26) The Shadows on the Wall by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Plot:

“Henry had words with Edward in the study the night before Edward died,” Caroline Glynn tells her sisters.

Caroline and her two sisters, Rebecca Ann and Mrs. Stephen Brigham, are preparing for the funeral of their youngest brother, Edward, who lies in the house. They regret their brothers’ argument, but of course, Henry couldn’t have known that Edward was so near his end.

Rebecca Ann is the youngest of the sisters and weeps constantly. It becomes clear she is also terrified of something. Caroline, the eldest, is severe. She is writing letters, so neighbors have notice of the funeral. Mrs. Stephen Brigham (the author eventually gets around to calling her Emma) is sewing her funeral dress. “I can’t go to the funeral without it.”

As daylight wanes, they ask Rebecca Ann to get them a lamp. She hesitates, then puts it in a place that won’t do them much good. After she finally sets the lamp down in a satisfactory place, she runs from the room.

Emma looks up from her sewing to see an odd shadow on the wall, where one wouldn’t expect it. And it looks just like—but no, that’s impossible. When she asks Caroline if she sees the shadow, Caroline says, “I have eyes, don’t I?”

Henry thought Edward was freeloading, staying in the house without paying rent, although their parents left the house to all of them.

Rebecca Ann recounts part of the argument between the brothers she overheard. “[Edward said] that he would stay here as long as he lived and afterward, too, if he was of a mind to, and he would like to see Henry get him out.”

The siblings talk on but ignore a more sinister recollection of Rebecca Ann’s—something that might account for her tears and terror.

Thoughts:

A quick pass through this story will not serve the reader well. There are a lot of subtle and, frankly, tedious things that hide the true horror of this piece. The shadow on the wall does not move or threaten. It reminds. It haunts, and it does not look away.

The sisters know what occurred but will not acknowledge it. It’s too monstrous.

All this makes no sense until the end of the story, which is hard to pin down.

The story inspired a Night Gallery segment, “Certain Shadows on the Wall.”

The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here via Librivox:

Bio: Mary E. Wilkins (1852-1930) began writing children’s literature as a teenager. Most of her two hundred stories for adults are realistic, such as “A New England Nun.” She also wrote ghost and supernatural stories.


Title: “The Shadows on the Wall”
Author: Mary E. Wilkins (1852-1930)
First published: Everybody’s Magazine, March 1903