horror/suspense story or novel/novella?

[Grimbear]

Does anyone recognize this?

"He remembers it was a ghost story about a man who takes in a tramp on a very wet night. The tramp sits in front of the fire, but never dries out and keeps dripping water. They talk for the night, but in the morning, the tramp is gone. The man then passes by a graveyard and sees the tramp’s name on a headstone. He thinks the author was JB Priestley or Poe, but that’s mostly a guess."

I work in a library and this question was asked of someone working with me. We don't know it. Maybe someone here knows? The borrower said he read it approx 30+ years ago so it's def. not recent.

Thanks

[j. d. worthington]

It certainly isn't Poe, and I'm not familiar enough with Priestley's works to know on that score. It is very slender stuff to go on, but it strikes me almost more likely to be by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, as it is the sort of situation he worked with fairly often; a rather traditional set-up which can either follow traditional lines or go in unexpected directions....

[Grimbear]

Had a look but don't think that's it.

Thanks

[Extollager]

Is there any chance this is by L. P. Hartley?

[High Eight]

Sounds a little like Richard Middleton's short story 'On the Brighton Road', the full text of which can be found as a PDF file here: - www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0309.pdf