Short Fiction · Character
Tom Teukesbury
Honest Tom Teukesbury, a plain dealer whose ghostly sexton story is offered up as testimony rather than entertainment.
supporting
Also known as Tom, honest Tom, Thomas Teukesbury, Thomas
First appearance: the dead sexton
As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, Tom Teukesbury is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
The driver from the 'Bull' who arrives late and deflects blame with a complicated excuse about the horse's harness and a raw spot, then later misleads Aunt Margaret about the…
Tom Teukesbury belongs to the circle of men who trade supernatural accounts as if they were legal depositions, each one vouching for the last. He is the sort of narrator Le Fanu trusts — unpolished, unliterary, and therefore hard to dismiss. His tale of a ghostly sexton anchors the collection's method: horror delivered in the flat voice of a witness who has no reason to lie.
Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.
Character Web
6 connectionsA slice of how Tom Teukesbury sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.
Relationship types
- Other
Character groups
- Diverse ghostly witnesses
- Ghost story narrators
- Protagonist
+1 more in the full Character Web
Open in readerNarrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because it marks the psychological peak of the narrator's horror and the r…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingIn the story
Tom Teukesbury appears across 3 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.
Chapter companion notes
Spoil-light check-ins for Tom Teukesbury unlock in the free preview.
See Tom Teukesbury in the dead sexton