Richard Barham Middleton was an English poet and author, who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, in particular “The Ghost Ship."

Scottish folklore is full to the brim of exciting stories about otherworldly beings – be they fairies, sprites, pixies, brownies, or actual ghosts –the Scots love them all. Tonight’s story, “The Witch of Fife,” tells the story of a husband whose interest in his wife’s private affairs has dangerous and terrifying consequences.

Every reader who accepts Arthur Conan Doyle’s invitation to “come through the magic door” discovers a world in which the senses are a thin veneer over an unsettling psychological and spiritual realm, a realm in which possibilities have no limits.

We return today to the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi, made somewhat famous by William Faulkner as the locus for many of his short stories.

Of all the ghost stories that haunt me presently - and there are many - none are so terrifying to me as those in which the ghost appears in broad daylight, shunning the shadows of dark corridors and the blowing curtains of dimly-lit rooms. This evening’s story begins with this premise and launches us into an adventure.