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The Signalman & Other Ghost Stories
A collection of ghost stories from the master writer of the Victorian era.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1866
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About the author
Charles Dickens
12.6k books31.3k followersCharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 22, 2016
The telling of this ghost story and others was so rich with emotion. The poor watchman has been seeing spectors and he is unable to realize what the spector is warning him about. He is a haunted man that feels helpless to prevent the dangers that the ghost is warning.
Dickens can build suspense and a haunting like no ones business. He brings the chilling story to life with his descriptions.
Listening to this as an Audiobook was a great choice. The narrator did an outstanding job with the voices and the ambience.
Dickens can build suspense and a haunting like no ones business. He brings the chilling story to life with his descriptions.
Listening to this as an Audiobook was a great choice. The narrator did an outstanding job with the voices and the ambience.
May 22, 2016
The telling of this ghost story and others was so rich with emotion. The poor watchman has been seeing spectors and he is unable to realize what the spector is warning him about. He is a haunted man that feels helpless to prevent the dangers that the ghost is warning.
Dickens can build suspense and a haunting like no ones business. He brings the chilling story to life with his descriptions.
Hearing it as an audiobook was a joy. I am glad I chose to read the book this way.
Dickens can build suspense and a haunting like no ones business. He brings the chilling story to life with his descriptions.
Hearing it as an audiobook was a joy. I am glad I chose to read the book this way.
September 16, 2020
I have to admit that I never knew Dickens had written a good amount of ghost stories. Like most of the people I was only familiar with “A Christmas Carol” and for a long time I thought that this was the ONLY supernatural story he ever wrote. The book which I read published by “Oldstyle Tales press” gave me the opportunity to read some of his other ghost stories, 3 of which I consider to be his absolute masterpieces. Some of his ghost stories were serialised in his novels like “The Pickwick Papers” and “Master Humphrey’s Clock” due to which they probably got away with public attention.I am reviewing them in short in chronological order with rating-
1- Christmas Ghosts- This short introduction to ghost storytelling traditions of the victorian era was excerpted from his essay titled “The Christmas Tree” and mostly serves as a prologue for his tales to follow. While not a story in itself it builds up the interest in the reader for the tales to follow.
2- The Lawyer and the Ghost- This 2 page short story is excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers” Chapter 21. This was one of the first ghost stories Dickens wrote and is mostly humorous in nature through which Dickens critiques Victorian society. This short tale follows a man who rents a dirty inn chamber and encounters the ghost of the room’s former resident at night. The rest of the story follows his conversation with the apparition on the conditions of misery, poverty and death. For Dickens’s first foray into the supernatural its not bad at all. Rating- 3/5.
3- The Ghost of the Mail or The story of the Bagman’s Uncle- Once again this was excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers” Chapter 49. The story follows a bagman narrating the story of his uncle who wanders one night while drunk into a junkyard full of abandoned and derelict coaches. Slowly they start to take a life of their past selves and the uncle finds himself in an adventure. Once again, this was a humorous story. It dealt with the themes of reality and imagination, fantasy and reverie though for me it started to drag on after a while. My rating- 2/5.
4- The Madman’s Manuscript- Excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers “ Chapter 11 , this story follows a murderer as he recounts the things he did to gain his sense of justice from the “sane” people for the crimes against him. A very good written creepy story which reminded me of Guy De Maupassant’s disturbing tale “Diary of a Madman”. After reading the complete story its hard for the reader on whom to side with. My rating- 3/5.
5- The Goblins who stole a Sexton- Excerpted from “ The Pickwick Papers “ chapter 29 this tale is the true precursor to “The Christmas Carol”. We follow a lonely sexton who gets abducted by a crew of goblins on the night of Christmas when he is digging up a grave at night far away from his town. His short experience closely parallels those of Ebenezer Scrooge. Easily overshadowed by Dickens’s later work its still an okay story. My rating- 2/5.
6- Baron Koeldwethout’s apparition-Excerpted from “Nicholas Nickleby” Chapter 6, from this point onwards we start to see Dickens stories evolve and get more serious in tone. The story follows a wealthy Baron who after marrying starts to become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of his married life to the point of committing suicide. On the night of the suicide, he comes face to face with the apparition of suicide itself and starts contemplating on his decision. It deals with the themes of depression and failing relationships. My rating- 4/5.
7- The Mother’s Eyes- Excerpted from “Master Humphrey’s Clock” Chapter Two this tale inspired Poe to write his famous horror story “The Tell Tale Heart”. The story follows a man who has a hatred for his sister in law. When she dies she entrusts the custody of her son in his hands, who slowly starts to see his mother’s eyes in him. They haunt him day and night till he decides to murder the little boy and bury him in his own garden backyard. However, sin and repentance starts to take a toll on him and he starts to wonder about his fate. While not as grim as Poe’s writing its still a creepy tale and should be recognised as a precursor to Poe’s tale. My rating- 3/5.
8- To be read at Dusk- One of my favourite stories from this collection. This story requires careful analysis and lots of literary interpretations to even understand what is going on. Dickens plays with the idea of ghosts and their existence on all the levels you can imagine. A man sitting outside a convent on a mountaintop overhears 5 couriers as they begin to narrate ghost stories to each other which are told to us. This is a very very unsettling story with themes of supernatural existentialism, fruedian analysis of id and ego , identity and physical self and the thin line between the natural and supernatural. The ending is shockingly horrifying and left me looking over my shoulder when it was done. My rating- 5/5.
9- The Hanged Man’s Bride- Another story which starts on a humorous note and starts to get spooky. An old man narrates the tale of a hanged person to two people who decide to spend a night in a haunted room. While the story was told in a pretty creepy manner, the ending was a bit predictable. My rating- 3/5.
10- Captain Murder and the Devil’s Bargain or Nurse’s stories- Narrated to Dickens by her childhood nanny, it is never sure whether he wrote this or they were his Nanny’s stories. Nevertheless we are given two stories here. The first story is of a man who is a cannibal and resorts on marrying beautiful women and eating them, until one woman decides to take her revenge on him in a pretty gruesome manner.
The other story is about a man who decides to bargain with the devil like all his ancestors did and gets his fair share of punishment. The story is pretty lovecraftian in essence. My rating- 4/5.
11- The Trial for Murder or To be Taken with a grain of Salt- This is also one of my favourites from the bunch. A man is called upon jury duty on a murder trial. Strangely two days before his summons to the court, he had witnessed a supernatural experience with both the murdered man and the murderer. The trial case is very intriguing to read and inspired the horror writer M.R. James to write “Martin’s Close”, which was another supernatural court room drama. Highly common in themes with “To be read at Dusk”, this one’s highly recommended. My rating- 5/5.
12- The Signalman- Finally, this was Dickens’s most grimmest and bleakest horror story. Inspired by surviving a near death experience on a rail road car accident, in which Dickens, his mistress and his mother travelled, he helped many survivors after the derailment though many of them died in his arms and he was traumatised for life which reflects in this story.
A nameless narrator offers companionship to a lone railway signalman who confides in him of a deadly apparition who haunts him at night near the red light next to the tunnel by warning him in cryptic messages, which immediately follows a railroad disaster. With the overbearing sense of responsibility of his duties the apparition starts to take a toll on his mental and physical health until he decides to prevent another disaster when the apparition appears for a third time. The ending is one of the most shocking things of the story and is of the finest examples of humanity crumbling under the mechanics of industrial revolution damning it to isolation and insanity in an endless purgatory. Very haunting. My rating- 5/5.
That concludes the short horror stories in this book and i really liked the illustrations of M. Grant Kellermeyer in each and every story. I highly recommend this particular edition as these stories are nicely holed up in one book and you won’t have to buy other books to complete your Dickens horror story collection.
1- Christmas Ghosts- This short introduction to ghost storytelling traditions of the victorian era was excerpted from his essay titled “The Christmas Tree” and mostly serves as a prologue for his tales to follow. While not a story in itself it builds up the interest in the reader for the tales to follow.
2- The Lawyer and the Ghost- This 2 page short story is excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers” Chapter 21. This was one of the first ghost stories Dickens wrote and is mostly humorous in nature through which Dickens critiques Victorian society. This short tale follows a man who rents a dirty inn chamber and encounters the ghost of the room’s former resident at night. The rest of the story follows his conversation with the apparition on the conditions of misery, poverty and death. For Dickens’s first foray into the supernatural its not bad at all. Rating- 3/5.
3- The Ghost of the Mail or The story of the Bagman’s Uncle- Once again this was excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers” Chapter 49. The story follows a bagman narrating the story of his uncle who wanders one night while drunk into a junkyard full of abandoned and derelict coaches. Slowly they start to take a life of their past selves and the uncle finds himself in an adventure. Once again, this was a humorous story. It dealt with the themes of reality and imagination, fantasy and reverie though for me it started to drag on after a while. My rating- 2/5.
4- The Madman’s Manuscript- Excerpted from “The Pickwick Papers “ Chapter 11 , this story follows a murderer as he recounts the things he did to gain his sense of justice from the “sane” people for the crimes against him. A very good written creepy story which reminded me of Guy De Maupassant’s disturbing tale “Diary of a Madman”. After reading the complete story its hard for the reader on whom to side with. My rating- 3/5.
5- The Goblins who stole a Sexton- Excerpted from “ The Pickwick Papers “ chapter 29 this tale is the true precursor to “The Christmas Carol”. We follow a lonely sexton who gets abducted by a crew of goblins on the night of Christmas when he is digging up a grave at night far away from his town. His short experience closely parallels those of Ebenezer Scrooge. Easily overshadowed by Dickens’s later work its still an okay story. My rating- 2/5.
6- Baron Koeldwethout’s apparition-Excerpted from “Nicholas Nickleby” Chapter 6, from this point onwards we start to see Dickens stories evolve and get more serious in tone. The story follows a wealthy Baron who after marrying starts to become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of his married life to the point of committing suicide. On the night of the suicide, he comes face to face with the apparition of suicide itself and starts contemplating on his decision. It deals with the themes of depression and failing relationships. My rating- 4/5.
7- The Mother’s Eyes- Excerpted from “Master Humphrey’s Clock” Chapter Two this tale inspired Poe to write his famous horror story “The Tell Tale Heart”. The story follows a man who has a hatred for his sister in law. When she dies she entrusts the custody of her son in his hands, who slowly starts to see his mother’s eyes in him. They haunt him day and night till he decides to murder the little boy and bury him in his own garden backyard. However, sin and repentance starts to take a toll on him and he starts to wonder about his fate. While not as grim as Poe’s writing its still a creepy tale and should be recognised as a precursor to Poe’s tale. My rating- 3/5.
8- To be read at Dusk- One of my favourite stories from this collection. This story requires careful analysis and lots of literary interpretations to even understand what is going on. Dickens plays with the idea of ghosts and their existence on all the levels you can imagine. A man sitting outside a convent on a mountaintop overhears 5 couriers as they begin to narrate ghost stories to each other which are told to us. This is a very very unsettling story with themes of supernatural existentialism, fruedian analysis of id and ego , identity and physical self and the thin line between the natural and supernatural. The ending is shockingly horrifying and left me looking over my shoulder when it was done. My rating- 5/5.
9- The Hanged Man’s Bride- Another story which starts on a humorous note and starts to get spooky. An old man narrates the tale of a hanged person to two people who decide to spend a night in a haunted room. While the story was told in a pretty creepy manner, the ending was a bit predictable. My rating- 3/5.
10- Captain Murder and the Devil’s Bargain or Nurse’s stories- Narrated to Dickens by her childhood nanny, it is never sure whether he wrote this or they were his Nanny’s stories. Nevertheless we are given two stories here. The first story is of a man who is a cannibal and resorts on marrying beautiful women and eating them, until one woman decides to take her revenge on him in a pretty gruesome manner.
The other story is about a man who decides to bargain with the devil like all his ancestors did and gets his fair share of punishment. The story is pretty lovecraftian in essence. My rating- 4/5.
11- The Trial for Murder or To be Taken with a grain of Salt- This is also one of my favourites from the bunch. A man is called upon jury duty on a murder trial. Strangely two days before his summons to the court, he had witnessed a supernatural experience with both the murdered man and the murderer. The trial case is very intriguing to read and inspired the horror writer M.R. James to write “Martin’s Close”, which was another supernatural court room drama. Highly common in themes with “To be read at Dusk”, this one’s highly recommended. My rating- 5/5.
12- The Signalman- Finally, this was Dickens’s most grimmest and bleakest horror story. Inspired by surviving a near death experience on a rail road car accident, in which Dickens, his mistress and his mother travelled, he helped many survivors after the derailment though many of them died in his arms and he was traumatised for life which reflects in this story.
A nameless narrator offers companionship to a lone railway signalman who confides in him of a deadly apparition who haunts him at night near the red light next to the tunnel by warning him in cryptic messages, which immediately follows a railroad disaster. With the overbearing sense of responsibility of his duties the apparition starts to take a toll on his mental and physical health until he decides to prevent another disaster when the apparition appears for a third time. The ending is one of the most shocking things of the story and is of the finest examples of humanity crumbling under the mechanics of industrial revolution damning it to isolation and insanity in an endless purgatory. Very haunting. My rating- 5/5.
That concludes the short horror stories in this book and i really liked the illustrations of M. Grant Kellermeyer in each and every story. I highly recommend this particular edition as these stories are nicely holed up in one book and you won’t have to buy other books to complete your Dickens horror story collection.
March 22, 2019
The Signalman
A creepy, dark setting; a strange man, acting nervous around a stranger; an apparition that seems to portend approaching doom … what more could you want from a classic host story? I really enjoyed this and liked the fact it was so short – had more impact that way.
A Madman's Manuscript
A really well written story – it dragged me in from the start as the main character narrates his own descent into madness. But the ending was a bit of a disappointment … no real twist and no real conclusion, it just sort of peters out to nothing, which is a real shame.
The Bagman's Story
A ‘nice’ ghost story. There isn’t a lot to be scared about here, as the ghost of a chair intercedes in its owner’s fate, but getting a drunken man to expose a con-man. Yes, ok, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense written out like this, but I really enjoyed the story. It was funny and had a great cast of characters, even though it was only a few pages long.
The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton
Reminiscent of ‘A Christmas Carol’ this sees a grumpy, bitter man being abducted by the King of the Goblins and taken to his underground kingdom. There he is shown visions of things that should make him emotional and feel love for his fellow man and the natural world… and he gets a beating until he does feel those things. Not very subtle, but I really liked it – you can see how Dickens expanded it into his most famous work.
The Story of the Bagman's Uncle
Another drunken man finds himself whisked away on a ghostly mail coach, where he ends up fighting for the honour of a lady kidnapped by two evil men. An exciting, action packed story that rattles along at a faster pace than everything else before it. Really liked it even though it was a bit obvious where it was heading.
The Baron of Grogzwig
A perfect example of Dickens’ humour. A Baron, bored of his riotous lifestyle, decides to marry and ends being a hen-pecked husband with no money in the bank. Deciding to kill himself, he sits with one last pipe and bottle, and is visited by the spirit of Suicides. During their conversation, the spirit accidentally makes the Baron feel better and he decides against cutting his own throat. Made me smile all the way through!
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second
Hmm – no ghosts here, but a chilling story nonetheless. A man describes how he murdered his nephew and how he acted after, trying to hide the fact. As well written as all the others, but very dark.
To Be Read at Dusk
Two stories in one, or is it three? – the first half about a young bride who has a vision of the man who will abduct her and the second of a twin seeing the shade of his dying brother. But both are told by figures that seem to disappear. I really liked the start of this and the story of the bride had great promise – but I thought it fizzled out somewhat towards the end.
The Trial for Murder (1865)
A quite chilling tale – seeing a dead man beckon one from a bedroom closet seems scary enough to me. In this case, it’s the ghost of a murdered man, making sure that the trial against his murderer goes the right way. Probably my favourite story of the anthology.
A Child's Dream of a Star
A very melancholy tale about death and, I suppose, hope in a life afterwards. Beautifully written though and definitely one of my favourite pieces here.
Christmas Ghosts
Got a little bored here! This is less a story than a sort of list of the most typical type of ghost stories – a great place for an author to start from but otherwise a bit of a chore to read. Worth missing out.
The Hanged Man's Bride
Another good story – chilling, but with a sense of justice that all such ghost stories seem to have.
Mr. Testator's Visitation
Huh! Another odd little story that could be about a ghost or just about a drunken, random visitor – humorous though, as the title character ‘borrows’ some furniture he finds in the cellar of his house and then has to deal with the ‘real’ owner appearing on the doorstep.
A creepy, dark setting; a strange man, acting nervous around a stranger; an apparition that seems to portend approaching doom … what more could you want from a classic host story? I really enjoyed this and liked the fact it was so short – had more impact that way.
A Madman's Manuscript
A really well written story – it dragged me in from the start as the main character narrates his own descent into madness. But the ending was a bit of a disappointment … no real twist and no real conclusion, it just sort of peters out to nothing, which is a real shame.
The Bagman's Story
A ‘nice’ ghost story. There isn’t a lot to be scared about here, as the ghost of a chair intercedes in its owner’s fate, but getting a drunken man to expose a con-man. Yes, ok, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense written out like this, but I really enjoyed the story. It was funny and had a great cast of characters, even though it was only a few pages long.
The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton
Reminiscent of ‘A Christmas Carol’ this sees a grumpy, bitter man being abducted by the King of the Goblins and taken to his underground kingdom. There he is shown visions of things that should make him emotional and feel love for his fellow man and the natural world… and he gets a beating until he does feel those things. Not very subtle, but I really liked it – you can see how Dickens expanded it into his most famous work.
The Story of the Bagman's Uncle
Another drunken man finds himself whisked away on a ghostly mail coach, where he ends up fighting for the honour of a lady kidnapped by two evil men. An exciting, action packed story that rattles along at a faster pace than everything else before it. Really liked it even though it was a bit obvious where it was heading.
The Baron of Grogzwig
A perfect example of Dickens’ humour. A Baron, bored of his riotous lifestyle, decides to marry and ends being a hen-pecked husband with no money in the bank. Deciding to kill himself, he sits with one last pipe and bottle, and is visited by the spirit of Suicides. During their conversation, the spirit accidentally makes the Baron feel better and he decides against cutting his own throat. Made me smile all the way through!
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second
Hmm – no ghosts here, but a chilling story nonetheless. A man describes how he murdered his nephew and how he acted after, trying to hide the fact. As well written as all the others, but very dark.
To Be Read at Dusk
Two stories in one, or is it three? – the first half about a young bride who has a vision of the man who will abduct her and the second of a twin seeing the shade of his dying brother. But both are told by figures that seem to disappear. I really liked the start of this and the story of the bride had great promise – but I thought it fizzled out somewhat towards the end.
The Trial for Murder (1865)
A quite chilling tale – seeing a dead man beckon one from a bedroom closet seems scary enough to me. In this case, it’s the ghost of a murdered man, making sure that the trial against his murderer goes the right way. Probably my favourite story of the anthology.
A Child's Dream of a Star
A very melancholy tale about death and, I suppose, hope in a life afterwards. Beautifully written though and definitely one of my favourite pieces here.
Christmas Ghosts
Got a little bored here! This is less a story than a sort of list of the most typical type of ghost stories – a great place for an author to start from but otherwise a bit of a chore to read. Worth missing out.
The Hanged Man's Bride
Another good story – chilling, but with a sense of justice that all such ghost stories seem to have.
Mr. Testator's Visitation
Huh! Another odd little story that could be about a ghost or just about a drunken, random visitor – humorous though, as the title character ‘borrows’ some furniture he finds in the cellar of his house and then has to deal with the ‘real’ owner appearing on the doorstep.
October 17, 2025
AKA The Signalman and Some Other Stuff.
The Signalman - 5 stars. a masterwork of tension and dread, a deserved classic of its genre, and John Sessions' narration (superb throughout the collection) is nigh-perfect, expertly judged and pitched. Howard Carter's music and sound design is perhaps a little overbearing here and there (I'm generally skeptical of the need for that kind of stuff for audiobooks at all beyond brief chapter or scene transitions), but is very polished and professional and sympathetic enough to the atmosphere of the piece not to feel too intrusive for the most part. feels like a genuinely special recording, and will probably be one I return to in the future.
The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton - 4 stars. a little broad but elevated by the sharpness and richness of Dickens' prose; mainly interesting for being a remarkably overt beat-for-beat prototype for A Christmas Carol.
To Be Read at Dusk - 3 stars. has a few great passages and a cute ending, but otherwise doesn't do all that much for me. I didn't read it at dusk though, so maybe that was the problem.
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles II - 4 stars. a vivid and suspenseful little psychological study, though doesn't so much end as just stop.
The Lawyer and the Ghost - 3 stars. a brief, odd, slightly lame sort of comedy sketch; a bit of a shrug.
the collection overall never quite escapes the sense of being one genuine classic bundled together with a grab-bag of minor odds and ends to pad it out to two CDs, but the production is very strong, and even the lesser stories are still tangibly minor works by a great writer.
The Signalman - 5 stars. a masterwork of tension and dread, a deserved classic of its genre, and John Sessions' narration (superb throughout the collection) is nigh-perfect, expertly judged and pitched. Howard Carter's music and sound design is perhaps a little overbearing here and there (I'm generally skeptical of the need for that kind of stuff for audiobooks at all beyond brief chapter or scene transitions), but is very polished and professional and sympathetic enough to the atmosphere of the piece not to feel too intrusive for the most part. feels like a genuinely special recording, and will probably be one I return to in the future.
The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton - 4 stars. a little broad but elevated by the sharpness and richness of Dickens' prose; mainly interesting for being a remarkably overt beat-for-beat prototype for A Christmas Carol.
To Be Read at Dusk - 3 stars. has a few great passages and a cute ending, but otherwise doesn't do all that much for me. I didn't read it at dusk though, so maybe that was the problem.
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles II - 4 stars. a vivid and suspenseful little psychological study, though doesn't so much end as just stop.
The Lawyer and the Ghost - 3 stars. a brief, odd, slightly lame sort of comedy sketch; a bit of a shrug.
the collection overall never quite escapes the sense of being one genuine classic bundled together with a grab-bag of minor odds and ends to pad it out to two CDs, but the production is very strong, and even the lesser stories are still tangibly minor works by a great writer.
November 5, 2017
Want to read a classic ghost story written by a master? Read "The Signalman"!
The fog rolls, damp air leaves the atmosphere spooky, figures disappear, sounds echo, and a mysterious tunnel stands in the background. The railroad Signalman and his visitor experience a ghostly presence. Or do they?
Thanks, Anne Nelson Sand. ;-)
The fog rolls, damp air leaves the atmosphere spooky, figures disappear, sounds echo, and a mysterious tunnel stands in the background. The railroad Signalman and his visitor experience a ghostly presence. Or do they?
Thanks, Anne Nelson Sand. ;-)
December 26, 2020
A comment not a review: No Christmas is complete, for me, without a good ghost story and a visit to The Signalman is the favourite. I've been making this excursion, one way or another, for over 40 years at Christmas and it continues to chill.
October 18, 2019
Why should anyone be surprised that the author of A Christmas Carol turned out to have another handful of decent (if not-quite-genre-renorming) Victorian ghost stories in him? These vary in quality. The title story is a well-wrought piece of short fiction, if a tad predictable (at least from this side of another century). "A Child's Dream of a Star" could be read as a hand-out religious tract posing as an unabashedly sentimental ghost story. He's best when he lets his ghosts just appear without the Victorian morals (erm, virtues) in tow. Let ghosts be ghosts.
June 20, 2010
First, if you haven't experienced this kind of "enhanced" audiobook before, you're in for a treat. John Sessions's excellent narration is supplemented with specially composed music and sound effects. It's very nicely done - the sound design adds to the atmosphere, but never overpowers the reader's performance.
While this is part of Textbook Stuff's Horror range, the stories tend more towards the atmospheric and suspenseful than the bloodcurdlingly terrifying. The stories are a pretty varied bunch in tone. "The Signalman" is a classic, creepy, ghost story. "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole the Sexton" is kind of a dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, in which some goblins teach a grumpy old sexton a lesson about enjoying life by showing him some visions (and giving him a good kicking). "To Be Read at Dusk" is an odd tale, narrated by a man who is listening to some couriers swap tales of uncanny things that they have experienced, and then has something uncanny happen to him. It ends a bit suddenly, but is still a rather fun story. "A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles II" is an almost Lovecraftian tale of murder and obsession. "The Lawyer and the Ghost", which wraps up the collection, is a funny little story, almost an extended lawyer joke.
Very entertaining listening, especially at dusk.
While this is part of Textbook Stuff's Horror range, the stories tend more towards the atmospheric and suspenseful than the bloodcurdlingly terrifying. The stories are a pretty varied bunch in tone. "The Signalman" is a classic, creepy, ghost story. "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole the Sexton" is kind of a dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, in which some goblins teach a grumpy old sexton a lesson about enjoying life by showing him some visions (and giving him a good kicking). "To Be Read at Dusk" is an odd tale, narrated by a man who is listening to some couriers swap tales of uncanny things that they have experienced, and then has something uncanny happen to him. It ends a bit suddenly, but is still a rather fun story. "A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles II" is an almost Lovecraftian tale of murder and obsession. "The Lawyer and the Ghost", which wraps up the collection, is a funny little story, almost an extended lawyer joke.
Very entertaining listening, especially at dusk.
April 5, 2010
I only found two out of thirteen that were anything special.
October 15, 2017
The Signalman is a fine story, the others are not so good with The Trial for Murder and the Hanged Man's Bride the pick of them.
December 21, 2018
I love Dickens but this one has been a slog for me. My weakness is that I generally finish every book I start, even the bad ones. Maybe one good story, the rest just not very engaging to me.
September 6, 2023
3.7⭐
The Signalman (from Mugby Junction) 4⭐
A Madman's Manuscript (from The Pickwick Papers) 4⭐
The Bagman's Story (from The Pickwick Papers) 3.5⭐
The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton (from The Pickwick Papers) 3.25⭐
The Story of the Bagman's Uncle (from The Pickwick Papers) 4⭐
The Baron of Grogzwig (from Nicholas Nickleby) 3.25⭐
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second (from Master Humphrey's Clock) 4⭐
To Be Read at Dusk 4⭐
The Trial for Murder (with Charles Allston Collins) 3.25⭐
A Child's Dream of a Star 4⭐
Christmas Ghosts (from < i>A Christmas Tree) 4⭐
The Hanged Man's Bride (from The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
with Wilkie Collins) 3.25⭐
Mr. Testator's Visitation (from The Uncommercial Traveller) 3.25⭐
The Signalman (from Mugby Junction) 4⭐
A Madman's Manuscript (from The Pickwick Papers) 4⭐
The Bagman's Story (from The Pickwick Papers) 3.5⭐
The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton (from The Pickwick Papers) 3.25⭐
The Story of the Bagman's Uncle (from The Pickwick Papers) 4⭐
The Baron of Grogzwig (from Nicholas Nickleby) 3.25⭐
A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second (from Master Humphrey's Clock) 4⭐
To Be Read at Dusk 4⭐
The Trial for Murder (with Charles Allston Collins) 3.25⭐
A Child's Dream of a Star 4⭐
Christmas Ghosts (from < i>A Christmas Tree) 4⭐
The Hanged Man's Bride (from The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
with Wilkie Collins) 3.25⭐
Mr. Testator's Visitation (from The Uncommercial Traveller) 3.25⭐
September 27, 2018
A slightly odd story, but well written, following a man who visits a troubled signalman who thinks that a ghost is trying to warn him of railway accidents. The beginning was muddled and hard to follow, making somewhat sense at the end. I felt I could have probably understood more if I'd read again, but I couldn't be bothered.
January 18, 2021
Suitably creepy...
October 16, 2021
The signalman is my new favourite short story ever! I just enjoyed how much I wanted it to be a true tale ghost story. The kind that become urban legends all too quickly.
Currently reading
October 21, 2024To Be Read at Dusk is also printed in the Big Book of the Masters of Horror
July 16, 2023
Victorian ghost stories
January 31, 2021
This audiobook offers five short stories from one of the finest British authors. include are:
(1) The Signalman - I’m almost positive I’ve read this story years ago, probably in high school, but I can’t be sure. In any case, it’s wonderful and delightfully chilling.
(2) The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton - I found this one a bit derivative, as it felt like Dickens was just rehashing a lot of the tropes from A Christmas Carol (although, for all I know this story came first) and it just felt like twisting the elements around and substituting goblins for ghosts.
(3) To Be Read At Dusk - I had high hopes for this one, but it just didn’t grab me. Hopefully the next two will be better or else the first story was certainly the best of these.
(4) A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second - Oh, this was good! Very good actually. Reminds me of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart in some ways. Dark and delicious.
(5) The Lawyer and the Ghost - This is very short, and very silly.
On a whole, this was fine, but not spectacular. The presentation is wonderful and the reader, John Sessions, does a brilliant job. His efforts on the first and fourth stories included here are worth the price for the whole thing, but he does some outstanding work on even the weaker tales.
(1) The Signalman - I’m almost positive I’ve read this story years ago, probably in high school, but I can’t be sure. In any case, it’s wonderful and delightfully chilling.
(2) The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton - I found this one a bit derivative, as it felt like Dickens was just rehashing a lot of the tropes from A Christmas Carol (although, for all I know this story came first) and it just felt like twisting the elements around and substituting goblins for ghosts.
(3) To Be Read At Dusk - I had high hopes for this one, but it just didn’t grab me. Hopefully the next two will be better or else the first story was certainly the best of these.
(4) A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second - Oh, this was good! Very good actually. Reminds me of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart in some ways. Dark and delicious.
(5) The Lawyer and the Ghost - This is very short, and very silly.
On a whole, this was fine, but not spectacular. The presentation is wonderful and the reader, John Sessions, does a brilliant job. His efforts on the first and fourth stories included here are worth the price for the whole thing, but he does some outstanding work on even the weaker tales.
December 12, 2017
I have always attempted to read Charles Dickens since childhood. I was gifted lovely editions of #GreatExpectations and #ATaleOfTwoCities. But not once did I manage to finish reading any of his books🙈. Sadly, the same happened with this one as well, despite how reasonably short it was!🙊 Charles Dickens is just not for me. Lol. 😅 The writing style is simply beyond my capacity to grasp without yawning away. I loved his Great Expectations years back (but only coz I read an adapted version of the book).
Needless to say, I can’t give it a proper review or rating as it was a DNF for me, but the plots are intriguing. Yep, I checked it all out later on Google coz even I gotta admit the story inside these classics r good😉 I’m sure you spook-lovers will enjoy these haunting reads.👻Check it out.
Needless to say, I can’t give it a proper review or rating as it was a DNF for me, but the plots are intriguing. Yep, I checked it all out later on Google coz even I gotta admit the story inside these classics r good😉 I’m sure you spook-lovers will enjoy these haunting reads.👻Check it out.
September 4, 2012
A classic ghost story, a short story about unexplained events no-one else can see or understand, apart from The Signalman who is troubled by impending horror.
All the qualities of Dickens save for the extravagance of names.
Well written of course and clear descriptions give the story a life and atmosphere of its own.
It is left to the reader to piece things together and its up to you if you want to read it; it isn't a chore but a delight and perhaps may encourage the re-reading of many a Dickens tale.
All the qualities of Dickens save for the extravagance of names.
Well written of course and clear descriptions give the story a life and atmosphere of its own.
It is left to the reader to piece things together and its up to you if you want to read it; it isn't a chore but a delight and perhaps may encourage the re-reading of many a Dickens tale.
March 16, 2024
Book 17 - Charles Dickens - The Signal Man and other Ghost Stories
Ok, well, simply no, A Christmas Carol is one of my all time favourite books and with the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, one of the most terrifying scenes ever written by the inimitable Mr Dickens, however these short stories ? Just...no...don’t bother.
Was bound to hit a duff book eventually and these were so dull. I even tried the audiobook to see if someone else reading it could improve them - it didn’t. ‘The Ghost and the Trial’ was better but only just.
Sigh...so disappointing...oh well...next
Ok, well, simply no, A Christmas Carol is one of my all time favourite books and with the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, one of the most terrifying scenes ever written by the inimitable Mr Dickens, however these short stories ? Just...no...don’t bother.
Was bound to hit a duff book eventually and these were so dull. I even tried the audiobook to see if someone else reading it could improve them - it didn’t. ‘The Ghost and the Trial’ was better but only just.
Sigh...so disappointing...oh well...next
May 3, 2012
I mostly enjoyed these stories and I thought they were a good mixture of creepy, humourous and sometimes just plain strange. There was one I just didn't understand and another that seemed to take a long time to get to the point, but overall i enjoyed them.
July 17, 2014
Dickens wrote many ghost stories, most of them way creepier than A Christmas Carol.
March 6, 2014
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The eerie tale of a signalman haunted by a spectre warning him of danger on the railway. Read by Emlyn Williams
The eerie tale of a signalman haunted by a spectre warning him of danger on the railway. Read by Emlyn Williams
January 22, 2012
The Signalman is the best Dickens Ive read... Short little spooky tale- a classic!
November 5, 2012
El final bueno pero no muy comprensible...
December 24, 2017
No Christmas is complete without a good ghost story. The Signalman is one of the best.
September 5, 2012
Interesting, but a bit dry. One of Charles Dickens short stories.
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