From Out of the Silence

From Out of the Silence, originally published in 1920, is Bessie Kyffin-Taylor’s only volume of short stories. It contains seven supernatural tales set around the time of the First World War, perfect for ’those who enjoy having their hair raised by tales of restless spirits’ (Liverpool Daily Post, 13 January 1921). In addition to the seven tales, this new edition includes ’Afterwards!’, Bessie’s non-fiction piece about wartime unemployment, written for the Liverpool Evening Express in 1919. It also includes a 23-page biographical essay by Gina R. Collia: ’Bessie Kyffin-Taylor: A Graceful Writer of Ghost Stories’.

’Faces pressed against the window peering in upon me, but faces such as I never in life beheld. They were dark, almost black, with sunken, fiercely gleaming eyes, the cheekbones protruding, flesh sunken, looking almost like living skeletons, save for the skin which stretched tightly over the bones; anger, despair, ferocity, hunger, terror-all were depicted upon those awful faces.’