Continuing with the Classics . . .

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read Jane Eyre, (and I recommend that you do) you might want to skip this post!

It has long been said that Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, Jane Eyre, may have been inspired by a terrible tale she heard while staying at an ancient mansion in the north of England. But until recently, no one realized that Bronte had borrowed more from the mansion than its stories.

If you've read Jane Eyre, then you know that a certain secret staircase (and the horrible room to which it leads) plays a key role in the novel. Now an identical staircase has been discovered in the mansion Bronte visited (shown below). Hidden since the 1880s, it leads directly from the first floor to a room in the attic. According to local legend, a mad woman had once been imprisoned there. (Though in those days, "mad" was often just another word for "inconvenient.")

Read more here.