Lantern Beneath the Shingle is a gothic ghost story on the Sussex coast, where shifting stones hide old sins and a lost lantern flickers beneath the tide‑washed shingle. Rooted in coastal folklore and the darker histories of East Sussex, this tale expands The Winchelsea Veil series by Danielle Wynter Batts—stories of hauntings, buried truths, and the spirits that rise when the sea gives back what it once claimed.

The villagers of Hastings had gathered along the seawall, lanterns held high against the rising storm. The wind howled through the gaps in the old cottages, rattling shutters and carrying the sharp scent of salt and seaweed. Waves slammed against the rocks below, sending white spray into the air like ghostly breath.

Someone shouted. “There—out in the bay!”

All heads turned. A lantern glowed in the darkness, bobbing gently above the water. At first they thought it was wreckage — a ship’s light torn free, drifting toward the shore. But then the shape beneath it rose with the swell, and the lantern lifted higher, held aloft by a pale, trembling hand. A woman stood waist deep in the black water. Her dress — red, soaked, clinging — streamed around her like blood in the tide. Her hair hung in dark ropes over her shoulders. Her face was white as moonlit bone, hollow eyed, lips parted as though she were calling out, though no sound carried over the storm.

Someone whispered, “It’s her. The Lantern Bearer.”

Another voice trembled, “But she drowned… years ago.”

Lantern Beneath the Shingle

Danielle Wynter Batts

Danielle Wynter Batts writes atmospheric Gothic and ghostly fiction set along the windswept coasts of England, blending mystery, romance, and the supernatural. Inspired by the rugged beauty of the south coast — where she lives — her stories explore history, myth, legend, and the thin veil between the living and the dead.