[PW] Shortest ghost story in the world?

[Bye, Dan J]

An earlier version, thanks to Google Books.

The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1907, p.652.  No other info available.

The article appears, so far as I can tell from patching together the excerpts, to be relating the contents of a letter to the Daily Mail of "August 25th" (presumably 1907) from a "Country Parson who gives what he imagines must be the shortest ghost story on record". 

The "Country Parson" appears to be claiming to be the originator: "The other night, while we sat in semi-darkness watching the flickering fire, we took it in turns to try to produce that delicious quiver which comes from nothing but a good ghost story...Many were told, but I am not sure that the shortest, told by the doctor, was not the best."

This version (original or not) reads:

"'A woman awoke in the night,' he said, 'with an uncanny feeling that she was not alone. There seemed to be some vague presence in the room. Terrified, she reached for the matches - and they were put into her hand."

The article goes on to relate an even shorter one: "Two men were on a train. Suddenly one of them exclaimed: "I don't believe in ghosts."  "Don't you?" said the other, and vanished!"

Would be interesting to see the full article from the Daily Mail (or indeed the JASPR).  Can anyone check?


Dan


> -----Original Message-----
> From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org 
> [mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On 
> Behalf Of Bye, Dan J
> Sent: 23 October 2007 18:25
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Subject: Re: [PW] Shortest ghost story in the world?
> 
>  
> Right, here is the text from "A Dictionary of British 
> Folk-Tales in the English Language", Part B: Folk Legends. 
> Volume 1. by Katharine M. Briggs.  London: Routledge and 
> Kegan Paul, 1971. (this is a four volume work).
> 
> In her section on 'ghosts', Briggs states:
> 
> "Some ghost stories are not to be found among the legends, as 
> they are obviously exercises in folk fiction. Examples of the 
> kind of thing are two terse ghost stories which are fairly 
> widely known: one of a nervous guest in a haunted room who 
> locked the door, closed the shutters, looked under the bed 
> and into the cupboards before getting into bed, and, just as 
> he blew out the candle, heard a tiny voice coming from the 
> curtains at the head of his bed, "Now we're shut in for the 
> night".  The other, which is supposed to be the shortest 
> ghost story in the world, runs: "He woke up frightened and 
> reached for the matches, and the matches were put into his 
> hand." (p.416)
> 
> 
> Dan