‘The monstrous thought came into my mind as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man.’

Book blurb

Three chilling ghost stories tell of deadly premonitions, dreams intercepted and spectres bearing silent warnings.

Three ghostly tales from a master of the form, ‘The Signalman’, ‘The Trial for Murder’ and the title story, ‘To Be Read at Dusk’.

One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics’ huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries – including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants

My thoughts

‘To Be Read at Dusk’

Five couriers sitting on a bench outside the convent at the top of St Bernard, Switzerland are observed by the Narrator. They are discussing the possibility of whether there are ghosts or not. Two of the couriers each recount an experience they have had of strange and unusual events. The narrator, who cannot be seen, expects comments from the others, upon there being silence he looks over…

‘The Signalman’

The Narrator is staying at an inn and on seeing the Signalman from a window goes down to converse with him. He goes down again on the second night when the Signalman tells a strange tale of a returning spectre and the ringing of the bell that precedes ‘a dreadful calamity’. The signalman explains he is unable to send a warning not knowing what, or where, the danger is – if he did he would be considered mad and ‘be displaced’! The third night the Narrator goes down to visit the Signalman once again, he has a plan to aid him. However, as he arrives at the Signalman’s hut something dreadful has happened!

‘The Trial for Murder’

People, the Narrator, ponders are generally reluctant to admit to having a vision, for want of any other description, a subjective experience yet that is not the case when experiencing an objective experience. Having knowledge of several experiences, indeed there is the Narrator’s own experience.

He recounts his, a case of murder, the murderer unnamed nor any description given yet the newspaper report attracted the attention of the Narrator. Whilst reading the Narrator has a clear picture of the room in which the murder occurred! To clear his mind the Narrator goes to the window seeing two men walking along one seemingly following the other. The Narrator, having been studying for bank examinations, feels jaded so determines to ignore further news of the murder that is gripping the public interest. Nevertheless, he knows that a person has been committed to Newgate for trial.

The Narrator experiences a vision, hallucination?, seeing the man who had been following another that day he had looked from the window and more.

Then the Narrator receives a summons for Jury service at the Old Bailey. He attends, arriving at the appointed time on a foggy morning to find he is a juror on the murder case! The accused is brought in and the Narrator recognises him!

The Narrator becomes Foreman. The trial lasts a while and the jury is kept confined all staying in one large room together under the watchful eye of an officer, Mr Harker. The Narrator recounts what happens and other very strange events right through to the final verdict.

ooOoo

Three stories of strange occurrences to read each bringing an eerie tale of ghosts, hauntings, phantoms, visions – call them what you will – with disturbing consequences that will bring a chill to those who do decide to read at dusk!

I’m not a horror fan so these ghostly tales hit just the right level of strange and creepy without going too far for me. Dickens has a deft and masterly style that ensures the stories are well executed and engaging from the first page. They are not too far fetched as to become unbelievable and each is just a little bit stranger than the one before.

So, will you read them, will you find yourself wondering if there are other-worldly happenings going on around you and will you decide they are To Be Read at Dusk?

Book: Purchased

NovNov24

Check out our hosts for this years NovNov24 for all the information you will need to get involved. If you join in I hope you’ll have a great time as this is such an enjoyable challenge.

Host – Cathy @ 746books | Host – Rebecca @ bookishbeck

Where to add your links – introduction and review links for NovNov24.

Information

Published: Penguin Books Ltd | 3 March 2016 | Paperback | EAN/UPC 9780241251584 | 54pp

‘To Be Read at Dusk’ first appeared in Heath’s Keepsake, 1852. ‘The Trial for Murder and ‘The Signalman’ were first published in All the Year Round, in 1865 and 1866 respectively.

Buy: Bookshop.org (paperback)| AmazonSmileUK (paperback and ebook)| Your local bookshop | Hive (paperback and ebook)

Penguin Little Black Classics

Author

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist. 

In 1833 he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of Pickwick Papers. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. Thereafter, Dickens published his major novels over the course of the next twenty years from Nicholas Nickleby to Little Dorrit. He also edited the journals Household Words and All the Year Round.

Charles Dickens died in Higham, England on 9 June 1870. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

The Dickens Museum | The Dickens Fellowship | BBC History: Charles Dickens | Gutenberg Project – Charles Dickens books/works in alphabetical order

Books

The Pickwick Papers | Oliver Twist | Nicholas Nickleby | The Old Curiosity Shop | Barnaby Rudge | Martin Chuzzlewit | Dombey and son | David Copperfield | Bleak House | Hard Times | Little Dorrit |A Tale of Two Cities | Great Expectations | Our Mutual Friend | The Mystery of Edwin Drood 

A Christmas Carol because of its length is classified as a novella and is usually accompanied along with other Christmas writings.

Other writing

American Notes | Pictures from Italy | Selected Journalism 1850 – 1870 | Selected short fiction | Sketches by Boz