John Buchan

The Watcher by the Threshold by John Buchan

I have told this story to many audiences with diverse results, and once again I take my reputation in my hands and brave the perils. To the common circle of my friends it was a romance for a winter's fire, and I, the most prosaic of men, was credited with a fancy. . . . One man only heard me with true appreciation; but he was a wandering spirit with an ear open to marvels, and I hesitate to advance his security. He received it simply, saying that God was great, and I cannot improve upon his comment. Thus begins Buchan's unnerving tale of terror at the edge of the Scottish Highlands. Buchan - a man more remembered for mysteries and war stories - was a real hand with horror, and this 1902 compilation displays his facility nicely.