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- Stories of Intellect
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Stories of Intellect
by Rebecca Harding Davis, Thomas De Quincey, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton, Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford
Chapters
Description
A curious narrator is drawn into a tale of a London lodging that locals swear is haunted. A philosopher friend recounts a brief, unsettling stay with his wife, describing an inexplicable terror that drove them away and a stoic caretaker who spoke of the house's lingering spirits. The story hints at a death in the old woman's bed, a devilish whisper that fuels the mystery.
Intrigued, the narrator tracks down the property’s owner, a solitary gentleman named Mr. J——, who offers the house for a night on one condition: the visitor must uncover the source of the disturbances. The arrangement promises a blend of rational investigation and uncanny phenomena, inviting listeners to feel the chill of unseen forces while the mind seeks explanations. As the night approaches, tension builds, setting the stage for a suspenseful exploration of fear, perception, and the thin line between imagination and reality.
Details
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (308K characters)
Series
Little Classics, Volume 2 (of 18)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive)
Release date
2020-03-24
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
About the authors
Rebecca Harding Davis
1831–1910
A sharp-eyed pioneer of American literary realism, she is best known for "Life in the Iron Mills," a powerful 1861 story that brought the harsh world of industrial labor into American fiction. She also worked as a journalist and wrote with unusual sympathy for people pushed to the edges of 19th-century society.
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Thomas De Quincey
1785–1859
Best known for turning addiction, dreams, and memory into unforgettable prose, this English essayist brought a dark, intensely personal voice to 19th-century literature. His most famous work, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, helped make him one of the era’s most distinctive nonfiction writers.
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Charles Dickens
1812–1870
One of the great storytellers of the Victorian age, he turned childhood hardship, sharp observation, and a gift for unforgettable characters into novels that still feel lively and human. His books blend humor, suspense, and social criticism in a way that continues to draw in new readers.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804–1864
Best known for dark, beautifully crafted classics like The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, this major American writer explored guilt, secrecy, and the moral pressure of life in Puritan New England. His stories mix psychological depth with a haunting sense of history that still feels fresh today.
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Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton
1803–1873
Best remembered for vivid historical and supernatural fiction, this prolific Victorian writer also left a surprising mark on everyday language with phrases that people still quote today. His stories mix drama, mystery, politics, and the occult in a way that helped shape popular fiction in the 19th century.
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Edgar Allan Poe
1809–1849
A master of mystery and the macabre, he helped shape the modern detective story while giving classic Gothic fiction some of its darkest, most unforgettable images. His poems and tales, including "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," still feel vivid, eerie, and surprisingly modern.
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Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford
1835–1921
An American writer of gothic tales, poetry, and novels, she brought vivid atmosphere and psychological intensity to 19th-century magazines and books. Her work helped push popular fiction toward something stranger, darker, and more daring.
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