Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928, and 1930. Among her most popular and terrifying tales are the many masterly ghost stories which she wrote in her early career.

During a convivial evening during which all the guests recount their own personal ghost stories, nobody expects the dry old host, Andrew Culwin, to contribute any supernatural experience. But when most of the guests have left, the youngest man present, Phil Frenham, challenges Culwin on the subject. In response, Culwin hands out another round of cigars and embarks on the strangest tale of all.