The Bus-Conductor

The Bus-Conductor by E.F. Benson

The narrative follows two friends, one of whom recounts a chilling experience involving a ghostly encounter. After returning from a supposedly haunted country house, they discuss the nature of fear and the supernatural. One friend, Hugh, reveals that he has seen a ghost, despite his previous belief that he would never encounter one. He describes a vivid experience from a night spent in a friend's flat, where he witnessed a hearse and its driver, who resembled a bus conductor, beckoning him to join. This encounter leaves him unsettled, as he grapples with the implications of what he saw. Hugh's story unfolds with a sense of eerie calmness, detailing how he felt an overwhelming stillness and loneliness before dawn. He observes the hearse, which stops outside the flat, and the driver, who speaks to him in a jarring manner. The experience blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural, leading Hugh to question the nature of time and existence. He later attempts to rationalize the event, considering it a dream, yet remains haunted by its vividness. A month later, while in London, Hugh encounters a bus conductor who bears an uncanny resemblance to the ghostly figure from his previous experience. This moment triggers a panic within him, as he realizes the connection between the two events. The narrative culminates in a tragic accident involving the bus, suggesting that the ghostly encounter was a premonition of impending doom. The story explores themes of fear, the unknown, and the intersection of the spiritual and physical realms. It raises questions about the nature of reality and the possibility of supernatural phenomena, leaving readers to ponder the significance of Hugh's experiences and the implications of his ghostly encounter. The narrative's tension lies in its exploration of the human psyche's response to fear and the mysteries that lie beyond the veil of everyday life.

By E.F. Benson · First published 1922 · Genre: Horror, Gothic Fiction, Psychological Thriller · 4,066 words

First lines

My friend, Hugh Grainger, and I had just returned from a two days' visit in the country, where we had been staying in a house of sinister repute which was supposed to be haunted by ghosts of a peculiarly fearsome and truculent sort. The house itself was all that such a house should be, Jacobean and oak-panelled, with long dark passages and high vaulted rooms. It stood, also, very remote, and was encompassed by a wood of sombre pines that muttered and whispered in the dark, and all the time that we were there a southwesterly gale with torrents of scolding rain had prevailed, so that by day and night weird voices moaned and fluted in the chimneys, a company of uneasy spirits held colloquy among the trees, and sudden tattoes and tappings beckoned from the windowpanes. But in spite of these surroundings, which were sufficient in themselves, one would almost say, to spontaneously generate occult phenomena, nothing of any description had occurred. I am bound to add, also, that my own state of mind was peculiarly well adapted to receive or even to invent the sights and sounds we had gone to seek, for I was, I confess, during the whole time that we were there, in a state of abject apprehension, and lay awake both nights through hours of terrified unrest, afraid of the dark, yet more afraid of what a lighted candle might show me.

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The Bus-Conductor is listed on Textopian as a short story by E.F. Benson, dated 1922 CE.

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Satire · Social Commentary · Comedy · Literary Fiction · English Literature · Early 20th Century · Novel · Character Study · Class Satire · Upper Class · British Society · Humor

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