Halloween is almost upon us, and what better way to spend it than indulging in some nineteenth-century ghastliness? As we all know, nobody writes a ghost story quite like the Victorians, and the three writers we’re showcasing below were experts in unsettling their readers.

Twilight Stories by Rhoda Broughton

Rhoda Broughton’s Twilight Stories was first published as Tales for Christmas Eve in 1873. The tales had also appeared in the literary magazine Temple Bar, and have since been reproduced in ghost story anthologies throughout the decades. Readers have been impressed with Broughton’s ability to make the apparently mundane appear mysterious and, in some cases, terrifying. Herbert Van Thal wrote of them: “Twilight Stories should excite the most blasé follower of the tale that should be read ‘last thing at night’…Miss Broughton was clearly a forerunner of M R James.” Find out more…

Weird Stories by Charlotte Riddell

Charlotte Riddell’s Weird Stories have been popular with ghost story aficionados ever since they were first published in 1882. The Times reviewer wrote of them: “Weird Stories are sensational enough in all conscience, seeing that the main action is directed by supernatural agencies, and that disagreeably obtrusive ghosts haunt the scenes of their earthly troubles. But these mysteries are adroitly realized, and the stories are so probable as to be pleasantly thrilling; nervous people, indeed, might prefer to read the book on a railway journey by daylight rather than in a lonely apartment towards the small hours.” Find out more…

The Blood of the Vampire by Florence Marryat

The Blood of the Vampire (1897) was rather overshadowed by a certain Transylvanian Count who made his debut in the same year.  Although there are similarities with Dracula, Marryat’s vampire is female and drains her victims’ life force, rather than their blood. Men find her impossible to resist, and she leaves a trail of destruction throughout Europe. Marryat’s “psychic vampire” represents both the racial “other” and the New Woman of the period, both of whom were perceived as a threat to fin-de-siècle society.  This curious novel engages with key debates, such as race, women’s rights, heredity, syphilophobia and the occult. Find out more…