This, the second story in Women's Weird 2, is a classic Victorian ghost story. It involves the careful establishment of character, the gradual mapping-out of a dark family secret, and the discovery of a magical McGuffin that reveals the truth behind a haunting. It is also, by the standards of the time, more than a little naughty for 1897, when it first appeared in the magazine below.
The narrator is 'Mrs Marris', the housekeeper at Mertoun, a fine old Scottish stately home. The 'Mrs' is in fact a courtesy title for an unmarried woman of a certain age, something I didn't know (or had forgotten, more likely). The eponymous Blue Room is said to be haunted, and Mrs Marris begins by explaining that in her time it claimed two victims - both young women. This is highly significant, given what we learn later.
It's interesting to see how the Victorian era itself becomes a character, here. The role of women in socity changes as they gain more access to education and thus great confidence. The first incident takes place in the 1840s (or thereabouts), and the victim is the timid companion to a grand and overbearing lady. The second incident is contemporary and the lady in question is a feisty graduate. Miss Erristoun narrowly avoids death and, thanks for her courage and erudition, solves the mystery with the help of two male admirers. The nature of the haunting is revealed obliquely, with a nod to the Malleus Maleficarum.
'The Blue Room' is a cracking read, one that crackles with the creative energy that ran through magazine publishing at the end of the 19th century.
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