Book Review: The Signalman by Charles Dickens

By georgelthomas on 5 Jan 2024 • ( 1 )

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. Today, I am reviewing the short story The Signalman by Charles Dickens.

The Signalman by Charles Dickens was first published in the Christmas edition of ‘All the Year Round’, a weekly literary magazine founded by Dickens, and (my copy) is 28 pages long.

The Plot
The story follows a man who meets a signalman as he’s walking along a railway line. The Signalman, visibly distressed, confides in the narrator his experiences concerning some peculiar sightings.

Characters
The Narrator
The narrator is a man who, while passing along a railway line, calls out to The Signalman there, although it’s unclear why he does. Upon sitting with The Signalman and chatting, he hears The Signalman’s tale of a strange figure who seems to be haunting him and acting as a possible portent of danger. Although creeped out by the stories of forewarned disasters that came to pass, the narrator doesn’t believe The Signalman’s story, instead believing that he should be seen by a doctor to get an opinion about what he is experiencing, and plans to tell him so when arriving for their third arranged meeting, he discovers tragedy has struck again.

The Signalman
The Signalman confides in the narrator that he has been haunted by a spectral figure who appears to be warning him of impending trouble on the railway line. He has seen him several times, with each leading to a disaster. He struggles to understand what the spectre wants and discusses his thoughts with the passerby.

Writing Style
The Signalman is an easy yet intriguing read. You’re drawn into the strange scenario almost immediately, and as the story progresses, things only get stranger.

The story is compelling thanks to Dickens’ skilful use of suspense and foreshadowing. His use of rich, descriptive language creates a palpable sense of tension and unease, drawing you into the world of The Signalman and leaving you on the edge of your seat as the story unfolds.

Dickens was a talented storyteller, and in my opinion, his spooky tales are some of his best work. I like to think he took great joy in coming up with and piecing together the plot and figuring out ways to pull readers unsuspectingly along for the spine-tingling tale.

Final Thoughts
I have been a fan of ghost stories and of Charles Dickens my whole life, and I was thrilled to discover The Signalman, which I was required to read in school. I remember falling instantly in love with this story. My dad and I used to share a love of old railway trains, specifically steam engines, and we’d spend hours together looking at books about them. When I read The Signalman in school, my dad read it too, and it quickly became a semi-tradition that we’d read it at Christmas (mainly because our copy was included in a compendium of Dickens’ other ghost stories, including my favourite, A Christmas Carol).

If you like to be spooked, if you enjoy reading ghost stories by lamplight at bedtime and feeling that icy tingle down your spine, then I very much recommend giving this short a read. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

I am giving The Signalman a full 10/10.

Have you read The Signalman or any of Dickens’ other ghost stories? Let me know your thoughts!

As ever, thank you so much for reading my review. Your time means the world to me.

Until next time,

George