2022 Oct Short: The Signalman

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

The short story read for October is The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens. This is a first-person horror/mystery story by Charles Dickens, first published as part of the Mugby Junction collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of All the Year Round. The railway signal-man of the title tells the narrator of an apparition that has been haunting him.

If you'd like a ghost story for October, this one may be for you.

Check here for a PDF copy of the story: https://shortstoryamerica.com/pdf_cla...

[Bernard]

Excellent! A great story, one of my Dickens favourites.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Will you reread the story, Bernard, or give us some thoughts on it from before? Glad you live the pick.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

This is really good, I agree!

[Bernard]

I will read it again, but my prior thought is: members are in for a real treat!

[Chad]

Sitting down and starting this one now. I love everything about the early railroad era so I should enjoy this one I think.

[Chad]

A great story for October! I hike and occasionally walk through The Roseville Tunnel in New Jersey. This story really reminded of things that I’ve conjured up in my own head when walking through that old railroad tunnel.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Chad. Would you say it's sufficiently spooky for autumn?

[Tr1sha]

This story is the first in the collection Three Ghost Stories - perhaps some members might enjoy the other stories too. It’s ages since I read it, so I will probably read The Signalman again this month.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Trisha, thank you for mentioning another book this story can be found within.

[Bernard]

The BBC made a dramatization of it, starring the excellent Denholm Elliott.

[Bernard]

Dickens expertly creates a feeling of impending doom. In the BBC version, the signalbox was down in the cutting, which added to the uncomfortable feelings.

[Tr1sha]

I read this again. Sorry, I’m no more impressed now than when I read it before - ghost stories rarely interest me. I’m glad that others enjoy it.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

No worries, Trisha. Every genre or subgenre or even story/book has its own readers. :)

[Annette]

I’m a Dickens fan and was so happy to read a short story by him. I really enjoyed it :)