I have recently read the creepy short supernatural victorian ghost story Number 13 by M.R.James. It concerns an academic named Mr Anderson Who is visiting the town of Viborg, Denmark and is engaged in work to research the local church’s history, and is authenticating papers which appear to date back to the Reformation. He discovers that a former priest may have been dabbling in occult practices in secret, and apparently sold his soul to the devil, but being a sensible man of science, Anderson dismisses this.
He decides to lodge in room 12 of a draughty hotel called The Golden Lion in Viborg. That night He notices that the hotel rooms jump from 12 to 14. upon discussing the matter with the inn-keep, he learns that there is no such room number as 13 in the building, as it is considered bad luck. Which Anderson dismisses as silly superstition.
However Once in his room, he notices that the space seems to grow smaller and his furniture and belongings sometimes vanish. On The first night is awoken when he hears dancing in the room next door, upon investigating he is shocked to find the door to room number 13 has mysteriously appeared. He asks the inn-keep to visit his room at night. While talking, they hear sinister laughter and hideous unearthly noises emanating from the room next door. So They check Number 14, but learn that its occupant thought it was them. They then discover the door to Number 13 which the narrator had seen earlier has mysteriously reappeared and decide to enter the room. However they soon wish they hadn’t when a hideous clawed hand suddenly appears and tries to drag them in…
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