Tom Ossington's Ghost

by Richard Marsh

She went to a pile of music which was on a little table, for the purpose of selecting a piece of sufficient simplicity to enable a tyro to display his powers, or want of them. He was between her and the window. In passing the window he glanced through it. As he did so, he gave a sudden start--a start, in fact, which amounted to a positive jump. His hat dropped from his hand, and, wholly regardless that he was leaving it lying on the floor, he hurried backwards, keeping in the shadow, and as far as possible from the window. The action was so marked that it was impossible it should go unnoticed. It filled Madge Brodle with a sense of shock which was distinctly disagreeable. Her eyes, too, sought the window--it looked out on to the road. A man, it struck her, of emphatically sinister appearance, was loitering leisurely past. As she looked he stopped dead, and, leaning over the palings, stared intently through the window. It was true that the survey only lasted for a moment, and that then he shambled off again, but the thing was sufficiently conspicuous to be unpleasant.

A Classic Mystery Story

This edition from New Century Books contains Direct link technology

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Horror, Classics

Nook

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle, which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular, outselling Dracula six times over. The Beetle remained in print until 1960. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour. Many of these have been republished recently, beginning with The Beetle in 2004. Marsh's grandson Robert Aickman was a notable writer of short "strange stories".

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supernatural mystery concerning a hidden treasure and a vengeful ghost. The story was fast-paced and compelling, and had an interesting female protagonist. An enjoyable read that can be found at Project Gutenberg.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was quite an unexpected package. At first I thought it was a cozy little mystery, with a bit of romance, humour and ghostliness thrown in. The main characters were likable and the plot travelled at a good pace. But as the story developed darker themes emerged and I realised the author had played somewhat of a trick on me. This story and some of the characters were not what I had thought.
This book wouldn't be classed as a great mystery, or as particularly spooky, but it was an enjoyable little tale, and I hope I can find more books by this author.
I listened to the Librivox audiobook; the narration was pleasant and much appreciated.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old fashioned ghost story...

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in the Project Gutenberg transcription, which has very few typos.

I was hoping for a ghost story; I ended up with a story of a treasure hunt that has a ghost in it. Four pleasant young people recount long anecdotes to each other and search at great descriptive length for a treasure hidden in a house. Nothing that would bring a blush to a sheltered maiden's cheek, and nothing that would frighten even the most terrifiable reader.

Marsh may have been paid by the word here; there's really very little that couldn't have been detailed in a short story. But, a harmless read, though I can't quite say I'm eager for more by Richard Marsh.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! I loved the writing style and the storyline.

[Grace Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do any of you believe in ghosts? –in disembodied spirits assuming a corporeal shape? – in the dead returning from their graves? Or is a man who thinks he sees a ghost, who knows he sees a ghost, who knows that a ghost is a continual attendant of his waking and of his sleeping hours alike – must such a man be in labour with some horrible delusion of his senses? Is his brain of necessity unhinged? Must he of a certainty be mad?” p. 243

So asks Ballingall, the man who has been the friend of; and then betrayed Tom Ossington during his life and ended up being haunted by his ghost. The ghost himself starts out as being what must be the most affable ghost in history. "Go to my house," he tells Ballingall, "and retrieve my fortune. It's yours if you can find it." Sadly, no good results come from this promise from a ghost and Ballingall ends up a haunted man.

The story is actually told by two young ladies, Madge and Ella, who have taken up residence in the home of Tom Ossington, renting it after it has long stood empty (gaining a bad reputation for being haunted).

The story is a lovely one - in some ways I enjoyed it much more than Marsh's more famous The Beetle, but it still had all those fantastic fin-de-siecle issues and anxieties within it. I felt that there was some really fine writing in this book, and it wasn't entirely tied up in those class bound narratives that seem to be so prevalent within Victorian fiction. The vagabond and criminal, turns out to be a gent on hard times, and the initial intruder isn't what you think at all. With Marsh, a man who fell onto the wrong side of the law himself, his work is always surprising and unexpected. This is a clever, captivating book - free on kindle - you can't really go wrong.

[Angela Maher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant little tale. I classify it as more of a mystery than horror, despite there being a ghost as a character. I love the style, and the characters. Well worth the read. I don't know why this author isn't talked about more.

[H Jesseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, entertaining and much better than The Beetle.