"One of Dickens' biggest influences was the growth of London as a Victorian city, and the extremes being created as it expanded."

–Danny Boyle

Most of the writers of Victorian England have written fictional novels, which often have a touch of the supernatural. Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Oscar Wilde and Robert Louis Stevenson are some of the famous writers of gothic fiction. All these writers lived during the Victorian era, where these beliefs were common. Though the 19th century was a period of secularisation and the introduction of modern science, Britain was still deeply religious. There was a strong devotion to the Church. We should keep in mind that this was also a time where witchcraft was practiced and feared. Science and magic co-existed. This was shown in gothic novels such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein. The emergence of Spiritualism in Britain, as well as the fading of fairy tales had helped with the supernatural belief. In order to communicate with the deceased séances were performed through mediums, who were often women. References of hearing, or seeing spirits were made in many of Dicken’s or Bronte’s novels, as the Victorians associated the belief with everyday life.