Madam Crowl's Ghost by J. Sheridan Le FanuMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Listened to this on LibriVox. Short ghost story. Atmospheric and creepy tale of a young girl who is sent to Applewale House as a servant to work alongside her aunt and a woman called Mrs Wyvern, who are in attendance to Madame Crowl who haunts the rooms at the top of the house.
We don't meet Madame Crowl until halfway through the tale, once the suspense has built up - she is a hideously ancient clownish being with monstrously oversized wig, powdered face and freakishly long nails which have been sharpened to points.
Clambering and muttering around her bedroom in ridiculous garb, like a puppet with severed strings, she's terrifying - yet comical. In what might be one of my favourite all time references to personal adornment it is explained she is wearing false eyebrows fashioned from the skin of dead mice (youtube tutorial forthcoming).
After her death it is discovered that she shut up her stepson in a hidden room, which has been locked all this time. His dusty skeleton is discovered, identified by a green sheathed dagger and handful of jet beads. A highly enjoyable spooky tale.
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