This tale, also known under its alternative title 'To Be Taken With A Grain of Salt', is one of several ghost stories written by one of the most celebrated of all nineteenth century English novelists, Charles Dickens. Loosely based on the real-life murder of Lord William Russell, the story follows a juror on a murder trial who experiences a series of unsettling visions... The story starts at 00:01:25

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00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:25 The Trial for Murder
00:34:17 Credits, thanks and further listening

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812–1870), one of the most famous and celebrated novelists of the Victorian era, created some of the most memorable characters in world literature. He completed 14 full-length novels, including 'Oliver Twist', 'Great Expectations', 'Bleak House', 'Little Dorrit' and the semi-autobiographical 'David Copperfield', five novellas (including 'A Christmas Carol') and hundreds of short stories and essays. Much of his work is notable for biting social commentary on the plight of the poor, and sharp satire lampooning the rich and powerful.

This story was first published uncredited (under the title 'To Be Taken With A Grain of Salt') as part of 'Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions' in the 1865 Christmas edition of Dickens' own periodical 'All the Year Round'. It has gone on to be much anthologised, and is probably Dickens's second best-known short ghost story, after 'The Signalman', which followed the next year in the 1866 Christmas number.

Note for returning listeners: long-time subscribers may have heard this story on the channel before (it was available 2019–2022). This is a new upload because the previous version contained several errors, the major one being that I'd somehow inadvertently deleted three long paragraphs (about 2–3 minutes of narrative) during the editing process! So here is the complete story...

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2023.