Vince is stranded at a bus stop one cold and wet stormy November evening when a mysterious stranger offers him a lift and a room for the night. The stranger is one Michael James, a local aristocrat, and owner of The James Hotel in the nearby town of Execombe.
It's an old hotel of mysterious figures and strange voices.
It's a place where the owner and his equally mysterious reception manager repeatedly states "Nobody ever wants to leave!"
What is the secret of The James Hotel? Who are the residents? And more importantly, what secrets lurk within the fabric of its historic walls?
Now contains bonus short tale: Henrietta's Story
A quick but captivating ghost story set in the late 1970s. While I didn't enjoy this one as much as Mason's other tale, "The Small Bronze Carriage on the Mantelpiece," it was rich with detail and provided a noteworthy sense of place and the characters inhabiting it. Events didn't quite go the way I was expecting, or hoping, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Ultimately, I found "The Residents of James Hotel" satisfying and worthwhile. It just wasn't a perfect fit for me, given my personal tastes and preferences when experiencing such narratives.