Between the Lights

by E.F. Benson

Between the Lights is a short horror story published in 1912. Between the Lights is a part of a short story collection "The Room in the Tower and Other Stories" also published in 1912.

Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 - 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer, known professionally as E. F. Benson.
Benson's first book was Sketches from Marlborough. He started his novel writing career with the (then) fashionably controversial Dodo (1893), which was an instant success, and followed it with a variety of satire and romantic and supernatural melodrama.

A prolific writer, Benson created the famous Mapp and Lucia series, which satirized upper-middle class British life in the 1920s and 30s. He also developed a reputation for writing macabre ghost stories and other stories of the supernatural, which have been adapted for film and television.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Audiobook

12 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Edward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.

E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.

Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.

Last paragraph from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, creepy, atmospheric tale of terror in the Lovecraftian vein. The ending fell a little flat but I’ll be reading more by this author after sampling this one.

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an ok story, not very much of a ghost story. This has the feel of being more of a strange story.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars is really stretching it as this short story is neither thriller or scary i think it might be because of the time that this was wrote that the themes in the story where a lot more scary for them then a modern audience thats why i give it 2 stars 1 because it wasn't bad and the second because like i siad it was wrote for a different time so i have to give it it's credit there

[Becky Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a particularly special ghost story, but nothing particularly irking about it either. It had some nice sentences and good writing, but the plot rather let it down as it just wasn't chilling at all. 2.5 stars.

[Lady Megan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aaah, yes, another English country house Christmas ghost story. And again, we have a narrator sharing the story of a spooky encounter.
In “Between the Lights" by E.F. Benson, Everard Chandler experiences something that I suspect most of us have -- he sees something, but he has no idea what it was, or if it was anything. Whatever it is he sees, it's always in shadow, between the lights, living in the space between reality and imagination.
He tries to tell himself that it's only a shadow, but he is haunted by it.
And, that horrifying thing he saw on the croquet lawn, could that really have only been a shadow?

[Rhys Causon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the greatest short story. But nicely paced and doesn’t out stay it’s welcome at least.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an older tale of ghosts and the tricks of the mind however unfortunately the tale is dated. Unfortunately the tale will not translate well into the modern times. It is an interesting tale where the mind can play tricks on you. However it will be slow to some and not be as good as others.

[Red Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeply bizarre tale in Benson’s tradition of realism in the ghost story - fragmented and sometimes unsatisfying, yet haunting.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Betwee...

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a dose of weirdness with your Christmas evening this is the story for you.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Great build up but no pay off, can't even remember the ending.

[Lou Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I'm being honest, I don't think I'd ever of picked this up if I saw this in the library. It's an interesting short story which again, I listened to the reading by Tony Walker on Youtube.

I've got the itch to write my own. It's interesting to hear short stories from back in the day, but they are quite dull; as many short stories are. It's more intriguing to listen to how language was used back in the day, compared to modern literature.

Also when you look at what we consider modern today, versus what they considered modern; the contrast is intriguing.

This was a late night listen; if you have any recommendations please let me know. I have swapped ranger stories, for the short stories of old such as this. They are quite mundane but Tony Walker is a brilliant reader and host.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

What starts out like a Christmas ghost story morphs into the tale of a man who has had some strange visions which started on the previous Christmas. It's an okay story though not particularly spooky. This can be found on the Classic Ghost Stories podcast narrated by Tony Walker who is always a good reader.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual gothic horror story, written in 1912 and set in the sunlight rather than the dark and taking place on the day before Christmas.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do like EF Benson's work. This was a fun, spooky little short story that kind of reminded me of The Room in the Tower, in the dream setup, but I loved the execution of it, haha. Fantastic little tale.

[Persy · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I began to be afraid of being frighted too.”

There are no real thrills and chills in this ghost story but it does set the mood beautifully in its outset. I wish there would have been more follow-through.

[Forked Radish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, if you don’t want to frighten toddlers.

[Tobias Nilsson]

From the Great Library Of Dreams.
The ghost story was alright, but I actually liked the framing story better for some reason.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story

[Klara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see potential in this story—it’s not that bad overall, and the creepy vibe has some merit. The ending is kinda meh but also kinda expected, which fits the tone.

That said, it didn’t leave any impact on me, and honestly, I couldn’t connect to it at all—I kinda just wanted it to end. I gave it 3/5 stars and I don’t even know why.

Overall, it was okay enough to finish, but nothing that stuck with me.