Charles Dickens' ghost story "The Signalman" is about an unnamed narrator who takes an interest in a railway signal operator who is haunted by a specter. The specter's ambiguous warnings lead to the signalman being run over by a train.
First published in 1866 as part of the Mugby Junction set of stories published by Dickens and other collaborators in the magazine All the Year Round, "The Signalman" is likely influenced by the infamous Clayton Tunnel rail crash of 1861, which was caused by a signaler's error and resulted in twenty-three deaths. A year before he wrote the story, Dickens was a passenger during the Staplehurst rail crash, which resulted in ten deaths and, for Dickens, the loss of his voice for two weeks.
"The Signalman" has been adapted widely, appearing as stage dramas, radio plays, short films, and television episodes.
