7 Great Victorian Ghost Story Writers
7 – E. NESBIT

Starting with the later end of the Victorian era we have Edith Nesbit, a woman whose supernatural stories are wrought with tragedy, irony, senseless misery, and the brooding presence of merciless Fate – just as they should. Her writing is light and engaging, often infused with a twisting tension that drives the pages forward until they topple in a woeful climax. Her most famous tale is “Man-Sized in Marble,” about newly-weds who unwisely keep their door unlocked on Hallowe'en Night, in spite of the grim Norman statues in the church down the road. For something short, shocking, and unsettling, read either “The Mystery of the Semi-Detached” (a man sees a vision of a slaughtered woman in his girlfriend's bed), or “In the Dark,” and spend the night in a chilling wax museum.
6 – MRS. OLIPHANT

Margaret Oliphant was formerly one of Britains most preeminent figures in supernatural fiction. As M. R. James, Ramsey Campbell, and Bram Stoker became more popular, her ghostly charm seems to have blown by the wind, but it is far overdue for a revival. A brilliant writer with a deep gift for endowing her ghosts with pathos, her tales – though often long – are uncommonly tender and heartbreaking. Her influence is thoroughly felt in Edith Wharton's superb American ghost stories – among the best in my nation's supernatural canon. “Old Lady Mary” – the story of a ghost attempting to come to terms with her immateriality – and “The Open Door” (a personal favorite) – a father's blood-chilling account of his son's bought with death after encountering the lost ghost of a little boy – are masterpieces, beautiful and touching.
5 – H. G. WELLS

Often pigeonholed as a writer of science fiction and horror, Wells demonstrates a deft hand at the ghost tale – one which primarily operates through the mediums of psychological fear and dramatic irony. His stories are often tinged with humor –though it be black – and invigorated with spry and vigorous prose which keeps the pages turning. His oft-reprinted “The Red Room” is a study in the psychology of terror, recounting the experiences of a man who knowingly stays in a haunted room, while his darkly comic tale “The Stolen Body” describes an accident during an experiment with an out-of-body experience. Speaking of experience, perhaps one of his best – and tragic – stories is “The Inexperienced Ghost,” wherein a man makes the acquaintance of a ghost and ill-advisedly attempts to deconstruct his nature.
4 – RHODA BROUGHTON

The niece of the Victorians' king of the supernatural – J. Sheridan Le Fanu – Rhoda Broughton was raised in an environment that suited an imaginative mind with a penchant for tragedy and horror. And such are the grisly tales of Rhoda Broughton. Perhaps most famous amongst them is “The Man with the Nose,” (a story which reworked Dickens' “To Be Read After Dusk,” and was itself reworked by the redoubtable E. F. Benson in his disturbing “The Face”) resembles her uncle's “Schalken the Painter” in that it explores the demon-lover myth. Lesser known are the truly blood-curdling “Behold, it was a Dream!” which details a presentiment of a particularly gory double homicide, and a nimble study in terror and hubris titled “The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth,” a story so unforgettable that it became part of the legend of 50 Berkeley Square, despite being Broughton's invention.
3 – BERNARD CAPES

2 – ELIZABETH GASKELL