Seven Short Stories Featuring Seances

Surprisingly, I had difficulty finding short stories featuring a seance that were written in the period I’m most interested in. I’d have thought the subject would be a perennial favourite for short story writers and readers alike, especially in the heyday of mediums and spiritualism. Anyway, here are some I did find and one of my own to make up the numbers. Enjoy.

The Last Seance by Agatha Christie 1933

Simone has tired of performing seances but is persuaded to carry out one last one for her strange client, Madam Exe.

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Mr Tilly’s Seance by E. F. Benson 1922

A humorous story about a man who dies on his way to a seance. He turns up all the same and discovers the medium is not as genuine as he thought she was.

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In the Seance Room by Lettice Galbraith 1893

A young doctor’s past comes back to haunt him.

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Playing With Fire by Arthur Conan Doyle 1890

One from an aficionado of spiritualism. A group of friends assemble for a seance where something out of the ordinary appears.

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The Seance by Ronal Kayser 1936

A fake medium conjures up a beautiful dancer.

 

The Stolen Body by  H.G Wells 1898

An experiment in astral projection goes horribly wrong. 

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Laura by Denise Jay 

The table turner Mrs Crosby pays dearly for her past misdeeds.