I'm a big fan of modern horror--thrills, chills, and sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat-nailbiters. But in the 1800s, some well known writers were into spooky tales, too.
Jane Eyre
For me, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is a creepy story. There may or may not be a ghost haunting Edward Rochester's mansion. At the time I read this, I think I wanted there to be a ghost haunting the mansion. Mysterious doors opening and closing (drafts), strange fires being set, laughter, creaking floors. You name it, all the hallmarks of a haunting. Instead, we get the crazy first wife locked away in the attic. That's pretty spooky. (OK, the story isn't about the crazy first wife, but it's the thing that stuck in my mind the most.)
The House of the Seven Gables
Another spooky and creepy novel that implies horrific shenanigans without coming right out and showing it. Lineage tracing back to the Salem witch trials colors the story and the burgeoning love between the two main characters offers hope. Again, it's not a traditionally horrific story, but there are creepy bits and spooky flavors that make this Nathaniel Hawthorne novel one for the list.
Edgar Allan Poe
I love Poe's work and all its creepy, spooky, Gothic-ness. His work definitely seems to have influenced the modern horror genre--what horror writer today hasn't read any Poe? In fact, who hasn't heard some or all of The Raven? Awesome stuff (I love that it appears in one of The Simpsons Halloween specials). People being buried alive, a murderer haunted by the sounds of his victim's heart, the dead rising to bring destruction upon the family… the best gruesome and terrifying stuff of its time. If you want scary tales, definitely pick up some Edgar Allan Poe. My favorites: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Pit and the Pendulum.
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