Once, Dunwich was one of the most important towns on England’s eastern coast.

Then the sea began to take it.

Street by street, church by church, much of the medieval town disappeared beneath the waves—leaving behind ruined cliffs, drowned legends and stories of noises coming from below the water line.

In the winter of 1901, Samuel Harrow arrives in Dunwich to take temporary charge of an isolated lighthouse after its previous keeper vanishes without explanation.

His instructions are simple:

Keep the lamp burning.

Maintain the mechanism.

And guide ships safely through the darkness.

But on his first night, Samuel sees lanterns moving across the marshes where no road exists. Behind them walk silent figures carrying black flames—and among them are faces belonging to people who have already died.

As the tide retreats and the drowned streets of old Dunwich begin to reappear, Samuel discovers that the lights are not guiding the dead.

They are searching for the living.

Inspired by the real town of Dunwich and the history, folklore and churches lost to the North Sea, The Lantern Men of Dunwich is an original tale of gothic horror, grief and forgotten souls.

The story can be enjoyed on its own, but those who listened closely to The Bell Beneath Blackmere may hear another part of a much older mystery beneath the waves.

Best experienced in the dark.

Preferably with headphones. (Mind the cord!)

And from the shadows…

Should you see a light moving across the marsh...

Do not count the figures walking behind it.

If you don't fall to sleep - please leave us a rating, our writers would love to know how they've done.

🎧 Grim Stories · Dark Fiction from the Shadows · ECF Studios