This ghost story is a novella - a short piece of fiction that is longer than a short story, but typically shorter than a novel. Susan Hill says she wrote the story in six weeks with the intention of creating something that followed the tradition of Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw and the short ghost stories of M R James. She starts the story on Christmas Eve when ghost stories were traditionally told.
Evidence and explanation of the form used
Ghost story
The Woman in Black successfully incorporates a range of elements from the ghost story genre to create a tale that is full of fear and unexpected supernatural occurrences.
Hill uses the ghost of Jennet Humfrye, the isolated setting, the weather and the supernatural sounds of the pony and trap to scare the reader. The protagonistThe chief character in a literary work., Arthur Kipps, starts out as a practical and rational man. According to Hill, this character is key to all good ghost stories. When he is no longer rational, but reduced to a state of fear, the terror of the haunting is even more convincing.
Novella
This is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel, meaning that it can potentially be read in one sitting. This is effective for building and sustaining the tension of the story.