Creepy 19th Century Folktale Writing Prompts For Romance Writers

The 19th century was full of folktales, sea sprites, ghost legends, and even a witchy tale or two. The folktales from the Regency era can be used as inspiring and somewhat historical prompts for romance writers today.

Top Folktales To Include in Regency Romance Novels

Authors love both reading and writing. This is no secret. There are many different plotlines when it comes to Regency-era books. Each plotline can be used and reused to weave a new, heartfelt story. For example, think of how many Cinderella stories on the market tell of rags-to-riches love. Incorporating in folktales is just the same. 

Popular Ghost Stories And Visits From The Afterlife

Many authors who write paranormal regency romance weave in soothsayers, palm readers, and even ghosts into their stories. One literary example of a ghostly romance novella is Hyacinth. It is from the Lost Lords series by Chasity Bowlin. In fact, this entire series weaves supernatural details into the plotline. 

Was the belief in ghosts in the early 1800s a widespread phenomenon in England? 

Well, if you write about Regency-era novels, you’ll know that it was. In fact, a variety of ghost stories circulated at the time, such as the St. Domingo Ghost. This ghostly tale is the perfect writing prompt for romance writers.

The Ghost Of St. Domingo

St. Domingo was a road on the outskirts of Liverpool, as the old folktale goes. The street went alongside a field. A working-class gentleman was walking along with a group of friends. Perhaps he was headed home from the tavern or some other such place. The poor confused soul looks out over the field and thinks he sees a family member. This wasn’t uncommon for Regency-era England because so many people worked in fields. The man found it befuddling enough that he went back to investigate later on. The person, Wilfron, our businessman, saw as not supposed to arrive on English soil for at least another ten days hence. As legend would have it, when Wilfron went back to the field alone, later to investigate, he saw the relative just sinking into the ground. He went to work and claimed he saw a ghost. 

However, the great mystery in Liverpool was that the poor man’s relative never made it to English soil alive. He had been on a ship traveling from Jamacia. In fact, it was a rather tragic death when he died. He fell into the ship’s cargo hold and cracked his skull open. He died within 10 minutes of being pulled out. 

That is the tragic ghost story of the Liverpool ghost of St. Domingo. Other strange stories were rampant and told by word of mouth throughout the land. 

Dreams Portraying The Future in the Regency-Era

In the Regency era, many women believed that dreams could predict what was to come in the future. In fact, the women, not usually the men, reported having such dreams. Sometimes people around the women considered it, but others brushed it off. Some women even kept their dreams secrete to avoid public humiliation or the dreaded insane asylums. 

If you need an example of a historical romance novel that weaves in the ability to see the future in dreams within its pages, you will love Banished and Welcomed by Bree Wolf. It shines a positive light on this Regency-era phenomenon. Banished and Welcomed is in the Loves Second Chance: Highland Tales series. The sight, future prophecy, and the ability to see the future in dreams and wake are dotted throughout this series. 

While there are many current fictional examples of the phenomenon, multiple folktale stories date back to the Regency era. In the Regency-era, this phenomenon was sometimes referred to as the “singular dream” or “the sight.” 

One specific example centered around an old tale about a man from the East India Company. Many gentlemen of the regency era had their fortunes made and drained surrounding investments in the trade of the East India Company. 

One gentleman who was fortunate to earn a lofty income on the enterprise was also gifted with a wife who claimed to have the gift of the sight. She awoke in the night and told her husband a trusted comrade would die in a duel. The husband didn’t put much stock in his wife’s dreams, but he said he would look into the man’s wellbeing to appease her. After sending inquiries to India and waiting months to hear back, he received a note that the man had indeed died in a duel. 

Are you interested in researching the ghost stories and dreams of the regency era? Well, check out the book Darkness Falls On The Land Of Light to use as a historical reference. It is a collection of stories from the 1740s and 1750s in England. 

Odd Numbers Were A Little Suspicious 

The things of Halloween were not the only pieces of folklore that were common within Regency-era society. For example, another standard bit of lore was the people’s superstitions surrounding odd numbers. It was not just that it seemed a little shady or awkward to have an uneven number of dinner party guests or five house guests. The superstition went deeper. Many people believed that if you had an uneven number of guests, especially if it was 13, then it was a sign that death was coming. 

This begs the question of, why not just invite even numbers of people, or never around 13? Well, as we all know, people drop out of social stories all the time. So, the number of guests could quickly drop to 13 people, even from a guest list of 25. It may have been for things like:

• Bad weather
• The host being unpopular
• Sickness
• Deaths
• A boring event

Whatever the reason, the guest list could drop to an odd number, and that number could be 13. 

What is unlucky about the number 13, and did the regency era pick it arbitrarily?

No, it has a religious backing to the superstition. The 13 house guests or dinner party guests were derived from the last supper and the death of Jesus. Since most people were culturally religious, if not spiritual, they believed in Christ and that he died after the last supper. There were 13 guests at the last supper, Jesus and the 12 disciples. 

It is also commonly thought that Jesus died on Good Friday, which fell on Friday the 13th that year. Since religion was a significant part of regency culture, 13 got an awful wrap. 

Do You Want To Be A Better Regency Writer?

There are a few decisive steps you can take to improve your romance writing. For starters, read regency romance! 

1. Read More Books

Reading within the genre, you want to publish helps you get a feel for the writing styles, jargon, and history commonly incorporated in the literature. Each genre has its jargon. If you need an example, check out these famous ten words from the regency era to incorporate them into your novel. If you need a cheap way to consume a lot of regency romance literature, get Kindle Unlimited. It is Netflix for readers.

2. Get A Good Editing Software

Next, get Grammarly to save money on editors. It helps you dig in and edit the book yourself, perfecting it for a publication like a proofreader and an editor combined. It is your cheapest option when publishing lots of books per year.

3. Research the Era

Finally, do your research. You are in the right place since you have made it to the Lyrica Lovell Website. Check out all of the content on the Regency-era for superb romance writing prompts to get your ideas flowing. 

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