Henry James, The Turn of the Screw(1898). Soon after his arrival, the young boy learns that two children who came to stay at the house in the past both mysteriously disappeared… James published in the Victorian era (many of his stories were written in the 1900s and 1910s), this is an unsettling story about an orphan boy who goes to stay at the house of his distant relation, Mr Abney. (Some curious facts about Kipling’s life and work here.) But are they mere hallucinations? And can someone be so frightened of their own shadow as to – well, we’ll say no more, for fear of giving the game away. We’re off to India for this next tale, about a British colonial official who – afflicted by the severe heat – begins to hallucinate and experience unsettling visions. Rudyard Kipling, ‘ At the End of the Passage‘ (1890). Indeed, in a curious twist it is the ghostly Sir Simon who ends up terrified, when the twin sons of the American owners produce a mock-up fake ghost! ‘The Canterville Ghost’ is a satire on the social and cultural differences between the American and English people, as well as on the Victorian ghost-story genre itself. An American family move into Canterville Chase and soon become acquainted with Sir Simon, ghost of the old owner of the manor centuries ago.īut this is a ghost story with the Oscar Wilde treatment, so the family completely fail to be terrified by the presence of the ghost. It was the first of Wilde’s short stories to be published. Okay, so this one isn’t all that scary, but it’s nice to have a bit of variation. Oscar Wilde, ‘ The Canterville Ghost‘ (1887).
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