Women writers of the supernatural frequently used the motif of the haunted house to comment on property, class, and economic issues. Often, the characters profit financially in respect to found treasure of some sort, or the characters profit emotionally, whereby their time in these houses leads to a greater sympathy for the deceased person or an awareness of their own shortcomings and prejudices in life. In these stories, the living characters who encounter the ghosts also experience some kind of change or improvement. For instance, the ghosts are less troubled after they are able to communicate a message to the living which enables a change to take place, namely stories of found wills, recovered inheritances, and reconnecting to loved ones who are still alive. These ‘relationships’ usually bring about a change in the way in which the house is haunted. Other authors during this period, however (and particularly women writers), chose to center their supernatural stories on connections between the ghosts in these houses and the living characters that dwell in them. The ghosts are usually pure evil, grotesquely described, and often seek to physically harm their visitors. Many nineteenth-century ghost-story writers focused on the haunted house, but these stories mainly concern themselves with the fear, danger, and near-escapes experienced by the people who spend time in the houses.

Haunted by Melissa Crowe