Hello, gentle listener, and welcome to Nocturnal Transmissions, the fortnightly podcast that brings you dark tales, both old and you, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah.

This episode, we have some good old school creepiness in store for you, courtesy of our old friend Edith Nesbid.

Our beloved Patreon subscribers will perhaps remember her as the author of

John Charrington's wedding, which we featured last year. What a wonderfully dark little

masterpiece that story is.

This time around we feature a tale from a little later in her oeuvre.

A tale of young lady settled by an open fire, enjoying hot cocoa companionship and ghost stories.

Doesn't that sound inviting?

So let's join them, gentle listener,

as Nocturnal transmissions proudly presents,

Edith Nesbitts, The Shadow. This is not an artistically rounded off, ghost story, and nothing is explained in it,

and there seems to be no reason why any of it should have happened.

But that is no reason why it should not be told.

You must have noticed that all the real ghost stories you've ever come close to are like

this in these respects.

No explanation, no logical coherence.

Here is the story.

There were three of us, and another, but she had fainted suddenly at the second extra of the Christmas dance

and had been put to bed in the dressing room next to the room which we three shared.

It had been one of those jolly old-fashioned dancers where nearly everybody stays the night

and the big country house is stretched to its utmost containing,

guests harboring on sofas, couches, set-ease and even mattresses on the floors.

...