title character is the head of household servant who has put in a long life of dutiful service to the point where he feels he has earned exclusive rights. This initially extends to not allowing the inheritor of the property into he house. Even after establishing her rights of ownership, Mr. Jones lords over the estate and its assorted serving staff and refuses even to meet with the new owner. It is the attempt to solve the mystery of Mr. Jones and just how long has services have lorded over the home which provides the basis for its otherworldly aspects.
