midnight
It was not Halloween . If I were telling a story for amusement 's sake , I should probably place it on that night of nights ; but this is a true record of my own experiences , and I would not put pen to paper to amuse anyone . No . It was after midnight on the morning of the twenty-first day of January . I was sitting reading , as is often my custom , in my study . Pepper lay , sleeping , near my chair . Without warning , the flames of the two candles went low , and then shone with a ghastly green effulgence .