The Eastern Window

by E.G. Swain

Edmund Gill Swain (1861-1938) was an English cleric and author of ghost stories. He was a longtime friend of M. R. James, and his ghost stories show James' influence. 'The Eastern Window' is the peculiar tale of a vicar who sees something very odd one night in his church. It appears that a stained-glass window with the image of St. John the Baptist moves and points to the ruins of the old manor house nearby.

The vicar, Mr. Batchel, goes outside to investigate and sees a strange ghostly figure, who again indicates that he should go to the ruins. That night, with the intermittent moonlight, he can do little, but the next day he sets out to investigate....

Audible Audio

Published September 11, 2015

About the author

AKA: Edmund Gill Swain (1861-1938) was an English cleric and author. As a chaplain of King's College, Cambridge, he was a colleague and contemporary of the scholar and author M.R. James, and a regular member of the select group to whom James delivered his famous annual Christmas Eve reading of a ghost story composed specially for the occasion. Swain collaborated with James on topical skits for amateur performance in Cambridge, but he is best known for the collection of ghost stories he published in 1912, entitled The Stoneground Ghost Tales. He also wrote a history of Peterborough Cathedral.