Warning Whispers

During the first four decades of this century, Alfred McLelland Burrage (1889–1956) was one of the most prolific British writers of short popular fiction. There was scarcely a mainstream weekly, fortnightly, or monthly whose Contents page did not, at one time or another, feature his name.

His speciality was the light-hearted love story, but his fame today rests on his tales of the supernatural. His talents in this direction were recognised by both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and M.R. James.

When the original edition of Warning Whispers was published by Equation in 1988, it represented the first collection of entirely 'new' Burrage stories since Someone In The Room appeared in 1931. The seventeen stories in the volume had lain undiscovered since their original magazine appearances between 1915 and 1930, and were unearthed by Jack Adrian, who has now found a further eight previously unknown Burrage stories, which have been included in this volume.

From the gentle comedy of 'The Imperturbable Tucker' to the terror of 'The Acquittal' and 'The Witch of Oxshott'; from the romance of 'Fellow Travellers' and 'The Garden of Fancy' to the sinister 'The Little Blue Flames' and 'Warning Whispers': these stories provide further proof of A.M. Burrage's mastery of the ghost story in all its forms, and show why he remains one of the most popular writers of supernatural fiction of this century.

Contents of the 1988 edition:

• The Acquittal
• Warning Whispers
• Crookback
• For the Local Rag
• The Little Blue Flames
• The Recurring Tragedy
• The Case of Thissler and Baxter
• The Green Bungalow
• The Attic
• The Ticking of the Clock
• The Imperturbable Tucker
• The Boy With Red Hair
• The Garden of Fancy
• The Mystery of the Sealed Garret
• For One Night Only
• Father of the Man
• The Fourth Wall

Contents of the Ash-Tree Press edition:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• The Acquittal
• The Frontier of Dreams
• Warning Whispers
• Crookback
• For the Local Rag
• The Wind in the Attic
• The Little Blue Flames
• In the Courtyard
• The Recurring Tragedy
• The Case of Thissler and Baxter
• The Green Bungalow
• The Attic
• The Witch of Oxshott
• Fellow Travellers
• The Ticking of the Clock
• The Imperturbable Tucker
• The Boy With Red Hair
• The Garden of Fancy
• The Mystery of the Sealed Garret
• At the Toy Menders
• The Kiss of Hesper
• For One Night Only
• Father of the Man
• The Fourth Wall
• I'm Sure It Was No. 31