As readers of this blog might know, I fell in love with the short story form during my Creative Writing Master’s and since then have regularly written new stories across all sorts of genres and themes, and been diligently submitting them out for competitions and publications.

When I first saw women’s writing magazine Mslexia put out a call for ghost stories for their upcoming themed showcase, I didn’t consider submitting as I’d never written anything remotely ghostly. Then I listened to an episode of true crime podcast My Favourite Murder and suddenly an idea started to take shape… cue my ghost story, A Séance For The Living, which was eventually chosen for publication and is out in Mslexia’s summer issue.

A Séance For The Living takes place in 1920s Boston (my first ever historical short story!), following an encounter between infamous spiritualist medium Margery Crandon and a scientific sceptic trying to prove that she’s a fraud.

In real life, Margery Crandon was an infamous psychical medium who claimed to channel her dead brother in her séance sessions. Evidence of her spiritual connection included ghostly voices in the corner, clanging bells and knocking, clocks stopping, ectoplasm oozing from her skin – and even the dreaded ‘spirit hand’ that supposedly appeared and vanished upon occasion. While some believed that she really was summoning from beyond, others (including Harry Houdini who was an ardent spiritualist cynic) tried to demonstrate that it was all nothing more than artifice and showmanship.

The full story of Margery Crandon is far too long (and interesting!) to condense into 2,200 words, but I had great fun imagining the séance she conducted with Professor William McDougall who it’s said was somewhat moved (even convinced) after the ordeal.

Through my story I wanted to convey that perhaps the ultimate point of spiritualism and being a medium was power. Whether or not it was all true, for the brief time that Margery had the participants in her parlour, she was in full control of the situation. For a woman at the time, this must have felt somewhat exciting. And given that mediums were mostly women, there’s definitely something to be said about the gendered power dynamics at play in these sorts of situations. I hope this comes through in my story which teases the idea that Margery knew exactly what she was doing (whether or not she believed it), and she liked to be in control.

You can read A Séance For The Living in the latest edition of Mslexia which is available to buy or subscribe to online – I thoroughly recommend!

I’ll share the opening lines of the story below, as well as comments from writer Rebecca Tamás who very kindly selected my story and shared her thoughts in the magazine.

Rebecca Tamás said: ‘A Séance For The Living by Bethany Wren confronts the supernatural much more directly, using visceral and unsettling language and a breathless pace to introduce the reader to a medium whose power is being tested by rationalists: ‘My bell on the dresser is ringing, jangling as if it were outside being buffeted by the wind. It is all these physical things, but it is also a feeling. The sensation that we are not alone in the room.’ This story is tense and compelling, but offers more than thrills, turning into a fascinating meditation on the possibility of touching other worlds, and of the kinds of knowledge that go beyond fixed and rigid concepts.’

And here’s a sneak peek of the opening lines of A Séance For The Living:

I am aware that I’m doing this for the wrong reasons. I’m not doing it for the money, although there’s a reward of $5000 for anyone who can fool them. That is – anyone who can summon a spirit without them working out how they did it. There’s a panel from the Scientific American, a group of psychologists and scientists, men who want so desperately to narrow their eyes and shake their heads, whisper to each other through tight lips, Clearly it’s a trick with the mirrors. There’s somebody hiding in the closet, banging on the door.

I’m not doing it for the fame, either, because people already know my name. Margery Crandon, world famous medium. Perhaps I should be tired by it all – the weight of responsibility, the interest and the intrigue. People who recognise me from the papers, are desperate to believe that it’s true – that I can contact their loved one and bring them a message. Whatever it is that they need – a declaration of love, a final goodbye, forgiveness.

Why am I entering the prize then? Subjecting myself to the inspection of one Professor William McDougall, representative of the panel, who shall march into my house and partake in my séance, doing everything he can to trip me up in the process.

I’m doing it because I want the men who think they know the world to be wrong. I can show them something they can’t understand. It is reason enough.