The Signalman

Originally Aired: November 4, 1956 Suspense #672, "The Signalman," stars Sarah Churchill in this adaptation of Charles Dickens' chilling tale. Amy Sayr, a writer returning to her childhood village after twenty years, seeks to interview the mysterious signalman who works at a desolate railway cutting near a dark tunnel. When she calls down to him from above, her words "Hello, below there" provoke a strange, fearful reaction. The signalman seems to dread her presence, acting as though he has seen her before—standing by the red signal light at the tunnel's mouth. As Amy settles into his small, book-filled shack by the tracks, she discovers this educated, philosophical man has spent thirty-four years in isolation, having given up on life after squandering his youthful promise. The tension deepens as the signalman probes Amy's reasons for visiting at this particular time, suggesting she may have been drawn there by forces beyond her understanding. He speaks cryptically of premonitions and the possibility that the future can intrude upon memory. As trains scream past like wounded monsters and disappear into the ominous tunnel, both the signalman's dread and the reason for Amy's childhood terror begin to reveal themselves.