Handling apparitions

In inventing a new kind of ghost, he has departed considerably from the Gothic tradition: for where the older stock ghosts were pale and stately, and apprehended chiefly through the sense of sight, the average James ghost is lean, dwarfish and hairy - a sluggish, hellish sight - abomination midway between beast and man - and usually touched before it is seen.

H P Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1945

M R James had pronounced views on literary ghosts. On several occasions he laid down his principles concerning them and condemned the kinds of apparitions favoured in so many of the inferior mystery writing of the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. During a recent radio programme on James, the critic Sir Christopher Frayling identified some of the elements that make a Jamesian ghost so different from all those that had previously features in literature. He points out that they are 'feral' and 'elemental' and have 'very little to do with disturbed human psychology.' By this he means that James' ghosts do not haunt the spot where they were wronged, or preoccupy themselves with righting some injustice. Instead they are often invoked by accident and, once roused, pursue the haunted unfortunate with an unrelenting fixity of purpose that makes them appalling.

At the same time, James was also clear that depictions of horror should be handled with restraint. Certainly, in most of James stories the general creepiness is born of his consummate skill at suggesting horrors in a way that leaves the reader with space enough for the imagination to get to work.

This is how he treats the manifestation in Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad!

He was out of his own bed in one bound, and made a dash towards the window, where lay his only weapon, the stick with which he had propped his screen. This was, as it turned out, the worst thing he could have done, because the personage in the empty bed, with a sudden smooth motion, slipped from the bed and took up a position, with outspread arms, between the two beds, and in front of the door. Parkins watched it in a horrid perplexity. Somehow, the idea of getting past it and escaping through the door was intolerable to him; he could not have borne - he didn't know why - to touch it; and as for its touching him, he would sooner dash himself through the window than have that happen. It stood for the moment in a band of dark shadow, and he had not seen what its face was like. Now it began to move, in a stooping posture, and all at once the spectator realised, with some horror and some relief, that it must be blind, for it seemed to feel about it with its muffled arms in a groping and random fashion. Turning half away from him, it became suddenly conscious of the bed he had just left, and darted towards it, and bent over and felt the pillows in a way which made Parkins shudder as he had never in his life thought it possible. In a very few moments it seemed to know that the bed was empty, and then, moving forward into the area of light and facing the window, it showed for the first time what manner of thing it was.

Parkins, who very much dislikes being questioned about it, did once describe something of it in my hearing, and I gathered that what he chiefly remembers about it is a horrible, an intensely horrible, face of crumbled linen. What expression he read upon it he could not or would not tell, but that the fear of it went nigh to maddening him is certain.

Activity 1 - handling the climax

1. Give students this extract.

In this extract the horrors of the tale reach a crescendo and so the scene needs to be strong - but what makes this an effective piece of ghost story writing?

2. Ask students to consider

• The proximity of this manifestation to Professor Parkins - in a bed near his own. (Critics have suggested that James may well have been expressing some unconscious sexual theme here. Whether or not this is the case, there is something sadly ironic about the isolated Professor finding he indeed has a nearby bed companion.) This might be a good opportunity to reflect on the extra-dimension of horror achieved when someone is menaced at a time of physical vulnerability. The great thing about James is how he refashions the clich- of the bedroom haunting.
• The language used to describe the behaviour of the ghost. The sibilants in the phrase 'sudden swift motion, slipped' suggest a sliding sound that appeals to a wider range of sensations in the reader.
• The seeming blindness of the creature with its 'outstretched' and groping 'muffled arms'. By creating something that fumbles and reaches out like this, James manages to delay the crisis that would have to come if the creature was fully aware of Parkins position. It also places Parkins in the ghastly dilemma of having to stand still and remain in the creature's presence, or move and risk exciting its embrace.
• The attention it plays to the place where Parkins had been - the intimacy suggested by 'felt the pillows' and the horror of being invited to imagine such an awakening.
• The diffidence of Parkins - unwilling to recall the creature and the impressionistic description of its having a 'face of crumbled linen'.

Activity 2

Having analysed the sequence, ask students to finish writing the story and then compare their efforts with James's conclusion.

Activity 3

1. Get students to discuss how they would go about creating this sequence on film.

• What problems does the scene contain for a filmmaker in order that he or she manages to maintain the same sort of implied or veiled horror in the sequence?
• Is there a problem with the apparition remaining on screen for the length of time implied by James' narrative?

2. Look at the final scenes of the film, Whistle and I'll Come to You.

• To what extent does the film remain true to the original story?

Activity 4 - depicting the ghosts

Compare and contrast the ghosts in all three stories, also making reference to their depiction in the film versions of the tales. Relevant scenes to focus on are suggested in this handout and a still from each film is provided for close examination.

Some issues to explore:

1. Consider the use, in all three film versions, of lengthy dream sequences. These are the most filmic elements of the dramas.

• In The Signalman, the Traveller's nightmare is entirely invented by the filmmaker and employs a range of imaginative cuts and juxtapositions to create a memorable piece of montage (32.00 - 32.40).
• The recurring nightmare suffered by Professor Parkins in Whistle and I'll Come to You also deserves study. It is probably the only occasion when an outside stimulus excites an immediate response from him - all his other interactions with the living are muted by his eccentric mutterings and self-absorption. The use of abstract sound here is particularly effective in creating tension and shock. (29.24 - 32.00)
• Paxton's vision occurs as soon as he touches the crown. It gives him a preview of Ager's final pursuit of him along the beach and through the trees. (27.09 - 27.40)

2. Discuss whether or not it is a weakness that the ghost in A Warning to the Curious is capable of inflicting harm on Paxton. Some critics are convinced it strains the reader's credulity too far to allow this.

• Is the fact that the ghost has special powers over people's eyes sufficient to suggest that its influence may extend beyond merely menacing people?
• Would it have been better to have Paxton suffer a fate that was in some way ambiguous - for example appear to have fallen and mortally injured himself - only for us and his two companions to know the truth.
• Does the fact that, in both the story and the film, the spirit of William Ager frequently manifests itself by leaving physical evidence of its displeasure - the razor and the scratches on the case - sufficiently prepare us for its violence at the story's end? (Possible still: 41.14)
• The original tale allows Paxton two companions who follow him and then discover his body. A further character, the caretaker of the Martello tower, is also employed to witness enough of Paxton's grisly end to be able to vouch for the companions' innocence. Does it matter that the film ignores the practical consideration that Doctor Black might be suspected of killing Paxton, or is this loose end tied up sufficiently by other elements in the story - Arnold's assumed testimony or the fact of the previous unsolved death of an archaeologist in the area?

3. Discuss the representation of the apparition in The Signalman. In the Dickens tale the figure is significant mainly because of its gestures and words that find their parallel during subsequent disasters. The filmmakers take the figure one stage further and allow us several views of its face. Perhaps the second view proves the most alarming, since the signalman is standing before the spirit as it slowly lowers its arms to reveal an eyeless, shockingly white vision with a gaping dark mouth that through a 'melt cut' is linked to the entrance of the tunnel. Still (Possible still - 24.35)

4. Discuss the use of sound as a motif used to signal the presence of evil. In A Warning to the Curious there are a number of musical signatures, such as a plaintive flute theme that often announces new scenes and accompanies Paxton on his journeys around the village. It also injects a feeling of melancholy into his first interactions with Dr Black. An immanent appearance of the ghost is signalled by a rising high-pitched sound. This often culminates in a percussive report when Ager is shown watching and then later actually dogging the heels of poor Paxton. The same music is also manifest at early stages of Paxton's quest - such as when he discovers the Bible in the curiosity shop. In The Signalman the eerie ringing of the bell is responsible for much of the early suspense.