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Ghost stories have been popular throughout the ages. During the nineteenth century, there was a sudden boom and ghost stories were made popular. Storytelling was the main source of entertainment as there weren't any films, TV's or computer games. People would gather around in groups telling or reading each other stories. The stories were made more real by the superstitions people kept and as the rooms were lit by dim candle light, it built a sense of atmosphere. Most ghost stories were written in the nineteenth century period, so people could imagine such things happening to them, in the places they lived. As storytelling was the main form of entertainment, people had nothing to compare it to, so it built tension, suspense and fear. In the nineteenth century there weren't many scientific advances. Everything was blamed on higher or supernatural forces, therefore, people believed the explanations given in ghost stories. I will be comparing and contrasting four ghost stories which were all written in the nineteenth century. They are ?The Old Nurse?s Story? by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1855 and ?The Ostler? by Wilkie Collins, 1855. ?The Old Nurse?s Story? by Elizabeth Gaskell is about a young girl (Miss Rosamund) and her nanny (Hester) going to live with her great aunt (Miss Grace Furnivall) at her aunt?s stately house called Furnivall Hall. Strange events take place at Furnivall Hall and family secrets are revealed. The past comes back to haunt Miss Furnivall and unfinished business is resolved. ?The Ostler? by Wilkie Collins is about an unlucky man (Isaac Scratchard) who has a premonition of his death, being killed by a woman. His luck begins to improve when he meets a woman (Rebecca Murdock). He falls in love and decides to marry to he... ... middle of paper ... ...house in order to claim it to the deep unknown. In ?The Ostler?, Isaac Scratchard found a ?lonely, road-side inn? to stay at as he was lost, he was in an area ?which he was entirely unacquainted with?. Surrounding the inn was a ?thick, dark forest? which adds mystery to the lonely inn and creates an ideal scene for the strange event. A reader in 1855 would find ?The Old Nurse?s Story? to be extremely frightening as the setting is located in a typical 1855 town, so people could imagine such events occurring in places they lived. The location is typically ghostly as the story it is in an isolated, large house during bad weather. However, this gives the reader comfort as not few would live in stately houses. A contemporary reader would not find these as scary as they?re used to the special effects being used and in comparison, the ghost stories don?t seem scary.