SOURCE: "The White Cat of Drumgunniol" (All the Year Round, April 1870) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

DESCRIPTION: "All on a sudden the horse sprang through, and Con Donovan, as he passed under the broad branch of the oak, saw clearly a woman standing on the bank beside him, her arm extended, with the hand of which, as he flew by, she struck him a blow upon the shoulders. It threw him forward upon the neck of the horse, which, in wild terror, reached the door at a gallop..." ("The White Cat of Drumgunniol" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu)

NOTES: Ellen Coleman was a beauty from a poor but honest family. She fell for Con Donovan, who promised to marry her after he had his way with her. Later Con married another and Ellen died of a broken heart. Later while riding, Con saw a woman standing on a bank. She raked her fingers across his shoulder as he rode by. Collapsing at his door step, he found his shoulder bore five finger points, the color of flesh hit by lightning, and he bore these marks until he died. Ellen's ghost was seen with the White Cat of Drumgunniol, a death portent.

HISTORY: The undead murdered bride theme was the central idea in Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride (2005). I wonder if Burton has read Le Fanu?