At the Ghost Hour. The House of the Unbelieving Thomas

In a northern German provincial town an ancient gabled house bearing an old sign has long been regarded as haunted, shaping the reputation of a narrow lane. The narrative follows the house's checkered occupancy, including a ruined merchant's tragic end and a Bohemian cobbler who accepts the porter’s post while reading an old Bible and provoking neighborhood suspicions of sorcery. Parallel threads trace a widow and her attractive daughter driven from their village by accusations of witchcraft and hardship, compelling them to seek refuge in town. The story contrasts lingering superstition, social change, and the uneasy lives of those marked by rumor.