Real Ghost Stories
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15 REAL GHOST STORIES
Collected and Edited
By
WILLIAM T. STEAD
NEW EDITION
Re-arranged and Introduced
By
ESTELLE W. STEAD
NEW YORK:
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
1921
INTRODUCTION.
During the last few years I have been urged by people in all parts of
the world to re-issue some of the wonderful stories of genuine psychic
experiences collected by my Father several years ago.
These stories were published by him in two volumes in 1891-92; the
first, entitled _Real Ghost Stories_, created so much interest and
brought in so large a number of other stories of genuine experiences
that the first volume was soon followed by a second, entitled _More
Ghost Stories_.
The contents of the two volumes, slightly curtailed, were, a few years
later, brought out as one book; but the three volumes have long been out
of print and are practically unknown to the present generation.
I remember when I was a child my Father read some of these stories aloud
to us as he was making his collection; and I remember, too, how thrilled
and awed we were, and how at times they brought a creepy feeling when at
night I had to mount many flights of stairs to my bedroom at the top of
the house.
Reading these stories again, after many years' study of the subject, I
have realised what a wealth of interesting facts my Father had gathered
together, and that not only the gathered facts, but his own contributions,
his chapter on "The Ghost That Dwelleth in Each One of Us" and his
comments on the stories, show what an insight he had into and what an
understanding he had of this vast and wonderful subject.
I felt as I read that those who urged re-publication were right, that if
not a "classic," as some have called it, it at least merits a place on
the shelves of all who study psychic literature and are interested in
psychic experiences.
I demurred long as to whether I should change the title. The word
"Ghost" has to a great extent in modern times lost its true meaning to
the majority and is generally associated in many minds with something
uncanny--with haunted houses and weird apparitions filling with terror
those who come into contact with them.
"Stories from the Borderland," "Psychic Experiences," were among the
titles which suggested themselves to me; but in the end I decided to
keep the old title, and in so doing help to bring the word "ghost" back
to its proper and true place and meaning.
"Ghost," according to the dictionary, means "the soul of man; the soul
of a deceased person; the soul or spirit separate from the body;
apparition, spectre, shadow":--it comprises, in fact, all we mean when
we think or speak of "Spirit." We still say "The Holy Ghost" as
naturally and as reverently as we say "The Holy Spirit." So for the sake
of the word itself, and because it covers everything we speak of as
Spirit to-day; these two considerations take away all reason why the
word should not be used, and it gives me great pleasure in re-issuing
these stories to carry on the title originally chosen by my Father.
There is a large collection of stories to be drawn upon, for besides
those given in the two volumes mentioned, many of equal interest and
value appeared in _Borderland_, a psychic quarterly edited and
published by my Father for a period of four years in the nineties and
now long out of print.
If this first volume proves that those who advised me were right in
thinking that these experiences will be a valuable addition to psychic
literature, I propose to bring out two further volumes of stories from
my Father's collection, and I hope to add to these a volume of stories
of a later date, of which I already have a goodly store. For this
purpose I invite those who have had experiences which they consider will
be of interest and value for such a collection, to send them to me so
that, if suitable and appropriate, they may be placed on record.
In bringing this Introduction to a close I should like to quote what my
Father wrote in his Preface to the last edition published by him, as it
embodies what many people are realising to-day. To them, as to him, the
reality of the "Invisibles" is no longer a speculation. Therefore I feel
that these thoughts of his should have a place in this new edition of
his collection of _Real Ghost Stories_.
"The reality," he wrote, "of the Invisibles has long since ceased to be
for me a matter of speculation. It is one of the things about which I
feel as certain as I do, for instance, of the existence of the people of
Tierra del Fuego; and while it is of no importance to me to know that
Tierra del Fuego is inhabited, it is of vital importance to know that
the spirits of the departed, and also of those still occupying for a
time the moveable biped telephone which we call our body, can, and given
the right conditions _do_, communicate with the physical
unconsciousness of the man in the street. It is a fact which properly
apprehended would go far to remedy some of the worst evils from which we
have to complain. For our conception of life has got out of form, owing
to our constant habit of mistaking a part for the whole, and everything
looks awry."
Estelle W. Stead
Bank Buildings,
Kingsway, London, W.C.2.
_Easter_, 1921.
A PREFATORY WORD.
Many people will object--some have already objected--to the subject of
this book. It is an offence to some to take a ghost too seriously; with
others it is a still greater offence not to take ghosts seriously
enough. One set of objections can be paired off against the other;
neither objection has very solid foundation. The time has surely come
when the fair claim of ghosts to the impartial attention and careful
observation of mankind should no longer be ignored. In earlier times
people believed in them so much that they cut their acquaintance; in
later times people believe in them so little that they will not even
admit their existence. Thus these mysterious visitants have hitherto
failed to enter into that friendly relation with mankind which many of
them seem sincerely to desire.
But what with the superstitious credulity of the one age and the equally
superstitious unbelief of another, it is necessary to begin from the
beginning and to convince a sceptical world that apparitions really
appear. In order to do this it is necessary to insist that your ghost
should no longer be ignored as a phenomenon of Nature. He has a right,
equal to that of any other natural phenomenon, to be examined and
observed, studied and defined. It is true that he is a rather difficult
phenomenon; his comings and goings are rather intermittent and fitful,
his substance is too shadowy to be handled, and he has avoided hitherto
equally the obtrusive inquisitiveness of the microscope and telescope.
A phenomenon which you can neither handle nor weigh, analyse nor
dissect, is naturally regarded as intractable and troublesome;
nevertheless, however intractable and troublesome he may be to reduce to
any of the existing scientific categories, we have no right to allow his
idiosyncrasies to deprive him of his innate right to be regarded as a
phenomenon. As such he will be treated in the following pages, with all
the respect due to phenomena whose reality is attested by a sufficient
number of witnesses. There will be no attempt in this book to build up a
theory of apparitions, or to define the true inwardness of a ghost.
There will be as many explanations as there are minds of the
significance of the extraordinary narratives which I have collated from
correspondence and from accessible records. Leaving it to my readers to
discuss the rival hypotheses, I will stick to the humbler mission of
recording facts, from which they can form their own judgment.
The ordinary temper of the ordinary man in dealing with ghosts is
supremely unscientific, but it is less objectionable than that of the
pseudo-scientist. The Inquisitor who forbade free inquiry into matters
of religion because of human depravity, was the natural precursor of the
Scientist who forbids the exercise of the reason on the subject of
ghosts, on account of inherited tendencies to attribute such phenomena
to causes outside the established order of nature. What difference there
is, is altogether in favour of the Inquisitor, who at least had what he
regarded as a divinely constituted authority, competent and willing to
pronounce final decision upon any subject that might trouble the human
mind. Science has no such tribunal, and when she forbids others to
observe and to reflect she is no better than a blind fetish.
Eclipses in old days used to drive whole nations half mad with fright.
To this day the black disc of the moon no sooner begins to eat into the
shining surface of the sun than millions of savage men feel "creepy,"
and begin to tremble at the thought of the approaching end of the world.
But in civilised lands even the most ignorant regard an eclipse with
imperturbable composure. Eclipses are scientific phenomena observed and
understood. It is our object to reduce ghosts to the same level, or
rather to establish the claim of ghosts to be regarded as belonging as
much to the order of Nature as the eclipse. At present they are
disfranchised of their natural birthright, and those who treat them with
this injustice need not wonder if they take their revenge in "creeps."
The third class of objection takes the ground that there is something
irreligious and contrary to Christianity in the chronicling of such
phenomena. It is fortunate that Mary Magdalene and the early disciples
did not hold that theory. So far from its being irreligious to ascertain
facts, there is a subtle impiety in the refusal to face phenomena,
whether natural or supernatural. Either these things exist or they do
not. If they do not exist, then obviously there can be no harm in a
searching examination of the delusion which possessed the mind of almost
every worthy in the Old Testament, and which was constantly affirmed by
the authors of the New. If, on the other hand, they do exist, and are
perceptible under certain conditions to our senses, it will be difficult
to affirm the impiety of endeavouring to ascertain what is their nature,
and what light they are able to throw upon the kingdom of the Unseen. We
have no right to shut our eyes to facts and close our ears to evidence
merely because Moses forbade the Hebrews to allow witches to live, or
because some of the phenomena carry with them suggestions that do not
altogether harmonise with the conventional orthodox theories of future
life. The whole question that lies at bottom is whether this world is
divine or diabolic. Those who believe it divine are bound by that belief
to regard every phenomenon as a window through which man may gain fresh
glimpses of the wonder and the glory of the Infinite. In this region, as
in all others, faith and fear go ill together.
It is impossible for any impartial man to read the narratives of which
the present book is composed without feeling that we have at least one
hint or suggestion of quite incalculable possibilities in telepathy or
thought transference. If there be, as many of these stories seem to
suggest, a latent capacity in the human mind to communicate with other
minds, entirely regardless of the conditions of time and space, it is
undeniable that this would be a fact of the very first magnitude. It is
quite possible that the telegraph may be to telepathy what the stage
coach is to the steam engine. Neither can we afford to overlook the fact
that these phenomena have in these latter days signally vindicated their
power over the minds of men. Some of the acutest minds of our time have
learned to recognise in them scientific demonstration of the existence
of the fact that personal individuality survives death.
If it can be proved that it is occasionally possible for persons at the
uttermost ends of the world to communicate instantaneously with each
other, and even in some cases to make a vivid picture of themselves
stand before the eyes of those to whom they speak, no prejudice as to
the unhealthy nature of the inquiry should be allowed to stand in the
way of the examination of such a fact with a view to ascertaining
whether or not this latent capacity of the human mind can be utilised
for the benefit of mankind. Wild as this suggestion may seem to-day, it
is less fantastic than our grandfathers a hundred years ago would have
deemed a statement that at the end of the nineteenth century portraits
would be taken by the sun, that audible conversation would be carried on
instantaneously across a distance of a thousand miles, that a ray of
light could be made the agent for transmitting the human voice across an
abyss which no wire had ever spanned, and that by a simple mechanical
arrangement, which a man can carry in his hand, it would be possible to
reproduce the words, voice, and accent of the dead. The photograph, the
telegraph, the telephone, and the phonograph were all more or less
latent in what seemed to our ancestors the kite-flying folly of Benjamin
Franklin. Who knows but that in Telepathy we may have the faint
foreshadowing of another latent force, which may yet be destined to cast
into the shade even the marvels of electrical science!
There is a growing interest in all the occult phenomena to which this
work is devoted. It is in evidence on every hand. The topic is in the
air, and will be discussed and is being discussed, whether we take
notice of it or not. That it has its dangers those who have studied it
most closely are most aware, but these dangers will exist in any case,
and if those who ought to guide are silent, these perils will be
encountered without the safeguards which experience would dictate and
prudence suggest. It seems to me that it would be difficult to do better
service in this direction than to strengthen the hands of those who have
for many years past been trying to rationalise the consideration of the
Science of Ghosts.
It is idle to say that this should be left for experts. We live in a
democratic age and we democratise everything. It is too late in the day
to propose to place the whole of this department under the care of any
Brahmin caste; the subject is one which every common man and woman can
understand. It is one which comes home to every human being, for it adds
a new interest to life, and vivifies the sombre but all-pervading
problem of death.
W. T. Stead.
_London_, 1891.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Part I.--The Ghost That Dwells in Each of Us.
Chapter I. The Unconscious Personality 17
" II. Louis V. and His Two Souls 32
" III. Madame B. and Her Three Souls 45
" IV. Some Suggested Theories 52
Part II.--The Thought Body, or the Double.
Chapter I. Aerial Journeyings 56
" II. The Evidence of the Psychical Research Society 72
" III. Aimless Doubles 86
" IV. The Hypnotic Key 101
Part III.--Clairvoyance.--The Vision of the Out of Sight.
Chapter I. The Astral Camera 108
" II. Tragic Happenings Seen in Dreams 127
" III. My Own Experience 141
Part IV.--Premonitions and Second Sight.
Chapter I. My Own Extraordinary Premonitions 145
" II. Warnings Given in Dreams 160
" III. Premonitory Warnings 179
" IV. Some Historical and Other Cases 192
Part V.--Ghosts of the Living on Business.
Chapter I. Warnings of Peril and Death 199
" II. A Dying Double Demands its Portraits! 211
Part VI.--Ghosts Keeping Promise.
Chapter I. My Irish Friend 222
" II. Lord Brougham's Testimony 231
Appendix.--Some Historical Ghosts 240
REAL GHOST STORIES.
PART I.
THE GHOST THAT DWELLS IN EACH OF US.
Chapter I.
The Unconscious Personality.
"Real Ghost Stories!--How can there be real ghost stories when there are
no real ghosts?"
But are there no real ghosts? You may not have seen one, but it does not
follow that therefore they do not exist. How many of us have seen the
microbe that kills? There are at least as many persons who testify they
have seen apparitions as there are men of science who have examined the
microbe. You and I, who have seen neither, must perforce take the
testimony of others. The evidence for the microbe may be conclusive, the
evidence as to apparitions may be worthless; but in both cases it is a
case of testimony, not of personal experience.
The first thing to be done, therefore, is to collect testimony, and by
way of generally widening the mind and shaking down the walls of
prejudice which lead so many to refuse to admit the clearest possible
evidence as to facts which have not occurred within their personal
experience, I preface the report of my "Census of Hallucinations" or
personal experiences of the so-called supernatural by a preliminary
chapter on the perplexing subject of "Personality." This is the question
that lies at the root of all the controversy as to ghosts. Before
disputing about whether or not there are ghosts outside of us, let us
face the preliminary question, whether we have not each of us a
veritable ghost within our own skin?
Thrilling as are some of the stories of the apparitions of the living
and the dead, they are less sensational than the suggestion made by
hypnotists and psychical researchers of England and France, that each of
us has a ghost inside him. They say that we are all haunted by a
Spiritual Presence, of whose existence we are only fitfully and
sometimes never conscious, but which nevertheless inhabits the innermost
recesses of our personality. The theory of these researchers is that
besides the body and the mind, meaning by the mind the Conscious
Personality, there is also within our material frame the soul or
Unconscious Personality, the nature of which is shrouded in unfathomable
mystery. The latest word of advanced science has thus landed us back to
the apostolic assertion that man is composed of body, soul and spirit;
and there are some who see in the scientific doctrine of the Unconscious
Personality a welcome confirmation from an unexpected quarter of the
existence of the soul.
The fairy tales of science are innumerable, and, like the fairy tales of
old romance, they are not lacking in the grim, the tragic, and even the
horrible. Of recent years nothing has so fascinated the imagination even
of the least imaginative of men as the theory of disease which
transforms every drop of blood in our bodies into the lists in which
phagocyte and microbe wage the mortal strife on which our health
depends. Every white corpuscle that swims in our veins is now declared
to be the armed Knight of Life for ever on the look-out for the microbe
Fiend of Death. Day and night, sleeping and waking, the white knights of
life are constantly on the alert, for on their vigilance hangs our
existence. Sometimes, however, the invading microbes come in, not in
companies but in platoons, innumerable as Xerxes' Persians, and then
"e'en Roderick's best are backward borne," and we die. For our life is
the prize of the combat in these novel lists which science has revealed
to our view through the microscope, and health is but the token of the
triumphant victory of the phagocyte over the microbe.
But far more enthralling is the suggestion which psychical science has
made as to the existence of a combat not less grave in the very inmost
centre of our own mental or spiritual existence. The strife between the
infinitely minute bacilli that swarm in our blood has only the interest
which attaches to the conflict of inarticulate and apparently
unconscious animalculae. The strife to which researches into the nature
and constitution of our mental processes call attention concerns our
conscious selves. It suggests almost inconceivable possibilities as to
our own nature, and leaves us appalled on the brink of a new world of
being of which until recently most of us were unaware.
There are no papers of such absorbing interest in the whole of the
"Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research" as those which deal
with the question of the Personality of Man. "I," what am I? What is our
Ego? Is this Conscious Personality which receives impressions through
the five senses, and through them alone, is it the only dweller in this
mortal tabernacle? May there not be other personalities, or at least one
other that is not conscious, when we are awake, and alert, and about,
but which comes into semi-consciousness when we sleep, and can be
developed into complete consciousness when the other personality is
thrown into a state of hypnotic trance? In other words, am I one
personality or two? Is my nature dual? As I have two hemispheres in my
brain, have I two minds or two souls?
The question will, no doubt, appear fantastic in its absurdity to those
who hear it asked for the first time; but those who are at all familiar
with the mysterious but undisputed phenomena of hypnotism will realize
how naturally this question arises, and how difficult it is to answer it
otherwise than in the affirmative. Every one knows Mr. Louis Stevenson's
wonderful story of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The dual nature of man,
the warfare between this body of sin and death, and the spiritual
aspirations of the soul, forms part of the common stock of our orthodox
belief. But the facts which recent researches have brought to light seem
to point not to the old theological doctrine of the conflict between
good and evil in one soul, but to the existence in each of us of at
least two distinct selfs, two personalities, standing to each other
somewhat in the relation of man and wife, according to the old ideal
when the man is everything and the woman is almost entirely suppressed.
Every one is familiar with the phenomenon of occasional loss of memory.
Men are constantly losing consciousness, from disease, violence, or
violent emotion, and emerging again into active life with a gap in their
memory. Nay, every night we become unconscious in sleep, and rarely, if
ever, remember anything that we think of during slumber. Sometimes in
rare cases there is a distinct memory of all that passes in the sleeping
and the waking states, and we have read of one young man whose sleeping
consciousness was so continuous that he led, to all intents and
purposes, two lives. When he slept he resumed his dream existence at the
point when he waked, just as we resume our consciousness at the point
when we fall asleep. It was just as real to him as the life which he
lived when awake. It was actual, progressive, continuous, but entirely
different, holding no relation whatever to his waking life. Of his two
existences he preferred that which was spent in sleep, as more vivid,
more varied, and more pleasurable. This was no doubt an extreme and very
unusual case. But it is not impossible to conceive the possibility of a
continuous series of connected dreams, which would result in giving us a
realizing sense of leading two existences. That we fail to realize this
now is due to the fact that our memory is practically inert or
non-existent during sleep. The part of our mind which dreams seldom
registers its impressions in regions to which on waking our conscious
personality has access.
The conception of a dual or even a multiple personality is worked out in
a series of papers by Mr. F. W. H. Myers[1], to which I refer all those
who wish to make a serious study of this novel and startling hypothesis.
But I may at least attempt to explain the theory, and to give some
outline of the evidence on which it is based.
[1] "Human Personality" (Longmans, Green & Co.)
If I were free to use the simplest illustration without any pretence at
scientific exactitude, I should say that the new theory supposes that
there are inside each of us not one personality but two, and that these
two correspond to husband and wife. There is the Conscious Personality,
which stands for the husband. It is vigorous, alert, active, positive,
monopolising all the means of communication and production. So intense
is its consciousness that it ignores the very existence of its partner,
excepting as a mere appendage and convenience to itself. Then there is
the Unconscious Personality, which corresponds to the wife who keeps
cupboard and storehouse, and the old stocking which treasures up the
accumulated wealth of impressions acquired by the Conscious Personality,
but who is never able to assert any right to anything, or to the use of
sense or limb except when her lord and master is asleep or entranced.
When the Conscious Personality has acquired any habit or faculty so
completely that it becomes instinctive, it is handed on to the
Unconscious Personality to keep and use, the Conscious Ego giving it no
longer any attention. Deprived, like the wife in countries where the
subjection of woman is the universal law, of all right to an independent
existence, or to the use of the senses or of the limbs, the Unconscious
Personality has discovered ways and means of communicating other than
through the recognised organs of sense.
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