The

CLASSIC HORROR BLOG

Literary Essays on Gothic Horror, Ghost Stories, & Weird Fiction

— from Mary Shelley to M. R. James —

by M. Grant Kellermeyer

7 Best Horror Stories by W. W. Jacobs (Not Including "The Monkey's Paw")

There is perhaps no more cursed writer of horror in the English canon than the elegant Edwardian, W. W. Jacobs. World renowned for one...

7 Best Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens (Not Including 'A Christmas Carol')

Dickens is widely renowned in popular culture as a writer of grade-A ghost stories. “Could you name some?” a person – not particularly...

7 Great Edwardian Ghost Story Writers

While the weird tale and horror fiction existed in Britain long before the Edwardian Era (fl. 1895 - 1919), this period was certainly the...

7 Great Victorian Ghost Story Writers

The Victorian Age brings with it a tremendous amount of associations, baggage, and stereotypes that make it one of the most colorful...

12 Classic Christmas Ghost Stories (That You Can Read Right Now)

"There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.." Or so the carol tells us. To most Americans,...

Ghosts of Fate: Charles Dickens' Real-Life Haunting in The Signal-Man

Famous for his charismatic whit, irony, and satire, Charles Dickens’ ghost stories often typified the Victorian supernatural aesthetic –...

Abortion: the Secret of "The Lady's Maid's Bell"? Part II

Now, as to what the devil all of this means. The sign posts of Gothic fiction direct us to suspect several possibilities. There are...

Abortion: the Secret in "The Lady's Maid's Bell"? Part I

Is Abortion the Underlying Issue in Edith Wharton’s “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell”? Edith Wharton has long been tied with Henry James – another...