Bells at St. Andrew's Church, Clifton Campville, Staffordshire, England.
"Ringing the Changes" is a short ghost story by the British author Robert Aickman. It was first published in 1955 as part of the anthology The Third Ghost Book. It has been republished multiple times since then, including in the 1964 collection of Aickman's tales Dark Entries and the 1983 anthology Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.
The story concerns a recently married couple, Gerald and Phrynne Banstead, who are spending their honeymoon in October in the seaside town of Holihaven in the east of England. Almost as soon as they arrive in town, they hear the sound of a loud bell tolling. By the time they have walked through the deserted streets to their hotel, many more bells have started ringing loudly. The only other person staying at the hotel, a long term resident and former military man known as Commandant Shotcroft, tells Gerald to leave immediately because the bells are being rung to wake the dead.
"Ringing the Changes" has been adapted for radio and television.
Plot[]
In June, Gerald Banstead marries Phrynne, a woman twenty years his junior. They are unable to go on their honeymoon until October. Phrynne wants to go somewhere Gerald has never been to before. They take a train to the seaside town of Holihaven on the east coast of England where they have a reservation at the Bell Hotel. On arrival at the station in Holihaven, Gerald asks the staff for directions to the Bell. At that moment, a loud bell starts tolling. Gerald is given vague directions that he and Phrynne follow. More bells begin to ring loudly while they walk. Gerald is bothered by the loud ringing but Phrynne says that she does not mind it. Although it is not yet six o'clock in the evening, the dark streets are completely deserted. Gerald and Phrynne have difficulty finding their hotel, walking past it at one point.
At the Bell, Gerald and Phrynne are greeted by one of its owners, Mrs. Hilda Pascoe. She apologizes for her husband, Don, not being able to greet them due to illness. She tells them that the only other person staying at the hotel is the long term resident Commandant Shotcroft and informs them that dinner will be served at half past seven. When asked about the loud ringing bells, Mrs. Pascoe replies that the bell ringers are practicing.
Before dinner, Phrynne wants to explore the town and especially to see the sea. She and Gerald follow the road that appears to lead to the sea. As they walk, more bells begin to ring loudly. It is obvious that the bells of more than one church are ringing at the same time. Indeed, the bells in all of the churches in town appear to be ringing. It strikes Gerald and Phrynne as odd that the bell ringers at all the churches in town would choose to practice at the same time. Phrynne says that they must be competing with each other to see who can ring the loudest. Gerald and Phrynne find themselves in darkness on a pebbly beach. They spend some time walking in the direction where the sea should be but never reach it. Phrynne treads on something soft that releases a terrible smell. Eventually, Phrynne gives up on reaching the sea and they head back to the hotel.
They arrive back at the Bell in time for dinner. Commandant Shotcroft, whose meals are served early because he prefers to eat alone, briefly introduces himself to them. Although she is obviously drunk, Mrs. Pascoe manages to cook and serve food to Gerald and Phrynne. After dinner, Phrynne goes into the lounge and sits by the fire. Gerald goes to the bar to get drinks. An angry man, who is obviously Mrs. Pascoe's husband Don and is even more drunk than she is, briefly appears. Mrs. Pascoe asks Gerald if she can join him and Phrynne in the lounge. Gerald agrees. When he returns to the lounge, he finds Phrynne asleep and Commandant Shotcroft watching her. He asks the commandant to join them. Mrs. Pascoe and Commandant Shotcroft are obviously uncomfortable being in each other's presence and Mrs. Pascoe eventually leaves. When she has gone, Commandant Shotcroft tells Gerald that he and Phrynne should leave immediately. He says that Don is extremely drunk because that is the only way he can face the terrible annual event that is happening that night. Commandant Shotcroft explains that the bells will continue to ring loudly until about midnight because they are being rung to wake the dead. The reason Gerald and Phrynne were unable to reach the sea was because it had retreated so it could give up its dead, although most of the dead will come out of the ground. Commandant Shotcroft says that Phrynne, being younger than Gerald, is more deserving of being saved from the danger they are in than her husband. He also says that, being a woman, she is more susceptible to falling under the seductive influence of the dead. He leaves when Phrynne awakes.
Gerald tells Mrs. Pascoe that he wants to leave and that she should not have accepted their booking for the date of the annual bell ringing. Mrs. Pascoe replies that it is not on the same day each year and that they should pay no attention to what Commandant Shotcroft says. Gerald asks Mrs. Pascoe to arrange a car for them. It is obvious from Mrs. Pascoe's reaction that they will be unable to get a car that evening. Phrynne says that she does not mind staying. She and Gerald go to bed.
Gerald is now afraid of what will happen when the bells stop ringing. Around midnight, the bells gradually fall silent. A man then runs through the streets and shouts, "The dead are awake!" People come out of their houses and all continuously shout together, "The dead are awake!" That cry then changes into something else. Gerald and Phrynne realize that they can hear the sound of many people singing and dancing. The people gathered outside burst into the hotel. The sound of damage can be heard as they make their way up to Gerald and Phrynne's room and break down the door. The dark room is full of unseen people. There is the same terrible smell that Gerald and Phrynne could smell on the beach, only stronger. Voices sing, "The living and the dead dance together." Phrynne is carried away by the dancers and Gerald is left alone as the dead continue to burst into other buildings.
Commandant Shotcroft comes into the bedroom. He tells Gerald that he was able to get Phrynne away from the clutches of two dead men who were dancing with her. Gerald finds Phrynne downstairs wearing a woman's coat that is not hers over her torn nightdress. They go back to bed.
Gerald and Phrynne leave the following morning. They find out that they walked past a cemetery in the dark the previous evening. The cemetery is full of men at work filling in the graves. Gerald cannot bear to look at the sight. Phrynne finds herself strangely attracted to it.
Adaptations[]
Under the title "The Bells of Hell", "Ringing the Changes" was adapted as an episode of the British anthology TV series Late Night Horror that was first shown on BBC 2 on May 9, 1968. The episode is now lost.
"Ringing the Changes" was adapted as an episode of the Canadian radio series Nightfall that first aired on CBC Radio on October 31, 1980.
A British radio play adaptation of "Ringing the Changes" was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on June 29, 2014.