NOUGHTS AND CROSSES (1891): HALLOWEEN STORIES BY Q

Just one week left until Halloween! Balladeer’s Blog continues its month-long celebration.

NOUGHTS AND CROSSES: COLLECTED SHORT STORIES (1891) – Written by “Q” aka Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, this was a collection of his short stories. Those stories: 

DOUBLES AND QUITS – This tale dealt with a feuding husband and wife who take their bitterness beyond the grave. After burial their ghosts continue their hate-filled struggle. 

THE HAUNTED DRAGOON – A sergeant in the dragoons helps his mistress murder her husband, then sells her out so that she gets all the blame. Her ghost and the ghost of her child begin haunting the man.

THE LADY OF THE SHIP – Lady Alicia of Bohemia is a beautiful witch. Despite the evidence of her dark nature a well-to-do man marries her, convinced he can save her. The tale nears its climax when the Devil arrives in human form to claim the witch’s soul. 

OCEANUS – A man’s late friend Harry returns from the dead and leads him on a tour of Hell. The various torments of the damned are shown. The title comes from the way the story depicts the ocean as God’s tears over the suffering endured by the souls in Hell. 

A BLUE PANTOMIME – Reverend Wraxall is shown the ghostly reenactment of a murder from the 1700s. The victim may have been an ancestor of his. Eventually the Reverend is led to the site where the corpse of the murder victim is hidden.

THE DARK MIRROR – A mirror at a parsonage tends to show the reflections of its long-dead previous owners. Or does it?

BESIDE THE BEEHIVES – A beekeeper has an unnaturally close relationship with their bees. When the beekeeper comes under attack by Black Magic forces they fight back with their insect friends.  

FOR A NEGLECTED WEREWOLF NOVEL SET IN 1790s NEW YORK STATE CLICK HERE

FOR ISABELLA OF EGYPT, FEATURING A GOLEM, A MANDRAGORE, A LIVING DEAD MAN, A GYPSY WITCH AND A JEWISH SORCEROR CLICK HERE

FOR MORE HALLOWEEN ITEMS CLICK HERE:  https://glitternight.com/category/halloween-season/

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