31 Shots of Shock: #30 – ‘The Haunted and the Haunters’ by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
October 31, 2009 by Rob
Filed under 31 Shots of Shock, Short Story Reviews
*Title: The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Date Read: 30 October 2009
Available Online?: YES
Briefly: Excited by the prospect of exploring a house which is heavily haunted, the narrator (armed with gun and dagger), takes up residence with his ‘exceedingly sharp, bold, and vigilant bull-terrier’, and a man servant described as having a ‘fearless temper’ and with no ’superstitious prejudice’. Let battle commence! 
Afterthoughts: This story’s pretty much got it all – sounds of footprints, invisible touches, moving furniture, ghostly apparitions – making it a very worthy choice for anyone seeking a good ghostly tale. At times Lord Lytton’s prose tends to get a bit wordy and convoluted (showing off perhaps? ). But ultimately this does little to spoil the enjoyment.
Notable Quote: And now appeared the first strange phenomenon witnessed by myself in this strange abode. I saw, just before me, the print of a foot suddenly form itself, as it were. I stopped, caught hold of my servant, and pointed to it. In advance of that footprint as suddenly dropped another. We both saw it. I advanced quickly to the place; the footprint kept advancing before me, a small footprint,—the foot of a child: the impression was too faint thoroughly to distinguish the shape, but it seemed to us both that it was the print of a naked foot.
Rating: 
*Story read as part of my 31 Shots of Shock reading challenge.
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
