Ghost Story Review: "The House of the Nightmare" by Edward Lucas White

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The narrator of this story is “motoring” along a mountain road, enjoying the view into a valley below. He notices a white pillar that at first appear to be on the left then the right hand side of the road up ahead. He wonders about this as it disappears and reappears from view with each rise in the road. Finally, he hits a bit of open road and “releases the lever.” While he’s thinking about the pillar, he meets one of the scenic maple trees that line the way. When he comes to, he realizes he’s suffered in no obvious damage. No broken bones. Nothing torn asunder. Pity the same can’t be said for his car, which is, he concludes, inoperable. He’ll have to get to a blacksmith shop. The only things that seem to have survived the wreck intact are his “hampers,” which turns out to be a happy thing as they contain his lunch. He sees a boy standing nearby watching him. The boy is “tow-headed” and suffers from a “hare-lip.” It’s evening. After learning that the nearest neighbor is six miles away, the blacksmith’s shop is eight miles away and that the boy’s family has “nary a horse,” he asks the boy to take him to his place. “You can stay if you want to,” he says. “It’s kinda messy. Ma’s been dead three years and Pa’s away.” To say that the place is in disrepair is to be charitable. There’s no electricity or running water. Nevertheless, the narrator is able to make himself a cold dinner with help from the candles in the hampers and to draw water from a pump that appears to be clean enough. The boy says he “ain’t hungry.” The ending of the story is not a surprise, but there is a lot of atmosphere and some humor. Also, I found the specific time-setting interesting. Not many people go looking for a blacksmith when they wreck their cars. And, IIRC, it was only for a short period of time, that is, until automobile repair shops became a separate specialty that they did. I enjoyed the story enough, but I don't intend to read it again. Author Edward Lucas White was an author and a poet originally from Bergen, New Jersey. He taught at University School for Boys in Baltimore. He wrote historical novels, but he’s best remembered for his horror and ghost stories. According to Wikipedia, the current story was based on his own nightmares. This story is available from Gaslight online here: It’s also available as an audiobook from Librivox: https://librivox.org/search?q=the%20house%20of%20the%20nightmare&search_form=advanced _____ Title: “The House of the Nightmare” Author: Edward Lucas White (1866-1934) First published: Smith’s Magazine Sept. 1906 Source: ISFDB *An earlier version of this review appeared on another site. It has been updated and expanded for its inclusion in myLot.*