For October 31—Happy Halloween!
Plot:
Down-on-his-luck Journalist Raymond Hewson has arranged to spend the night at Marriner’s Waxworks Murderers’ Den. Hewson is freelancing, hoping to sell his story to The Morning Echo. The manager of Marriner’s promises him a five-pound note once the story is published.
Hewson wasn’t looking forward to the task, but he had a wife and family to support. Plus, he thought that a well-received story might lead to regular employment—and then there would be that five-pound note.
He assures the manager he does not believe in ghosts. His employers have told him he’s not one for imagination, either.
The manager says he won’t be locked in. He can leave at any time. There is lighting in the basement where the exhibit is, but it is dim. He’ll hear footsteps above, but those will belong to the night watchman. The only thing he insists on is that Hewson not smoke. Someone raised an alarm about a fire earlier in the evening, which happily turned out to be false. Nevertheless, nerves are still jittery.
The people represented by the wax figures in Murderers’ Den had all been hanged except for Dr. Bourdette, the Parisian equivalent to Jack the Ripper. By day, he practiced medicine, and by night, he slit people’s throats with a razor. It was believed he mesmerized people before he killed them.
The manager leaves. Hewson turns away from Dr. Bourdette and his unsettling eyes. He writes a few lines that he thinks are catchy and thinks of his wife, Rose, at home.
Wait—something moved.
No, nothing moved. They’re just wax figures.
Thoughts:
This tale is atmospheric, but mostly it’s sad. Hewson may be a failure “through his lack of self-assertion,” as the author tells us, but he wants to succeed the old-fashioned way. He’s willing to take a job he won’t enjoy to keep the wolf at bay. He loves his wife and family,
The author introduces him by noting, “His clothes, which had been good when new and which were still carefully brushed and pressed, were beginning to show signs of their owner’s losing battle with the world.”
The reader hopes Hewson is successful. The best thing would be for this guy who’s been going through hard times to come across some evil, overcome it, and receive a handsome reward. Let him return home in triumph to the family he loves.
Yeah, not so easy.
I liked the short tale for the atmosphere it created.
Bio: A. M. Burrage (Alfred McLelland Burrage) (1889-1956) was a UK novelist and short story writer active from 1905 into the 1940s. Because he wrote under several pseudonyms and in various genres, it’s difficult to know the total number of stories he published. He is best known now for his ghost stories, but he also wrote for boys’ magazines, stories about black magic, and a satire in an Arthurian setting.
Unfortunately, I can’t find a text version.
The story can be listened to here:
Title: “The Waxwork”
Author: A. M. Burrage (Alfred McLelland Burrage) (1889-1956)
First published: Someone in the Room, 1931
Length: short story
Gotta fly!
Hope your Halloween is happy and safe.
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
Sad stories can be hard to read. As usual you wrote a great and very helpful review. Thank you Denise. We had a fun and enjoyable Halloween. I hope you did too.
Many thanks, my friend.