The supernatural element in this excellent short story
seems to take the form of how ghosts or other supernatural beings interact with the
human world to warn--either before or after the event--humans about a tragedy that is
about to occur or has just occurred. Note how the signalman describes the first
apparition that he tells the narrator about:
"One moonlight night," said the man, "I was
sitting here, when I heard a voice cry, "Halloa! Below there!" I started up, looked from
that door, and saw this someone else standing by the red light near the tunnel, waving
as I just now showed you. The voice seemed hoarse with shouting, and it cried: "Look
out! Look out!""
The strange
appearance of this figure combined with the fact that in six hours after this
apparition, a terrible accident occurred and the dead and wounded were placed on
precisely the spot where the apparition had appeared. The supernatural element of this
story thus seems to take the role of a warning of imminent danger or accidents, which
tortures the signalman because of his inability to use these warnings to prevent these
accidents occurring. Chillingly, at the end, the supernatural visitor indicates the
death of the signalman himself.
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