Scream at midnight

"Scream at Midnight" by Joseph Payne Brennan is a collection of horror stories written in the early 1960s. The tales delve into eerie experiences, legendary hauntings, and fatal encounters with the supernatural, exploring themes of fear, suspense, and the macabre. In the title story, the protagonist embarks on a journey to Chilton Castle, where he learns of a sinister secret linked to the Chilton-Payne lineage, particularly surrounding the enigmatic figure of Lady Susan Glanville. At the start of the first story, the narrator sets the scene by recounting his travels through Europe in search of his ancestry, eventually arriving at Chilton Castle, a place steeped in dark folklore. As he settles in at an inn, a storm brews outside, and he hears legends about a secret chamber within the castle. The Factor at Chilton Castle, William Cowath, soon reveals the unsettling tradition involving the current Earl, Frederick, who must enter this hidden room the very night of the narrator's arrival. The air grows thick with tension as they prepare to unravel the chilling mystery of the chamber, leading the narrator into an encounter that promises to be unnerving and transformative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Joseph Payne Brennan was an American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, and also a poet. Of Irish ancestry, he was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and he lived most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut, and worked as an Acquisitions Assistant at the Sterling Memorial Library of Yale University for over 40 years. Brennan published several hundred short stories, two novellas and reputedly thousands of poems. His stories appeared in over 200 anthologies and have been translated into German, French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish. He was an early bibliographer of the work of H. P. Lovecraft.