The Ghost and Mrs Muir

My next ghostly film features an actor that I've not always been particularly fond of, yet he turns up in two of my favourite supernatural films. The first is The Ghost and Mrs Muir.

It's a rather sombre tale in parts but it is a true love story albeit one that takes a lifetime to come to fruition. Set against the backdrop of the sea, it tells the story of a young widow and a roguish ghostly sea captain.

In the early 1900s, young widow Lucy Muir moves to the seaside English village of Whitecliff to rent a house by the charming name of Gull Cottage It is reputed to be haunted by the spirit of a seaman who had committed suicide. Despite this grim tale, Lucy moves in with her young daughter, Anna and their maid, Martha.

On the very first night, the ghost of Daniel Gregg, the sea captain and former owner, visits Lucy. He tells her that despite what she'd heard, he did not commit suicide but did accidentally when he fell asleep and kicked open the valve on the gas heater.

He's also not very keen on Lucy living there but, after they chat, he reluctantly allows Lucy to live there unhindered.

Unfortunately for Lucy, her finances take a turn for the worse and her ghastly in-laws arrive to persuade her to return to London. Captain Gregg steps in and scares them out of the house then comes up with a fine plan to help Lucy: he will dictate his memoirs to her and she will have them published, with the royalties going to her. During the course of writing the book, they find themselves falling in love, but as both realize it is a hopeless situation, Daniel tells her she should find a real (live) man.

Upon visiting a publisher, Lucy finds herself drawn to handsome Miles Fairley, an author of children's' books. Despite reservations, the publisher eventually agrees to publish the Captain's somewhat racy recollections. The book becomes an instant bestseller, allowing Lucy to buy Gull Cottage.

Lucy and Fairley begin a whirlwind courtship much to the disgust of the Captain but, realising that he is standing in her way, he visits her whilst she is asleep and puts it into her mind that she alone wrote the book and that he was merely a dream.

"You must make your own life amongst the living and, whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbour in the end." His task accomplished, Captain Gregg faded away.

Lucy, whilst visiting her publisher, decides to surprise Fairley and turns up at his home, only to find that he is already married and that this is not the first time he has gone off the rails.

Heartbroken, Lucy returns to Gull Cottage and spends the rest of her life as a recluse.

The story moves on ten years and Anna, now engaged to be married returns home with her fiance. It is during a conversation that Anna reveals that she knew all about the Captain and was not afraid of her strange companion.

Lucy lives a long and peaceful life but her health ails. Complaining to the steady Martha that she needs to rest, Martha leaves her. Lucy dies and a few moments later the Captain appears at her side.

Her young spirit takes his hands and stands free of her aged body. The two stare lovingly at each other for a moment before walking arm in arm down the stairs, and out of the front door into an ethereal mist.

My latest novel features a love story in the afterlife. HIGH SPIRITS finds Alec and Jean spending eternity in his beloved museuem.

Excerpt

Alec turned the page, but there was nothing else.

“Alec?”

Alec snapped shut the diary and turned to the doorway to see Jean just inside.

She walked gracefully over to the desk and looked at the collection of photographs finally spotting the one of her and Alec. She stared at it for a moment, before she looked up at him with limpid eyes.

“Have I ever told you, how beautiful you are?” he said.

Jean smiled.

Alec stood and held out his hands in an invite to dance. Jean placed her hand on his shoulder, and he cupped her other hand inside his and waltzed around the room.

As they gathered momentum, the lights in the office began to flicker, as if someone were turning the switches on and off. Jean threw back her head and laughed as Alec guided her steps in a dance all their own.