This essay sets out to illustrate the evolution of horror in ghost stories through a literary analysis of M.R. James’s “The Mezzotint” (1904) and Susan Hill’s The Man in the Picture (2007). It is shown that despite many similarities, The Man in the Picture is a more frightening story than “The Mezzotint” mainly because of five major differences in the narrator, the haunted picture, the build-up of suspense, the relationship between the ghost and its victims, and the resolution of the mystery. Many critics have dealt with the ghost story genre before but no one seems to have analysed James’s and Hill’s stories in the way that is presented in this essay. In addition to the analysis, the essay also includes a pedagogical chapter, showing how a ghost-story project in upper-secondary school can improve the students’ language, their knowledge of literature and their critical thinking.

This essay is a literary analysis of two ghost stories, Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The Old Nurse’s Story” (1852) and Susan Hill’s The Man in the Picture (2007). The main focus of the essay is the theme of revenge, which is explored on the basis of similarities and differences in the mentioned ghost stories. It is shown that, in spite of many similarities, The Man in the Picture is a more developed and less conventional ghost story than “The Old Nurse’s Story”. This development is seen in the setting, the narrators and the structure of the story, all of which contain more layers in Susan Hill’s story. The essay also includes a didactic chapter which shows how a teacher can use the two ghost stories in the classroom to teach students in upper secondary school about literary analysis and the Gothic genre.

The essay analyses three works of supernatural horror fiction written by different authors over various periods of time. These three works are “The Old Nurse’s Story” by Elizabeth Gaskell, “Lost Hearts” by M. R. James and The Small Hand by Susan Hill. The argument of the essay is that all three stories diverge from the conventions of Gothic horror stories by including a child in the role of victim and ghost. This makes the stories more frightening since they challenge the reader’s expectations of children’s innocence. In order to discern how the stories diverge from the norm the essay explores the traditional conventions of the genre such as setting, narrator, the structure of the time-frame, the buildup of mystery, the observer of the ghost, the ghost itself, and finally the visitation. In the end, the essay finds that all three of the analysed stories fit the formula of a conventional Gothic horror story, using similar methods for building up suspense and fear in the reader. Moreover, all three enhance the effect through the combination of evil and innocence in the children.