"The Signal-Man" is a first-person horror/mystery story by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, first published as part of the ''

Mugby Junction "Mugby Junction" is a set of short stories written in 1866 by Charles Dickens and collaborators Charles Collins, Amelia B. Edwards, Andrew Halliday, and Hesba Stretton. It was first published in a Christmas edition of the magazine '' All the Ye ...

'' collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of '' All the Year Round''. The railway signal-man of the title tells the narrator of an apparition that has been haunting him. Each spectral appearance precedes a tragic event on the railway on which the signalman works. The signalman's work is at a signal-box in a deep cutting near a tunnel entrance on a lonely stretch of the railway line, and he controls the movements of passing trains. When there is danger, his fellow signalmen alert him by

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and alarms. Three times, he receives phantom warnings of danger when his bell rings in a fashion that only he can hear. Each warning is followed by the appearance of the spectre, and then by a terrible accident.

The first accident involves a terrible collision between two trains in the tunnel. Dickens may have based this incident on the Clayton Tunnel crash that occurred in 1861, five years before he wrote the story. Readers in 1866 would have been familiar with this major disaster. The second warning involves the mysterious death of a young woman on a passing train. The final warning is a premonition of the signalman's own death.

Plot summary

The story begins with the narrator calling "Halloa! Below there!" into a railway cutting. The signalman standing on the railway below does not look up, as the narrator expects, but rather turns about and stares into the railway tunnel that is his responsibility to monitor. The narrator calls down again and asks permission to descend. The signalman seems reluctant. The railway hole is a cold, gloomy, and lonely place. The signalman still seems to be in fear of the narrator, who tries to put him at ease. The signalman feels that he had seen the narrator before, but the narrator assures him that this is impossible. Reassured, the signalman welcomes the newcomer into his little cabin, and the two men speak of the signalman's work. His labour consists of a dull monotonous routine, but the signalman feels he deserves nothing better, as he wasted his academic opportunities when he was young, although he has been spending his time during his shifts teaching himself mathematics and learning a foreign language (albeit with questionable pronunciation). The narrator describes that the signalman seems like a dutiful employee at all times, except when he twice looks at his signal bell when it is not ringing. There seems to be something troubling the signalman, but he will not speak of it. Before the narrator leaves, the signalman asks of him not to call for him when he's back on the top of the hill or when he sees him the following day. The next day, as directed by the signalman, the narrator returns and does not call. The signalman tells the narrator that he will reveal his troubles. He is haunted by a recurring spirit which he has seen at the entrance to the tunnel on separate occasions, and, with each appearance, was followed by a tragedy. In the first instance, the signalman heard the same words which the narrator said and saw a figure with its left arm across its face, while waving the other in desperate warning; he questioned it, but it vanished. He then ran into the tunnel, but found no-one; a few hours later, there was a terrible train crash with many casualties. During its second appearance, the figure was silent, with both hands before the face in an attitude of mourning; then, a beautiful young woman died in a train passing through. Finally, the signalman admits that he has seen the spectre several times during the past week. The narrator is sceptical about the supernatural, and suggests that the signalman is suffering from hallucinations. During their conversation, the signalman witnesses a ghost and hears his bell ring eerily, but the narrator sees and hears nothing. The signalman is sure that these supernatural incidents are presaging a third tragic event waiting to happen, and is sick with fear and frustration: he does not understand why he should be burdened with knowledge of an incipient tragedy when he, a minor railway functionary, has neither the authority nor the ability to prevent it. The narrator believes that his new friend's imagination has been overtaxed and suggests taking him to see a doctor. The next day, the narrator visits the railway cutting again and sees a mysterious figure at the mouth of the tunnel. This figure is not a ghost, however; it is a man, one of a group of officials investigating an incident on the line. The narrator discovers that the signalman is dead, having been struck by an oncoming train. He had been standing on the line, looking intently at something, and failed to get out of the way. The driver of the train explains that he attempted to warn the signalman of his danger: as the train bore down on the signalman the driver called out to him, "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" Moreover, the driver waved his arm in warning even as he covered his face to avoid seeing the train strike the hapless signalman. The narrator notes the significance of the similarity between the driver's words and actions and those of the spectre as the signalman had earlier described them, but leaves the nature of that significance to the reader.

Adaptations

The American television program ''Suspense'' adapted "The Signal Man" in 1953, starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

and Alan Webb. The same story was also adapted in the

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

of the same franchise. " The Signal-Man" was adapted by Andrew Davies as the BBC's ''

Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directe ...

'' for 1976, with

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

playing the principal character. This production was filmed on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

; a fake signal box was erected in the cutting on the Kidderminster side of Bewdley Tunnel, and the interiors were filmed in Highley signal box. The setting appears to have been moved forward in time from the 1860s to the 1900s, judging by the fashion and technology visible. At one point the Signal-Man whistles "Tit Willow", a song from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'' (1885). On 28 March 1969, ''Beyond Midnight'' (a South African radio programme produced by Michael McCabe) aired the story as "The Train". Elements of "The Signal-Man" are used in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2004 musical '' The Woman in White'' (which is also based on the

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

novel of the same name). Lloyd Webber had previously attempted to adapt the short story in 1979 as a double bill for his song-cycle ''

Tell Me On A Sunday ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters. A one-act song cycl ...

'', but abandoned it, feeling the story's gloomy tones unsuitable to be paired with the upbeat ''Tell Me''. The following year, Lloyd Webber again attempted to adapt "The Signal-Man" for the stage, offering it as an operatic work for

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

's 1980-81 season. However, the opera's board rejected the proposal, fearing that the story, having few characters, would leave most of the ensemble with nothing to do. In the United States, the story was adapted for radio for the ''

Columbia Workshop ''Columbia Workshop'' was a radio series that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946–47. Irving Reis The series began as the idea of Irving Reis. Reis had begun his radio career as an engineer and devel ...

'' (23 January 1937), ''The Weird Circle'' (as "The Thing in the Tunnel", 1945), '' Lights Out'' (24 August 1946), '' Hall of Fantasy'' (10 July 1950), '' Suspense'' (4 November 1956) and ''Beyond Midnight'' (as "The Signalman", 1970) radio shows. The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

also adapted the story for its

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

drama programme '' Nightfall'' (17 December 1982). In 2015, Brazilian filmmaker Daniel Augusto adapted the short story into a 15-minute short film starring Fernando Teixeira in the title role. The film was shown as part of the ''

Short Cuts ''Short Cuts'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film, directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver. The film has a Los Angeles setting, whic ...

'' program during the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. In 2019, the story was adapted into an audio drama as part of the debut season of '' Shadows at the Door: The Podcast'', in which it was touted as "arguably the greatest ghost story of all time". In India, the story has been transformed into a Hindi drama on radio by Vividh Bharati Services. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a version on Christmas Day 2022 starring

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, narrator and theatre director. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor across theatre, film, television and radio. He often appears as reciter with orche ...

and

James Purefoy James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series ''Rome'', Nick Jenkins in ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series ''The Followin ...

, written by Jonathan Holloway, and directed by Andy Jordan.

Cultural references

An episode from the first season of '' Poltergeist: The Legacy'', titled "The Signalman", was inspired by Dickens's story. In the 2005 '' Doctor Who'' episode " The Unquiet Dead", in which the Doctor meets Charles Dickens, he mentions a particular fondness for "the one with the ghost", clarifying that he means "The Signal-Man" (rather than '' A Christmas Carol'' as Dickens had assumed).

References

External links

*Full text archive o
''Three Ghost Stories''
including "The Signal-Man" *
''The Signal Man'', Tore Bahnson's animated short film adaptation of the story on Vimeo''The Signalman'', Matthew Harper's one-act theatrical adaptation of the story on the Lazy Bee Scripts website

''The Signalman'' espisode of "Shadows at the Door: The Podcast"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Signal-Man, The 1866 short stories Ghost stories Short stories about rail transport Short stories adapted into films Short stories by Charles Dickens Works originally published in All the Year Round

Plot summary

Adaptations

Cultural references

References

Further reading

External links