The Haunted Rickshaw

“May no ill dreams disturb my rest,

Nor powers of Darkness me molest.”

                                    --Evening Hymn

A young Rudyard Kipling.

Many of Rudyard Kipling’s stories are set in India. This is not surprising for he spend his early childhood in Bombay and later was a newspaper reporter in Lahore.

Kipling’s stories often center on the relationships between men and women. He was a misogynist, for his male characters, often in the military, blame women for their own and others shortcomings and misfortunes.

Considering the above statement it goes without saying that Kipling’s stories are told from the male’s point of view.

But despite this, it should be mentioned that both men and women enjoy reading his stories.

Cover of collection
published in 1888
in India.

A favorite short story, The Phantom Rickshaw was originally published in 1885 in a military Christmas annual. In the 1890s it was published again in several popular collections.

Like many of his stories this tale has a male narrator and includes a phantom or ghost. When the reader begins this story they should not give up for it starts out slow but it quickly builds once the narrator begins his self-serving tale of woe.

The story then firmly grips the reader and takes them on an ever quickening ride that spirals into an inevitable end. For this reason Rickshaw is sometimes compared to Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell Tale Heart, which is shared here.

The story begins with Jack Pansey, the main character who is found under the care of a doctor. He appears to be suffering from delusions caused by overwork—which Jack most adamantly denies.

He retells his story to convince his doctor of the true cause.

Three years earlier, while sailing back to India from extended leave, Jack-- a British Indian official-- meets an officer’s wife, the golden-haired Mrs. Agnes Keith-Wessington from Bombay. The two fall in love and start a torrid affair.

But by the spring Jack’s interest begins to wan. In Kipling’s words, his passion quickly dies, "his fire of straw burnt itself out to a pitiful end.” So he goes about freeing himself from her.

He is callus and brutal in the way he informs Agnes that he is tired of their relationship. He basically tells her he can’t stand her. He tells the doctor, “I was sick of her presence, tired of her company, and weary of the sound of her voice.”

Their future encounters are even worse.

However, Agnes doesn't take the hint and refuses to believe they can’t live happily ever after. Jack meets and falls in love with a younger woman, Kitty Mannering but the spurned Mrs. Wessington continues to appear in his life--always insisting their parting was all just a "hideous mistake."

Kitty and Jack become engaged and Agnes now distraught, dies of a “broken heart,” as many women in Victorian stories were wont to do.

At first Jack is relieved at this news—for by this time he hates her.

But as they say: all's fair in love and war. There are many more twists and turns before this story ends. Read it and enjoy.

Rickshaws in Colonial India

The complete text of The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Tales—1^st edition, in a nice format, can be read at the Internet Archive.

The following is a classic radio show that highlights this Kipling story. It takes some dramatic license with the original tale but is well worth the listener’s time.

The Considerate Hosts

December issue 1939.

Thorp McClusky wrote The Considerate Hosts. It first appeared in 1939 in the December issue of the pulps’ “Weird Tales.” McClusky was a free-lance writer who published 40 short stories in the 1930s and 40s.

His stories were often published in The Pulps, which I write about here.

McClusky wrote in the horror genre and most of his stories were about zombies, vampires, and ghosts. He also occasionally wrote westerns and mysteries.

His most well-known titles include: Loot of Vampires--published in book form in 1975, The Crawling Horror, 1936, The Considerate Hosts, 1936, and White Zombies Walked, 1939, which the film Revenge of the Zombies, 1943 starring John Carradine was based upon.

I first read The Considerate Hosts in Bennett Cerf’s The Modern Library collection of ghost stories entitled, Famous Ghost Stories. I share some of Cerf’s quotes from this book, here.

McClusky avoids the flowery language that many of The Pulps writers indulged in.

The Considerate Hosts is a story that the reader remembers. McClusky’s writing is effortless which reflects a writer who mastered his craft.

Stranded in a Storm

Marvin, the main character in this story is driving home at midnight in torrential rain. A patrolman stops him and tells him the bridge up ahead is washed out.

He then takes a detour on an unknown dirt road that has turned to mud. His car engine dies and he is forced to seek shelter.

He spots an old house with its lights on and knocks on the door.

There is something odd about the couple that answers, their cold rudeness, their antiquated phone, and then their confession...

What ensues next is a story with many plot twists, which includes: ghosts seeking revenge, redemption and a surprise ending that provides justice for all.

This story has been published numerous times. It can be found in the following two collections:

The Big Book of Ghost Stories, By Otto Penzler, here.

Short & Scary Thrillers, by Rebecca Rizzo, here.

The Bennett Cerf collection Famous Ghost Stories published in 1944 is still available for purchase but it is expensive. 

Wodehouse’s Honeysuckle Cottage

Sir Pelham Grenville
 Wodehouse, 1881-1975

Ghost stories have been popular for centuries.

When the Spiritualist movement began in the 1880s, they became even more popular.

At this same time, the “short story” format came into its own.

P.G. Wodehouse was a British comic writer that used the short story format successfully during this period.

Wodehouse wrote an excellent ghost story entitled, Honeysuckle Cottage. It was first published in January of 1925, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S. and then a month later in the Strand Magazine in the UK.

Saturday Evening Post
January 24, 1925 edition

Honeysuckle Cottage is both a charming and humorous story.

Today, a belief persists that all ghost stories are meant to be “terrifying”-- this notion is wrong.

Most ghost stories that are considered classic instead use subtlety. These stories often focus on the living and their trials and tribulations than on the ghosts in the story.

The concept of what a ghost represented broadened during Wodehouse’s time. Many creative writers brought spirits into their plots in nontraditional ways. For instance, a ghost might just be a memory or a place.

Wodehouse’s Honeysuckle Cottage is about a “place,” in this case. A country cottage that is haunted by the numerous romance novels that the main character’s aunt wrote while she lived there.

When this aunt, Leila J. Pinckney, dies, she bequeaths this cottage to her nephew, James Rodman.

He, like his aunt, is a successful writer, but this is where the similarity between the two ends, for Rodman holds the romance genre in contempt. He, unlike his aunt, writes “serious” suspense thrillers that embody ruthless characters.

No glutinous sentimentality for him, no thanks.

A stipulation in his aunt’s will states that for Rodman to inherit the 5000 pounds, she left him, he must agree to live in the cottage for at least 6 months out of the year.

When he complies, a comedy of errors ensues. Rodman finds the cottage has a surprising effect upon his writing. Perplexed, he finds he has a strong urge to place a beautiful female character into his latest story. Even worse, he discovers his book has become “romantic drivel.”

Are unseen forces at work?

Just as he is resolving this issue, he finds himself confronted with a “pretty young lady” who, because of an untimely accident, must stay at the cottage until she recovers.

Rodman, a “confirmed bachelor,” now must face an onslaught of unseen forces, plus the lady’s doctor and his housekeeper all insinuating that romance is in the air.

Wodehouse deftly manipulates his plot through several more twists and leaves the reader wondering if Rodman will succumb to love or stay on his chosen path.

This story is narrated by a "fictional distant cousin" of Rodman by the name of Mr. Mulliner, who loves to tell a good story. It is a quick and fun read.

You can buy the story. Meet Mr. Mulliner here. This collection of short stories includes the tale Honeysuckle Cottage.

There is one free copy of the story online here. The reader has to scroll down to story lX Honeysuckle Cottage 267. Some words are obscured in this text.

Casting the Runes

M. R. James

Montague Rhodes James, i.e., M. R. James, wrote this classic short story in 1911.

James was an English writer who is known for his ghost stories. His stories are classics because his writing style quickly draws the reader in.

But by far my favorite story by him is Casting the Runes. This story is not a ghost story but it has many supernatural elements--including witchcraft and the casting of magic spells.

Casting the Ruins is about an evil man, Mr. Karswell who has submitted a paper about witchcraft for consideration to a scientific society. This society then gives it to a member, Mr. Dunning to read. Mr. Dunning recommends the society reject this paper.

Dunning then discovers that several years before a critic by the name of John Harrington had laughed at a book Karswell had written entitled, The History of Witchcraft. Afterward, Harrington turned up dead under bizarre circumstances.

He learns that others who had rejected Karswell’s work also died mysteriously. Dunning becomes nervous realizing he has rejected Karswell’s work as well.

Karswell tracks Dunning down and hands him an odd strip of paper. After this, weird things start occurring. Dunning begins to see the name, "John Harrington" in places it should not be, and then his household staff is poisoned mysteriously.  

Late one night his house is broken into, but he finds no one. When he locks himself in his room he feels something strange under his pillow--he describes it as being a mouth with teeth.

His friends seeing how disturbed and pale Dunning has become connect him with Harrington’s brother, Henry. This man shares the details surrounding his sibling’s death.

“…he was found dead with the most dreadful face of fear that could be imagined.”

Harrington had been chased by something so terrible he had uncharacteristically climbed a tree. He had then fallen when a large limb snapped. He broke his neck and died.

Apparently, Karswell out for revenge had “cast the runes” * on Harrington who found himself defenseless against this spell.

It dawns on Dunning that he is experiencing similar things to what Harrington experienced.

Dunning discovers that Karswell also handed Harrington a mysterious strip of paper with odd writing on it.

So Henry and Dunning conclude that he must be under the same kind of magic spell that Karswell cast on Harrington.

The two men become determined to thwart Karswell. The key that helps save Dunning’s life lies with the strip of paper.

In the end, Karswell gets what he deserves.

M. R. James succeeds in making his main character Dunning sympatric and real to the reader--especially when he has him feel remorse about Karswell’s fate.

* Runes are a set of stones/cards with the Germanic alphabet itched or written on them. Like Tarot cards they are used for divination or enhancement of psychic awareness.

Runen

Here is a link to the text of Casting the Runes.

Here is an audio recording of the story on YouTube.

In 1957, a British Film called initially, Night of the Demon, retitled Curse of the Demon was released. This film is based upon James’ Casting the Runes.

The director, Jacques Tourneur, and the screenwriter, Charles Bennett plus the film's star Dana Andrews during the production clashed with the film’s producer, Hal E. Chester. Chester wanted to insert the real image of a demon or monster into the film. Unfortunately, he won out.

The result is two scenes with an outdated chintzy effect but despite this, the movie is classic film noir and entertaining.

Bennett's screenplay changed several elements of James’ original story, but it is still a great horror film. It is available to watch on Amazon’s Instant Video.

Saki: The Open Window

While in high school I discovered several short stories written by Saki. They always had elements of surprise and humor. Saki is the pen name for a British writer, Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) whose short stories present a satirical view of Edwardian society. His stories are sometimes macabre, and sometimes mischievous but always very entertaining. 

Saki wrote several ghost stories, one of his most famous is The Open Window, which he wrote in 1914.

The Open Window is a brief story, only two pages in length, which is set in a small village in the sitting room of a an upper-class family. The story finds the main character a young man who has been sent to the country to calm his nerves being entertained by the families’ fifteen-year old niece while he waits for the appearance of the mistress of the house.

This very self-possessed fifteen year-old proceeds to tell the high-strung guest an eerie family tale of tragedy, which results in a very nasty shock. Saki tells this story in a fast paced, smooth deadpan manner. His story ends with a very humorous twist. 

Munro (Saki) is considered a master of the short story and The Open Window is a good example of his writing style.

The following link has a written version as well as an audio recording of The Open Window. Enjoy.

Here is an 11 minute video of this story--re-titled, The Open Doors.