B. J. Harrison Reads Afterward

When Ned and Mary Boyne hear that their new house is haunted, they laugh it off and joke that every good house in the countryside must have a ghost for it to be worth purchasing. They move in and forget all about its supposed supernatural quirks. But when Mary notices a strange change in her husband's behaviour, she begins to suspect a not so friendly ghost is indeed at play.

'Afterward' is a chilling and disturbing short story that starts out on a happy note and then slowly unravels. It's made all the more haunting by Edith Wharton's impeccable prose.