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Across the Moors
Unknown Binding
About the author
W.F. Harvey
214 books32 followersWilliam Fryer Harvey was an English writer of short stories, most notably in the macabre and horror genres. Among his best-known stories are "August Heat" and "The Beast with Five Fingers", described by horror historian Les Daniels as "minor masterpieces".
Born into a wealthy Quaker family in Yorkshire, he attended the Quaker schools at Bootham in Yorkshire and at Leighton Park in Reading before going on to Balliol College, Oxford. He took a degree in medicine at Leeds. Ill health dogged him, however, and he devoted himself to personal projects such as his first book of short stories, Midnight House (1910).
In World War I he initially joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit, but later served as a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and received the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.[4] Lung damage received during the rescue leading to the award troubled him for the rest of his life, but he continued to write both short stories and his cheerful and good-natured memoir We Were Seven.
Harvey was a practicising Quaker.
Before the war he had shown interest in adult education, on the staff of the Working Men's College, Fircroft, Selly Oak, Birmingham. He returned to Fircroft in 1920, becoming Warden, but by 1925 ill-health forced his retirement. In 1928 he published a second collection of short stories, The Beast with Five Fingers, and in 1933 he published a third, Moods and Tenses. He lived in Switzerland with his wife for much of this time, but nostalgia for his home country caused his return to England. He moved to Letchworth in 1935 and died there in 1937 at the age of 52. After a funeral service at the local Friends Meeting House Harvey was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Old Letchworth.
The release of the film The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), directed by Robert Florey and starring Peter Lorre, inspired by what was perhaps his most famous and praised short story, caused a resurgence of interest in Harvey's work. In 1951 a posthumous fourth collection of his stories, The Arm of Mrs Egan and Other Stories, appeared, including a set of twelve stories left in manuscript at the time of his death, headed "Twelve Strange Cases".
In 2009 Wordsworth Editions printed an omnibus volume of Harvey's stories, titled The Beast with Five Fingers, in its Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural series (ISBN 978-1-84022-179-4). The volume contains 45 stories and an introduction by David Stuart Davies.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._F....]
Born into a wealthy Quaker family in Yorkshire, he attended the Quaker schools at Bootham in Yorkshire and at Leighton Park in Reading before going on to Balliol College, Oxford. He took a degree in medicine at Leeds. Ill health dogged him, however, and he devoted himself to personal projects such as his first book of short stories, Midnight House (1910).
In World War I he initially joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit, but later served as a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and received the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.[4] Lung damage received during the rescue leading to the award troubled him for the rest of his life, but he continued to write both short stories and his cheerful and good-natured memoir We Were Seven.
Harvey was a practicising Quaker.
Before the war he had shown interest in adult education, on the staff of the Working Men's College, Fircroft, Selly Oak, Birmingham. He returned to Fircroft in 1920, becoming Warden, but by 1925 ill-health forced his retirement. In 1928 he published a second collection of short stories, The Beast with Five Fingers, and in 1933 he published a third, Moods and Tenses. He lived in Switzerland with his wife for much of this time, but nostalgia for his home country caused his return to England. He moved to Letchworth in 1935 and died there in 1937 at the age of 52. After a funeral service at the local Friends Meeting House Harvey was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Old Letchworth.
The release of the film The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), directed by Robert Florey and starring Peter Lorre, inspired by what was perhaps his most famous and praised short story, caused a resurgence of interest in Harvey's work. In 1951 a posthumous fourth collection of his stories, The Arm of Mrs Egan and Other Stories, appeared, including a set of twelve stories left in manuscript at the time of his death, headed "Twelve Strange Cases".
In 2009 Wordsworth Editions printed an omnibus volume of Harvey's stories, titled The Beast with Five Fingers, in its Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural series (ISBN 978-1-84022-179-4). The volume contains 45 stories and an introduction by David Stuart Davies.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._F....]
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 7, 2019
A servant is sent by the lady of the house across the moors to get a doctor. When walking back, the doctor already left the family some time ago, she meets a clergyman who tells her a strange story against her fears of walking alone in the moors. From then on the story takes a bizarre and interesting twist. I really liked this story. It had a surprising ending you wouldn't have thought about. Recommended!
April 16, 2023
A governess is sent to walk four miles to fetch a doctor from a nearby farm to attend a child’s possible appendicitis attack. This means she must cross over the moors which are rumored to be haunted by a victim of a murder which occurred on the moors. When she arrives at the farm, she finds the doctor has already left and cannot be reached. She is forced to make the return trip alone until a traveling clergyman meets her on the way. He walks with her and tells an unsettling tale about his last journey though the moors.
October 29, 2022
William Fryer Harvey's "Across the Moors" is a short ghost story which has quite a surprising ending.
Story in short- A governess is asked to travel across the moors to get a doctor at night, and mentioning of ghost.
“And take Pontiff with you,” she added, as the girl left the room. “There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of, but I expect you’ll feel happier with the dog.” “Well, miss,” said the cook, when Miss Craig went into the kitchen to get her boots, which had been drying by the fire; “of course she knows best, but I don’t think it’s right after all that’s happened for the mistress to send you across the moors on a night like this. It’s not as if the doctor could do anything for Miss Margaret if you do bring him. Every child is like that once in a while. He’ll only say put her to bed, and she’s there already.”
“I don’t see what there is to be afraid of, cook,” said Miss Craig as she laced her boots, “unless you believe in ghosts.” “I’m not so sure about that. Anyhow I don’t like sleeping in a bed where the sheets are too short for you to pull them over your head. But don’t you be frightened, miss. It’s my belief that their bark is worse than their bite.” But though Miss Craig amused herself for some minutes by trying to imagine the bark of a ghost (a thing altogether different from the classical ghostly bark), she did not feel entirely at her ease."
I did not read this edition but from a horror collection.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Miss Craig makes the trip across the moors was uneventful until her return and meets a clergyman who is quite a nice fellow. He tells her his story with an evil looking man who approached him across the moors, who was robbing him. He tells her that he is indeed dead and then vanishes.
"Miss Craig was relieved to see that the stranger was a clergyman. He raised his hat. “I believe we are both going in the same direction,” he said. “Perhaps I may have the pleasure of escorting you.” She thanked him. “It is rather weird at night,” she went on, “and what with all the tales of ghosts and bogies that one hears from the country people, I’ve ended by being half afraid myself.”
“He asked me the time. “It was five minutes to nine. As I replaced my watch I glanced at his face. His teeth were clenched, and there was something in the gleam of his eyes that told me at once his purpose. “Have you ever known how long a second is? For a third of a second I stood there facing him, filled with an overwhelming pity for myself and him; and then without a word of warning he was upon me. I felt nothing. A flash of lightning ran down my spine, I heard the dull crash of the ash stake, and then a very gentle patter like the sound of a far- distant stream. For a minute I lay in perfect happiness watching the lights of the house as they increased in number until the whole heaven shone with twinkling lamps. “I could not have had a more painless death.” Miss Craig looked up. The man was gone; she was alone on the moor. She ran to the house, her teeth chattering, ran to the solid shadow that crossed and recrossed the kitchen blind."
Story in short- A governess is asked to travel across the moors to get a doctor at night, and mentioning of ghost.
“And take Pontiff with you,” she added, as the girl left the room. “There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of, but I expect you’ll feel happier with the dog.” “Well, miss,” said the cook, when Miss Craig went into the kitchen to get her boots, which had been drying by the fire; “of course she knows best, but I don’t think it’s right after all that’s happened for the mistress to send you across the moors on a night like this. It’s not as if the doctor could do anything for Miss Margaret if you do bring him. Every child is like that once in a while. He’ll only say put her to bed, and she’s there already.”
“I don’t see what there is to be afraid of, cook,” said Miss Craig as she laced her boots, “unless you believe in ghosts.” “I’m not so sure about that. Anyhow I don’t like sleeping in a bed where the sheets are too short for you to pull them over your head. But don’t you be frightened, miss. It’s my belief that their bark is worse than their bite.” But though Miss Craig amused herself for some minutes by trying to imagine the bark of a ghost (a thing altogether different from the classical ghostly bark), she did not feel entirely at her ease."
I did not read this edition but from a horror collection.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Miss Craig makes the trip across the moors was uneventful until her return and meets a clergyman who is quite a nice fellow. He tells her his story with an evil looking man who approached him across the moors, who was robbing him. He tells her that he is indeed dead and then vanishes.
"Miss Craig was relieved to see that the stranger was a clergyman. He raised his hat. “I believe we are both going in the same direction,” he said. “Perhaps I may have the pleasure of escorting you.” She thanked him. “It is rather weird at night,” she went on, “and what with all the tales of ghosts and bogies that one hears from the country people, I’ve ended by being half afraid myself.”
“He asked me the time. “It was five minutes to nine. As I replaced my watch I glanced at his face. His teeth were clenched, and there was something in the gleam of his eyes that told me at once his purpose. “Have you ever known how long a second is? For a third of a second I stood there facing him, filled with an overwhelming pity for myself and him; and then without a word of warning he was upon me. I felt nothing. A flash of lightning ran down my spine, I heard the dull crash of the ash stake, and then a very gentle patter like the sound of a far- distant stream. For a minute I lay in perfect happiness watching the lights of the house as they increased in number until the whole heaven shone with twinkling lamps. “I could not have had a more painless death.” Miss Craig looked up. The man was gone; she was alone on the moor. She ran to the house, her teeth chattering, ran to the solid shadow that crossed and recrossed the kitchen blind."
November 20, 2018
I have arranged my thoughts into a haiku:
"There's nothing to say
The things hiding in the dark
Hold any ill will."
"There's nothing to say
The things hiding in the dark
Hold any ill will."
January 31, 2022
Every now and then it’s refreshing to read something that was written a lonnng time ago. I chose this short ghost story which was written in 1909 by William Fryer Harvey. I’ll be honest I had never heard of this author but really enjoyed the spooky twist at the end of this one. Looking forward to hunting down other works by this author.
October 4, 2025
I literally have, like, nothing to say about this.
Like, ABSOLUTELY nothing.
It had a semi-interesting twist, and then the ending was kind of just one of those types of endings that made you say, "so.... that's it?"
Like, ABSOLUTELY nothing.
It had a semi-interesting twist, and then the ending was kind of just one of those types of endings that made you say, "so.... that's it?"
August 1, 2023
Eine gut gelungene Story, interessant
November 10, 2023
I listened to this as part of the Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ Stories. It was very enjoyable 2023
November 2, 2025
Give me pre-WWI horror every time, as the very real horror of WWI killed horror fiction for all time.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews