From the Preface. IF this story had come to us through the usual channels, we doubt if it would have had more than the attention we give to things we don't want. An Ouija board we always looked upon as something for children to play with. A story over an Ouija board-absurd! In the latter part of February we were spending the evening with some friends. Somehow the talk got around to a recent article by Ella Wheeler Wilcox in Cosmopolitan, then to Spiritualism, and finally to Ouija boards. We found that the latter were common in the neighborhood and we borrowed one. The wife of the sculptor to whom the board belonged could work it with more or less success, but for no one in our party would it work until Mrs. X. (Katherine Davis) placed her hands on it. Then it did work and in a most alarming way. It told some things that were most embarrassing to us all, and did not stop at profanity. But it did work and it was not pushed. "Could I write a story through you?" asked Mrs. X. later on in the evening. Answer: "I will give it." Question: "When?" Answer: "Now." And that is how The Light from Beyond came to be written. The title, the author's name under which it was to be published, and every word in it were taken over the Ouija board, and no changes nor corrections have been made for that reason, other than such as the board itself instructed. Understand, please, this story was not written in one sitting, but during the evenings covering a period of about three weeks. A word about Mrs. X. She is young, popular, an excellent wife and a successful mother. In other words, she is a normal, happy, healthy, human being, and she could not have conceived either consciously or, to our belief, subconsciously, the thoughts given to the world in this book. Possibly Sir Oliver Lodge or Conan Doyle, or someone specialized in this sort of thing can explain it. We cannot.

この作品の真髄は、ウィジャ盤を通じた自動筆記という特異な過程が生み出した、剥き出しの言葉の力にあります。推敲を一切拒んだ文体は、論理を超えた奔流のようなエネルギーを放ち、読者の深層心理に直接訴えかけます。意識の外側から届けられたメッセージは、単なるオカルトの枠を超え、文学における「純粋な無意識の記録」としての圧倒的な凄みを備えています。 平穏な日常を生きる女性が、自らの想像を絶する深遠な世界を記述したという事実は、人間の精神が持つ未知の可能性を突きつけます。理性では捉えきれない「彼方からの光」に照らされた物語は、読む者の魂を揺さぶり、形而上学的な思索へと誘うでしょう。この神秘的な熱量こそが、本作の文学的な本質であり、最大の魅力なのです。