“A Strange Christmas Game” (1868)

This story by Mrs. J.H. Riddell (aka Charlotte Riddell) was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. It’s the last story in a Lamplight magazine I have—I liked this story but alas none of the others. They didn’t even give Mrs. Riddell an author bio! And they also misspelled her name, which took some time to straighten out with google searches. While reading it I had been impressed by what a remarkably good facsimile of a Victorian gothic it seemed to be. There’s nothing that special about it as a ghost story except it’s just quietly effective. Not so much scary, but an interesting and absorbing anecdote, a kind of tale of spirit manners. An impoverished brother and sister unexpectedly inherit an estate but things about it are not right. First they learn of a mystery—one of their ancestors who lived there suddenly disappeared after last being seen on a Christmas Eve. Since then, nobody has wanted to stay overnight in the mansion. It’s all whispers and innuendo, but the general idea abroad in the region is that it’s haunted, two rooms specifically, a poltergeist variation that takes the form of unruly stomping noises at night. There may be visions too for those brave enough to pass a night in those rooms, but few are. The brother and sister are that brave, however, and they are even able to expel the presence. But it takes its toll on them. They solve the mystery of the disappearance while they’re at it. Afterward, the sister moves away and marries and refuses even to visit the place again. It’s hard to know what I would think of this story if I’d known more about it beforehand, like that it is actually old. Thinking it was more contemporary I took it as someone trying to “do” an old-fashioned ghost story. And I thought they did a good job of it too—better than others I’ve seen. Ironically, I did take some of it as trying too hard to be old-fashioned. It’s possible I would not have liked it as much knowing it was actually old. But in the context of thinking it was a contemporary I was really taken by it. It also has a Christmas setting that works very well, even though it’s mostly incidental. It’s still good atmospherics.

Lamplight, Vol. 9, No. 2 (December 2020)
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Listen to story online.