The Judges House by Bram Stoker

The Judges House Reviews

• 
  Peter

  Malcomson needs time for his studies and rents a deserted old house. It was once owned by a mean judge. At late hours he always hears rats in the wainscot. Besides he's irritated when he sees an extremely large rat near the cord for the alarm bell. That cord has a very eerie pre-history and plays an important part in the later part of the story. An extremely eerie gothic tale by the old master. I liked the plotting and the fine crafted character. Also the characterization of the judge is extremely well done. And the eyes of the rat. Nothing for people who are afraid of rats or of mean judges. Recommended!
• 
  Steven Serpens

  Malcolm Malcolmson necesita con suma urgencia la más silenciosa y serena tranquilidad para enfocarse en sus estudios matemáticos; por lo que se mudará de forma temporal a un tranquilo y aislado pueblo, con la intención de obtener tal quietud. Y en efecto, encuentra satisfactoriamente la morada con los requerimientos que buscaba: una gran y vieja casona, completamente alejada de las de los demás lugareños. Pero esta casa tiene fama de ser temida y evitada por gran parte de los habitantes de dicha zona, ya que alberga un oscuro pasado y una escabrosa leyenda.
  
  La casa del juez es una lectura muy fluida y atrapante, realmente se hace amena y ligera. Aunque la trama que presenta es y se desarrolla de forma bastante básica y sin que tenga algo muy especial y/o relevante, cumple totalmente su cometido: el entretener y atrapar al lector. Además, tiene un muy buen ritmo, ya que lo principal recae en las noches de estudios que se hacen en la mencionada casa.
  Se narra cómo Malcolmson pasa un par de noches estudiando hasta que cada vez esté más perturbado que en la anterior, por los extraños hechos que allí suceden y que él presencia. Si bien en un principio se mostraba escéptico, cada vez irá cayendo más y más en el juego que esta sugestiva casa le ofrece.
  
  Esta antigua vivienda cuenta con una cuerda para una supuesta campana, pero considerando de que perteneció a un famoso juez conocido por sus despiadados juicios, era de suponer el propósito real de dicho artilugio, que es mencionado como pista antes de tiempo y que pude vislumbrar: ‘’Cuando tomó la cuerda en sus manos no pudo menos que notar lo flexible que era, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta su grosor y el tiempo que llevaba sin usar. Se podría colgar a un hombre de ella, pensó’’. Aquella cuerda era la horca de sus enjuiciados. Y no tomen esto como un spoiler, ya que de antemano era bastante evidente, obvio y predecible; por lo que no censuro esta información. Y, como mencioné, mientras más detalles se van descubriendo, más irá cayendo ante esta malévola presencia.
  Creo que el punto máximo es el haber dado la orden de desempolvar los viejos cuadros, ya que ahí verá un retrato del juez. Posterior a esto, tengo que mencionar que el juego del lazo entre el juez y Malcolmson es una clara referencia a cuando este último intentaba acabar a librazos con la misteriosa gran rata que lo acosaba.
  
  Con respecto al final, es oscuro, tal cual debe ser una obra de estas características. Sin embargo, me deja con la gran duda sobre si efectivamente los nervios y sugestión del estudiante sucumbieron tanto a las anormalidades que presenciaba, que resolvió suicidarse con la afamada cuerda; o, si realmente el fantasma del juez se manifestó ante él e hizo esto. Queda totalmente a nuestra interpretación personal este desenlace.
  También me hubiese gustado saber más detalles acerca de ese supuesto ‘’viejo diablo’’ que se asociaba con las cosas paranormales de la casa; y más información acerca de las leyendas tejidas sobre la propiedad de este juez, ya que poco se sabe y/o menciona sobre esto último.
  
  Mi calificación es de ★★★★☆. Lectura totalmente recomendada, ya que es simpática y cumplidora. Es lo primero que leo de Bram Stoker y me dejó con ganas de leer más sobre él. Por suerte, tengo un ejemplar de La guarida del gusano blanco; pero todavía no es su momento. Antes debo leer Drácula y posteriormente: la recopilación de El huésped de Drácula, y otros relatos, de Plutón Ediciones; por lo que tengo para rato con este autor y así poder llegar a la novela que ya tengo, pero que quiero dejar al último.
• 
  Charles van Buren

  Charles van Buren
  
  One of Bram Stoker's best stories
  
  December 9, 2019
  
  Review of Kindle edition
  Publication date: December 6, 2017
  Language: English
  ASIN: B077ZH38QH
  52 pages
  
  The Judge's House is considered by many to be Bram Stoker's greatest short story and one of Britain's finest ghost stories. It was first published in the December 5, 1891, special Christmas issue of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News weekly magazine. In 1914, it was published in the collection, Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories. It has since appeared in many anthologies. This edition is illustrated with small and, in my opinion, not particularly good drawings.
  
  If you have a phobia concerning or just a serious dislike for rats you may want to skip this one. Or maybe read it early in the morning so that you have the entire day to get over it before the witching hour approaches.
  
  A well written creepy story which has aged well. At least it has for most of us. There is a review on Amazon which reads in part, "Words inserted which had no meaning, no sense!! Was there an editor?" I can only surmise and hope that the author of this review read a different edition which contained many printing errors. That is certainly a better alternative than suspecting a limited vocabulary.
• 
  Bionic Jean

  The Judge’s House is a classic ghost story by the Irish author Bram Stoker. It was first published in the special Christmas issue of the weekly “Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News” magazine, on December 5th 1891. It was later republished in “Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories” in 1914, and has since appeared in many anthologies.
  
  The story centres on Malcolm Malcolmson, a graduate student who is studying for his final examinations in Mathematics. He arrives in a small town called Benchurch, looking for a quiet place to stay and work, while preparing for his final examinations. Determined to have privacy, he rents a rambling Jacobean mansion, surrounded by high brick walls, which has been uninhabited for many years. The lawyer acting as agent for the house is delighted to hear that Malcolmson wants to rent it, but warns him that the house has been empty for so long that the locals have developed an “absurd prejudice” about it. Malcolmson makes light of these local rumours and superstitions. He pays his rent and asks for the name of someone who might act as his housekeeper.
  
  At the local inn, the landlady, Mrs. Witham, is shocked to hear that Malcolmson will be living in what was known as the “Judge’s House”. She tells him that a hundred or more years ago, a judge had lived there who was notorious for his harsh sentences. Mrs. Witham admits that she does not know why this should bother her unduly, but she is worried for him. Malcolmson brushes this aside, so Mrs. Witham offers to secure the necessary provisions for him, while Malcolmson goes out to engage the old woman recommended by the agent.
  
  With help from Mrs. Dempster, the woman he has engaged to cook and clean for him, Malcolmson settles in to the huge dining room of the old house. Mrs. Dempster says that she is not afraid of any “bogies” in the house, because there are always strange noises in an old house, and there are many rats in the old wainscoting: “Rats is bogies, I tell you, and bogies is rats.” With that, Mrs. Dempster sets to work, and by the time she leaves for the night, the room is clean and tidy, with a good fire made up, and Malcolmson’s supper on the table.
  
  After supper, Malcolmson takes out his books and is absorbed in his study all evening. Taking a break at eleven o’clock, he then becomes aware of the rats, gnawing, scratching, and racing up and down behind the old wainscoting. He takes his lamp and walks around the room. There are old pictures on the walls, but they are coated with dust and grime, and he cannot see any details. He can see rats peeking through cracks and holes in the beautifully carved oak wainscoting. In the corner of the room, to the right hand side of the fireplace Malcolmson notices a rope hanging from a great bell on the roof. Settling down to his studies again, Malcolmson gets used to the noises and soon becomes immersed in his mathematics.
  
  Approaching dawn Malcolmson becomes aware of the sudden quiet. He look up to see on an enormous rat glaring at him from a high-backed oak chair. He tries to scare it away by brandishing a poker, but the rat bares its teeth and stays put. When Malcolmson grabs the poker, the rat runs up the rope and disappears into the darkness. At the same moment, the clamour of the other rats begins again. As a cock crows announcing the day, Malcolmson decides to go to bed, sleeping soundly until Mrs. Dempster wakes him for breakfast.
  
  He spends most of the next day walking and studying, stopping at the inn on the way back. As he chat to Mrs. Witham he mentions the rats in a jocular way, including “one wicked-looking old devil” that sat on his chair by the fire. Mrs. Witham takes this seriously, urging him to be careful:
  
  ““An old devil! The old devil, perhaps. There! sir, you needn’t laugh,” for Malcolmson had broken into a hearty peal. “You young folks thinks it easy to laugh at things that makes older ones shudder.”
  
  On the second evening, the rats seem to be even noisier, and to begin with Malcolmson finds it difficult to concentrate. Eventually he becomes engrossed in his Mathematics, until he notices that the room has become quiet. He sees the bell rope move slightly, and spies the giant rat again, back on the fireside chair. Malcolmson begins to throw books at it, but the rat dodges them easily. He stands up to threaten the rat with another book, and the rat cowers. Pleased at this, he throws the book accurately and hits the rat. It gives a terrible squeak, looks at him malevolently and then runs up the rope. The rat disappears through a hole in one of the pictures, the third from the fireplace. Malcolmson makes a mental note of the position, as he cannot see the pictures by candlelight. He picks up the book which had hit its target, and is startled to see that it was the Bible which his mother had given him. The rats begin to make noises again, but now Malcolmson is too on edge to work.
  
  After a disturbed night, full of dreams, Malcolmson awakes late in the morning. He asks Mrs. Dempster to clean the pictures, and then repeats his walk of the day before, stopping at the inn again on his way back. Mrs. Witham introduces him to a Dr. Thornhill, whom it transpires she has consulted, with Malcolmson in mind. The doctor listens to Malcolmson’s story about the enormous rat, and tells him that the rope the rat ran up is the very rope that had been used to hang the Judge’s victims. The doctor advises him to give up strong tea and not to study so late in the evening. Mrs. Witham had not intended him to mention the rope, but the doctor says he hopes Malcolmson will use it to call for help, if he needs to.
  
  By the time Malcolmson arrives back at the house, Mrs. Dempster has already left. He is pleased to find the place ready for him, with a welcome fire. Malcolmson sits down to dinner in good spirits, not minding the noises of the rats as they keep him company. During his evening’s study, the winds swell into a storm and the house begins to shake with the gale. The rope rises and falls, as the bell swings on the roof. This puts in mind what the doctor had told him about the rope. Malcolmson gets up and crosses the room, taking the rope in his hand. He begins to think about the Judge and his victims, when suddenly, the rope begins to shake. Malcolmson looks up and sees the great rat running down the rope itself. Cursing, Malcolmson drops the rope, and the rat runs back up it and disappears.
  
  Determined to see where the rat has run to, Malcolmson holds a lamp up to the picture into which the rat disappeared the previous night. It has now been cleaned, and the shock of seeing it nearly makes Malcolmson drops his lamp. It is a portrait of the Judge in his scarlet robes:
  
  “His face was strong and merciless, evil, crafty, and vindictive, with a sensual mouth, hooked nose of ruddy colour, and shaped like the beak of a bird of prey. The rest of the face was of a cadaverous colour. The eyes were of peculiar brilliance and with a terribly malignant expression”
  
  They are the same baleful eyes as the giant rat, who looks at him with a “fiendish leer”. The Judge is seated in the high-backed oak chair to the right of the fireplace, with the rope hanging down from the ceiling. Malcolmson looks towards that corner of the room, cries out, and drops his lamp. There in the chair sits the great rat leering at him with the Judge’s baleful eyes.
  
  Pulling himself together, Malcolmson mixes himself a drink to calm his nerves and sits down to work. An hour later, everything falls silent, and he looks up. He can hear the faint sound of the giant rat gnawing through the rope. As Malcolmson watches, the rat chews right through the rope, and the severed end falls on the floor. Malcolmson now realises that he can no longer ring the great bell to call for help. Terrified and angry, he throws his book at the rat, which disappears into the shadows.
  
  Malcolmson decides to track the rat down. He takes the shade off the lamp, and the bright light illuminates all the pictures. Malcolmson’s eyes are drawn to the third painting from the fireplace. However, right in the centre, there is a patch of blank canvas where the Judge should have been. “The figure of the Judge had disappeared.” Horrified, Malcolmson slowly turns around. Sitting there in the high-backed oak chair, he sees the Judge in his scarlet robe. Malcolmson stands frozen with terror as with a cruel smile, the Judge lifts up the black cap in his hand. On the stroke of midnight, the Judge triumphantly puts the black cap on his head: a sentence of death.
  
  Rising slowly from his chair, the Judge picks up the cut piece of rope and ties one end to make a noose. He blocks the doorway, throwing the noose over and over again. Malcolmson manages to dodge, but the Judge is relentless. He tries again and again, his eyes fixed on Malcolmson who only just manages to avoid being trapped by the rope each time. Looking around in despair, Malcolmson sees the rats peeking out of their holes watching. Then he notices that the rope of the alarm bell is covered with rats. As more and more rats get on the rope, the bell begins to sway. The Judge hears the sound:
  
  “and a scowl of diabolical anger overspread his face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals, and he stamped his foot with a sound that seemed to make the house shake. A dreadful peal of thunder broke overhead as he raised the rope again”.
  
  He approaches Malcolmson with the noose held open, and Malcolmson find he is paralysed with fear, as as the noose is tightened around his neck. The Judge then carries his rigid body to the oak chair. Placing the body standing on the chair, the Judge climbs next to it and grabs the rope hanging from the bell. The rats squeak and flee. The Judge ties the end of the noose to the bell rope, and then he steps down, and pulls the chair away.
  
  The story end with the alarm bell sounding, and a crowd gathering outside. They knock at the door but receive no reply. Led by Dr. Thornhill, they break down the door and run into the house. There they find the body of the student hanging from the bell rope, and the portrait of the Judge with a malignant smile on his face.
  
  What is intriguing to a modern reader of course, is how much of this was real, and how much the product of imagination. The penultimate events are ambiguous. Ghosts do not usually become solid flesh and blood, able to move objects. Even poltergeists can only move objects in a controlled way, and certainly not aim and throw a rope with precision, carry a body, etc. Nowadays we are well used to stories where the scientifically minded, arrogant male hero ends up knowing he should have taken notice of the old ways, which he cast off as mere superstitions. The Judge’s House is a disturbing analysis of the perils of self-isolation, self-reliance, and intellectual hubris, and as such, stands a little outside most Victorian fiction.
  
  Bram Stoker was of course, to go on to write “Dracula”, and here in The Judge’s House we can already see his skill in slowly building tension. In some ways the story is similar, with its naive protagonist, blindly going into a spooky house, and the hanging Judge, clearly based on the notorious 17th Century Judge Jeffreys (George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys) is every bit as malevolent as Count Dracula.
  
  The story feels familiar, as all classic stories do, because of their imitations. Nevertheless The Judge’s House is not original. It is a combination of two stories by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: “Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street” and “Mr Justice Harbottle”. Both stories revolve around a house which is haunted by the malevolent spirit of a Georgian hanging judge. The first story features two overworked students who rent a cheap house, horrible nightmares, a giant rat which is a reincarnations of the dead judge, a haunted portrait of the previous owner, and the hideous sight of the judge casually coming towards one of the young renters with a noose in hand! A few elements would not need comment, but this is so similar that it is virtually a retelling, except for the ending. J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s first story had been written in 1853, nearly forty years earlier.
  
  It is a trope in Victorian ghost stories that a lone male character is beset by indefatigable enemies. Throughout the 1890s, Bram Stoker wrote several such stories, where a solitary male characters is plagued by a supernatural enemy, because of a slight mistake he has made and which he must be punished for. In The Judge’s House the sin is one which would also become a favourite of M.R. James later: the cynicism and arrogance of intellectualism. An extraordinarily heavy price seems to have to be paid for such a trivial crime. M.R James was also to use the notorious Judge Jeffreys in his short story “Martin’s Close”, and several of the themes in The Judge’s House are used in other short stories by him. They too all seem to feature bookish loners, who end up mentally tortured in some way.
  
  The Judge’s House is a slow burning tale of dread and horror; an effective ghostly tale.
  
  “Tonight the rats disturbed him more than they had done on the previous night. How they scampered up and down and under and over! How they squeaked, and scratched, and gnawed! How they, getting bolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes and to the chinks and cracks and crannies in the wainscoting till their eyes shone like tiny lamps as the firelight rose and fell.”
• 
  Amina

  First review : 3 stars
  
  Well, it wasn't that frightening being a Bram Stoker story, not even a single chill, but the end wasn't what I expected, which made it for the three stars!
  
  Second review: 4 stars
  
  I still don't find it that creepy but I guess it's just because I am safe in my house with my family.
  When you put yourself in the student's shoes, I think that the situation changes dramatically! 🤤👻
• 
  Gerberaliteraria

  Sencilla, rápida de leer y da miedito jeje. La recomiendo, he de admitir que he pasado un poco de miedo, no como para morirme pero ha sido una breve pero buena historia.
• 
  Tom Mathews

  This story remains as creepy now as it did when I first read it as a teenager. It is still my favorite work by
  Bram Stoker.
  
  An online copy of the story can be found
  here (ignore the picture. It's for a different story.) In addition, an audiorecording can be found copy of the story can be found
  here.
  
• 
  Helga

  
  A short classic ghost story by the author of Dracula.
• 
  Just Josie

  Spooky. A Good ol’ classic spooky tale.
  
  A student in England decides he needs a little quiet time for him to study, and ends up in a very old house that hasn’t been inhabited for years. Strange and mysteries things happen. Let me just say this, I fucking hate rats.
  
  Read: 08/04/2019
  1st rating: 4 stars
  Genre/sub-genres: Horror/Classic
  Cover: 1 star
  POV: Single - 3 person (Malcolmson)
• 
  Sam

  Although this is quite a short story it is as full of gripping tension, foreboding and anticipation as you would expect from Stoker. It follows a young student who rents an old empty house in a small English village for peace and quite so he can study. Unfortunately that's not quite what he gets as the house is invested with rats...and something/someone else. This story will certainly make you think the next time your looking at the photographs of people past if you go a-wandering through the rooms of historic houses, especially those that have ropes hanging beside their fireplaces.
• 
  Asha Seth

  OMFG! Was this scary!
  .
  .
  My skin went crawling at the appearance of the judge, finally. And how terrible an outcome for Malcolm!
  .
  .
  And rats! Those goddamn rats! Never hated them more. Now that I think of it, perhaps, this story with the prominent presence of those creepy rodents was the inspiration behind the ratly horror in Stephen King's 1922.
  .
  .
  Must read! Must read!
• 
  Andrea Vivanco

  Una historia corta, pero intrigante hasta el final. Admito que no me ha dado miedo, pero la he disfrutado bastante.
• 
  midnightfaerie

  A beautifully written horror that will give you chills. Stoker has always been one of my favorite writers ever since I read Dracula, and when I saw this, I had to give it a try. I decided not to read the description and loved that I knew nothing about it. So I will not tell you about the story, in case you'd like to do the same. All the way up until the end, I was constantly surprised, and wasn't quite sure how things would end. Loved it. Highly recommended.
• 
  Tam

  "There at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell hung the body of the
  student, and on the face of the Judge in the picture was a malignant smile."
  
  I didn't know Stoker wrote short tales and now I want more!
  
• 
  Iliana Mermaid

  Un relato espeluznante, no apto para los que no quieren nada a las ratas.
  
  Stoker nos ubica en una mansión antigua, casi deshabitada, donde el protagonista se instala con el afán de estudiar en tranquilidad. Pero ese lugar tiene una oscura historia, y el joven no tardará en darse cuenta de ello.
  
  Stoker y su prosa le hacen un bien enorme a este mundo. Es increíble como con pocas páginas logra tantas cosas.
• 
  Colleen Houck

  If rats and mice didn't scare me enough before this short story sure did the trick. Pick this one up if you're looking for a quick scare. The ending was not expected. Loved it!
• 
  Nicolás Ortenzi

  Un cuento tan macabro y escalofriante, como pocos he leído. Bram Stoker hace una descripción excelente y vivida del juez con la horca en la mano y un final quizás por lo menos para mi, inesperado.
• 
  Laura

  Free download available at Project Gutenberg. This short story was published after Stoker's death.
  
  Malcolm Malcolmson discovers the truth of 'absurd prejudices' which have accrued around an empty property.
  Stars Nigel Havers as Malcolmson, Nancy Nevinson as Mrs Dempster and Jane Thompson as Mrs Witham. With David Timson and Alexander John.
  Dramatised by Patricia Mays.
  Directed by Derek Hoddinott
  
  
  https://archive.org/details/TheJudges...
• 
  Allyson (Belle)

  I read this (in The Oxford Book of Ghost Stories) for my ghost stories English class and loved it. It's exactly the kind of scary stories I like. Since it's told in the present from his perspective, the reader has no idea whether the character lives or dies like many of the other ghost stories we've been reading this class. Definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of scary stories.
• 
  Marts (Thinker)

  Neglecting the tales that he hears about a former judge's house, a student still decides to stay there for a while to 'get away'. Soon he realises that he's made a big mistake...
• 
  Anton

  Horror writing at its finest! Creepy!
• 
  Jeraviz

  Si te dan miedo las ratas, este relato da bastante cosilla. Una manera rápida de empezar a leer a Bram Stoker.
• 
  Arthur

  A 50 minute unabridged audiobook (audio short story).
  
  Man rents secluded and haunted house to find time to be alone and study. Lots of rats. Creepy story but fairly tame and anticlimactic. It was okay.
• 
  Shannon

  This was super creepy! I am happy to have enjoyed this one as I wasn't a super fan of Dracula. Who knew?
• 
  Octavi

  El relato bien, sin más. Los narradores (lo he escuchado en audiolibro) son pésimos.
• 
  Jyvur Entropy

  Very atmospheric and spooky ghost story. All of the descriptions and tension, I felt like I was right in front of that fire, listening to the scurrying rats with the student.
• 
  Nick121235

  So fun. Bram Stoker is a great writer of classic ghost stories in the vein of Sheridan Le Fanu, presaging the likes of MR James and Algernon Blackwood. This story is short but sweet. Wish it had been the middle of the night when I read it instead of a bright summer day but that's my own fault. Maybe I'll re-read it at the witching hour sometime.
• 
  - Jared - ₪ Book Nerd ₪

  Summary: A student needs a place for quiet solitude while he studies for his finals. He comes across a secluded old house that is said to be infested with evil. Known simply as 'The Judges House', because it was once the home of a cruel judge that favored a sentence of hanging whenever he could. But the rent is low and he doesn't pay any heed to superstition as he is far too intellectual to give into that nonsense. He'll pay for his arrogance!
  
  Thoughts: The book is rather tame by today's horror/thriller standards but a creepy classic nonetheless. Good read for October!
• 
  Tom

  Giant rat plagues a temporary resident of a house in a quiet village - this rodent is later disclosed to strangely resemble the ghost of the judge, who disappears from his portrait on the wall (the rat is using this as a kind of nest, having gnawed a hole through it), and reappears bodily in the room. He then uses the bell pull to hang the protagonist. Fairly unexceptional, some nice descriptions here and there.
• 
  Benjamin Stahl

  Bram Stoker ... not only master of the horror novel, but evidently the short story too. This was in both measures chilling and terrifying. So many great little touches. This along with Stephen King's Graveyard Shift are the best - and, really, the only decent - rat stories I have read. This one takes precedence over King's tale though.