Annotated Texts

1. ‎"At the End of the Passage" (Kipling, 1890)
2. "To Let" (Croker, 1893)
3. "Herself" (Braddon, 1894)
4. "The Hungry Stones" (Tagore, 1895)

Welcome to our anthology of select stories of haunting from the Victorian period, all of which engage with and explore the dynamics of imperialism and imperialist - and empiricist - mindsets. Gaps in narrative information and sensory disruptions among the characters are hallmarks of the hauntings that arise in each of these Victorian texts. The ambiguity that results from these disjunctions of meaning create uncanny effects in and beyond the narrative world. When both "sense" and the senses fail, characters and readers alike are haunted by what they can experience, but not share or explain. Join us for a lingering look at the haunted side of the British Empire in the late nineteenth century.

Spirit Photograph. tintype, c.1870. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.13719181. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025. Reproduced in accordance with the Doctrine of Fair Use, as per 17 USC 107.

These narratives have been analyzed, annotated, and introduced by editorial teams composed of students enrolled in ENG329: Haunted Victorians at James Madison University in fall semester 2025. This is the 2025 edition of the Haunted Victorians Anthology project. 

All views expressed in this resource are solely those of the writers and creators.