Ghosts at the Mount

Edith Wharton spent her literary lifetime working out her relationships through her writings. Best known for her social commentary on the artificiality of the Gilded Age and the intricacies of loveless marriages, she nevertheless devoted a large portion of her short stories to the spectral world.

Wharton, who began writing ghost stories late in her career, died during the preparation of Ghosts, an anthology of 10 previously published ghost stories as well as her last story, All Souls. To Wharton, whether ghosts actually “existed” was irrelevant.

“It is luckier for a ghost to be vividly imagined than dully ‘experienced,’” she said, explaining that a successful ghost story should produce “a thermometrical quality; if it sends a cold shiver down one’s spine, it has done its job and done it well.”

Wharton built her own home, The Mount, in Lenox in 1902 and spent years of her own unhappy marriage there. It is now a historic house museum and venue for cultural programs. The Mount’s Ghost Tour Team will again use one of her ghostly tales to celebrate Halloween this year.

On October 19th and 26th, at 5:30 PM, performing songwriter and poet Elric Walker will present a dramatic reading of, Kerfol, a tale unique among her ghost stories because the specters are not humans but dogs that haunt Kerfol, a Brittany estate.

The Mount’s outdoor program will be presented near the Stable. Heaters will thwart the evening’s chill and there will be complimentary hot cider and doughnuts.

Admission is $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Advanced registration is recommended. In event of rain, the program will move into the Stable auditorium.