The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance: The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James

"The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" is a short ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It first appeared in print in the June 4, 1913 issue of the magazine Cambridge Review. It was published again in 1919 as part of the anthology A Thin Ghost and Others. Although M.R. James famously entertained his friends and students for many years by telling them ghost stories at Christmastime, "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" is the only one of his published short stories in which some of the action takes place on Christmas Day.

The story is told in the form of four letters that the narrator, known only as W.R., writes to his brother Robert. The action takes place in the early 19th century, between December 22 and December 26, 1837. The plot is set in motion when W.R. receives a letter which informs him that his Uncle Henry, a clergyman, has gone missing. W.R. travels to his uncle's town to join in the search for him. W.R. soon accepts that his uncle is dead. After a traveling salesman tells W.R. about an excellent puppet performance that he saw, W.R. has a nightmare about a horrific puppet show. The dream ends with the vengeful ghost of a clergyman taking revenge on one of the puppets.

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