“The Tapestried Chamber,” believed by many scholars to be the first “modern” ghost story, was first published in 1828.

The movie adaptation you probably know is much gentler than this story by Hans Christian Andersen really is; grown-ups may want to listen alone before listening with little ones!

The closing years of the French monarchy could scarcely have found a more faithful chronicler, or one better fitted for the task both by training and situation, than Madame Campan. Introduced into the Court of Louis XVas a young girl, she became one of the household of Marie Antoinette immediately after that princess came from Austria to wed the Dauphin, the King’s heir; and followed the fortunes of her royal mistress with unswerving devotion until the prison gates separated them.