A few years back I covered six excellent, spooky short stories by A. M. Burrage here at Horrordelve. That post has long remained one of the site’s most popular posts ( https://horrordelve.com/2015/04/19/a-m-burrage-article/ ), so I decided it was high time to seek out some more. Having done so, my initial impression of him has been further reinforced. He’s a criminally underrated author who deserves a place alongside the likes of James, Wakefield, Blackwood and Wharton as one of the greatest ghost story writers of all time. While his stories “The Waxworks” and “Smee” still appears somewhat regularly, he wrote so many other really inspired spooky tales which don’t often get mentioned these days. As to this batch of tales tonight, I have to single out “The Fourth Wall” as a particularly unique type of haunting and “One Who Saw” as an impressively horrific one, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
THE STORIES:
1. “Footprints” (1912)-A prosperous father tells his son he won’t allow him to marry the common woman with whom he’d fallen in love and that his father would willingly take on the eternal judgment of God for forcing her to abort their child. He later sees the girl, bitter and heartbroken, whispering into her dead child’s ear about his actions, telling him what he must do. This is a short but terse tale with a chilling finale. You can listen here for free: https://aminoapps.com/c/horror/page/blog/new-episode-is-up-now/KWPF_Mu0M3vp2PVGaRWqPq6oxaLQv2D
2. “The Fourth Wall” by A. M. Burrage (1915) – When a man begins to experience persistent headaches and an upset stomach, his doctor tells him he needs take time off from work to relax. To do this, he and his extended family take up residence in a secluded cabin. Several strange things happen there, including a vision where one of the walls has disappeared to be replaced by an audience full of seated onlookers. This is a really intriguing, unique haunted house story! You can listen here for free: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/encryptedpod/episodes/The-Fourth-Wall-by-A-M–Burrage-e1opf90
3. “The Wrong Station” by A. M. Burrage (1916) – A traveling comb salesman tells the narrator about something which happened to him a few years back when he was on a train and started having heart trouble. After taking his meds, he fell asleep only to be awakened by an angelic porter insisting they had arrived at his destination, but it wasn’t the stop he was seeking. Getting off anyway, he falls in love with the place, its people and particularly a beautiful woman he meets there who he feels he knew from long ago. After being coaxed to leave, he regrets it and longs to find a way to return but can’t remember the name of the town or locate it on any map.
4. “The Green Scarf” (1926) – When the once prominent Wellingford Hall falls derelict, a poor painter is able to rent it from its ownership for cheap due to its ruinous condition. He then implores a friend of his to come stay in with him. Agreeing to do so, the two men learn of the place’s grim history involving its owner at that time waving a green scarf out the window to enemies of the ruling class. That owner was promptly removed from the house and executed on the grounds outside. The discovery of this long lost scarf by the current residents of the Hall centuries later leads to a terrifying night. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2022/06/13/pseudopod-814-the-green-scarf/
5. “Nobody’s House” (1927) – A man comes to a house under the pretense that he’s interested in purchasing it. He asks the woman showing it to him about its reputation as being haunted. She reluctantly fills him in on a terrible event which took place there and the mysterious occurrences surrounding it. The prospective buyer has ulterior motives, however. You can listen here for free: https://horrorbabble.podbean.com/e/nobodys-house-a-classic-ghost-story-by-a-m-burrage/
6. “Browdean Farm” by A, M. Burrage (1927) – Soon after leasing an old farmhouse called Browdean Farm, two friends begin to experience supernatural phenomena there in the form of strange sounds and ghostly manifestations. This specter seems tied to the location for reasons upon which they speculate and try to ascertain. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2023/01/13/pseudopod-848-browdean-farm/
7. “One Who Saw” by A. M. Burrage (1931) – While staying in Rouen, France to research Joan of Arc, a man spies a woman sitting on bench in the garden while looking out his hotel window. He can’t make out her face but feels intensely drawn to her nonetheless. When he sees her again, he tries to go down for a better look but is forcefully restrained by the waiter who tells him of her dire history and of what has happened to other men who have fallen similarly under her spell. This is a good, spooky malevolent spirit story. You can listen to a reading here for free: https://hauntedwalk.com/podcasts/episode-78-one-who-saw/
Article by Matt Cowan
Horror Delve 