A Shady Plot

Summary:

‘Shady Plot’ by Elsie Brown is a ghost story. Unlike the usual horror stories, this ghost story is
an amusing one. It involves three main characters, John Hallock, his wife Lavinia and a ghost
Helena.
John Hallock was a writer and also worked as a book keeper for a lumber company. He was
urged by his employer Mr. Jerkins to write a new ghost story for his magazine. He told Mr.
Hallock to write a very horrifying story with supernatural elements because the public liked
these kinds of stories. The writer agreed to this proposal for no one else printed his stuff. He
was surprised how he could have written the earlier ghost stories for he was not a specialist
in this genre. Whenever he had decided to write a ghost story, surprisingly the plot had
appeared from nowhere.
The writer sat down to pen the story, though no idea occurred to him. In fact his mind was
wandering towards his wife’s shopping trips and other unghostly things. Suddenly, the ghost
Helena appeared to him.
The ghost informed him that she had been helping him to write ghost stories. She said that
all the ghosts were contemplating to call a strike because the ghosts were troubled by people calling them through Ouija boards at any time of day /night. She asked the writer to
urge his friends and acquaintances to stop using the Ouija boards.
At noon, while he was still trying to work on a story, his wife Lavinia brought home a Ouija
Board and announced a party with the women from her Book Club. The writer tried to
convince Lavinia, his wife, to drop the idea.
However, on the day of the party, he had to partner an elderly lady Laura Hinkle to work on
one of the Ouija boards.
The spirit began naming the narrator through all the Ouija boards and identified herself as
‘Helen’.
The conversation of the writer and the ghostly figure was interrupted by the arrival of the
writer’s wife who is surprised to see her husband sitting in the dark and talking loudly to
himself. However, she was going gaga over a recent purchase she had made. On the writer’s
query she revealed that she had bought a Ouija board to help the writer to write the stories.
She said that she wanted to make story writing easy for the writer from now onwards. The
writer tried his best to dissuade his wife from keeping the Ouija board but she refused to
listen. The writer thought that he would reason with his wife later.
Next day the writer set out for his job. He worked as an accountant for a lumber company
and could not give up his job and take to full-time story-writing due to financial problems.
On reaching home he was told by his cook to get ready and come down as his wife had
invited some guests. When he came down eventually, he was surprised to see that their
parlour was full of women belonging to his wife’s book club. They were sitting in two’s and
between two friends there was a Ouija board. Immediately his wife appeared and she wanted
the writer to be a partner of Mrs Hinkle, who was without any other friend.
Miss Hinkle took the writer’s fingers and started moving them on the Ouija board.
Surprisingly the words spelt on the board were ‘TRAITOR.’ Mrs. Hinkle wanted the board to
clarify as to who was a traitor. The Ouija board spelled out that it was Mr Hallock. On
enquiring what was the identity of the speaker, the board revealed that it was someone with
the name of Helen.
This fact created a furore in the entire room and the ladies along with the writer’s wife
gathered around the writer and looked at him accusingly. All the Ouija boards signalled
towards the writer. The writer could not answer. He fled the scene and went to sleep. Next
morning, he noticed a slip of paper with the message that his wife was leaving him for good
and her lawyer would communicate with him. The writer was shocked and surprised at this
development. Meanwhile Helen, the ghost, reappeared and told the writer that she had been
sent to ensure that his wife was going to get rid of that Ouija board. The writer was very angry and he retorted that the ghost had made the writer lose his wife, his home and his
happiness. The writer’s wife Lavinia entered and told the writer that she was moving out. The
writer was trying to shield and cover Helen, when his wife remarked that he was behaving
very strangely. The Cook barged in and announced that she was not going to serve in a
place where there were Ouija boards and activities relating to curses and charms. Lavinia was
in no mood to be pacified. She sprang quickly to see who was standing behind her husband.
Helen did not disappear this time and boldly announced to Lavinia that she indeed was
Helen. Lavinia felt very miserable to create such a ruckus and accuse her husband of
infidelity. The writer felt inspired and realised that he had indeed hit upon an excellent plot
for a ghost story.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Describe the ghost.
Helen, the ghost was long and angular and was wearing a stiff white shirtwaist and a
plaid skirt. She had enormous fishy eyes behind big bone-rimmed spectacles and her
hair in a tight wad at the back of her head.

2. Bring out the irony of the statement: ‘I did not specialize in ghost stories, but more or
less they seemed to specialize in me’.
The narrator was a writer who used to work for Jenkins, a publisher. He wanted the
writer to write ghost stories because they were in more demand. The narrator did not
want to write ghost stories out of his choice. He wanted to write stories of other
genres, but his ghost stories were popular. It was the ghost of Helen, who helped him
to write ghost stories.

3. Who did the narrator think was the ghost when she told him that he had sent for her?
The narrator thought that the figure before him was a ghost of a stenographer
applying for a job. He had put it an advertisement in the newspaper recently.

4. How did the members of ‘The Writer’s inspiration Bureau’ find their cases?
The members of ‘The Writer’s inspiration Bureau’ scouted around until they found a
writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impression. The case was
brought to the attention of the main office and then one of them was assigned to the
case. Once finished, a report was made.

5. Why did the ghosts have to give up haunting according to Helen?
Earlier the ghosts did not have much to occupy them. They used to haunt a little for
amusements. But now because of the Ouija board fanatics they have had to give up
haunting and sit at desks all day and answer all kinds of questions.

6. Why does John want the ghost to disappear before his wife appears on the scene?
John did not want his wife to see Helen as he thought she would create troubles for
him. Lavinia was subject to hysterics. John thought if she would see Helen, the ghost,
she might start laughing or crying loudly. Moreover he was afraid of getting more
misunderstanding between them.

7. What made Lavania buy a Ouija board? How did the narrator react to her doing?
Lavinia bought a Ouija board because it was at a bargain sale. She found it duckliest
and darlingest thing and couldn’t resist buying it. Hallock asked her to exchange it for
something else. He got scared of the upcoming danger, of the anger of the ghost,
Helen. Secondly John was protective of Lavinia and did not want her to get into any
kind of trouble.

8. Why did Lavinia not want to exchange the Ouija board?
Lavinia did not want to exchange the Ouija board because she had bought it at a
bargain sale and they do not exchange. Secondly, she was interested in the ‘other
world’.

9. What is your impression of Mrs. Lavinia?
Mrs. Lavinia was a spendthrift. She was unconcerned about John’s financial problems.
She didn’t bother that her husband was a writer and supplement his income by his
writings. She was not amenable to suggestions, hence refuses to get rid of the Ouija
board even though her husband insist on it. She was fond of parties. She didn’t think
much before reacting.

10. Why couldn’t the narrator devote his whole time to writing?
The narrator couldn’t devote his whole time to writing. He also worked as a
bookkeeper in a lumber company which helped him pay the grocery bills and for his
wife’s fancy shopping.

11. What was scene in the parlour at Lavinia’s Ouija board party?
When the narrator came down dressed in his second best suit, there was a great chattering coming from the parlour. The room was full of women seated in couples
with an Ouija between each couple. Most of them were elderly and belonged to his
wife’s Book Club. The mournful squeak of the legs of the triangular pieces of the Ouija
board mixed with the conversation.

12. What happened to the narrator’s face when he was nervous or excited?
When the narrator was nervous or excited, a muscle in his face started to twitch and
this pulled up the corner of his mouth and gave the appearance of an idiotic grin.

13. Why did the narrator call the ladies at the party as ‘manipulators’?
The narrator’s wife bought the Ouija board and refused to written despite him asking
her to do so. Next, she held the Ouija board party at his house and he was pulled into
attending the party and manipulated to partner another lady. All this gave him reason
to call them ‘manipulators’.

14. Why did the ghost walk and talk in sections when she appeared the second time?
The ghost, Helen had been working the whole night and was tired and was not able to
retain all her faculties. She was exasperated because she had been sent to ask him
when his wife would get rid of the Ouija board.

15. Write a brief character sketch of John Hallock.
He was boastful and overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories and he did
not believe in Helen and he is skeptical about ghosts. He is creative as he is able to
write stories and is also protective of his wife. He is gentle and kind with Gladolia.

16. Write a brief character sketch of Lavinia Hallock.
She is whimsical and loves novelty and thrills. She picks up fads with enthusiasm. She
is also suspicious and jealous and gets upset with John and Laura. She is manipulative
and does not let John have his way. She is strong as a person and takes the appearance
of the ghost in her stride.

17. What role does the supernatural play in the lives of the Hallocks (John and Lavinia)?
At the Ouija board party at Lavinia’s house, Mrs. Laura’s Ouija board reveals that a
women by the name of Helen wants to communicate with John. The Ouija boards of
other women make a similar revelation. Helen’s attempt to communicate with John
(she wants him to tell his wife to get rid of the Ouija board) is misconstrued as a proof
of Liaison with Helen. Lavinia is smitten with jealousy; she decides to divorce her
husband. The ghost thus becomes the unwitting cause of a serious rift between husband and wife. The situation takes a dramatic turn. Lavinia enters John’s room to
tell him that she was leaving for good. John’s furtive glances and strange gestures
aroused her suspicion that he is hiding somebody. It can be none other than Helen, she
thought. In a furious mood she pushed her husband to confront Helen. She was
pleasantly surprised to find that Helen was a ghost and not a woman of ravishing
beauty for whom her husband has fallen. Her fears were allayed and she fell in the
arms of her husband. The guest this time saved their marriage and reunited them.

18. Why did Lavinia decide to leave John Hallock? Describe the circumstances leading to
her decision?
John Hallock was a ghost-story writer. Lavinia, his wife was very angry and felt jealous
when the Ouija board showed her husband a ‘traitor’. She thought that John had been
cheating on her with a woman named Helen. She suspected him of doing something
wrong and hence decided to leave John Hallock and go to her grandmother’s house.
Helen, the ghost was forcing the narrator to convince people to stop using Ouija’s
boards. But when his own wife held an Ouija party at home, he got scared of the
ghost’s anger. He knew that if Lavinia had the sight of the ghost she would get scared.
But his apprehensions of being protecting his wife proved the other way. Next
morning when Lavinia came to John’s room to say goodbye she found that he was
trying to hide someone in the room. She became more furious. But when she came
face to face with Helen, she felt relieved and contentment spilled over her face on
realizing that Helen was just a ghost.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS - ANSWER SCHEME

Q1 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

(a) “You know I bought the loveliest thing this afternoon. Everybody’s wild over them!”

i. Who is the speaker of the above lines?

Lavinia, the wife of John Hallock, is the speaker of the above lines.

ii. What had she bought and why?

She had bought an Ouija board, cheap at a bargain sale. She also wanted it to help

her husband write stories.

iii. How did the listener react to her statement?

Her husband was troubled that the ghost may appear on hearing Lavinia and make

her hysterical.

iv. Find the synonym of ‘excited’

wild

(b) “It’s all your fault.” She glared at me, while part of her hair and her plaid skirt began

slowly to take form.

i. Who is referred to as ‘she’?

The ghost, Helen is referred to as ‘she’

ii. Who was she speaking to and where?

She was speaking to the narrator, John Hallock when she appeared before him the

second time while he was seated at his desk in the library for another try at writing

a story.

iii. What did she feel was his fault?

The ghost, Helen had been working the whole night and was tired. She was not

able to retain all her faculties. She was exasperated because she had been sent to

ask him when his wife would get rid of the Ouija board.

iv. Given the antonym of ‘part’

whole

Q2 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each.

i. Why does the ghost appear before the writer?

The ghost appears before the writer because she wanted him to tell his friends and

acquaintances to stop using the Ouija board and to tell him that that she and the

other hosts were going on a strike.

ii. What did the ghost tell about her life before she became a ghost?

The ghost, Helen tells the narrator that she used to write in her other life. She gave

it up and began work as a reader on a magazine. She found those days to be

terrible.

iii. Why had John not wanted his wife to encounter the ghost? Was his reasoning correct?

Why/ Why not?

John felt that his wife was so sensitive that she could not bear to have a mouse say

‘boo’ to her. Seeing a ghost in her own living-room would drive her to hysterics.

His fears were unfounded as she smiled at the ghost, relieved she was not Helen of

Troy.

iv. ‘I did not specialize in ghost stories, but more or less, they seemed to specialize in me.’

Explain the statement

Jenkins, wanted the narrator to write ghost stories for his magazine because they

were more in demand. In the past, whenever Jenkins wanted him to write a story,

the narrator could not think of a plot in his mind but mysteriously he was able to write ghost stories. Writing ghost stories was not his forte.

v.How is ‘A Shady Plot’ different from other ghost stories?

The story – ‘A Shady Plot ‘involves a ghost which appears in parts. It also involves

Ouija boards. However, The ghost talks about her life as a human being making it

seem real and does not create fear. The ghost does not create trouble but unites

the couple and becomes an inspiration to the narrator for writing another story.

Q3 Answer the following long answer type questions in 100-120 words.

(a) How did Lavinia react on seeing the ghost?

When Lavinia came with her bags to tell John Hallock that she was going to her

grandmother’s house, Helen, the ghost was in the room. John Hallock did want his

wife to see the ghost because Lavinia was a sensitive woman. Lavinia understood

from John Hallock’s expression that he was hiding something. When she called out

to Helen, the ghost appeared before her. The narrator threw a protecting arm

around Lavinia to catch her when she would faint but Lavinia did not get hysterical

or faint; instead she gave a broad satisfied smile when she realized that it was a

ghost.

(b) Why did the narrator not find it healthy to contradict Jenkins?

The narrator wrote stories as a means of making additional money. Jenkin’s

magazine was the only one that printed the narrator’s stories. The narrator didn’t

specialize in writing ghost stories but mysteriously the plot seemed to come to him

whenever he sat down to write a ghost story. A ghost story was the first fiction he

had written. Hence, whenever Jenkins asked the narrator to write ghost stories he

couldn’t refuse because Jenkins had the uncanny knowledge to know when the

narrator had overdue rent and grocery payment.The narrator had been able to

write a ghost story whenever asked for and as a result had bedun to get a bit

overconfident of his ability.

(c) What lesson does John Hancock learn from his encounter with the ghost?

John Hancock, a reluctant writer of ghost stories, starts getting cocky about his

ability to bring forth ghost stories at his will. One day, he is visited by a ghost, who

is part of a writers’ inspiration bureau, members of which inspire authors like

Hancock to write. The ghost demands a favour from him. She tells the writer that

they are on a strike because of constant use of ouija boards and requests the writer

to stop people from using the board. Later, Hancock’s wife brings an Ouija board,

and hosts an Ouija board party. The writer is forced to use the board by his wife.

The angry ghost then plays havoc with his married life, leading to a big dispute

with his wife. Hancock realises his ideas come as inspiration from the ghosts and

writes about the incident. The value that one can derive from this story is that one

should not be overconfident about one’s own ability.