ABSTRACT
At a time when she was burdened by financial obligations, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller abandoned her dreams of becoming a “highbrow” poet to write for the story paper and dime novel publishing industry. She saturated herself in the style of the New York story papers and resolved to write a story that would alleviate her family's financial difficulties. As the product of her studenting in this area, “The Bride of the Tomb” far surpassed her expectations for success, initiating her lengthy career as a best-selling author. This paper analyzes “The Bride of the Tomb” as a “composite” of popular story paper fictions and theorizes about the appeal and meaning of its plotlines and narrative conventions for 19th-century audiences, particularly female readers. Connections are made between the particular form of sensational fiction represented by “The Bride of the Tomb” and oppressive conditions of womanhood in the 19th century.