Criticism

Haunting Imperial (Non)Sense: What Cannot Be Captured in the Victorian Ghost Story

Submitted by Heidi Pennington on
December, 2025

~ Draft Resource in Process ~

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, ambiguity, and thwarted action characterize the hauntings that arise in these diverse narratives. 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.

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Welcome to "Haunting Imperial (Non)Sense" ~ Introduction & Bibliography

Submitted by Heidi Pennington on
December, 2025

DRAFT

 

One need not be a chamber—to be haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain—has Corridors surpassing 
Material Place—
* * *
Far safer, through an Abbey—gallop—
The Stones a’chase—
Than moonless—One’s A’self encounter—
In lonesome place—

Ourself—behind Ourself—Concealed—
Should startle—most—

* * *

Excerpts of “One need not be a chamber—” by Emily Dickinson

 

 

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1. Introduction to "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street" (Le Fanu, 1851)

Submitted by Heidi Pennington on
December, 2024

Introduction to "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1851)

Editorial Team: Samantha Armstrong, Isabel Costa, and Samantha Johnson

Additional editing by Dr. Heidi L. Pennington
 NOTE: This introduction contains spoilers to the story events that take place in Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street.”

Shades of Meaning: A Haunted Victorians Anthology

Submitted by Heidi Pennington on
December, 2024

Welcome to Shades of Meaning, an anthology of haunted, ghostly, and ghastly tales from the Victorian period. In this edition you will find links to five Victorian ghost stories, complete with annotations, as well as accompanying elements such as editorial introductions and galleries of associated images for each narrative. These supplemental materials were collected and constructed by teams of editors composed of students in the undergraduate Victorian Literature course “Haunted Victorians” at James Madison University during the fall of 2024.

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