Episode 36: The Cigarette Case by Oliver Onions

Oliver OnionsOliver Onions was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England in 1873 and died in Aberystwyth in Wales in 1961, His father was a bank cashier. When he was a young man he was an amateur boxer. He didn’t like the surname Onions and changed it legally to George Oliver but still published his stories under the name Oliver Onions. Onions is in fact a Welsh name, being from the Welsh Ab Einion.Onions trained as an artist and worked as an illustrator. His most famous ghost story is The Beckoning Fair One. He is reckoned as one of the best writers of ghost stories. He has a very conversational lyrical style and the characters in his story come out via the tone of their voice.The Cigarette Case is a neat little story with a lovely twist in the end. We probably guess what’s going to happen, but it’s very well done.I particularly like Loder’s asides to other members of the circle, such as Marsham the romantic and Smith the sceptic.I was reminded by this story of An Adventure which is the reportedly true tale of two English ladies having a time slip experience in France at the Paris of Versailles in the early 20th Century.The Cigarette Case was published in 1911 in the collection Widdershins and I believe An Ad venture was published in 1910, so it is not impossible that the tale of two English ladies in France who mysteriously disappear was inspired by An Adventure.I’ll put a link tohttps://amzn.to/38vtWMB (An Adventure here)Ghost Stories in a Haunted CastleCome along to Dalston Hall, Carlisle in March to hear me read ghost stories, get a tour of the ghosts, have dinner, and even stay overnight in a haunted room!https://www.facebook.com/events/178095676767514/ (Check it out on Facebook)Call To Action!If you can recommend verbally or send a link to the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast to one friend or acquaintance who might like it, that could double our listeners every week!I’d be very grateful to you for that.Thank you to our Patreons!Thank you for their pledges to:Donna ConstanzaEmmaSandra VailKate UnwinMargaretSandra VailValerie SawyerYour support means a lot!Support Us!Ways to support Tony to keep doing the show:https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/classic-ghost-stories-923395 (Share and rate it!) http://bit.ly/2QKgHkY (Buy Tony a coffee) to help with the long nights editing!Become a http://bit.ly/barcudpatreon (Patreon) to get additional stuff and allow the show to go on in the long term. Website http://bit.ly/ClassicGhostStoriesPodcast (Classic Ghost Stories Podcast) MusicBeginning music is Some Come Back by the marvellous https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/witch-phase-four (Heartwood Institute) and end sequence is Bad Encounter by MyuuSupport the show

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