Episode 36: The Cigarette Case by Oliver Onions

Classic Ghost Stories

Tony Walker

Fiction, Drama, Science Fiction

4.9 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Oliver OnionsOliver Onions was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England in 1873 and died in Aberystwyth in Wales in 1961, His father was a bank cashier. When he was a young man he was an amateur boxer. He didn’t like the surname Onions and changed it legally to George Oliver but still published his stories under the name Oliver Onions. Onions is in fact a Welsh name, being from the Welsh Ab Einion.Onions trained as an artist and worked as an illustrator. His most famous ghost story is The Beckoning Fair One. He is reckoned as one of the best writers of ghost stories. He has a very conversational lyrical style and the characters in his story come out via the tone of their voice.The Cigarette Case is a neat little story with a lovely twist in the end. We probably guess what’s going to happen, but it’s very well done.I particularly like Loder’s asides to other members of the circle, such as Marsham the romantic and Smith the sceptic.I was reminded by this story of An Adventure which is the reportedly true tale of two English ladies having a time slip experience in France at the Paris of Versailles in the early 20th Century.The Cigarette Case was published in 1911 in the collection Widdershins and I believe An Ad venture was published in 1910, so it is not impossible that the tale of two English ladies in France who mysteriously disappear was inspired by An Adventure.I’ll put a link tohttps://amzn.to/38vtWMB (An Adventure here)Ghost Stories in a Haunted CastleCome along to Dalston Hall, Carlisle in March to hear me read ghost stories, get a tour of the ghosts, have dinner, and even stay overnight in a haunted room!https://www.facebook.com/events/178095676767514/ (Check it out on Facebook)Call To Action!If you can recommend verbally or send a link to the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast to one friend or acquaintance who might like it, that could double our listeners every week!I’d be very grateful to you for that.Thank you to our Patreons!Thank you for their pledges to:Donna ConstanzaEmmaSandra VailKate UnwinMargaretSandra VailValerie SawyerYour support means a lot!Support Us!Ways to support Tony to keep doing the show:https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/classic-ghost-stories-923395 (Share and rate it!) http://bit.ly/2QKgHkY (Buy Tony a coffee) to help with the long nights editing!Become a http://bit.ly/barcudpatreon (Patreon) to get additional stuff and allow the show to go on in the long term. Website http://bit.ly/ClassicGhostStoriesPodcast (Classic Ghost Stories Podcast) MusicBeginning music is Some Come Back by the marvellous https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/witch-phase-four (Heartwood Institute) and end sequence is Bad Encounter by MyuuSupport the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Everybody dies, don't they?
0:10.4	Everybody come back.
0:12.6	Isn't that so?
0:14.3	You tried to get into the locked drawer today, didn't you?
0:17.4	How do the date come back, mother?
0:19.9	What's the secrets?
0:25.1	The cigarette case by Oliver onions.
0:31.5	A cigarette loader, I said, offering my case.
0:35.2	For the moment, Loder was not smoking.
0:37.4	For long enough, he had not smoking, for long enough he had not
0:38.5	been talking. Thanks, he replied, taking not only the cigarette, but the case also. The
0:44.7	others went on talking. Loder became silent again, but I noticed that he kept my cigarette
0:49.7	case in his hand, and looked at it from time to time with an interest that neither its design nor its
0:55.9	costliness seemed to explain. Presently I caught his eye. Pretty case, he remarked, putting it down
1:02.3	on the table. I once had one exactly like it. I answered that they were in every shop window.
1:08.6	Oh, yes, he said, putting aside any question of
1:11.3	rarity. I lost mine. Oh? He laughed. Oh, that's all right. I got it back again. Don't be
1:17.9	afraid. I'm not going to claim yours. But the way I lost it, found it, the whole thing was rather
1:23.3	curious. I've never been able to explain it. I wonder if you could. I answered that I certainly
1:30.0	couldn't till I heard it, whereupon Loder, taking up the silver case again, and holding it in
1:34.8	his hand as he talked began. This happened in Provence when I was about as old as Marsham there,
1:40.7	and every bit as romantic. I was there with Carol. You remember poor old Carol, and what a
	...

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