Wandering Ghosts by F. Marion Crawford
"Wandering Ghosts" is a posthumous anthology featuring supernatural tales by a notable American novelist, showcasing a range of original and skillfully crafted stories. The collection includes "The Dead Smile," which explores themes of familial deception and tragic revelations, as Sir Hugh Ockram's malevolent actions towards his children are ultimately unmasked. Another standout tale, "The Screaming Skull," narrates the chilling aftermath of Lucy Pratt's murder, as her vengeful spirit haunts those responsible for her demise. The story "Man Overboard!" examines the psychological torment experienced by Jim Benton, who assumes his brother Jack's identity after a fatal accident at sea, only to be haunted by Jack's ghost. In "For the Blood Is the Life," a vampire's connection to her lover is probed, while "The Upper Berth" confronts the unsettling legacy of a suicide aboard a ship. The collection also features lighter tales, such as "By the Waters of Paradise" and "The Doll's Ghost," which delve into the uncanny in varying degrees. Overall, "Wandering Ghosts" invites readers into a world where the past lingers, and the supernatural intertwines with the human experience.
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Subject Terms
Wandering Ghosts
First published: 1911
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Fantasy—occult
Time of work: 1880-1909
Locale: Ireland, England, Italy, and the ocean
The Plot
Wandering Ghosts is a posthumous collection of supernatural stories written over the entire career of one of America’s most colorful and popular novelists. The tales demonstrate a startling degree of originality, craftsmanship, and narrative technique.
“The Dead Smile” (1899) recounts the malignant Sir Hugh Ockram’s attempt to destroy the lives of his son Gabriel and his niece (actually his daughter) Evelyn Warburton by hiding their true relationship and allowing them to marry. Sir Hugh’s death is presaged by horrifying manifestations of the banshee form of Evelyn’s mother. Nurse Macdonald suspects the truth and directs Gabriel to Sir Hugh’s tomb, where the Ockrams refuse to lie in their coffins. Gabriel obeys and, bravely facing his father’s ghastly dead smile, removes a document from his hand that reveals the truth. Gabriel and Evelyn reconcile as brother and sister.
“The Screaming Skull” (1908) is the story of the unquiet spirit of Lucy Pratt, murdered by her husband, Dr. Pratt, who apparently poured molten lead into her ear while she slept. Dr. Pratt later removed the head from his wife’s body so that if the body were later exhumed, no one would realize the nature of the crime by hearing the lead rattling around. The skull appears mysteriously in various places, shattering the night with its screaming. Attempts to get rid of it fail. Pratt is found dead with bite marks upon his throat, apparently strangled by powerful jaws. His property passes to the narrator, Captain Charles Braddock, who is similarly haunted because it was an anecdote of his that gave Pratt the idea for the murder. He, too, attempts to rid himself of the skull, and his fears about the cause of Lucy Pratt’s death are confirmed when a lump of lead falls from the ubiquitous skull. Later, Braddock is found dead, strangled by the jaws of the screaming skull.
“Man Overboard!” (1903) tells of Jim and Jack Benton, nearly identical brothers in love with the same woman, Mamie Brewster, who favors the latter. When Jack is swept overboard in a storm, Jim fails to give the alarm and then assumes Jack’s identity. Jack’s ghostly presence is felt in material ways, invisibly doing his work and taking his rations, making the crew members so uncomfortable that they leave the ship as soon as possible, except for the narrator (first mate Torkeldsen, who later becomes captain) and Captain Hackstaff. Eventually Jim goes home to marry Mamie. On their wedding day, Jack’s ghost comes to Jim and forces him into the sea.
“For the Blood Is the Life” (1905) is the story of a vampire’s haunting of its burial site. The gypsy Cristina is murdered by robbers and secretly buried. She feeds on Angelo, the man she loved in life, but a priest discovers this and puts a stake through her in her grave.
The most famous of Crawford’s stories is “The Upper Berth” (1886), another tale of nautical haunting. A suicide haunts stateroom 105 of the Kamtschatka, disturbing the sleep of subsequent tenants by opening the porthole, groaning, and making its presence known. Eventually tenants are infected by the haunting and take their own lives. The narrator Brisbane tells of his chilling encounter and the subsequent sealing of the stateroom.
The last two stories, “By the Waters of Paradise” (1887) and “The Doll’s Ghost” (1908-1909), are the slightest in the collection, and the former may not even be supernatural. The latter is the tale of Herr Puckler, a dollmaker who is led to his injured daughter by the spirit of the doll she was delivering.