The Mistress in Black: A Ghost Story for Christmas

by Rosemary Timperley

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Classics

72 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Rosemary Timperley (20 March 1920 - 9 November 1988) was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. She wrote a wide range of fiction, publishing 66 novels in 33 years, and several hundred short stories, but is best remembered for her ghost stories which appear in many anthologies. She also edited several volumes of ghost stories. Born in Crouch End, North London on 20 March 1920 to architect George Kenyon Timperley and teacher Emily Mary (née Lethem), she went to Hornsey High School, and before studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at King's College, London, graduating in 1941. She then taught English and History at South-East Essex County Technical School in Dagenham, Essex, and also worked at Kensington Citizen's Advice Bureau during World War II. In the mid-1940s, while still working as a teacher, she started submitting short stories to magazines and newspapers, with the first, "Hot Air - and Penelope", being published in Illustrated 10 August 1946. Still writing, she left her job as a teacher to become a staff writer for Reveille magazine in 1949, editing the personal advice column (under the pen name Jane Blythe), readers' letters and writing a number of stories, feature articles and book reviews. She married Physics teacher James McInnes Cameron in 1952, and they lived together in Essex. After writing a number of novels (starting with A Dread of Burning in 1956), she left Reveille to become a freelance writer, going on to write a number of radio and television scripts. By the early 1960s she had separated from her husband, who died in 1968, but she continued writing novels, short stories and scripts until her death on 9 November 1988.[1] source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[John Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

If a school smells like smoke, ask a lot of questions.

[Peyton Honeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instead of asking my kids “if your friends jumped off a bridge would you follow them?” I’m going to ask “if your teacher tried to burn herself alive in the school gymnasium would you follow her?”

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistress in Black by Rosemary Timperley deals with a common experience (perhaps something we’ve done ourselves): the strange way in which one person’s anger toward and disappointment with another person is taken out on a third party, the one it’s “safe” to punish. One small town’s secret is revealed when a new teacher is hired to replace another, well-beloved teacher.

For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is dark and heartbreaking, as all decent ghost stories should be. It may turn out to be one of my favourites among the Seth Christmas Ghost Stories. An interesting reminder of what may happen when we tie our happiness too much to a person and not to a great good or mission. And, yes, as others have noted, school is scary!

[Carrie Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the English tradition of reading ghost stories for Christmas. The story of a loved school teacher who had died tragically but rumours about her death keep her around in the school halls. A light read but one that won’t keep you up at night.

[Kevin Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prose here is pretty clear and easy to follow for modern sensibilities and the story, while straightforward, has both some specific Christmas connections and a generally chilly setting which fits the purpose well. A fine entry in the Christmas Ghost Story canon.

[JA · Rating 5 out of 5]

School is scary

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Elli (The Bibliophile)]

Read this aloud with my family on Christmas Eve this year. Here’s to a new tradition being born!

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick little Christmas read