As Epiphany draws near, I have one last haunting. “The Tale of a Gas-Light Ghost” is a short, enigmatic tale that first appeared anonymously in an 1867 Christmas Annual.
Mysterious Gregory Barnstake comes to live in rural Mapleton, keeping largely to himself. Why does Barnstake avoid society? What’s his secret?
You can read “The Tale of a Gas-Light Ghost” here.
This story is generally credited as coming from “The New Christmas Annual for 1867,” which is true, as far as it goes. The actual title of the annual is Ghosts Wives: A String of Strange Stories Told Round a Christmas Fire by Six Young Widows and a Spinster Lady of a Certain Age. This explains the opening of the narrative, which has nothing to do with the rest of the story.
It is a somewhat unusual story, and I like it! I hope you do, too.
And with that, Winter Tales season 2022 comes to an end. Best wishes to all of you for 2023.
A list (with links) of the winter tales I’ve shared in previous years is on my Winter Tales page.
Featured Image: Rural Landscape with Village, Theodore Slafter. Source: Wikimedia
Gentleman’s formal attire, Serge Sudelkin. Source: Wikimedia
Multo (Ghost) 
Six Young Widows and a Spinster Lady of a Certain Age. That sort of brings to mind the Chowder Society in Peter Straub’s Ghost Story, only better.
Ha, that’s true! Hopefully those ladies didn’t have any dark secrets.