The Signalman by Charles Dickens, The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs and The Red Room by H.G Wells are much anthologized examples of the classic gothic tale of horror or suspense. There is good reason for this; the prose is perfectly pitched to evoke the delicious, pleasurable sense of terror in the reader that is the ultimate aim of the ghost story.
The Signalman by Charles Dickens
With its eerie setting in gloomy railway cutting, The Signalman tells the story of a signalman who is haunted by disturbing premonitions of accidents on the railway line. The plot is revealed through the words of the narrator to whom the signalman confides the ghostly warnings he receives. The narrator assumes the man to be suffering from hallucinations but when he takes a third visit to the signalman, he is disturbed by the scene he witnesses there.
'Halloa! Below there!" When he heard a voice thus calling to him, he was standing at the door of his box, with a flag in his hand, furled round its short pole.' The sympathetic narration employed by Dickens draws the reader into the story as he can relate to the narrator's view of the signalman during the progress of the tale.
The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs
When Mr and Mrs White are given a talisman, a monkey's paw which has been invested with mysterious powers, their incredulity soon turns to despair as the true cost of tampering with fate is revealed. The great triumph of this story is the way in which Jacobs manipulates the reader's responses by building him up to a pitch without actually describing the gruesome, uncanny events that unfold.
'Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly.' The cosy atmosphere conveyed in the first line of the story provides a stark contrast to the horrors that await the White family.
The Red Room by H.G Wells
Proving that atmosphere is everything in the creation of fear, this masterful short story has all the right ingredients for a classic tale of terror. The narrator determines to spend the night in a gloomy castle which is rumoured to be haunted. The suspense increases as the narrator's begins to fear that the candles in his room are being blown out by an evil spirit. The three superannuated caretakers are keen to hear all the details of the alleged haunting; will the narrator's revelation supply them with the story they long to hear?
' "I can assure you," said I, "that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." ' The final irony of the story leads right back to this, the first line.
A Spinechilling Experience
These stories have been delighting and chilling readers since they were first published in 1866, 1902 and 1894 respectively. They are, perhaps, best enjoyed when read aloud and each story is short enough to allow for this. For the ultimate experience, why not dim the lights and add a few candles? Just don't leave the room alone...
The Signalman by Charles Dickens, in Complete Ghost Stories.Published by Wordsworth Editions 1998. ISBN 1 8532 6734 1
The Monkey's Paw, W W Jacobs, in The Monkey's Paw and Other Tales of Mystery and the Macabre. Published by Academy Chicago Publications 1997. ISBN 0 8973 3441 8
The Red Room and Other Stories, H G Wells.
Published by Phoenix 1998. ISBN 0 7538 0453 0
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