The Woman in Black

Arthur Kidd travels from London to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral and settle Alice Drablow's estate. He meets the local landowner Sam Toovey and quickly senses that the townspeople are reluctant to speak openly about Drablow or her house. The stage is set for a visit haunted by silence and suspicion.

At the funeral, a lone mourner dressed in black draws Kidd's attention. He mentions her to Pepperell, who becomes frightened, hinting at dark secrets surrounding Drablow. The town's reticence about Eel Marsh House begins to weigh on him.

During his arrival, a lumber truck breaks loose causing logs to spill toward a Romani child; Kidd acts quickly to pull him clear and save him from harm. The rescuer's courage is noted, but it also deepens the sense that danger lingers in Crythin Gifford.

A local coachman takes Kidd to Eel Marsh House, which is only reachable by a tidal causeway that appears at low tide. The coachman shows him how to start the generator powering the lights. Kidd feels the isolation of the marsh and the house closing in around him.

Left alone, Kidd searches the graveyard and then the study, where he sees the Woman in Black again. He finds death certificates and photographs of a young woman who resembles her, and listens to disturbing wax-cylinder recordings made by Mrs. Drablow.

Toovey arrives to warn Kidd not to return to Eel Marsh House, but Kidd refuses to be cowed. Despite the warning, he accepts a loan of a dog named Spider to aid his investigations.

On his return, Kidd hears a bouncing ball from upstairs and is drawn to a locked door that opens by itself. Inside he discovers an immaculate nursery and, to his shock, a lead toy soldier appears in his hand.

The generator falters as it runs down, forcing Kidd to scramble to restart it. Outside, he keeps hearing the echoes of a drowning horse, a woman, and a child carried by the marsh wind.

Frightened almost to madness, Kidd hides in the house and records his fears onto the wax cylinders. The noises unnervingly confirm that the Woman in Black is a real presence haunting him.

Kidd reads Mrs. Drablow's papers and learns that her sister Jennet Goss had a child out of wedlock. Jennet's son is suspected to have been hidden and protected, but Jennet kidnapped him and tried to escape via the causeway, where the pony and trap sank, killing everyone.

Toovey arrives at Eel Marsh House, brought by Spider, and confirms that seeing the Woman in Black presages a child's death. He finds the nursery room in chaos, with toys smashed as if a disturbance occurred.

Kidd returns to London and resumes work, only to be confronted by a customer—a woman dressed in widow's black. He searches Mrs. Drablow's papers for the toy soldier, and in a panic burns the papers and the box, nearly destroying part of his office.

Kidd's boss fires him after the incident, condemning the reckless handling of the Drablow papers. The firm abandons him as the case spirals out of control and his professional life begins to unravel.

Weeks later, on a boating trip, Kidd sees the Woman in Black standing on the surface of the lake. A tree suddenly falls on their boat, crushing and drowning him and his family.