Though he was (in his day) prolific,¹ popular, and commercially successful – F. Marion Crawford's posthumous "literary star" appears to have faded quite quickly.² For the next seven days, however, Dreadful Thoughts will be waving a ragged Crawford-ian flag and trying to give his largely-forgotten name a very modest boost (either by praising him or slagging him off). An apt moment for such an exercise given that the one hundredth anniversary of his death has just passed.³

Though "weird tales" were but a small part of his overall output, it is to one such weird tale that we now turn – the damp, dark, seawater-drenched "The Upper Berth" (1886). So come ye salty dogs. Come ye land lubbers. Come ye Easter bunnies. Put down the washing. Pull closed the curtains. Tell us what ye think and thought.

1. Writing over forty books. [back]
2. David Stuart Davies, in his introduction to The Witch of Prague & Other Stories (Wordsworth Editions, 2008) ISBN: 9781840220902. [back]
3. April 9th, 1909. [back]