Five Victorian Ghost Novels

Many Victorian ghost novels were published in periodicals such as Routledge's Christmas Annual and never reprinted elsewhere. (A Christmas annual may seem incongruous, but apparently ghost stories were especially popular over the Christmas season as evening family entertainment around the fireplace.) E. F. Bleiler compiled these rare stories for this Dover publication, Five Victorian Ghost Novels. I enjoyed all five stories and highly recommend this collection. The Uninhabited House (1875) by Mrs. J. H. Riddle (a pseudonym for Mrs. Charlotte E. Riddle) is a realistic depiction of a haunted house, one that is increasingly difficult to lease out. Although the property is well-maintained, accessible, and well-priced, one after another enthusiastic family quickly becomes disillusioned with their new home, even forfeiting the annual lease payments to quit the premises. Riddle's portrayal of law clerks, pensioners, and real estate speculators is sufficiently detailed to create an authentic setting and backdrop for this ghost story. The plot advances somewhat leisurely, but I never lost interest. I remained uncertain for a considerable period as to whether the apparition was real, or was a fraudulent fabrication by an unscrupulous real estate speculator. Mrs. Riddle weaves into the plot a Victorian romance, one that contributes to the storyline, but does not dominate it. The Amber Witch (1895) by Johannes Wilhelm Meinhold was quite popular among Victorian readers; it was translated twice into English and published in several editions. Written in a chronicle format, many elements in the plot are historically accurate and offer a surprising verisimilitude to this frightening account dating (supposedly) from the brutal Thirty Years War. In that period few questioned the existence of witches. Fewer yet had the courage to come to the defense of anyone accused of witchcraft. Confessions under torture were a matter of course. I found myself more fearful of the legal system than witchcraft itself. Monsieur Maurice (1873) by Amelia B. Edwards is the tale of an aristocratic Frenchman held captive at the Chateau of Augustenburg. A retired Prussian colonel, Johann Ludwig Bernhard, appointed steward of the Chateau for his service in the Napoleonic Wars, is given no explanation regarding his prisoner, known only as Maurice. This short novel, told from the perspective of the steward's young daughter, focuses primarily on the mystery surrounding Monsieur Maurice; the supernatural elements play a secondary role. A Phantom Lover (1890) by Vernon Lee is perhaps the most notable in this collection, more for its detailed characterizations and psychological complexity than even for the plot itself. It would not be an exaggeration to compare A Phantom Lover with the literary ghost stories by Henry James. Much like The Turn of the Screw, this short novel engenders multiple interpretations and warrants multiple readings. A Phantom Lover was also published under

This book interestingly delves into ghost stories that were published in magazines in the Victorian era. Reprinting them allows one to see the historical and cultural influences that were prominent at the time, such as the development of a mass-capitalist economic system in Victorian England. The stories are not necessarily scary in a traditional sense but more intellectual and historical.