# Mr. Tilly — Ghost Stories character guide

> Mr. Tilly in Ghost Stories by E. F. Benson.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Dear Mr. Tilly, wounded Mr. Tilly

**First appearance:** 0025-mr-tilly-s-s-ance

## Snapshot

A wounded man, fondly addressed and gravely watched, who becomes the still centre around which a séance and its uncanny consequences gather.

## Who they are

Mr. Tilly is the invalid at the heart of a household's anxious attention — 'dear Mr. Tilly,' 'wounded Mr. Tilly' — a man whose injury makes him both pitied and strangely powerful. Around him, the living arrange themselves into a séance, and what comes through is not comfort but something that will not stay in its proper place. His vulnerability and his centrality together make him the story's pressure point: the person everyone wants to protect, and the person through whom the uncanny finds its way in.

## In the story

### [Mr. Tilly's Séance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters/mr-tilly-s-s-ance)

Recently deceased spirit attending his own séance; communicates through the medium.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghost_stories_se/characters/mr_tilly
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghost_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghost_stories_se/characters