Episode 59 – The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

This episode Mike and Will cover ‘The Haunted and the Haunters‘ by Charles Dickens’s BFF, Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

M.R. James considered this story essential reading, saying “Nobody is permitted to write about ghost stories without
mentioning ‘The Haunted and the Haunters’.” (Some Remarks on Ghost Stories). Will it live up to our expectations?

Our reader for this episode is talented artist and family member, Peter Ross!

We also mention the new book from friend-of-the-podcast Patrick J. Murphy, Medieval Studies and the Ghost Stories of M. R. James, check it out!

Show notes:

• Edward Bulwer-Lytton (Wikipedia)
  Some basic biographical details about EBL’s life. A more detailed biography can be found at
  www.victorianweb.org.
• Edward Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (www.bulwer-lytton.com)
  Inspired by EBL’s famous clunker “It was a dark and stormy night…”, this competition challenges would-be writers
  to come up with the worst possible opening line to a novel!
• 50 Berkeley Square, London (Wikipedia)
  Often touted as ‘the most haunted house in England’, this place gained a fearsome reputation for ghostliness in the
  latter half of the 19th century. It’s description and locations are tantilisingly close to the house described in
  this story, although the story pre-dated the house’s notoriety.
• The Haunted House (Wikipedia)
  The ‘haunted house’ as a concept goes back for at least 2000 years, and has inspired writers for just as long.
• ‘The Haunted House’ by Charles Dickens et al (Wikipedia)
  Could the publication of this story be connected in any way to the publications of ‘The Haunted House’, the
  portmaneau story that was ‘conducted’ and published by EBL’s friend Charles Dickens in the same year that EBL’s
  story was published?
• Essay by Ellis Jordan (www.cherylblakeprice.com)
  This essay on ‘The Haunted and the Haunters’ sheds some more light onto the story and EBL’s aims in writing it. It
  also compared the two differing versions of the story that were published.