The Psychical Researcher's Tale - The Sceptical Poltergeist From "The New Decameron", Volume III.

In this witty, slightly macabre tale, a once‑dedicated psychical researcher declares himself a fraud and vows to abandon the world of séances, ghosts, and spiritualist intrigue. His newfound commitment to pure materialism is tested when an old friend, the Slippertons, beg for help with a series of unsettling disturbances in their country house. The narrator is drawn back into the field, intrigued by a classic poltergeist that rattles objects and unravels domestic routine.

He arrives at the seventeenth‑century home, now modernised inside, only to find furniture inexplicably shifted and personal items mysteriously reappearing in odd places. With a skeptical eye and a scientist’s method, he sets up a solitary week‑long stay, determined to observe the phenomena without the influence of village superstitions. As the strange occurrences grow from harmless pranks to more aggressive antics, he confronts the uneasy question of whether his rational convictions can withstand the unseen forces at work.