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94-401: “ The Tractate Middoth ” is a short ghost story by British author M. R. James . It was published in 1911 in More Ghost Stories , James's second collection of ghost stories. Mr. Garrett, an employee of a university library, searches for a Mishnaic tractate for an impatient library patron named John Eldred. While searching, he encounters a black-clad clergyman who also seems interested in

188-481: A 1945 film , places a more humorous slant on the phenomenon of haunting of individuals and specific locations. During the late 1890s the depiction of ghost and supernatural events appear in films. With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres. The works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions, as well as adaptations of other playwrights and novelists. One of

282-672: A Headless Horseman . It has been adapted for film and television many times, such as Sleepy Hollow , a successful 1999 feature film. Irving also wrote "The Adventure of the German Student" and Edgar Allan Poe wrote some stories which contain ghosts, such as " The Masque of the Red Death " and "Morella". In the later 19th century, mainstream American writers such as Edith Wharton , Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and F. Marion Crawford all wrote ghost fiction. Henry James also wrote ghost stories, including " The Jolly Corner " and The Turn of

376-556: A dystopian future UK, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , and From Hell , speculating on the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper . Douglas Adams wrote the five-volume science fiction comedy trilogy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , and also wrote the humorous fantasy detective novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency . Clive Barker horror novels include The Hellbound Heart . The "Reading list", compiled by

470-468: A musical and other media. Baroness Orczy's character The Old Man in the Corner (1908) was among the earliest armchair detectives to be created. Her short stories about Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (1910) were an early example of a female detective as main character. John Buchan wrote the adventure novels on Prester John (1910) and four novels telling the adventures of Richard Hannay , of which

564-524: A Cold War thriller. War novels include Alistair MacLean thrillers The Guns of Navarone (1957), Where Eagles Dare (1968), and Jack Higgins ' The Eagle Has Landed (1975). Patrick O'Brian 's nautical historical novels feature the Aubrey–Maturin series set in the Royal Navy , the first being Master and Commander (1969). Ronald Welch 's Carnegie Medal winning novel Knight Crusader

658-434: A collection of Japanese ghost stories which was also adapted into a film . The book "is seen as the first introduction of Japanese superstition to European and American audiences". Ghost Stories magazine, which contained almost nothing but ghost stories, was published from 1926 to 1932. Beginning in the 1940s, Fritz Leiber wrote ghost tales set in modern industrial settings, such as "Smoke Ghost" (1941) and "A Bit of

752-434: A ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo. ... Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage." Another aspect James considered

846-545: A hobby wherein reportedly haunted places are explored. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in paranormal reality television series , such as A Haunting , Ghost Adventures , Ghost Hunters , Ghost Hunters International , Ghost Lab , and Most Haunted . It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter based on the book series of the same name and Ghost Trackers . The Indian television series Aahat featured ghost and supernatural stories written by B. P. Singh . It

940-656: A house in Athens by a ghost bound in chains, an archetype that would become familiar in later literature. Ghosts often appeared in the tragedies of the Roman writer Seneca , who would later influence the revival of tragedy on the Renaissance stage, particularly Thomas Kyd and Shakespeare . The One Thousand and One Nights , sometimes known as Arabian Nights , contains a number of ghost stories , often involving jinn (also spelled as djinn), ghouls and corpses . In particular,

1034-634: A lighthearted adaptation of the children's character Casper the Friendly Ghost , originally popular in cartoon form in the 1950s and early 1960s, in the feature film Casper . Asian cinema has also produced horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ringu (remade in the US as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye . Indian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in

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1128-408: A method of story-telling which has since become known as Jamesian, which involved abandoning many of the traditional Gothic elements of his predecessors. The classic Jamesian tale usually includes the following elements: According to James, the story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself, 'If I'm not very careful, something of this kind may happen to me! ' " He also perfected

1222-637: A requisite was "that the ghost should be malevolent or odious: amiable and helpful apparitions are all very well in fairy tales or in local legends, but I have no use for them in a fictitious ghost story." Despite his suggestion in the essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write" that writers employ reticence in their work, many of James's tales depict scenes and images of savage and often disturbing violence. Influenced by British and German examples, American writers began to produce their own ghost stories. Washington Irving 's short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " (1820), based on an earlier German folktale, features

1316-542: A significant impact on the genre), Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937) and And Then There Were None (1939). Other female writers dubbed "Queens of crime" include Dorothy L. Sayers ( gentleman detective , Lord Peter Wimsey ), Margery Allingham ( Albert Campion , supposedly created as a parody of Sayers' Wimsey, ) and New Zealander Ngaio Marsh ( Roderick Alleyn ). Georgette Heyer recreated

1410-463: A struggle with a rival heir to the estate of an eccentric clergyman named Rant, who died two decades earlier. As they describe the situation, Garrett realizes that John Eldred is the rival heir. The tractate supposedly contains a hidden secret will that would supersede an earlier last will and testament . Garrett decides to help the Simpsons by preventing Eldred from destroying this document. Returning to

1504-481: A time and location near to the audience of the story. The modern short story emerged in Germany in the early decades of the 19th century. Kleist 's "The Beggar Woman of Locarno", published in 1810, and several other works from the period lay claim to being the first ghost short stories of a modern type. E. T. A. Hoffmann 's ghost stories include "The Elementary Spirit" and "The Mines of Falun". The Russian equivalent of

1598-457: A version of the story adapted by Dennis Webb was broadcast by ATV and Thames Television as part of the Mystery and Imagination series of ghost story adaptations. It starred Giles Block, David Buck , and John Crocker. The episode was wiped after broadcast, and only audio recordings are known to have survived. On 25 December 2007, the story was read on BBC Radio 4 by Derek Jacobi as part of

1692-478: A white mist. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form. The campfire story , a form of oral storytelling, often involves recounting ghost stories, or other scary stories. Some of the stories are decades old, with varying versions across multiple cultures. Many schools and educational institutions encourage ghost storytelling as part of literature . In 1929, five key features of

1786-465: Is Clarke's contemporary. Michael Moorcock (born 1939) is a writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels. He was involved with the 'New Wave' of science fiction writers "part of whose aim was to invest the genre with literary merit" Similarly J. G. Ballard (born 1930) "became known in the 1960s as the most prominent of the 'New Wave' science fiction writers". A later major figure in science fiction

1880-420: Is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and technology , space travel , time travel , faster than light travel , parallel universes and extraterrestrial life . Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations , and has been called a "literature of ideas". It usually eschews the supernatural , and unlike

1974-424: Is a prose-fiction form of romance , which Walter Scott defined as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents". According to Romance Writers of America 's data, the most popular subgenres are romantic suspense , contemporary romance , historical romance , erotic romance , paranormal romance , and young adult romance . Science fiction

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2068-555: Is a form of Japanese ghost story. Kaidan entered the vernacular when a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular in the Edo period . The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a printing press , led to the creation of a literary genre called Kaidanshu . Kaidan are not always horror stories, they can "be funny, or strange, or just telling about an odd thing that happened one time". Lafcadio Hearn published Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things in 1904 as

2162-503: Is a great deal of overlap among the three, all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction . Fantasy works frequently feature a medieval setting. The romance novel or "romantic novel" primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy , historical , science fiction , same sex romantic fiction, and paranormal fiction . There

2256-439: Is best known for his Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, that begins with The Colour of Magic (1983), and includes Mort (1987), Hogfather (1996), and Night Watch (2002). Pratchett's other most notable work is the 1990 novel Good Omens . Philip Pullman 's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials comprises Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows

2350-606: Is often mixed with other genres. Horror novelist Stephen King was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2003, polarizing opinions and leading to debate on genre fiction's literary merit. Negative comments about genre fiction have sparked responses from Time , Salon , the Atlantic , and the Los Angeles Review of Books . Nobel laureate Doris Lessing described science fiction as "some of

2444-402: Is precisely their gross materiality. They appear to us conspicuously clothed." In Spain , the legend of Catalina Lercaro stands out, a young woman from the 16th century, who committed suicide so as not to have to marry a man she did not love. From here, many people claim to see her ghost. Ghosts figured prominently in traditional British ballads of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly

2538-827: Is set in the 12th century and gives a depiction of the Third Crusade , featuring the Christian leader and King of England Richard the Lionheart . In crime fiction, the murder mysteries of Ruth Rendell and P. D. James are popular. Nigel Tranter wrote historical novels of celebrated Scottish warriors: Robert the Bruce in The Bruce Trilogy , and William Wallace in The Wallace (1975). John Wyndham wrote post-apocalyptic science fiction, his most notable works being The Day of

2632-543: Is sometimes thought to be in between genre and non-genre fiction. In the publishing industry the term "category fiction" is often used as a synonym for genre fiction, with the categories serving as the familiar shelf headings within the fiction section of a bookstore, such as Western or mystery. Some authors classified instead as literary fiction have written genre novels under pseudonyms, while others are argued to have employed genre elements in literary fiction. Romance fiction had an estimated $ 1.375 billion share in

2726-614: Is that "at the historical point at which ghosts themselves become increasingly implausible, at least to an educated elite, to believe in them at all it seems to be necessary to assert their immateriality, their invisibility. [...] The drapery of ghosts must now, indeed, be as spiritual as the ghosts themselves. This is a striking departure both from the ghosts of the Renaissance stage and from the Greek and Roman theatrical ghosts upon which that stage drew. The most prominent feature of Renaissance ghosts

2820-482: Is the literary genre that fictionalises crimes , their detection, criminals, and their motives . It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction , but the boundaries are indistinct. Crime fiction has multiple subgenres , including detective fiction (such as the whodunit ), courtroom drama , hard-boiled fiction, mystery fiction , and legal thrillers . Suspense and mystery are key elements to

2914-406: Is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain , while Sherlock Holmes has become a by-word for a detective. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, from 1880 up to 1907, with a final case in 1914. All but four Conan Doyle stories are narrated by Holmes' friend, assistant, and biographer, Dr John H. Watson . Erskine Childers ' The Riddle of

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3008-455: The Edwardian era , Algernon Blackwood (who combined the ghost story with nature mysticism ), Oliver Onions (whose ghost stories drew on psychological horror ), and William Hope Hodgson (whose ghost tales also contained elements of the sea story and science fiction ) helped move the ghost story in new directions. Kaidan (怪談), which literally means "supernatural tale" or "weird tale",

3102-460: The English ghost story were identified in "Some Remarks on Ghost Stories" by M. R. James . As summarized by Frank Coffman for a course in popular imaginative literature, they were: The introduction of pulp magazines in the early 1900s created new avenues for ghost stories to be published, and they also began to appear in publications such as Good Housekeeping and The New Yorker . Ghosts in

3196-407: The M R James at Christmas series. On 25 December 2013, a version of the story, The Tractate Middoth , adapted by Mark Gatiss , was broadcast on BBC2 as part of the long-running A Ghost Story for Christmas series. It starred Sacha Dhawan , John Castle , Louise Jameson , Una Stubbs , David Ryall , Eleanor Bron , Nick Burns , and Roy Barraclough . Ghost story Colloquially,

3290-618: The Mutiny on the Bounty immortalised the Royal Navy ship HMS  Bounty and her people. The legend of Dick Turpin was popularised when the 18th-century English highwayman 's exploits appeared in the novel Rookwood in 1834. Although pre-dated by John Ruskin 's The King of the Golden River in 1841, the history of the modern fantasy genre is generally said to begin with George MacDonald ,

3384-553: The Old Testament in which the Witch of Endor calls the spirit of the prophet Samuel . The play Mostellaria , by the Roman playwright Plautus , is the earliest known work to feature a haunted dwelling, and is sometimes translated as The Haunted House . Another early account of a haunted place comes from an account by Pliny the Younger ( c. 50 AD). Pliny describes the haunting of

3478-408: The coming-of-age of two children as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events. Neil Gaiman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy short stories and novels, whose notable works include Stardust (1998), Coraline (2002), The Graveyard Book (2009), and The Sandman series. Alan Moore 's works include Watchmen , V for Vendetta set in

3572-552: The epic in poetry and tragedy and comedy for plays. In later periods other genres such as the chivalric romance , opera , and prose fiction developed. Though the novel is often seen as a modern genre – Ian Watt , in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel first came into being in the early 18th century – it has also been described as possessing "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", from

3666-451: The haunted house theme. The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. R. James , Sheridan Le Fanu , Violet Hunt , and Henry James . Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, "Malevolence and terror,

3760-499: The historical romance genre since 1921, and also wrote detective fiction (1932–1953). A major work of science fiction, from the early 20th century, is A Voyage to Arcturus by Scottish writer David Lindsay , first published in 1920. It combines fantasy , philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. It has been described by critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as

3854-481: The historical romances of Scott, Emily Brontë 's Wuthering Heights and Herman Melville 's Moby-Dick , are also frequently called novels, and Scott describes romance as a "kindred term". Romance, as defined here, should not be confused with the genre fiction love romance or romance novel . Other European languages do not distinguish between romance and novel: "a novel is le roman , der Roman , il romanzo ." Genre fiction developed from various subgenres of

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3948-545: The "greatest novel of the twentieth century", and was a central influence on C. S. Lewis 's Space Trilogy . Also J. R. R. Tolkien said he read the book "with avidity", and praised it as a work of philosophy, religion, and morality. It was made widely available in paperback form when published as one of the precursor volumes to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in 1968. From the early 1930s to late 1940s, an informal literary discussion group associated with

4042-621: The 1800s because an armoured ghost had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or lifts, and eventually became clichéd stage elements and objects of ridicule. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory , point out, "In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'." An interesting observation by Jones and Stallybrass

4136-549: The 1990 film Ghost , and the 1993 comedy Heart and Souls . In the horror genre, 1980's The Fog , and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence. The 1990s saw a return to classic "gothic" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films are comedy and mystery from this period include 1984's Ghostbusters , 1999's The Sixth Sense and The Others . The 1990s also saw

4230-553: The Dark World" (1962). Shirley Jackson made an important contribution to ghost fiction with her novel The Haunting of Hill House (1959). A noted modern British writer of ghost fiction is Ramsey Campbell . Susan Hill also produced The Woman in Black (1983), a ghost novel that has been adapted for stage, television and film. Noël Coward 's play Blithe Spirit , later made into

4324-636: The English faculty at the University of Oxford, were the " Inklings ". Its leading members were the major fantasy novelists; C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien . Lewis is known for The Screwtape Letters (1942), The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956) and The Space Trilogy (1938–1945), while Tolkien is best known as the author of The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), and The Silmarillion (1977). In thriller writing, Ian Fleming created

4418-651: The Gothic novel in the 1830s and the start of the First World War. Sullivan argues that the work of Edgar Allan Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu inaugurated this "Golden Age". Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu was one of the most influential writers of ghost stories. Le Fanu's collections, such as In a Glass Darkly (1872) and The Purcell Papers (1880), helped popularise the short story as a medium for ghost fiction. Charlotte Riddell , who wrote fiction as Mrs. J. H. Riddell, created ghost stories which were noted for adept use of

4512-762: The Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film Manichitrathazhu have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages. Generally the films are based on the experiences of modern people who are unexpectedly exposed to ghosts, and usually draw on traditional Indian literature or folklore. In some cases the Indian films are remakes of western films, such as Anjaane , based on Alejandro Amenábar 's ghost story The Others . In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as Ghost Whisperer , Medium , Supernatural ,

4606-546: The Needle (1978), followed by The Key to Rebecca (1980), as well as historical novels, notably The Pillars of the Earth (1989), and its sequel World Without End (2007). Elleston Trevor is remembered for his 1964 adventure story The Flight of the Phoenix , while the thriller novelist Philip Nicholson is best known for Man on Fire . Peter George 's Red Alert (1958), is

4700-683: The Royal Cadet (1885) includes "Judge's Song" about a ghost at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. Oscar Wilde 's comic short story " The Canterville Ghost " (1887) has been adapted for film and television on several occasions. In the United States, prior to and during the First World War , folklorists Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp collected ballads from

4794-570: The Sands (1903) defined the spy novel and Follett has also called it "the first modern thriller ". Emma Orczy 's The Scarlet Pimpernel (1903) was originally a highly successful play, when staged in London in 1905. The novel The Scarlet Pimpernel was published soon after the play opened and was an immediate success. Orczy gained a following of readers in Britain and throughout the world. The popularity of

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4888-551: The Screw . The Turn of the Screw , his most famous ghost story, has appeared in a number of adaptations, notably a film, The Innocents , and an opera, Benjamin Britten 's The Turn of the Screw . The introduction of pulp magazines in the early 1900s created new avenues for ghost stories to be published, and they also began to appear in publications such as Good Housekeeping and The New Yorker . Oscar Telgmann 's opera Leo,

4982-462: The Triffids (1951), and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957). George Langelaan 's The Fly (1957), is a science fiction short story. Science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke 's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is based on his various short stories, particularly The Sentinel (1951). His other major novels include Rendezvous with Rama (1972), and The Fountains of Paradise (1979). Brian Aldiss

5076-406: The US book market in 2007. Religion/inspirational literature followed with $ 819 million, science fiction/fantasy with $ 700 million, mystery with $ 650 million and classic literary fiction with $ 466 million. Genre began as a classification system for ancient Greek literature . Poetry , prose , and drama had specific calculated styles that related to the theme of the story. Among the genres were

5170-623: The best social fiction of our time", and called Greg Bear , author of Blood Music , "a great writer". In the 2000s, the BBC defended itself against charges that it discussed genre fiction with a "sneering derogatory tone". The Man Booker Prize and British Book Awards have been criticized for ignoring genre fiction in their selection process. Some critics have claimed that reading romance and suspense thrillers makes readers more sensitive, because these novels focus on interpersonal relationships. Sir John Barrow 's descriptive 1831 account of

5264-485: The book. The clergyman's appearance–his head appears to be enshrouded in cobwebs and he smells of mould and dust–causes Garrett a severe shock and he faints. He is sent home to recover and later decides to recuperate at the seaside. On the train to his destination, he meets the elderly Mrs. Simpson and her daughter, proprietors of a boarding house who offer him lodgings. Over the course of his stay, they become very friendly. The Simpsons confide in him that they are losing

5358-469: The character James Bond 007 in January 1952, while on holiday at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. Fleming chronicled Bond's adventures in twelve novels, including Casino Royale (1953), Live and Let Die (1954), Dr. No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), and nine short story works. In contrast to the larger-than-life spy capers of Bond, John le Carré

5452-402: The classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them. Spirits of the dead appear in literature as early as Homer 's Odyssey , which features a journey to the underworld and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead, as well as

5546-573: The finest sensation novels . H. G. Wells 's (1866–1946) writing career began in the 1890s with science fiction novels like The Time Machine (1895), and The War of the Worlds (1898) which describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians , and Wells is seen, along with Frenchman Jules Verne (1828–1905), as a major figure in the development of the science fiction genre. Penny dreadful publications were an alternative to mainstream works, and were aimed at working class adolescents, introducing

5640-450: The first, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) is the best known. Novels featuring a gentleman adventurer were popular in the interwar period , exemplified by the series of H. C. McNeile with Bulldog Drummond (1920) and Leslie Charteris , whose many books chronicled the adventures of Simon Templar , alias The Saint . The medievalist scholar M. R. James wrote highly regarded ghost stories (1904–1928) in contemporary settings. This

5734-443: The genre. Fantasy is a genre of fiction that uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme , or setting . Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there

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5828-487: The ghost story is the bylichka . Notable examples of the genre from the 1830s include Gogol 's " Viy " and Pushkin 's " The Queen of Spades ", although there were scores of other stories from lesser known writers, produced primarily as Christmas fiction . The Vosges mountain range is the setting for most ghost stories by the French writing team of Erckmann-Chatrian . One of the earliest writers of ghost stories in English

5922-458: The ghost transformed into a beautiful woman. The Flying Dutchman was a ghost ship that became the subject of many ghost stories. One of the key early appearances by ghosts was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole in 1764, considered to be the first gothic novel . However, although the ghost story shares the use of the supernatural with the Gothic novel, the two forms differ. Ghost stories, unlike Gothic fiction, usually take place in

6016-463: The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. In a precursor to A Christmas Carol Dickens published " The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton ". Dickens also wrote " The Signal-Man ", another work featuring a ghost. David Langford has described British author M. R. James as writing "the 20th century's most influential canon of ghost stories". James perfected

6110-501: The glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded ...". Famous literary apparitions from the Victorian period are the ghosts of A Christmas Carol , in which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague Jacob Marley , and

6204-479: The infamous Sweeney Todd . The premier ghost story writer of the 19th century was the Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu . His works include the macabre mystery novel Uncle Silas 1865, and his Gothic novella Carmilla 1872, which tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire. The vampire genre fiction began with John William Polidori 's " The Vampyre " (1819). This short story

6298-503: The influential author of The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes (1858). William Morris was a popular English poet who also wrote several fantasy novels during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Wilkie Collins ' epistolary novel The Moonstone (1868) is generally considered the first detective novel in the English language, while The Woman in White is regarded as one of

6392-461: The library, he finds that the tractate has been found already and shipped to Eldred at the Rant estate. He follows the book on another train, but arrives too late to stop Eldred from receiving the parcel. As he stalks Eldred back to the Rant mansion, he sees a dark form emerge from cobwebs at the side of the road, and Eldred drops dead. An inquest finds black dust on the dead man's face and in his mouth, but

6486-685: The models for the revival of tragedy . Seneca's influence is particularly evident in Thomas Kyd 's The Spanish Tragedy and Shakespeare 's Hamlet , both of which share a revenge theme, a corpse-strewn climax, and ghosts among the cast. The ghosts in Richard III also resemble the Senecan model, while the ghost in Hamlet plays a more complex role. The shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Hamlet has become one of

6580-441: The more recognizable ghosts in English literature . In another of Shakespeare's works, Macbeth , the murdered Banquo returns as a ghost to the dismay of the title character. In English Renaissance theatre, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armour. Armour, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity. The sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in

6674-399: The narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. A widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as

6768-498: The novel (and its "romance" version) during the nineteenth century, along with the growth of the mass-marketing of fiction in the twentieth century: this includes the gothic novel , fantasy , science fiction , adventure novel , historical romance , and the detective novel . Some scholars see precursors to the genre fiction romance novels in literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson 's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and

6862-511: The novel, which recounted the adventures of a member of the English gentry in the French Revolutionary period, encouraged her to write a number of sequels for her "reckless daredevil" over the next 35 years. The play was performed to great acclaim in France, Italy, Germany and Spain, while the novel was translated into 16 languages. Subsequently, the story has been adapted for television, film,

6956-426: The novels of Jane Austen such as Pride and Prejudice (1813). Critics have often regarded genre fiction as having less artistic merit than literary fiction, but this assumption has been contested after the growth of fiction that blurs these boundaries and the serious study of genre fiction within universities. The following are some of the main genres as they are used in contemporary publishing: Crime fiction

7050-546: The people of the Appalachian Mountains, which included ghostly themes such as " The Cruel Ship's Carpenter ", " The Suffolk Miracle ", " The Unquiet Grave " and " The Wife of Usher's Well ". The theme of these ballads was often the return of a dead lover. These songs were variants of traditional British ballads handed down by generations of mountaineers descended from the people of the Anglo-Scottish border region. In

7144-407: The real cause of death is heart failure. The tractate becomes evidence. When it appears that Eldred had been tearing out a page when he died, the missing will is discovered and decrypted, written in a coded script that looks like Hebrew . By its terms, Mrs. Simpson inherits the estate formerly possessed by Eldred, and Garrett and her daughter marry. On 7 May 1951, an American television adaptation of

7238-606: The related genre of fantasy , historically science fiction stories were intended to have at least pretense of science-based fact or theory at the time the story was created, but this connection has become tenuous or non-existent in much of science fiction. Horror fiction aims to frighten or disgust its readers. Although many horror novels feature supernatural phenomena or monsters, it is not required. Early horror took much inspiration from Romanticism and Gothic fiction . Modern horror, such as cosmic horror and splatterpunk , tends to be less melodramatic and more explicit. Horror

7332-416: The second World War, sentimental depictions of ghosts had become more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir , which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–70 TV series . Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's The Uninvited , and 1945's Dead of Night . The film Blithe Spirit , based on a play by Noël Coward ,

7426-738: The story was broadcast as "The Lost Will of Dr. Rant", as part of the Lights Out mystery series. It starred Leslie Nielsen . On 28 April 1959, it was adapted as “A Mass of Cobwebs” by Brian Batchelor for the BBC's Thirty-Minute Theatre . It was produced by Robin Midgley and starred Peter Howell as William Garrett, with Edgar Norfolk as Eldred. It was first broadcast on the Light Programme on 28 April 1959 and received its first repeat 59 years later on 27 August 2018 on BBC Radio 4 Extra . On 26 February 1966,

7520-729: The tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad" revolves around a house haunted by jinns . Other medieval Arabic literature , such as the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity , also contain ghost stories. The 11th century Japanese work The Tale of Genji contains ghost stories, and includes characters being possessed by spirits. In the mid-16th century, the works of Seneca were rediscovered by Italian humanists , and they became

7614-411: The technique of narrating supernatural events through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology Ghosts and Marvels ( Oxford , 1924): "Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of

7708-447: The television series adaptation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) . In animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as Casper the Friendly Ghost , Danny Phantom , and Scooby-Doo , as well as minor roles in various other television shows. Popularized in part by the 1984 comedy franchise Ghostbusters , ghost hunting has been popularized as

7802-444: The term "ghost story" can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has been developed as a short story format, within genre fiction . It is a form of supernatural fiction and specifically of weird fiction , and is often a horror story . While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to scare, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales . Ghosts often appear in

7896-405: The time of both Classical Greece and Rome . The "romance" is a closely related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society". However, many romances, including

7990-418: The well known short films was Haunted Castle directed by Georges Méliès in 1896. It is also considered as the first silent short film depicting ghost and supernatural events. In 1926 the novel Topper by Thorne Smith was published, which created the modern American ghost. When the novel was adapted into the 1937 movie Topper , it initiated a new film genre and would also influence television. After

8084-431: The “ Border Ballads ” of the turbulent border country between England and Scotland. Ballads of this type include " The Unquiet Grave ", " The Wife of Usher's Well ", and " Sweet William's Ghost ", which feature the recurring theme of returning dead lovers or children. In the ballad " King Henry ", a particularly ravenous ghost devours the king's horse and hounds before forcing the king into bed. The king then awakens to find

8178-562: Was Iain M. Banks who created a fictional anarchist, socialist, and utopian society named " The Culture ". The novels that feature in it include Excession (1996), and Inversions (1998). He also published mainstream novels, including the highly controversial The Wasp Factory in 1984. Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing also published a sequence of five science fiction novels the Canopus in Argos : Archives between 1979 and 1983. Terry Pratchett

8272-461: Was Sir Walter Scott . His ghost stories, "Wandering Willie's Tale" (1824, first published as part of Redgauntlet ) and The Tapestried Chamber (1828) eschewed the "Gothic" style of writing and helped set an example for later writers in the genre. Historian of the ghost story Jack Sullivan has noted that many literary critics argue a "Golden Age of the Ghost Story" existed between the decline of

8366-445: Was also produced in this period. 1963 saw one of the first major adaptations of a ghost novel, The Haunting , based on the well known novel The Haunting of Hill House . The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's Field of Dreams ,

8460-564: Was an author of spy novels who depicted a shadowy world of espionage and counter-espionage, and his best known novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), is often regarded as one of the greatest in the genre. Frederick Forsyth writes thriller novels, including The Day of the Jackal (1971), The Odessa File (1972), The Dogs of War (1974) and The Fourth Protocol (1984). Ken Follett writes spy thrillers, his first success being Eye of

8554-597: Was called the Golden Age of Detective Fiction . Agatha Christie , a writer of crime novels, short stories and plays, is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays. Christie's works, particularly those featuring the detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple , made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre. Her most influential novels include The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926); one of her most controversial novels, its innovative twist ending had

8648-598: Was first aired on 5 October 1995 and ran for more than a decade, ending on 25 November 2010 with more than 450 episodes. Genre fiction Genre fiction , also known as formula fiction or popular fiction , is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. The main genres are crime , fantasy , romance , science fiction and horror —as well as perhaps Western , inspirational and historical fiction . Slipstream genre

8742-505: Was inspired by the life of Lord Byron and his poem The Giaour . An important later work is Varney the Vampire (1845), where many standard vampire conventions originated: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the neck of his victims, and has hypnotic powers and superhuman strength. Varney was also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire", who loathes his condition but is a slave to it. Bram Stoker , yet another Irish writer,

8836-619: Was the author of the seminal horror work Dracula and featured as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula , with the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing his arch-enemy. Dracula has been attributed to a number of literary genres including vampire literature , horror fiction , gothic novel and invasion literature . Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes is a brilliant London-based "consulting detective", famous for his intellectual prowess, skilful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Holmes' archenemy Professor Moriarty ,

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