Give a complete summary of the story A Shady Plot.
Answers
Summary: This story is about a writer who writes ghost stories. The writer is assisted by a ghost; named Helen. Helen is a member of “Writer’s Inspiration Bureau” which helps those writers who do not have an idea how to write stories. But the ghosts are annoyed at people who play with Ouija boards. They are threatening to go on strike so that people would stop using Ouija boards. Helen comes to the writer with this message. But the writer’s wife has recently bought an Ouija board in a bargain sale. She drags her husband to participate in the Ouija game. The game does not reach its conclusion because it is disturbed by Helen; the ghost. Writer’s wife is quite angry with him and threatens to leave him forever. The writer’s cook also threatens to resign from her job because she is afraid of Ouija board. The writer’s wife is also angry because she suspected some affair between her husband and one of her friends during Ouija game. She tells the cook to get rid of Ouija board. After that; all of them are happy and back to their normal life. The ghost also leaves them forever. Finally, the writer gets a strong inspiration to work on his next assignment.
Answer -
The story begins with the situation that Mr. Hallock is told by Mr. Jenkins to write a ghost story dealing with superstition incidents and involvement of supernatural powers. The writer sits down to write the story but he couldn't. He used to write other stories so fastly although not being master in them. But this time, no plot was ready in his mind. He couldn't think of any idea.
Apart this, he was thinking of his wife's shopping and says "This writing business is delightful, isn't it ?" And suddenly he hears a voice "Yes, it is." It was the voice of a ghost who was now appearing slowly. She explained writer how she and other fellow mates help other writers to write story.
And she was the only one who created plots for Mr. Hallock to write story. Writer denied with the fact but later on Helen explained him everything and now she wanted writer to call all his friends and tell them to stop using Ouija Board.
Suddenly the wife of writer arrives and is surprised to see that writer was talking to himself aloud in a darkroom. Later on she says that she has brought an Ouija Board to help other writers to write story. The writer tries to make her understand but she doesn't listens to him and goes.
Next day when the writer returns from his office, he is informed by her cook that Lavinia has kept a party for her Book's club women. When writer goes there, he finds that every two women is sitting with each other having a Ouija Board in middle. Lavinia later on forces Mr. Hallock to be a partner of Ms. Hinkle.
Ms. Hinkle starts placing finger of writer on Ouija Board and the board spells "Traitor". Later on after enquiring the board tells it was someone named Helen.
Meanwhile Lavinia tells Mr. Hallock that she was leaving the house and makes him free to communicate with helen. At the same time, Helen appears. Writer accuses ghost for everything that happened but the cook enters and tells him that she was not interested to work in a house where people use Ouija Board.
And now, Lavinia changes her decision and also Mr. Hallock is happy for the fact that his wife was not leaving and he have got a new plot to write.