The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories

. . . “Full name’s Raymond Geoffrey Aggarstone, but liked to call himself just Ray,” said the first man. “Got that? Okay. Now – effects. Silver cigarette case, inscribed Darling Ray from his loving Cherry . . . Posh lighter . . . Diary, gold pencil, three fivers and four pound notes in small notecase in one inside pocket. . . .”

“Not too fast,” said the second man. “And what about trousers pockets – keys and change and all that?”

“Come to them in a minute, chum,” said the first man. “And if I’m going too fast, why ask for more? . . . Wallet in right inside pocket. . . . Contains credit cards, two letters, and something from Air France—”

“Hold it! Yes, sir?” But this query was addressed to the new arrival. He was a tall man, with a long chin and sharp grey eyes, and he was obviously top brass authority, not the kind of bloke to be asked what he was doing there and where was his warrant card.

“I’ll take the two letters,” this tall man said pleasantly but with assured authority. “Not needed for the next of kin. I must look at that Air France booking too. Thank you!” He examined it, took out a pen and made an alteration. “Yes, as I thought. There’s a mistake here. Should have been Nice not Rio. Here you are, ready for the next of kin, but I’ll keep the two letters, they’d only bewilder a couple of miserable women.” He gave the two men a sombre look. “You know, this is a world where the guilty all too often go unpunished and the innocent are increasingly victimized, robbed, ruined, maimed or murdered.”

“That’s true enough, sir,” said the first man. “As I’ve said more than once to the wife and kids.”

“Well, now and again,” the tall man told him, “we have the chance to change that. Just now and again. By the way, what are the facts here?”

“Found unconscious in the Northern Line train at Hampstead, sir. Major heart attack. Never recovered consciousness. In fact, died in the ambulance, sir. Finish!”

“Thank you! Possibly finish – possibly not. We don’t know, do we? Goodnight!” And he left them so quickly, he might almost have vanished, a trick some of these top blokes seem to have mastered.

Haunted

Joyce Carol Oates

Location:  Minton Farm, Elk Creek.

Time:  Summer, 1987.

Eyewitness Description:  “There weren’t such things as ghosts, they told us. They were just superstition. But we could injure ourselves tramping around where we weren’t wanted – and you never knew who you might meet up with in an old house or barn that’s supposed to be empty . . .”

Author:  Joyce Carol Oates (1938—) is one of the most prolific contemporary US female writers and her vision of the dark side of American life has been compared to that of Honoré de Balzac, “whose feverish productivity she has more than matched,” according to John Clute. Born and raised in the rural countryside around Lockport, New York, she has combined the roles of teacher and author, writing over 75 books that have forged new directions in psychological realism and taken the supernatural tale into new and unexpected paths. Among Oates’ highly rated novels are Wonderland (1971), about a dreadful life haunted by doubles; A Bloodsmoor Romance (1982), a Gothic tale of spiritualism; and Mysteries of Winterburn (1984), in which detective Xavier Kilgarvan investigates a series of supernatural cases. She has acknowledged her admiration for Henry James, William Faulkner and D. H. Lawrence in, respectively, her short story, “Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly” (1972); the southern novel, Bellefleur (1980) and the essays in Contraries (1981). “Haunted” draws a little from all three as well as her rural upbringing to relate a story of crime, punishment and the inexplicable that lures the narrator – and with her, the reader – into a situation of almost unbearable terror.

Haunted houses, forbidden houses. The old Medlock farm. The Erlich farm. The Minton farm on Elk Creek. No Trespassing the signs said, but we trespassed at will. No Trespassing No Hunting No Fishing Under Penalty of Law but we did what we pleased because who was there to stop us?