The Mystery of the Semi-Detached was first published in 1893 in E. Nesbit's "Grim Tales", a collection of romantic horror stories. A young man is perplexed when his lover fails to show up for a half-clandestine meeting and passes her house on the way home. Upon arrival, he finds the front door ajar and the suburban semi-detached in eerie darkness. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaited him in his sweetheart's bedroom.
