Seven Female Supernatural Fiction Authors of the Golden Age (and Thereabouts)
The golden age of supernatural fiction is often taken to include the Victorian era and beyond up to WWI, but there is some debate. Some say the golden age spanned the 1820s to the 1950s. Whatever, women were writing supernatural fiction during this time. In many cases, however, their stories aren’t given much attention or else their contributions have been largely forgotten. Here’s a reminder of some of the best female supernatural fiction writers of the time.
Louisa Baldwin 1845 – 1925
Louisa Baldwin (often credited as Mrs Alfred Baldwin) was an English novelist, poet and short story writer. Her stories were featured in Victorian magazines, including Christmas editions.
Read her supernatural stories in The Shadow on the Blind and Other Ghost Stories.
Elizabeth Bowen 1899 – 1973
Elizabeth Bowen was born in Dublin but spent much of her life in England. During World War II she was living in London, where she worked as an air-raid warden. In 1945, her short story collection The Demon Lover, and Other Stories was published. It draws on her emotional experiences during the conflict and is considered by many to be her best collection. The Demon Lover is one of the most well-known of her stories with a supernatural theme.
Find her stories in A Day in the Dark and Other Stories.
M. E. Braddon 1835 – 1915
Born in London, Mary Elizabeth Braddon had a brief spell on the stage before devoting herself to fiction. She was a prolific writer with over 80 books to her name, the most famous of which is Lady Audley’s Secret. She also wrote supernatural fiction.
Find her stories in The Cold Embrace and Other Ghost Stories and in the Delphi Collected Works of M. E. Braddon (Illustrated).
Mary Cleghorn Gaskell 1810 – 1865
Elizabeth Gaskell (often credited as Mrs Gaskell) was an English author. Among her notable works are Mary Barton, Cranford and The Life of Charlotte Bronte. She also wrote short fiction and some of her supernatural tales appeared in Household Words and All Year Round magazines, which were edited by Charles Dickens.
Find her stories in Mrs. Gaskell’s Tales of Mystery and Horror.
Margaret Oliphant 1828 – 1897
Margaret Oliphant (often credited as Mrs Oliphant,) was a Scottish author whose life was punctuated by tragedy, losing her husband to tuberculosis when she was pregnant and suffering the deaths of some of her children. Eventually, several family members were dependent on her, and she wrote to support them. She was prolific and was reputed to be one of Queen Victoria’s favourite novelists.
Find her Stories of the Seen and Unseen in the Delphi Works of Margaret Oliphant (Illustrated).
Violet Paget 1856 – 1935
Violet Paget (often credited as Vernon Lee) was English but lived for much of her life in Italy. She wrote novels, travel books, satire and on women’s rights. Her supernatural stories were held in high regard, including among some of the acclaimed masters of the genre, such as M. R. James.
Find a collection of her stories in Hauntings: Fantastic Stories
Mrs J. H. Riddell 1832 – 1906
H. Riddell was the penname of Charlotte Riddell, an Irish author of some 56 books, novels and short stories. However, some of her early work was published under other pseudonyms. She is considered to be one the best of the Victorian supernatural fiction writers.
The Open Door (Collected Ghost Stories of Charlotte Riddell)