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Who is Icy Sedgwick?
Icy is a folklore blogger and host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast. She is based in the north east of England, where she was born and raised amid the folk tales and legends of Tyneside and Northumberland. Icy is fascinated by history, cinema, art, and the occult, and griffins will always be her favourite mythical beast. She also writes dark fantasy novellas, Gothic short stories and the occasional weird Western, and she holds a PhD in Film Studies!
“A smudge in the air” – what a line.
Classic, fantastic little ghost story, not unlike The Others, but more fun. The tone, in some ways, made me think of The Canterville Ghost. Would love to see this continued.
Also – this is the first story I’ve read in ages and it was a total pleasure.
DJ
I loved the way the ghost awakened – you used just the right mix of disappointment at being alone, confusion, anxiety, rising fear all the emotions of a woman seemingly abandoned.
Love the step through time. Thank you for the story!
Yes Icy! I love this one. Love it. One of my top favorites of yours. Pacing is great, set up is great, and the “switching” is perfect – brings it all together.
🙂
Jim
DJ – I LOVE The Others – it’s one of my chosen films for my PhD thesis. I love the concept of a ghost not realising they’re dead…so I guess there’s a bit of The Sixth Sense in there too, in the way Lady Eleanor sees her castle the way she wants to see it, not the way it is.
Tony – I felt a bit bad putting her through that, actually.
Johanna – Glad you liked it!
Jim – I figured I’d do a few more ghost stories as prep work for my novel. Love hauntings!! The photo at the top is what prompted it – Belsay Castle in my homeland of Northumberland.
Lovely mingling of the past and present. Sad and stirring. I loved your use of language.
Great atmosphere, I can actually smell it and feel the damp air on my skin. Very convincing.
I could guess you loved The Others halfway through this. I never got into it. You’ve convinced me to try it out again. I dig how you pull together ghostly historical fiction.
Icy triumphs again! Your observation about finding it hard to imagine another floor above you in a ruined castle is spot on. I was trying to explain this to a small person at Bodiam Castle in sussex; it’s really not easy with rain pouring down inside the castle kitchens!
Great ghost story.
What a great ghost story! This played like a movie in my head, in HD. 🙂 You did that photo prompt proud.
Just awesome!
Love this one Icy! Although the short, punchy sentences in the first part felt halting, it made sense when I read the second part and understood the reason for it – because certainly ghosts think and feel in bits and pieces like that.
I just love a good ghost story, and This is a Good Ghost Story!
Poor Lady Eleanor. it must be so confusing for her.
Beautiful writing Icy, the collision of old and new spirits like this would probably leave both in confusion.
Reminded me of The Others. Lovely set up.
Adam B @revhappiness
Lovely story. For me this reminded me of Sleeping Beauty (more because I have never heard of the Others, I may have to look it up). I liked the intermingling with the people and how they barely interact.
It just occurred to me that I always expect ghosts to appear soon after the moment of death. It’s rather nice that Eleanor got a nice long nap in first.
Laurita – You can certainly feel atmospheres like this in old buildings.
Anneke – Thank you!
John – Haunted house movies are a “thing” of mine…and ghost stories let me write fantasy AND historical fiction so, a bit like my story, it’s a mix of two worlds!
Flyingscribbler – I LOVE Bodiam Castle!!!! It is really hard to imagine the upper floors in ruins, and I remember my dad pointing out joists and so on when I was little.
Grace – My mum saw the photo and knew where I was going with the story as she’s been there too!
Deanna – I haven’t written a ghost story for a while and figured I’d should do another! So glad you enjoyed it.
Raven – Poor woman’s a bit stuck, isn’t she?
Steve – I find the “ghost perspective” fascinating. If they are at all aware of the living, the whole thing must be really baffling to them.
Adam – Thanks!
Aidan – Yeah, there’s an element of Sleeping Beauty to it, you’re right! If you like ghost films, then definitely check out The Others.
Tim – She got a lie-in. 🙂
Loved this, Icy … her not understanding and then realizing she and her world were long dead … sad.
Wonderful, moody piece — you had me from the first line “A draft blew cold kisses onto her neck.”
Wonderful pace in this story and I totally felt for her and her confusion on ‘waking’. Loved the description of her as “a smudge in the air”. You got the juxtaposition between her time and present-day spot on. Sad and beautiful at the same time.
This reminded me of The Others. I particularly liked your use of language with Lady Eleanor – absolutely spot on.
Lovely!
Nice to read you Icy. I too love the unaware ghost scenario. You’ve told a great tale here. Looking forward to more!
I loved your pacing in this. How Lady Eleanor’s confusion unfolded. I would like to know what happens next!
Love love love this! Poor Lady Eleanor. Too bad she can’t move on.
Janet – I suppose if you woke up dead (contradiction, I know) then you probably would find it difficult to come to terms with it.
FARfetched – I was trying to think of how to wake her up and that sprang to mind!
Kath – Thank you. I’ve had days where I haven’t seen anyone for ages and wondered if I’d died and not realised, but thankfully, I’m still here (and still a tiny bit eccentric)
Rebecca – I’m really glad people got The Others reference as I think it was such a criminally ignored film!
Clay – Glad you liked it!! I do these every week so unless Armageddon kicks off (or something heinous happens to me) then there’ll be another one along next Friday.
Aaron – I haven’t decided yet but there is a good chance she may just wind up in one of my books!
Maria – You never know, maybe she will.
Loved this. The little girl’s reaction was so sweet and innocent, even after just being told both that the place was and wasn’t haunted. While I liked Lady Eleanor, I’m more curious about Lucy and what you could do with her. A necromancer in the making maybe 😛
Very cool story! Goes to show how some ghosts don’t know they’re dead.
This was quite good. The writing reminded me a bit of The Thirteenth Tale, one of my favorite books. I liked the arc of the story and I do agree you could take this further if you wanted to.
Seleste – I love curious little kids, they’re so full of fascination by everything around them. I’m not sure Lucy would make a good necromancer, but she might be interested in helping to lay spirits to rest.
Eric – Someone told me that once – I also heard that ghosts perceive other ghosts, so a 16th century ghost will see a spirit from the 12th century as a ghost, and so on!
Genevieve – The ghostly protagonist of my supernatural YA has laid claim to the story, so it might end up in book #2!
Great story Icy. Poor Lady Eleanor, I really feel sorry for her. Btw, it’s amazing! Seriously it is. You’re a good writer. Now to get this published somewhere.
Gorgeous, Icy. Two worlds in one, both artfully rendered. Love the line “A gray shadow, a smudge in the air.” So real, so possible. Perhaps even probable. Thanks, Icy, this was a delight.
Take care,
Jess
Really loved this, Icy, it’s a great story. I’m a fan of anything medieval, so this story was right up my street. Very well written too, and your final line gave me the shivers.
Great way to engage the senses. I got a little cold for a second, and I swear that it wasn’t because it is freaking cold in NYC!