The Haunted Looking Glass: The Signalman (35-52)

"The Signalman," written by the great Charles Dickens, is the third story of Edward Gorey's The Haunted Looking Glass. The story is told by a wanderer who, one evening, happens upon a stretch of rail within a gorge. At its side is an unimposing switch box manned by a lonely signalman. After a night's conversation, the signalman admits to having seen a specter in the nearby tunnel whose appearance has forewarned of misfortunes. Here, the wanderer believes he sees the spirit for the first time:

Before pursuing my stroll, I stepped to the brink, and mechanically looked down, from the point from which I had first seen [the signalman]. I cannot describe the thrill that seized upon me, when, close at the mouth of the tunnel, I saw the appearance of a man, with his left sleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his right arm. (50)

Those who have read "The Signalman" will recognize the gestures as that of the ghost which the signalman described to the wanderer. This was perhaps the most chilling example of foreshadowing in the story, and possibly even symbolism - that of the admonishing specter. Unfortunately, I must leave you at that cliffhanger, lest the conclusion be ruined!

Dickens, Charles. "The Signalman." The Haunted Looking Glass. Ed. Edward Gorey. New York: The New York Review of Books, 1959. 50. Print.

The Haunted Looking Glass: August Heat (25-34)

The second story in Edward Gorey's The Haunted Looking Glass, "August Heat" by W. F. Harvey, is a day in the life of James Clarence Withencroft, a forty-year-old artist. The following is a description of the subject of a picture he sketches over lunch:

It showed a criminal in the dock immediately after the judge had pronounced sentence. The man was fat - enormously fat. The flesh hung in rolls about his chin; it creased his huge, stumpy neck. He was clean-shaven (perhaps I should say a few days before, he must have been clean-shaven) and almost bald. He stood in the dock, his short, clumsy fingers clasping the rail, looking straight in front of him. The feeling that his expression conveyed was not so much one of horror as of utter, absolute collapse. (28)

This passage is notable for the imagery created to describe the appearance (specifically the corpulence) of the convict, as well as his expression. One can just imagine the forlorn countenance that would accompany this pathetic figure as he seemed to wilt in the brutal heat - melt in the uncaring sun. This "character" later plays a crucial role in the story, one that I will not share. That would take all the fun out of it!

Harvey, W. F. "August Heat." The Haunted Looking Glass. Ed. Edward Gorey. New York: The New York Review of Books, 1959. 28. Print.

The Haunted Looking Glass: The Empty House (1-24)

The Haunted Looking Glass is a compilation of Edward Gorey's favorite ghost stories, all by different authors. The first one, spanning just over twenty pages, is "The Empty House" by Algernon Blackwood. It is the story of a nephew and aunt who decide to stay the night in a haunted house which has already scared away three tenants in about as many months. The following quotation relates to us one of the harrowing incidents that befall the two thrill-seekers:

Leaving the main kitchen, they next went towards the scullery. The door was standing ajar, and as they pushed it open to its full extent Aunt Julia uttered a piercing scream, which she instantly tried to stifle by placing her hand over her mouth. For a second, Shorthouse stood stock-still, catching his breath. He felt as if his spine had suddenly become hollow and someone had filled it with particles of ice.

Facing them, directly in their way between the doorposts, stood the figure of a woman. She had disheveled hair and wildly staring eyes, and her face was terrified and white as death.

She stood there motionless for the space of a single second. Then the candle flickered and she was gone - gone utterly - and the door framed nothing but empty darkness. (14)

I found this passage interesting because it gave me something of a start as I read it and it occurred to me that the writing accomplished something that could not be accomplished through any other medium. It offered all the imagery that was required - Aunt Julia crying out as if gasping for her last breath of life, Shorthouse rendered motionless by the horror of the sight, the woman's twisted countenance twitching with the flame and her eyes that still saw that which she saw the moment before her grisly demise - but then leaves the rest to one's imagination. Was it really the figment of both onlookers' imaginations, or could it have been the ghost of the servant-girl murdered there so many years ago?

Blackwood, Algernon. "The Empty House." The Haunted Looking Glass. Ed. Edward Gorey. New York: The New York Review of Books, 1959. 14. Print.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (153-272)

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1993. Print.